Saturday, February 25, 2017

Colony, Season Two, Episode Seven: Free Radicals

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So much happened this episode of Colony, that it's hard to know where to start. The one thing that is certain is that the writers are not playing any games and have amped up the story. Death to collaborators is about to become the genuine article and I for one heartily approve. 

We know that a big shipment is being sent out from the factory where Bram is being housed but until this episode, we didn't know what the shipment was or the plans of the resistance in this regard.  When Bram was recruited by the resistance, he had no idea just how vital his help would be.  It turns out that for all of their planning and scheming, what the resistance has needed all along is someone on the inside capable of gaining Snyder's trust and to get access to Snyder's swipe card. Bram is informed of his task after having the briefest sex possible with Maya in the back of a crate. It seems that fucking is a tradition of people in the resistance before heading out on a mission. Well, if you're gonna die, one last orgasm seems the least that they are entitled to and poor Maya doesn't even get to cum. 

Bram meets with Snyder and expresses his worry that the resistance is on to him and will kill him. Snyder tries to reassure Bram but is called away by a guard. Bram uses the opportunity to search Snyder's desk and steal his access card. When Snyder returns, Bram is standing behind his desk, thus raising Snyder's suspicion.  Bram plays it off like he was just looking at Snyder's map and questions if he will be allowed to go home if he provides Snyder with information. Snyder, being the snake that he is, is quick to agree and so Bram points to the map and says that the prisoners are planning an escape. I gotta say, I didn't think Bram had it in him to be so smooth. 

Back on the factory floor, a couple of prisoners make their way towards the fence and having been warned by Bram, the Agency forces are ready for them.  What Snyder doesn't realise is that he's been played and that this has all been a distraction so that Maya and Bram can get away. Bram and Maya race with their homemade bomb to the storage area that Snyder showed Nolan in the last episode. When they open up one of the capsules they find an unconscious woman inside. Maya frees the woman, who promptly falls to the ground and starts expectorating the vilest green goop.  It looks like the woman is actually drowning from being forced to breathe the air.  It's enough to make me wonder if a) she's an alien or b) the aliens are turning humans into them? 

Bram and Maya don't have time to speculate about the woman because Jenkins has tracked them down.  Maya sends Bram off to deal with Jenkins armed with a shank while she continues with the mission.  Unsurprisingly, Bram doesn't fare well against Jenkins and is only saved by another prisoner sneaking up behind Jenkins and bashing his head in. I am sincerely hoping that Jenkins, who is a cruel bastard, is dead. Bram is ordered to rejoin the rest of the prisoners before it's noted that he's missing. 

The prisoners are all rounded up and Snyder is quick to note that one person is missing. The missing person as we know is Maya. Considering that Snyder was told that the plan was to escape the factory, he's not overly wound up, particularly because they can still send the shipment off on time.  The ship takes off and everything is fine at first, but suddenly it explodes. All of the Los Angeles Bloc sees the explosion, which is clearly meant to signal that the resistance is alive and well. 

Bram is absolutely stunned by the events of the day and is clearly in far over his head.  He speaks to the man who saved him from Jenkins to ask where Maya is and is informed that he knows where Maya is. That's right, Maya is dead because she set off the explosion from inside the ship. The man tells Bram that he hopes Bram is as brave as Maya was because they are going to call her a hero and things are about to get real. Bram lays downs and cries.

Things aren't going much better for Will, who knows that he's in deep at work with his new partner.  Will desperately wants to quit but Katie talks him into hanging in there for now.  Will's problem actually begins at the start of the episode, when Frankie and her boyfriend begin their day with the ritual sexing to preclude a resistance attack. The boyfriend gets up and boards transportation for the green zone, wearing what is clearly a suicide vest.  The camera focuses on the innocent people around him, particularly a little girl.  When the bus arrives at a checkpoint, dude is barely able to stand up and is raising some concern by the people around him.  Seeing the innocents and the children who will die, the bomber gets cold feet and gets out of line.  This gets the attention of the guard dogs and he quickly finds himself surrounded by the redhats. The man tries to explain that it's a mistake for him to be there but before he can go much further, Frankie remote detonates his bomb.  Frankie's a little disappointed that he didn't get as far as she wanted but happy that they were able to send a message. 

Even though Frankie detonated the bomb remotely, her cover has been blown. Will and Burke are assigned to smoke Frankie out at all costs. Bennett makes it clear that Will is not living up to the reputation that preceded him. If that were not enough, Burke wants to know where Will went yesterday because he hasn't explained the mileage he added to the car he signed out. Will plays wrong and strong with the already suspicious Burke. 

The first stop for Will and Burke is Frankie's aunt and uncle's home. The two seniors offer tea to Will and Burke while spouting the company line about being faithful to the new regime.  It's obvious that they aren't telling the truth but Will isn't willing to push them.  Burke however is not interested in playing nice guy with the senior couple and reveals that the government has their grandchildren in custody.  Will later confronts Burke about the cruelty of this approach and Burke is quick to point out that it worked. Burke questions if Will is simply soft or a member of the resistance. I'm really starting to hate Burke. 

It's time to raid Frankie's hideout and Burke makes certain that Will is in the point position.  Will goes through shooting people as necessary until he comes to a large man who refuses to go down after being shot several times center mass. Thankfully for Will, this is when Burke shows up and takes out the resistance fighter.  Now that the resistance force has been subdued, Burke decides that it's time to get some answers.  Burke lines them up on their knees and starts shooting them one by one in the head as he demands answers. Will, sickened by what he is seeing, heads back into the house where he comes across a resistance fighter that the government forces missed. Rather than turning the young man in, Will allows him to escape.  

Back at Homeland Security, Frankie is being tortured for information and it's clearly tearing Will up.  When Will cannot take it anymore, he tries to intervene by stopping the torture and questioning Frankie himself.  When Frankie appears to collapse, Will frees her from her constraints, unwittingly allowing Frankie the opportunity to sneak a suicide patch from her foot into her mouth.  Frankie it seems would rather die than betray the resistance. 

Bennett takes both Will and Burke to task for Frankie's suicide. Burke is quick to suggest that he would have better results with a new partner and blames Will for breaking protocol.  Bennett however is pissed at them both and makes it clear that both of their jobs are on the line now. You know damn well that this is going to make Burke that much harder for Will to work with now. 

Because Will cannot get access to the the file on the USB drive at work, Katie decides to approach Broussard, to see if he can find any information.  Katie agrees that the resistance can use anything else they find on the drive, as long as they give her the information on Bram. In the background, Simon is visible, so maybe Broussard has managed to get him back in the right frame of mind.

Maddie, the family's Benedict Arnold is preparing to do a PSA for the government cult when she is confronted by Nolan about the file that Katie downloaded from his computer.  Maddie is quick to say that it could have been anyone because there were so many people in attendance at the party but Nolan knows that Maddie knows more than she's saying.

Maddie heads to Katie's home to confront her about the file and Katie, all to aware of the fact that her entire home is under surveillance, lies right to Maddie's face and denies what she did. Maddie is obviously not fooled by her sister's denial and suggests that Katie should make nice with Lindsay at least for the sake of appearances.

After seeing the PSA air on television, Katie is clearly dismayed by just how much kool aid Maddie has consumed but she decides to follow her sisters advice and head down to the church to speak with Lindsay. Though it kills Katie to do it, once at the church, Katie asks Lindsay to comeback, saying that she knows that Lindsay was only doing her best for her children.  Lindsay talks about how she recognises the struggle Katie has been going through. OMG I want to pop Lindsay in the face.

Broussard pays a visit to the audio tech who has been analysing the data they recorded. After the tech gets over his hero worship of Broussard, he explains that the sounds they recorded are a countdown.  The last countdown they discovered was a countdown to the occupation of earth. That's right, shit is getting real.

Broussard meets with Kate and tells her that Bram is scheduled to be released in less than six months.  This is a bit of good news and Kate is quick to celebrate. Broussard then asks Kate to help him with the resistance, claiming that he needs a partner and is not good working alone. After all that has happened, Kate isn't willing to risk her family anymore. This is when Broussard drops the bomb about the countdown he discovered and reveals that it's a countdown to the date when there are no longer humans in the Colony. They are living in a death camp.

Will returns home after a rough day to be nagged by Lindsay, who after Kate's invitation to come back is feeling herself. Lindsay complains about Charlie bouncing his ball while she was trying to teach Gracie and says that she wouldn't want to be forced to report Charlie. I know that they have to tolerate Lindsay but my hand is just itching to slap her. Will heads outside and tries to talk to Charlie but gets nowhere.

Will heads to the Yonk, since there are no listening devices there to have a chat with Kate and have a drink. After the day he has had, who could blame him? Will talks about his fear that he won't last at work and how much he wants out. Kate brings up the Resistance but Will calls that route suicide.  Kate then lets him know about the doomsday clock and her belief that they are now at the point where they have no choice but to help the Resistance.  Will agrees to go along for now but says that their goal is to get their family out of colony before the clock runs out.

It was awesome to see the Resistance strike such a great blow by blowing up the ship but it absolutely puts Bram in danger. There's no way that Snyder isn't going to figure out that his access card was stolen.  The only way that Bram gets out of this unscathed, is if the superior officers decide to come for Snyder, who is already on thin ice given his track record as Proxy. The only good that can come of this, is that Snyder gets demoted once again but this time puts his skills to work for the Resistance, rather than trying to claw his way back to power.

I don't know about you but the doomsday countdown clock totally screamed Independence Day to me. It makes sense that the aliens have something more going on than to simply divide the earth up into sectors.  At this point, I think that there's some biological engineering going on to the humans and that's why humanity is going to disappear.

I'm caught between Lindsay and Maddie as the character I hate the most with Burke being a close third. I keep thinking about how much Maddie is going to need her sister to vouch for her when this all eventually goes bad for her.  History has shown that the victors aren't exactly kind to collaborators.   Maddie may not outright snitch on her family but she's certainly proven that she's not really interested in helping them either.

Things for Will at work are going to get very rough. Now that Burke knows that his job is on the line, he's going to be even tougher on Will and he's certainly going to push the limits to either make Will crack or find out exactly where Will stands.

Colony could not be better timed than it is.  It's an example of an authoritarian state taken to its extreme.  The people all live in fear and face death for any kind of resistance.  The government cannot be trust and all the media at this point is nothing more than propaganda. Given that 45 is now sitting in the oval office, Colony is the perfect television show.  It could not be more timely or more relevant.