Colony 1.1: Alien Occupation with Potential

Hey, I saw the first episode of Josh Holloway's latest series, Colony, on the USA Network last night, and liked it.  Definitely has potential.  (I saw it On Demand - the series will premier this Thursday, January 10.)

With the demise of Falling Skies and the success of Childhood's End (it got pretty good reviews, though I wasn't thrilled with the ending of novel in the first place, but that's just me), we're definitely due for another alien occupation of Earth series.   Colony could well be it.

Holloway's Will Bowman and his wife Katie (played by Sarah Wayne Callies = Lori Grimes from The Walking Dead) play the pivotal couple in the story, and do it well.  It's good to see both back on television, as well as more work from Lost co-runner Carton Cuse.

[spoilers below]

The narrative hinges on what role the couple have - together and individually - in the resistance that is fighting the occupation from outer space.  The Vichy-like collaborator - "Proxy" Alan Snyder, played by House and Ray Donovan's Peter Jacobson - wants Will to help root out and obliterate the resistance.  Snyder tempts Will with access to better life, for him and family, including bacon for breakfast (if recent reports in our reality that bacon is not too good for you are true, then Will and family might well be better off without it, but ok).  Katie resists this, but when Will gets the Proxy to agree to help them find their missing son, that apparently sways Katie.

I say apparently, because in a nice last scene, we learn that Katie is part of the resistance herself, and she tells a colleague that they now have someone on the inside of the collaborators.  That would be Will, which raises the question: is Will working with Katie now in the resistance, is he a double agent, or is Katie planning to use him for the noble good of we humans?

It's probably the former - Will and Katie probably talked about this off-camera - but the set-up is promising in any case.  The special effects are enjoyable, too - especially the scene with the alien ship taking off - and I'm definitely looking forward to more on Colony.


not exactly aliens, but strange enough ...  The Silk Code