COLONY, Season 2: A Review Without Spoilers
High praise for COLONY, Season 2. In case you have not seen the first season, this review will contain a few spoilers for those first episodes, but none for season 2. You can read my review of Colony, Season 1 here
There is a third season of this show that will come to Netflix sometime this year (a few fan blogs predict as early as April 2019), having already aired on USA Network. Beware of going onto the USA Network site. You might stumble upon a few spoilers. USA Network features a number of still shots from season 3 in their promotion of COLONY.
Short Review…
The main reasons I recommend watching Season 2 is for the superb story and the characters. The writing is spot-on, a continuation of Season 1. Let me elaborate…
- The characters, whom the viewer has come to admire, love and/or mistrust in Season 1, develop and continue to feel real and relatable
- The mystery of the invasion is explained a bit more, but the story still holds plenty of tension
- The narrative continues to raise important moral questions around living under occupation…The moral conflict goes deep and is unique for each character. The show highlights this well.
Long Review…
I loved all of season 2, but found the early episodes incredibly fun to watch because they are a goldmine of backstory.
Season 1 of COLONY drops the viewer into an already occupied, alien-invaded planet. The viewer attaches to the characters first and then begins watching for clues to explain what is taking place. Even the characters living through the ordeal don’t know much. Some mysteries are explained, but many remain.
What is wonderful about season 2…Three key backstory events are provided.
- First contact with the aliens
- What took place on the actual day of the invasion
- How the invading aliens strategized with an early group of collaborating humans
Episode 1 of season 2 begins with another day in the life of the Bowman family, but in this case, it is the day of the invasion, hours before the wall comes down, isolating the LA Bloc from the rest of Southern California. (During season 1, the audience slowly learns that similar events have taken place in cities across the globe)
Packed into this episode is a window into how Snyder was chosen to rule over the masses.
Snyder: Proxy Governor of the LA Bloc for most of season 1
Two men in suits, collaborators who know that the invasion is imminent, recruit him. They recruit him because he has embezzled from an educational institute for which he works. They recruit him not in spite of, but because his integrity is compromised.
“Even great men make two or three mistakes in their lives,” Snyder says, when confronted.
The men in suits answer: “It’s the choices you make today that will determine your future. All you have to do is say yes.”
Snyder says yes to this Faustian bargain. We already know he is an important character. The audience has followed his career, his successes and failures and the ways he has and continues to intersect with the Bowmans. His presence is constantly a tension, but always interesting.
Episode 2 is delightful as it gives a few interesting point of view shifts via some clever cinematography
- A view of what the Raptor’s see, those are the robotic drones (if they are truly robotic) that rule the skies on occupied Earth.
- A view of what lies outside the LA Bloc, including Santa Monica, but also beyond, outside of the Urban landscape
- A peek into the alien mindset and culture…I can’t say more without a spoiler
I’m looking forward to season 3, which might come to Netflix as early as April, but sad because USA Network has confirmed its end. Three seasons of COLONY and no more. That’s the bad news…the good new is…
Season 3 of COLONY is being touted as outstanding and possibly better than both the first and second. I look forward to watching it and following my binge watching, I’ll be sure to post a review here.