Colony - 2.05 Company Man - Review

As viewers cross into midseason, Colony gets back into it's more action-heavy and science-fiction tone of it's first three season two episodes.

The opening scene was my favorite of the season. Not only have many viewers been waiting to catch up with Broussard and his resistance team, but to watch them play capture the drone in a rather tense scene that results with Morgan taking a major risk in putting a camera on it's back, using the previous episodes themes on surveillance as a jumping off point--and making viewers think about surveillance in another way, including these double takes on 'surveying the surveyor' was both exciting and brilliant story-telling move!

To follow the drone too was a neat thing to experience! I love the reveal of the drones being able to move and co-exist seamlessly together in the dark, inside the wall. It's a nice motif to mirror insect behavior reminding viewers of the basics of mother nature and biological views colonization. But in addition the scene of the swarm was ominous and feeds back into Colony's examination of human fear in relation to spirituality and human purpose.

As for the Bowmans, Will and Katie discuss their next course of action. Will feels certain that his best chance is to go back to work and act like he was just doing his job. After being scolded by Will yet again, Katie goes to looks for Charlie after she discovers that Lindsey let him leave the house. She finds him only a few houses away, doing what he has been doing best, stealing food. To make a point and follow Will's lead, Katie makes Charlie throw out the food! "It's a waste!", he exclaims, but Katie wants to make sure her son understands the rules of LA Block in wanting to ensure better survival. However Katie's attempt to follow through is short-lived. Very soon after find Charlie confined to his room. She asks Lindsey about it, which leads to Lindsey showing her prejudice by social-excluding Charlie. She tells Katie she sees Charlie as a detraction, siting he burned her book, and that she told him to stay in his room--and that she will not have someone disrupting her teachings--as it is in and of itself considered a religious violation! Not being able to control herself, Katie tells her get out of her house!

Will goes to work and follows his plan, but the new Proxy Governor is not so keen to let things just go back to what they were. He interrogates Will until deciding to give Will a new partner, none other than Detective Burke introduced to viewers last episode as Jennifer's overseer.  

And speaking of Jennifer, the episode doesn't officialize what exactly happened to her, but Will does try and figure out what did, as Burke denies ever knowing her, comes across Betsy who offers no answers, and tries to get to the bigger surveillance room, but is initially denied access.

However, going back to an earlier scene in the episode, we see Bernard in World War like fashion go into a movie theater and meet a man named Hennessy to help Broussard with data they gathered from the drone. As it turns out this group was behind an bomb attack at a recruitment center featured as an opening scene in episode 2.03! The same group is then responsible for a bomb that goes off while Will is at work!! But the bombing gives Will an opportunity to try and find out if Jennifer is behind that door--as viewers already know, she is not, but Will is clearly astonished to see SO MANY surveillance stations! Will then tries to find her at her house at the end of the episode, but find nothing, except Detective Burke waiting for him after he leaves her house, as he tries to take credit for Jennifer's fate by siting how she wasn't cut out for this line of work.

However one other curious thing, Hennessey also tells viewers that this 'red-hand' group is a closed loop and not from this world!! It's unclear how literal viewers are to take the 'not from this world' comment, as they could just be some kind of advanced resistance group, but it gives the possibility that there are either more than one species of alien or that the aliens have factions and do not agree on things!

The episode also catches up with Bram and Snyder at the labor camp with another explosive scene! We discover that some of the labor-workers have resorted to making bombs, but unfortunately for them, not to perfection. Sgt. Jenkins also continues to abuse his power, but Maya takes notice when Snyder keeps saving Bram. Bram find himself torn between helping Maya and the others and helping Snyder find out about how they are getting bomb-making materials, as both promise they can help Bram escape. Viewers also discover that some sort of special shipment is coming into their distribution center, setting up a plot for the next episode.

And lastly, Katie realizes that she needs to go back to Maddie and apologize to try and get Lindsay back, but she and Nolan happen to be entertaining guests. Maddie takes Katie into Nolan's office where the two have a religious quarrel before Maddie offers proof about Bram's location in form of  coded list on Nolan's computer. Maddie has to step out of the room to hear Nolan give a speech, which gives the resourceful Katie time to wip -ut a flash drive and download the information.

Overall the episode continued in tradition of earlier season two episodes with just the right amounts of action, mythology, science-fiction, but not forgetting it's a human story.