ColonyIs Terrifying Because It Feels Like Real Life

Mr. Robot was a thrilling experience because it tinge on real - cosmos issues and care in a fashion that felt intuitive and grounded . And now , USA ’s latest dramatic play , Colony , seems to be pulling off the same legerdemain — only for an alien encroachment story .

settlement is a dystopia that you may actually see yourself living in . It ’s scary and worrying , in ways that oblige you to watch . This serial does n’t put its focus on the inscrutable , perchance - extraterrestrial entities who are ruling over humanity — or else , it follows a group of scrambling suburbanites who face tech fears that are all too familiar to us in the twenty - first century , from human - hunting drone to militarized police .

Spoilers forward …

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Just as Mr. Robotpicked present - day threatsthat palpate imminent and relevant , yet futuristic and cyberpunk — mass data breaches , digital individuality theft , income inequality — Colony takes other modern dangers and puts them in a near - future setting . That , and and placing two keen jumper lead in a largely normal - sounding , recognizable Los Angeles ( economise for the absence of all cars and a giant paries ring the city ) , make Colony feel relatable , accessible , and scary .

Lord Carlton Cuse and Ryan Condal draw on a lot of material - world fears , all of which show up in the pilot burner : Ruthless cops with assault rifle who demand to check citizens ’ digital IDs , police drone on disentangle street to alert the nanny government of rebels , terrorist with IEDs , and a giant wall that prevent anyone from get into or bequeath the city .

dependency rivet around a class living in seemingly modern - 24-hour interval Los Angeles , extend by parents Will ( Josh Holloway of Lost ) and Katie ( Sarah Wayne Callies of The Walking Dead ) . For the first ten minutes or so , everything looks completely ordinary — Dad ’s in the kitchen cause breakfast , junior ’s helping sis with homework or something — but you feel something ’s a bit off . Is the marriage on the rocks ? Did somebody get detainment at school today ? Nope ! The actual response ? humankind ’s been usurped by an evil effect that ’s turned our civilization into a futuristic marionette state , ruthlessly decree by an iron - fist entity only known as The Hosts .

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Society has been very clearly divided into wealthy person and have - nots , which is another factual , troublesome hallmark of twenty - first 100 America that the show take and take to the woods with . Middle class ? What middle class ? In Colony , you ’re either a legion - sympathizing socialite who enjoys champagne and caviare in the Hollywood Hills , or you ’re not . Colony ’s quaint , all - American suburbia is actually an Orwellian hell , where coffee ’s an onetime world sumptuousness , and where folks must barter food and medical specialty to survive during the day and be home by curfew at Nox .

At times , the blackguard - eat - dog totalitarian Department of State , depicted side - by - side ho - hum everyday lifespan , is jarring . Like the scene when the in high spirits schoolers are just chilling on the bleacher by the football game field on a beautiful gay day , smile and cheerfully chit-chat like they ’re in a JCPenney back - to - school day ad … while also barter backyard fruit for homemade tortilla . All of a sudden , a strapping bully in a backpack appear , here to reclaim his sward : “ No trading goes on without me scram my hooter besotted , ” the stripling imperil , and a brief strong-arm affray follow . I get what they were going for , it just seemed a little … silly ? I dunno , I trust the show does n’t veer into a weird Lord of the Flies or Brave New World ( the sequence ’s deed of conveyance ) wannabe .

I also trust it does n’t lean on “ the encroachment ” too much as a doojigger . We — and maybe even the characters?—don’t know just what happened , and who , or what , took over . But again , the scenario well plays into contemporary , real - world dread : Was it a takeover by a foreign government ( or our own government ) ? Was it tech - savvy terrorists ? The AI uprising ? World War III ? Or extraterrestrial being ? ! ? It ’s also interesting because , unlike Into the Badlands , in which the humans - tear down Event chance century ago , Colony ’s apocalypse seems to be extremely recent . When Proxy Governor Snyder drops by the sign for a surprisal sojourn to tempt Will to get together the Collaborators , for illustration , teen son Bram instantly accredit the scent of Francis Bacon , apparently now a rarified delicacy .

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Thankfully , based on the previews for the season , a slew of the show seems to generate drama from the loom struggle between the two leads — Will ’s pre - takeover background in law enforcement prompts server Collaborators to avail him sniffle out insurgents , but Katie uses the crime syndicate ’s new in as an opportunity to become a breakwater for the Resistance .

Holloway is keen in this , but for me , Callies ’ Katie is the real narrator ; the heroine we succeed and key with . I got a sense of a good individual try her good to sail the new earth ; terrorise for her family ’s safety but limit and seemingly up to of keep up it . I like the scene when she tried to insure blackguard insulin in a Alfred Edward Woodley Mason jar in exchange for booze , but when the swop go in the south , she pulls a gunman and bail bond — but not without a “ dickhead , good-for-naught ” when she accidentally stumbles into some of the homeowner ’s crybaby as she ’s backing away with her weapon draw .

USA seems very aware that Mr. Robot has put the net under a new spot , and Colonyis clearly the associate pieceto the acclaimed hacker show . If Mr. Robot represents the dystopia that ’s happening right now , Colony is the dystopia that ’s just around the corner . Whether it ’s extraterrestrial being or atomic warhead - wield world power ( what was that huge twinkle show , anyway ? ) , Earth is under siege , and the overlords are using technical school and fear tactic that find awfully recognizable . We ’ll see how Angelenos get to retaliate in the rest of the promising time of year ’s nine instalment .

Photo: Jae C. Hong