Colony 3: Ascending, in More Ways than One

I'm a little late reviewing the third season of Colony - well, more than two years late - because I missed its initial airing on the USA Network and then I couldn't find it anywhere for free until I happened upon it the other day on Netflix.  And I thought it was so excellent, so fine a season of science fiction television, so much better than its first two seasons, that I regret I didn't shell out the few bucks to see this third season much sooner.

[Spoilers follow]

In addition to the whole season being top-notch, there were two especially effective and memorable turning points.

One was the death of Charlie, killed in a hail of grey-hat bullets.   The grey-hat commandos had been called in by "Uncle" Alan, and Will understandably holds him responsible, even though Will, Katie, and Bram were about to be killed by a firing squad, when the grey-hats arrived and violently disrupted those proceedings.  Charlie's death was a daring, terribly transforming event for both Bowmans and the audience, upsetting the previous givens of the series, and letting us know that anything was possible.

The other turning point flows from Charlie's death.  Will is determined to kill Alan, who, conniving as he always is, feels genuine grief about what happened to Charlie.  In a sequence that lasts at least ten minutes, Will later in the season has a gun pointed at Alan, and later his head in a bucket of filthy water, and struggles with himself over whether he can do this.  Peter Jacobson gives a tour-de-force performance as Alan, alternately trying to reason with Will and screamingly pleading for his life, and the combination plus whatever Will has inside him gets him to let Alan go.   Some of what Alan said, especially that without the grey-hat attack Will, Katie, and Bram would have died, apparently got through the Will.  I was on the edge of my seat, the whole time, as this scene played out.

In addition to Jacobson, the acting by the rest of the cast was good, especially, again, Josh Holloway as Will, Sarah Wayne Callies as Katie, and Tory Kittles as Broussard, and it was fun to see Peyton List from Frequency on the science fiction screen again.  The plot was fairly complex, with two outer-space entities at war with each other and we humans caught in the middle, but it all made sense through the end, with some kind of alien attack ensuing in the sky above Seattle.  It would have been great to find out more about this in a season 4 of Colony, but--

The geniuses at the USA Network failed to renew the series, for who knows what reason, so we're left high and dry, or maybe under the clouds of battle in the sky would be a better metaphor.  Hey, if it helps, I'll pay money to any streaming service to see another season of this series which, because of this third season, now ranks as one of the better science fiction series ever to have been on television, above Falling Skies and Revolution, its two closest competitors in theme.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall ... Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions ... Colony 2.8: What Passes for a Happy Ending ... Colony 2.9: Together Again ... Colony 2.10: The Fight Continues ... Colony 2.11: Twist ... Colony 2.12: The List ... Colony Season 2 Finale: Out and About

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough

Colony Season 2 Finale: Out and About

Colony ended its second season tonight - yes, second season, not the series, with the good news announced a few days ago that there will be a third season in 2018 - with an episode pulsing with ambiguity, darkness, evil in the air, and a dollop of hope for humanity.  In other words, the way Colony has been telling its story all along.

About that dollop of hope: the collaborating sergeant letting Will and family get out of LA was an inspiring moment.  On some deep level, human blood is still a lot thicker than working with aliens water.

Snyder, who already showed himself to have some glimmers of humanity and decency, also put in a good show, choosing to go with the Bowmans rather than the safer job in collaborator headquarters in Europe.  But he activates some sort of device at the end, which no one other than he and entities we likely  haven't yet met know about - so, he likely has more up his sleeve than just decency.

Meanwhile, Broussard and Madeline, for very different reasons, aren't leaving LA, which leaves us not knowing what becomes of them - at least, not until next season.  Broussard certainly won't go down without a fight, and as for Madeline - well, it looks as if she's just moments from being destroyed, but if that's all that's going to happen to her next season, why not just show us that right now?

The upshot: as our world, off screen, seems to be going to hell in a hand basket, whatever exactly that means, Colony in its dark, brooding totalitarian vs. human freedom story is not only uncannily relevant but even comforting to see on some level.   And that with still barely a whiff of what and who the alien hosts really are.

See you back here next year, if not sooner.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall ... Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions ... Colony 2.8: What Passes for a Happy Ending ... Colony 2.9: Together Again ... Colony 2.10: The Fight Continues ... Colony 2.11: Twist ... Colony 2.12: The List

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough

Colony 2.12: The List

An excellent Colony 2.12 - I'm liking this season much more than the first - which ends with two notable revelations:

1. Will and Broussard both seem to be on a list of humans the drones refrain from killing, even though by all logic (of the aliens) they should.   Why are they on this list?  Who - or what - put them there?  Here are some possibilities -

1. Some action of Will and Broussard exempted them from drone execution. Since Broussard called them in, maybe that's the action (I can't recall what Will did before the drone looked him over and left without doing any damage).  But, I don't know, that doesn't feel to me like the reason.
2. Snyder would be a logical person to protect them both.  We've already seen him save Bram, and he has a somewhat hidden agenda of what he really wants, and that could include Broussard alive to get something accomplished that Snyder wants done.  But I don't think Snyder has that kind of control over the drones.
3. So we're left here with a real - and important - mystery.

2. We learn at the very end that the invaders want LA totally "rendered" - i.e., destroyed.  Here are some of the ways that that order could play out -

1. Our heroes somehow stop that order.  That would be fun to see, but I don't think they have that power.
2. One of the humans in semi-power moves to belay that order.  Helena would be the most likely. But she doesn't seem to have that kind of power, either.
3. LA is either totally or in part destroyed.  This would make for a different - and in many ways more profound and exciting - next season.  I don't want to see LA destroyed, but I think it's the most logical possibility at this point.

If the total render order is enacted, will Will and Broussard still be protected?  How about Will's family?

Questions I'd like to see answered - and we still don't know if there will be a third season.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall ... Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions ... Colony 2.8: What Passes for a Happy Ending ... Colony 2.9: Together Again ... Colony 2.10: The Fight Continues ... Colony 2.10: Twist

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough

Colony 2.11: Twist

Colony 2.11, aired earlier tonight, offered a different format - a series of segments, each titled Bram, Will, etc - telling a partially overlapping story from each of their perspectives.  (In an interesting coincidence, the penultimate episode of Bones earlier this week was presented in a similar format.) On Colony, this approach allowed for nice twist at the end.

The single story was an attack on the posh residences of the Green Zone - an attack of the Red Hand, with Bram joining in, unbeknownst to his parents.   Bram and his partner enter a home - we learn later, the temporary residence of a big shot, Ambassador King.  Bram's partner is killed.  Bram escapes, enlists the aid of his aunt. and eventually gets back home.

He tells his parents what happened, and says in response to Will's saying/asking if Bram shot his partner's killer that he wanted to, but couldn't.

But, in the final scene - from the Ambassador's perspective - we learn that it's the Ambassador who kills Bram's partner, and Bram in turn kills the Ambassador.

Now ... this was clearly, at least partially, in self-defense.  Bram did have the option of running, but the safe thing to do was kill the Ambassador.  But why, then, did he lie to his parents?

The answer conveys the important lesson this fine episode: Bram has changed.  He's more complex than we might have given him credit for.  He's choosing to play his cards close to the chest, not be accountable to his parents, and go his own way.

This makes him a more interesting character.   We'll see how this plays out in the next two episodes - and, with any luck, in a third season next year.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall ... Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions ... Colony 2.8: What Passes for a Happy Ending ... Colony 2.9: Together Again ... Colony 2.10: The Fight Continues

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough

Colony 2.10: The Fight Continues

As an article in Vox aptly observed, Colony is "is accidentally the most relevant show on television". That's because, as I've been saying since the beginning this second season, Colony - like The Man in the High Castle - tells us the story of resistance to an America under fascist rule.  In Colony, the fascists are aliens from space and American collaborators, in The Man in the High Castle, the fascists are Nazis and American collaborators in an alternate reality in which the Nazis won the Second World War.  In both stories, the accidental but profound relevance is to the person in the White House today, and his sympathizers and collaborators.

We're of course in much better shape than the good Americans in either series.  We still have judges who can strike down a particularly fascist executive order.   But we have a flood of soulless fascism in the wings and closer to resist.

In Colony, our heroes are doing the best they can, in whatever ways they can.  Their losses are grievous, and they're always on the verge of losing more.  But they fight on, taking ever more chances, as everyone including members of their not so extended family side with the overlords.

Katie's sister, tonight, was conflicted but in the end still turned Katie and Will in.   In the end, their bravery succeeded, but it was a close call, and they both know, all the resisters know, that things are likely to get worse.

We're still a long way off from that, of course.  But let's not kid ourselves.   The very fact that the Vox article strikes a chord, the very fact that Colony has increasing relevance to what we see on the news, should give us pause - and inspiration.

And that's not fake news.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall ... Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions ... Colony 2.8: What Passes for a Happy Ending ... Colony 2.9: Together Again

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough

Colony 2.9: Together Again

No more info about the invaders, but a strong episode 2.9 of Colony tonight, anyway.

The best scene was Katie and Broussard shooting up the red hats who were holding the three kids hostage.   Good to see them working and killing stooges together, especially on behalf of such a good cause.  When Broussard earlier says "of course" to Katie's plea to help free the kids, he means it.

Second best scene was Will gutting that despicable former IA guy with the broken bottle.  Not that I especially like seeing that kind of gore, but I'm definitely up for seeing the last of that guy.  I'm hoping he doesn't recover from his wounds.

And the overall story, with which the episode begins and ends, promises some strong turns ahead, too.  The real war is coming, she says.   I certainly hope so.  A narrative like Colony deserves a bigger tableau.

The last few episodes have done well in setting this up.   The family was reunited at last in last week's show, separated at the point of guns this week, but reunited again in the end.   The Bowmans have never been stronger.

But I'd still like to know a little more about the invaders.  Actually, a lot more.  For some reason, Colony has played this part of the story very close to the chest, disclosing just a bit about the attack from space, and the state of Earth in the aftermath, with the action focused on a very narrow slice of the occupation.   I'm looking forward to more in the next few weeks.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall ... Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions ... Colony 2.8: What Passes for a Happy Ending

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough


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

Colony 2.8: What Passes for a Happy Ending

Well, nothing ends too happily on Colony, given the alien occupation with the most lethal intentions, but we got about the best we can expect from the ending of episode 2.8 earlier this week.

The Bowman family is back together.  Bram's back home, at last joining Charlie whom Will got back at the beginning of this season, completing the snapshot that Katie held in her hand, of Will and her and Bram, Charlie, and Gracie, before the aliens arrived.

Not only that, but Snyder had his best moment so far, too, saving Bram from the fate that Snyder's factory was accorded due to the alien drone being destroyed - with Bram's help - in episode 2.7.  And just for good measure, that irritating tutor was shot dead by the guerrillas who attacked the Bowman house.  It was good to see her go.

But ... who were the guerrillas?  Given that Will learned that Frankie's mom Karen is the real head of the resistance, my guess is that raid was ordered by Karen, as retribution for Frankie's death.  It's great to see Laura Innes back on the screen in this role - and, who knows, maybe she won't turn out to be the villain tonight. (It's possible those Nazis running security did it - but why wouldn't they just send in their police force? Because they didn't want it known by anyone that they killed the Bowmans?  Maybe.)

It's also good to see Colony picking up the pace of its narrative, with big changes happening now in every episode.   The stakes are higher - much higher than before - and, as Snyder says to Bram, both Snyder and Will are more on the same side than Will might think, with doomsday from the aliens approaching at light speed.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall ... Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough


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

Colony 2.7: Countdowns and Intentions

Colony 2.7 really got down to nasty brass tacks last night, with an episode that revealed all sorts of tidbits and bigger things about what's really going on.

First, we learned more about what we were teased about a few episodes back - the aliens have been in our vicinity since 1969, counting down to the Arrival.  And by the end of the episode, we learn two other things: the aliens are shipping humans off planet, to be eaten or who knows what, and there is another countdown in motion for when the extermination of all humans on Earth will be completed.

That end date is just a few years away, and ups the ante for what our heroes need to do.   They have less time that the usual run for many science fiction series on television to stop the invaders.   (Of course, the series could run longer, if need be.)

But we still don't quite know the nature of what the aliens expect to do with the humans, or human bodies, that they're packing up and sending off-planet.  I said "eat," which would make Colony an extended version of "To Serve Man" (classic Damon Knight story made into a classic Twilight Zone episode), but we don't really know.  Clearly, the aliens are not just incinerating humans on Earth. They're putting some effort into getting their quarry with bodies intact off-planet.   It will be interesting to see more of the alien plans.

Meanwhile, as knowledge spreads among our human characters of what the aliens are really up to - planning our elimination, for whatever reason - this is bound to bring humans, at least most of us, together.  Surely Katie's sister and her greedy husband won't want to go along the aliens, and neither will Snyder.  (Some of those new guys in the police state are so far gone, there's no telling what they'll do.)

Bram's helping with the blowing up of the alien ship has a lit a strong fuse.  The repercussions should set the rest of the season in exciting turmoil.


See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough


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

Colony 2.3: The Wall

Just as Trump is railing on about his wall, Colony 2.3 has a harrowing scene of Will and Charlie scaling a wall, against enemy drone fire that threatens to pick them off. Two of the people on the rope are indeed killed.

And, indeed, intentionally or not, Colony is shaping up this season as a slightly futuristic scenario of what the new President and his worst advisers may want to have in store for us.  Or, who knows what the new President wants, and to what extent he's aware of the consequences.

But just as in our reality, a large part of the story of Colony is the resistance, and how that plays out against collaborators and the unseen aliens - real aliens from outer space, bad aliens, in contrast to our immigrants who good are human beings who want to be part of the American fabric.

Or at least, the American fabric prior to now.  Just as we have no idea where Colony is headed, which makes for good narrative fiction, we have little idea where America is now headed - or how this will all turn out - which makes for a dangerous reality.

Fiction in a dangerous world takes on a new tone, especially if that fiction bears a resemblance to what is going on, off the page and the screen.   And this tension is only heightened, when the people in power in our reality - Trump and Bannon - turn their fire on the media, which includes not only news today but maybe even science fiction like Colony tomorrow.

And I'll be back here with another review next week.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude ... Colony 2.2: 1969 ... Colony 2.3: The Wall

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough


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

Colony 2.2: 1969

A suitably chilling Colony 2.2 last night, with an especially good intro, which tells us the aliens have had us on their radar since 1969.

Though, who knows, maybe the aliens in this 1969 clip are good, and will save us from the Hosts who are colonizing the Earth.  Not likely, though - and impossible to say at this point, since we still know so little of the attack aka The Arrival or the attackers.   We did see a bristling alien vehicle in the air, breaking the sound barrier and potentially ear drums as it lifted, but that's still about it, and still not enough.

Meanwhile, some interesting developments on the ground.  Will and his former FBI partner make a good reunited team.  Katie's tempted to turn against the resistance because she's desperate to get back Bram, who has in effect been traded for Charlie as being sought by his parents.  And it will be fun to see Snyder in charge of the work facility, with his poster being torn down as Proxy.

On the other hand, it's beginning to look as if the hosts are practicing some kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or Puppet Masters, mental takeover of human minds, and that's been done so many times it will need to be wrapped in something really unexpected to make it work in Colony.  Come to think of it, it was even done in Falling Skies, to be the point of being worn to shreds.

So Colony remains, as its second season gets underway, full of promise, but still in need of some delivery of crucial plot pieces that go beyond the all-too familiar neo-fascist America.

See also Colony 2.1: Prelude

And see also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough


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

Colony 2.1: Prelude

Colony was back tonight with the debut of its second season, with an episode that was mostly prelude, and, like the first season, pretty good.

A couple of general impressions:  Colony now feels a little like FlashForward (cars suddenly stopping when the aliens arrive), Lost (prelude flashback), and even Fear the Walking Dead (the dawn of apocalypse).   All of that of course makes sense - especially given that star power from Lost (Josh Holloway) and The Walking Dead (Sarah Wayne Callies, not Fear the Walking Dead, buy close enough) are in Colony.

Colony was also a successor, from day one, to Falling Skies and its alien invasion, except we never saw the aliens per se in the first season.   Now we finally get to see ... well, not quite the aliens, but more of their ships and hardware.   We did see a big tall something, but it's not clear if that's an alien, robot, or even a tall co-opted human.

The prelude was generally satisfying, though - and, like everything else these days, like The Man in the High Castle, especially disquieting because ... you know why, look at who's set to be sworn in as President next week.  So Trump has had the unintended benefit of giving any show about a near-future or alternate history totalitarian state in the US a little more of an edge than it otherwise would have had.

But this first episode of the second has set the board nicely, and put the pieces in motion.  The first season had lots of potential, only some of which was realized.  I get the feeling that the second season will do better, and I'm looking forward to it.

See also Colony 1.1: Aliens with Potential ... 1.2: Compelling ... 1.5: Questions ... 1.6: The Provost ... Colony 1.7: Broussard ... Colony 1.8: Moon Base and Transit Zones ... Colony 1.9: Robot Arm ... Colony Season 1 Finale: Not Quite Enough


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

My List of the Top 10 Television Series of 2016

Continuing the tradition - just started last year - here is my Top 10 list for 2016,  from who knows how many series I've seen this past year on network television, cable, and streaming (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Acorn):

Honorable mention (narrowly not making the list, for a variety of reasons):  On the list last year: Rectify concluded its run this Fall, and although it was still excellent and unique in many ways, some of the episodes lacked the intensity of the earlier seasons.  The Affair has just begun a new season on Showtime, and so far it's too soon to know if this will be another Top 10 season.   Returning in honorable mention: Chicago Fire is still superb, but still suffers from the limitations of network television.  Nordic noir:  Case, The Department Q Trilogy, Dicte - all outstanding, subtitled Scandinavian police drama that almost made the list.  Apples and oranges: Veep is hilarious, but it's impossible to rank a comedy with dramas, so I put it here in honorable mentions. Closest runner-up: The Fall's third season (BBC, streamed on Neflix) was its best yet for this sociopathic crime drama, with an Emmy-worthy performance by Gillian Anderson.

And now the Top 10:

10. Designated Survivor (ABC TV):  The only network series on my Top 10, which says how far cable and streaming have surpassed traditional network TV in the U.S.  But Designated Survivor is a worthy exception, in effect a blend of 24 and House of Cards - or Jack Bauer in the White House. Fast-paced, dangerous, and unafraid to address current controversial political issues.

9. Vikings (History Channel):  Moving up from honorable mention last year to #9 on my list this year, Vikings is superbly rendered historical drama.   What and how the Vikings managed to conquer is fascinating just as straight history, but this series brings these stories alive with unforgettable characters and breathtaking battle scenes.

8. Colony (USA Network):  Near-future Los Angeles under totalitarian alien control - aliens from outer space not other countries - debuted in 2016.  A taut, excellent mix of action and intelligent political philosophy.

7. House of Cards (Season 4) (Netflix): Back on the list, down one notch, but that's because of the tougher competition, not because of any loss of quality.  Frank and Claire Underwood remain brilliant templates of American Presidential politics and governance, becoming less hyperbolic and more in tune with our reality with every passing year, and not because House of Cards is changing.

6. Narcos (Season 2) (Netflix): We streamed seasons 1 (2015) and 2 (2016) in 2016, and loved them both.  Irresistible, brutal (how's that for a combination) docu-drama about Colombian drug-lord Pablo Escobar.

5. 19-2 (Acorn).  This is among the best beat-cop shows ever on television.  All three seasons are streaming on Acorn, with Season 3 first airing in the summer of 2016.  Originally a French-Canadian series, my wife and I enjoyed the English version so much we'll probably see the French sooner or later too. Indelible characters.

4. Travelers (Netflix).  Ok, I love science fiction, but I especially love time travel.  I said in my review of this Canadian series, now streaming on Netflix, that it was in some ways as good as 12 Monkeys.  Now that it's settled in, I think it's even better.  The thing is, Travelers starts out very slowly, so much so that I wouldn't have kept watching if I didn't have an insatiable interest in time travel stories.  But Travelers gets better very quickly, and the last four episodes are pure, incandescent genius.

3. The Girlfriend Experience (Starz): Both a lawyer and a call-girl show, and a gem of a drama.  The "girlfriend experience" gives the customer not just sex but a girlfriend for the rented time, and the situations this engenders make for an outstanding portrayal of life in the fast lane.

2.  Westworld (HBO): There's going to be more science fiction this year than last year.  I am indeed a science fiction fan (as well as author), but these series were extraordinary, and should be very appealing to everyone who doesn't dislike science fiction.  In the case of Westworld, it was a very close second to The Man in the High Castle, offering the best depiction of the profound issues in human-like artificial intelligence I've ever seen on television or in the movies.  (Humans was #9 on my list last year - its new season will be on in 2017.  I found Westworld better than Humans, as good as it was.)

1. The Man in the High Castle (Season 2) (Amazon):  This was #1 on my list last year, and this year's episodes were even better.  Goes well beyond Philip K. Dick's masterful novel in intelligent, relevant, vivid, and riveting ways.   And speaking of relevant, never more so, given the support President-elect Trump received from white supremacists in the recent election.

See also My List of the Top Ten Television Series of 2015