Saturday, January 14, 2017

Colony, Season Two, Episode One: Eleven Thirteen

It's been awhile since the first season and so I must admit to being lost by the first few minutes of this episode.  At first I thought maybe they have moved forward in time but it turns out that Colony began by actually going back in time - back to before the aliens landed on the earth. The Bowmans are all together and Will's biggest worry is that his partner Devin, has been turned by Armenian mobsters. You see, Devin is buying a house in an expensive area and Will knows damn well that she doesn't make enough money to be able to do so.  

Alan Snyder is having trouble with his divorce and is arguing with his wife. Alan takes a meeting about what he believes to be about the sale of some textbooks but it turns out it's with shady government agents who have different plans for him.  The agents know all about Alan's life, including the fact that he is had been embezzling money from his employer. Rather than being a disaster, this turns out to be a good thing for Alan because the Institute for Global Advancement has big plans for him. 

With the truth of his misdeeds presented to him, Snyder chooses to agree to accompany the men in black. Snyder is taken to a secret location and inside a refrigerated chamber of sorts. Once inside, Snyder has a meeting with a host.  We don't learn what sort of persuasion the Host used but at the end of the meeting, Snyder is all in.  He drives with the men in black to evacuate his daughter and decides to leave his ex wife behind. I guess the divorce was even more bitter than it first appeared. 

At FBI headquarters, Will and Devin are sent in search of one of seven VIP's who have suddenly gone missing. They are forced to break into a house of an engineer when they spy a dead body on the floor. It's Will who notices that they are being watch by CCTV.  It turns out that the engineer has been hiding in a panic room all night. He watched as men broke in and killed his maid and did a quick search of his home.  After some reluctance, the engineer reveals he's on a in case the shit hits the fan list.  Apparently, the government has pre-selected a group of people, who in the event of the end of the world, would be tasked with rebuilding society.  


Broussard returns home to visit his very ill mother. He isn't there for long though. Katie has opened the bar for the day and who should show up but Broussard.  It seems that they have a friendship of sorts. Broussard however doesn't explain exactly why it is that he's suddenly back in town.  I've always wondered exactly why it is that Broussard has such faith in Kate and at least now we know that their relationship is deeper than originally alluded to. 

Back at the department, Will and Devin discover that all hell is breaking loose. People are rushing about frantically and no one seems to have any real idea about what is going on.  Devin sees this as her cue to leave and of course Will tries to convince her to stay. 
Image result for boy bye gif
Devin however is determined to leave and points out that there's no way that two agents are going to make a difference in all of this chaos.  Will finally sees the light and gets on the phone and calls Katie to round up the kids post haste, along with Maddie and Huddson.  Also bye bye Rob, too bad you were on a plane. 

Kate gets on the move and picks up Gracie.  Yes, Kate's panicked but she is keeping it together.  Next up is Bram, but before she can get to him, her car stops working.  In fact, all of the cars suddenly stop working.  With Gracie and Bram in tow, Katie decides that it's time to go and get Charlie but he was dropped off ten miles away. It's not until Gracie starts to cry that Kate realises the impossible situation she is in.  How can she walk ten miles with Bram and Gracie to get Charlie?

Broussard being the man of action that he is, sees what's going on and decides to grab his guns and head to the VWF.  I find it interesting that so many members of the military knew on their own that this is where they were supposed to assemble.  Broussard starts asking about a plan but when he gets no clear answer, he decides to head to the door. Broussard explains that it's not smart to have all of these combat ready people in the same building and that it makes them a target.  Broussard doesn't get two blocks away from the VWF before it blows up Independence Day style. 

Will meets up with his family at Kate's bar.  She explains that she simply couldn't get to Charlie and so he decides to grab the bike they keep in the back and go and hunt for their sun. Will doesn't get to his son because the giant wall appears in the sky and locks, thus blocking his path forward.  I'm sorry, how are these people witnessing this and not one person is wetting themselves?


In the present, Will has finally made it to the Santa Monica block but his attempts to see Solomon, who he's heard knows his son, come to no avail and he is stabbed for his trouble.  Wounded with no one to help, Will makes his way to Devin's place.  From the look that Devin gives him, she's clearly not over being called a dirty agent. 

Kate goes to visit Bram, who is in custody.  She was only able to manage a no contact visit and that was with Maddie's help.  There's no way Bram is getting out of there any time soon. Clearly, Bram is going to be sent to the penal colony the aliens have set up on the moon which will give us an explanation as to what exactly they are doing up there far from prying eyes.

And thus we have the set up for season two.  Will is in a hell of a lot of trouble and even if he does eventually find Charlie, he will certainly be much changed.  Charlie like everyone else would have had a big adjustment; however, he wouldn't have had the comfort of his family to help him see his way through. With Devin helping to look for Charlie, it looks like Colony is going to add a WOC to the cast; however, it means that she will have a side role.  I hope that she keeps Will's feet to the fire and doesn't simply run around following orders. 

Gracie, as we know is living with Maddie and so is probably next in line to get indoctrinated by that creepy ass au pair.  It gives us a hint that the aliens are controlling society but also playing a long game. When you go after the minds of children, you do so because you intend to change society as a whole. Even the power hungry Mr. Burgess is unaware of what is happening in his home which tells you just how unimportant these figure heads are to the hosts.  

Watching this episode the one thing that struck me is exactly how fast things went down. Clearly the government knew what was going on and had started making plans but to the populace, the world they knew disappeared over night.  What we need to know now is exactly how the aliens established their control and why some members of humanity decided to aid them.