Rent Colony: Series 1 (2016)

Colony: Series 1 review by Adrijan Arsovski - Cinema Paradiso

Colony: Series 1 is tight. Meaning it knows what it’s doing and it does it very well. The first series explores how when you’re occupied by a larger force, the oppressor if you will, affects the occupied people – both on an individual and a collective level alike. The major twist is that the occupiers of Earth are aliens from another planet, who subdue humanity and force other humans to reign supreme over, well, other humans. Or something along the lines of a Philip Zimbardo experiment gone sci-fi.

The first season revolves around the Bowman family, including a major conflict between the husband Will (Josh Holloway) and his wife Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies). The major conflict at-hand is that the one is made an alien collaborator, whilst the other has joined the resistance in order to fight against the authoritarian oppressors and see justice to finally prevail. There are other characters too, but the majority of them serve as a backdrop to tell the story of the Bowman family; so, to this extent, Colony: Series 1 is all about them Bowmans and how they’d act when their world starts both literally and figuratively to fall apart.

Fair to say is that the first instalment of Colony doesn’t explore the Bowman dynamics as much as (some) would like (me included). And the twists and turns that follow aren’t enough to justify the narrative structure divulging into other, lesser developed characters throughout the show’s runtime.

Additionally, some have accused Colony: Series 1 of being bland. And where I can most certainly see where this train of thought is coming from, I don’t necessarily agree with it. For instance, the first instalment features lots of interesting (adding: ordinary) characters that are thrown into unordinary circumstances. Think ‘Lost’ for example, only smarter and without any unnecessary mystery plot devices such as a mysterious smoke and polar bears. In fact, where Lost failed, Colony succeeds: the first series of this sci-fi feature managed to build intrigue like none other in its wake; for the gamers out there, think Half-Life 2 and replace the combine with the alien race as featured in Colony. When I come to better think of it, it’s as if Colony takes shard inspiration from Half-Life 2 and everything that’s going around in that game. To avoid any spoilers, I will also say this: the mystery of why the alien race has visited Earth is one of the better framing devices of the series. Look out for that and you won’t be disappointed in the least.

Finally, is Colony: Series 1 worth spending time on? From my point of view (as an avid sci-fi fan and whatnot), yes, it is. The thrilling elements of the series are also worth paying attention to, so yeah: Colony is deemed worthy.