Saturday, January 28, 2017

Colony, Episode Three: Sublimation

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The resistance is done fucking around with the aliens and anyone they think is collaborating with them. Citizens are in a long line to try and join the Homeland Security's Red Hats.  Some of them are woefully unprepared but given that resources are so few, joining the Red Hats means extra ration cards. I can see why this would sound appealing, especially if you have a family to consider.  The resistance responds by blowing up the building and then locking the gates before shooting all the would be volunteers. It looks like shooting ducks in a barrel.  The last man who is killed is told that this is what happens to people who collaborate.  

Unfortunately for Jennifer, this means that the heat is on. Bennett, Jennifer's new boss is particularly pissed given that other agencies are now involved in bringing the block to order.  Given that he's been at this job a New York minute and already his power is being usurped, Bennett is determined to assert his authority. Bennett is not particularly impressed by Jennifer, given that before this, she ran data for a a dating site. This of course means that Jennifer is going to turn up the heat on Katie.

In the meantime, Maddie has gone over lock stock and barrel to the other side. 
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The Kool Aid is strong with this one.  She's keeping busy picking out worship locations for Nathan, for the next big government approved religion cult. Just drink that Kool Aid down Maddie. 

Katie is taking her own religious tour.  She meets with a group of people who read passages from the bible and compare it to Hinduism, Buddhism, and and Islam.  Clearly, this is part of Katie's way of remembering who she is and not buying into the cult mentality. Katie heads home and talks to Gracie about the religions and tries to encourage her daughter to think for herself and follow her gut. Katie tries to prepare Gracie to live with Maddie but Gracie is adamant that she wants to stay in her own home with her mother.  My heart broke in every scene with Gracie and Katie. I have to say that Sarah Callies sold every damn second of it.

Jennifer puts the pressure on Katie to hand over Broussard and Katie is insistent that she's no longer in contact. Jennifer makes it clear that if Katie doesn't comply that she's going down.  With time running out, Katie reveals that the resistance has a drone which looks like bug in the Homeland Offices that they are using to spy on the government. Katie makes it clear that this is all she knows and asks Jennifer not to call her again before rushing away. I almost believe Katie, but like Jennifer, I don't believe for one second that she's saying all that she knows.

Back at the offices Jennifer gets a team to work searching for the bug.  Bennett witnesses what is going on and  is all bark and bluster until a soldier finds the bug.  Bennett pulls Jennifer into a different room and demands to know how she found out about the bug.  Jennifer reveals that she has a source who gave her that information. Bennett is quick to demand access to the source and questions if Jennifer even knows how to properly run a source. Bennett is all mansplaining and power. This forces Jennifer to run interference and promise that she will get something more concrete soon. Jennifer makes her way to a payphone and calls Katie to say that her time is up.  Knowing that this day was coming Katie is prepared to turn herself in.

Jennifer and Katie meet up at a playground. Katie makes it clear that she cannot hand over Broussard and asks for just enough time to take her daughter to her sister's place before turning herself in. Jennifer is quick to realise that Katie is playing upon her sympathies and so gets her back up and asks Katie if she's thought about all of the blood she has on her hands.  To be honest, both women are responsible for people dying because working with the Aliens means that Jennifer is absolutely responsible for people's deaths. 

Things seem to be going a lot better for Will, who having killed the local gang leader is ready to get the hell out of dodge. Devon makes it clear that she's coming with Will and Charlie because she has no intention of staying behind to pay Will's debt.  Devon is certain that the gang leaders associates will be looking for Will. Now that they've decided to leave, they have to find a way to get over the wall. It's Charlie who suggests a coyote.  As luck would have it, Devon knows a Coyote, though she warns Will in advance that he may not like it.

Will and Devon meet with the coyote and he turns down the wad of cash that Devon offers, saying that it's not enough. With no plans to return, Devon offers up her house and this the Coyote accepts. The big plan is to head out to the mountains because there's a place where the wall only goes 150ft off the ground.  They're going to scale the wall and then repel down the other side.  

They all head out and camp out in the woods the night before.  Will cuddles up to Charlie, who wants to know why Will didn't come and pick him up as well. Will doesn't answer and instead draws his son closer to him.  The next day they begin the daunting task of climbing the wall.  They make it half way up the wall before a drone shows up.  This is a cue for them to start climbing faster but the drone starts shooting people, leaving behind blood stains on the wall. Will wraps his arms around Charlie and tells his son that he loves him one last time, as he waits for their turn to be a blood spatter on the wall.  The drone scans Will closely but for some reason doesn't fire and instead flies away. Hmmm.

Why are Will and Charlie still alive? Who the hell is behind the drone?

When next we see Will and Charlie, they are entering their home, just as Katie is about to pack up Gracie to stay with Maddie.  The Bowman family is almost together again but given the trouble that Katie is in, we know that their happiness is short lived.

Bram is still at the work camp and things aren't going well for him. Bram gets jumped for his boots and this means that he has to work barefoot.  Maya points to a fellow prisoner who she blames for thieving from Bram and suggests that he not let the prisoner get away with it. The moment Bram approaches the prisoner, he gets kicked in the stomach. The fight is fast and furious and Bram does not really hold his own. Maya uses the distraction of the fight to sneak off.  The fight is broken up by none other than Snyder.  Jenkins is not at all pleased by Snyder breaking off the fight and Snyder snarks about it being his job to keep prisoner retention up.

When next we see Bram, he is in a cell by himself. The guards come in a haul him away. Bram is rightfully worried but he need not be because Snyder is waiting for him with a steak dinner and all the fixings.  Bram has a seat and helps himself to a huge bite of the steak. It's probably the first bit of real food that he's had since the occupation.  Snyder tries to soften Bram up further by offering Bram a brand new pair of work boots. Bram proves he has a head on his shoulders by quickly rejecting the offer,  realising that accepting the boots would only make him suspicious looking to the other inmates. Snyder is quick to comment on Bram's street smarts. It's now time to get down to the business at hand. Snyder wants to return home and the only way he can do that is if he can fix the problems going on with the prison. To that end, he asks Bram to work as his spy.  Snyder suggests that Bram can trust him by revealing that he is the one who gave Will the travel pass so that Will could find Charlie.  

Back in the holding area, Maya presents Bram with a new pair of boots.  Bram realises that the whole thing is a set up and asks Maya what she's really up to. 

There are a lot of moving parts to this and I sense that it's going to be a long time before the Bowmans are together again.  Snyder may keep his deals but he will only do so when it is advantageous to him. If Bram gets caught by the other inmates, he's absolutely on his own because Snyder will not lift a finger to help him. As precarious as Bram's position is, Snyder is probably his best shot of getting out of the prison, given that Nolan isn't going to do anything for him.

As aforementioned, the best scenes of this episode were between Katie and Gracie.  I absolutely felt for Katie as she tried to prepare her daughter for her possible absence and the guilt she felt for being a part of the resistance. Katie knows that giving into the Aliens is the end of humanity and leads to no hope for her children and still yet the guilt of her actions haunts her. 

I really want to know what the aliens have in store for Will. There's a reason that he was allowed to continue to scale the wall and return home.  Who was watching that camera? 

Finally, we have talk about the death of Devon. Colony has never been really inclusive. With the exception of Broussard, there hasn't been any reoccurring POC.  I had really hoped that when Devon became a character this season that we would see so much of her and that she would become Will's partner but instead she was simply a tool to help Will get over the wall and back to his family.  This show is supposedly set in L.A. and yet there are no characters of colour to speak of and there are no LGBT characters. There's no reason for this kind of erasure.