I must admit that I didn't go into "Colony" with very high expectations. While I was very fond of "Lost", its writers and creators have lost a lot of my goodwill with that show's ridiculous final season and, frankly, everything from the "creators of Lost" since has been pretty bad, with maybe the exception of Damon Lindelof's "The Leftovers". J.J. Abrams, meanwhile, is still pumping out the same, derivative-to-the-point-of-indistinguishable action/sci-fi puree – even the flying silver letters of the title sequences have rarely changed since Lost.
Here, then, we have a new sci-fi drama executive-produced by Carlton Cuse, with some Lost alumni actors. I expected to give it one or two episodes before I could predict the rest of the plot and get bored from the same-old aliens vs. humans stories with a little bit of soap opera sprinkled in. But Colony would turn my expectations inside out a bit – even the flying silver title lettering has been inverted! Here I am four episodes in, giving it a pretty strong recommendation (four episodes is what I suggest you give the show in order to get an idea of how its plot develops).
Colony's twist on the old War of the Worlds scenario is that the invasion is over by the point we join the story, a part of Los Angeles has been cordoned-off by the invaders, and although we don't know much at all initially about the world beyond those impenetrable colony walls, things don't look good for humanity. What the invaders' plans are is just as mysterious. No one seems to have ever really spoken to them in person, or even knows what they look like. Their presence is marked mostly by automated flying drones that seem to observe everything, and in some instances enforce lethal action. The actual force of the oppressors, on the other hand, is represented by humans – previously regular inhabitants that now serve the invasion force. Their reasons are various, and we get to learn a few of them over the course of the episodes, but most wide- spread seems to be a sense of futility and self-preservation. Keep on their right side, and maybe you'll be spared come whatever their ultimate plan of action entails.
In particular, the show follows the Bowmans, a family of five, with one of their sons having been on the other side of where is now the colony walls. Apart from surviving, reuniting with him, or at least finding out whether he's even still alive, is their driving motivation. The first episode outlines how these goals put the family members in a difficult situations, and leads to drastically changing allegiances with the different powers in the Colony.
For a U.S. network show, Colony is surprisingly daring, and that is a very good thing. While most other shows have their lead actors as good audience magnets with fixed contracts, letting you know implicitly that some basic things about the plot scenario, and constellation of characters, will never really change. Colony is more bold in this than most American shows; not to the level of U.K. shows, with their self-contained mini-seasons where absolutely everything can happen, but a good way towards it. This is why I suggest you put in four episodes if you're going to give Colony a shot. It gives you a nice impression of how little the writers want you to take for granted.
What four episodes will also give you a good idea of is another element of Colony that I've grown to really like: the subdued way in which it reveals crucial details about the plot and world. It's another thing that bugs me about many U.S. shows: the urge to explain everything literally, often repeatedly, and usually also ham-fistedly. How many times during the average episode do I feel like some characters are talking to me as a viewer rather than other characters in the story! There is much less hand-holding in Colony, and if you don't watch attentively (yes, this is also directed at all those shows that want you to "tweet" and "discuss" live as the show is running) you will miss big, big hints about what is actually going on in the show's world. Some details that change everything about your theories on the invaders on the Colony are nonchalantly hidden in minor side plots and not mentioned again for quite a while.
My third U.S. show gripe, overdramatisation to the point of ridiculousness – there is some of that, but I'm far more willing to forgive it considering how daring Colony is with a lot of other things. Forgive me for still feeling the need to draw comparisons to Lost, but while it doesn't have the epic feel and scope of that show, it's one of the few in a very long time that stir up some of the same kind of fascination in me. The scenario is presented in an interesting enough way to make me really enjoy coming up with theories and bets on what is actually going on. If they don't cop out with the writing, or turn it into standard fighting back the aliens nonsense, it might end up being a really solid end-time show.
Here, then, we have a new sci-fi drama executive-produced by Carlton Cuse, with some Lost alumni actors. I expected to give it one or two episodes before I could predict the rest of the plot and get bored from the same-old aliens vs. humans stories with a little bit of soap opera sprinkled in. But Colony would turn my expectations inside out a bit – even the flying silver title lettering has been inverted! Here I am four episodes in, giving it a pretty strong recommendation (four episodes is what I suggest you give the show in order to get an idea of how its plot develops).
Colony's twist on the old War of the Worlds scenario is that the invasion is over by the point we join the story, a part of Los Angeles has been cordoned-off by the invaders, and although we don't know much at all initially about the world beyond those impenetrable colony walls, things don't look good for humanity. What the invaders' plans are is just as mysterious. No one seems to have ever really spoken to them in person, or even knows what they look like. Their presence is marked mostly by automated flying drones that seem to observe everything, and in some instances enforce lethal action. The actual force of the oppressors, on the other hand, is represented by humans – previously regular inhabitants that now serve the invasion force. Their reasons are various, and we get to learn a few of them over the course of the episodes, but most wide- spread seems to be a sense of futility and self-preservation. Keep on their right side, and maybe you'll be spared come whatever their ultimate plan of action entails.
In particular, the show follows the Bowmans, a family of five, with one of their sons having been on the other side of where is now the colony walls. Apart from surviving, reuniting with him, or at least finding out whether he's even still alive, is their driving motivation. The first episode outlines how these goals put the family members in a difficult situations, and leads to drastically changing allegiances with the different powers in the Colony.
For a U.S. network show, Colony is surprisingly daring, and that is a very good thing. While most other shows have their lead actors as good audience magnets with fixed contracts, letting you know implicitly that some basic things about the plot scenario, and constellation of characters, will never really change. Colony is more bold in this than most American shows; not to the level of U.K. shows, with their self-contained mini-seasons where absolutely everything can happen, but a good way towards it. This is why I suggest you put in four episodes if you're going to give Colony a shot. It gives you a nice impression of how little the writers want you to take for granted.
What four episodes will also give you a good idea of is another element of Colony that I've grown to really like: the subdued way in which it reveals crucial details about the plot and world. It's another thing that bugs me about many U.S. shows: the urge to explain everything literally, often repeatedly, and usually also ham-fistedly. How many times during the average episode do I feel like some characters are talking to me as a viewer rather than other characters in the story! There is much less hand-holding in Colony, and if you don't watch attentively (yes, this is also directed at all those shows that want you to "tweet" and "discuss" live as the show is running) you will miss big, big hints about what is actually going on in the show's world. Some details that change everything about your theories on the invaders on the Colony are nonchalantly hidden in minor side plots and not mentioned again for quite a while.
My third U.S. show gripe, overdramatisation to the point of ridiculousness – there is some of that, but I'm far more willing to forgive it considering how daring Colony is with a lot of other things. Forgive me for still feeling the need to draw comparisons to Lost, but while it doesn't have the epic feel and scope of that show, it's one of the few in a very long time that stir up some of the same kind of fascination in me. The scenario is presented in an interesting enough way to make me really enjoy coming up with theories and bets on what is actually going on. If they don't cop out with the writing, or turn it into standard fighting back the aliens nonsense, it might end up being a really solid end-time show.
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