‘Colony’ Season 2, Episode 2 Recap: Somewhere Out There
By Henry Kulick
‘Colony’ Season 2, Episode 2 is a great continuation of our present-day plot. Charlie is reunited with his father, but what effect has his year in the dangerous Santa Monica bloc had on his well-being?
Remember when USA Network used to be the channel that had James Roday pretending to be a psychic or Tony Schalub refusing to touch things with his hands? Well, USA’s PG programming improved greatly as 2015’s Mr. Robot came onto the scene and Colony Season 2, Episode 2 continues to reinforce the idea that USA is moving more towards story-driven programming than procedural “whodunits”.
And it’s a very, very good thing.
That isn’t to say that Colony is a can’t-miss smash. It has its faults and tonight’s episode did highlight some of the show’s weaknesses. All around, Colony season 2, episode 2 showed us a great deal of what’s in store for the Bowmans.
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But let’s take things beat for beat.
Keeping in the tone of the first episode, we begin this one with a flashback. Though, instead of showing us life before the invasion, this flashback takes us back to 1969. Men who look part Apollo 13, part X-Files huddle around a recording device listening to what clearly is an alien butt-dial. In that smoky room, it’s decided that they should try to respond to this message in whatever way we can.
We’re shown a quick shot of the moon as the alien gargle continues to play before the opening title card is shown….
Our episode jumps back to present time to show Katie riding her bike to what looks to be an old government building now fitted for civil protection. In this post-title scene, it’s very apparent that the atmosphere of the Los Angeles bloc has become even more high-tension.
We see propaganda of Snyder’s face being torn down to make way for the new regime. The Redhats seem ready to strike at any moment. Definitely not a fun place to be since the resistance’s little scheme that ended in a Host’s death last season.
Katie’s looking for Bram. Since being caught in the finale of last season, Bram’s fate has been up in the air and she’s come to find out just what’s going on. With a little greasing of palms, it’s revealed to her by a Redhat that he’s “in transit”. While this doesn’t mean much of anything, it’s a pretty good chance that it means he’s about to make his way to the factory.
This leads us back to Maddie and Nolan’s house in the green zone where Maggie agrees to use Nolan’s position to make something happen for Bram, but she gives no promises as to what that’ll be. Things are a different shade of weird in the Green Zone. While the bloc may mean you could get raided at any moment, the GZ is like The Stepford Wives moved to Mars.
The universal religion focused on the alien’s arrival and the Space Jesus that’s soon to follow is much more prominent than the pestering gnat is was last season. It’s clearly spread thick through the affluent people of the green zone and its effect is especially personified in Lindsay, the government-appointed babysitter. She was a kook last season and she’s really blossomed into a full-blown weirdo so far in season two.
Devin is our newest character that looks to be sticking around for a while, hopefully filling in some of the many voids that were left behind in the final episodes of season one. She’s Will’s old partner when they were working for the fed. Devin’s laid back in a lot of ways but has a look about her that she can kick into gear as soon as the occasion calls for some asses to be kicked.
She’s the first familiar face Will sees in the Santa Monica bloc. Though, I’m not even sure it’s even a bloc and not just a decrepit stretch of California beach that was forgotten about by these mysterious Hosts.
While in the LA block, you’ve got this oppressive government always watching, Santa Monica seems like Snake Plisken’s playground where crime lords self-govern themselves. I hope they explore why this is as the series continues.
Back to Devin. She agrees to help find Charlie with Will, but there’s a job that needs to be done first. The dream team is back in action, just like the old days!
Devin’s more-or-less a bounty hunter now in the urban wasteland. Someone gives her a contract, she kicks in doors and brings back the target alive. Not much is explained to us as to why people are having bounties taken out on them. I can only imagine that there’s a wild west justice system in play throughout Santa Monica.
Once the bounty is returned to Devin’s handler, they have their opportunity to speak with the man who runs things, Solomon.
In the year since things got flipped upside down, this Solomon guy, who looks closer to a Berkley dropout than Santa Monica’s Kingpin has become the leader of a group of child soldiers who do his bidding throughout the bloc. He’s willing to give up Charlie’s whereabouts in exchange for the transit pass that got Will through the wall in the first place.
A fair trade in the eyes of a father, it seems.
We finally meet the lost son, save his small scene in last season’s finale. Charlie’s become a feral street kid under the loose supervision of Soloman. He’s wary of his estranged father and also sporting a terrible wig that may be smothering much of his brain activity. Really, I hope someone in the costume department watched this episode and shook their head realizing it was a bad look.
Charlie comes with his father back to Devin’s apocalyptic beach house where they try their best to reunite as father and son. It’s a hard battle as it’s clear that the year in Santa Monica has had its effect on the young boy. Will doesn’t push things and hopes that a good night’s sleep may be just what Charlie needs to begin his road to recovery.
In between our stories that are happening on either side of the wall, we also get to see snippets of Bran’s new life in a labor camp. It did seem that Nolan was able to pull some strings for him, but they weren’t a full pardon for his actions. At least he’s not going to the factory!
The labor camp is essentially a prison, filled with people who, for whatever reason weren’t sent all the way up, but were still offenders in the eyes of the Hosts. Not a lot was developed here except it looks like it’s going to be a hard from for Bram. He’s probably going to come out the other side much like how we’re seeing Charlie now, hardened.
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Oh, and Snyders alive! He’s the puppet warden of this labor camp. It’s good to see him still kicking, even if he’s looking as defeated as ever.
Our story returns to the LA bloc. Katie isn’t satisfied with the idea that her son isn’t released for his crimes so, very much like the Katie of Season 1, she decides to do something about it. She confronts Nolan directly, leading to a fight about how Nolan’s doing all he can do without making them look disloyal. After all, Bram did break the law.
Maddie finds out about Katie going behind her back to make demands of Nolan and it makes her feel betrayed by her sister. Maddie’s playing the game to stay safe while Katie’s only main concern is getting her family back under one roof. We start to see how these sisters aren’t really aiming for the same objective as it’s clear that Katie is beginning to allege herself with the people of the GZ. This is truly apparent when she is indoctrinated into the cult-like religion that worships the alien’s arrival.
Our last arc shows Will waking up in Devin’s house to the noise of a struggle. Charlie attempted to escape and go back to Solomon who has used fear and pain to reinforce the idea that he’s the only one that can care for them, the orphans of Santa Monica.
Also, it can’t help but be noted that there’s some alluding to pedophilic acts committed by Solomon.
You can imagine how Will reacts. He returns to Solomon’s compound and uses his FBI training to make short work of the lackeys who only a year ago were working at 7-11. This is concluded by Will using a tire iron to execute Solomon.
While the mission is complete, our last scene shows Will setting eyes on a group of orphans now without any hand to guide them. He pleads for them to come with him, that he’ll help find them a home, but the boys all run away in fear. In bringing an end to an evil, Will realizes that he’s now left many young mouths to go unfed.
The credits roll and the Bowman’s turmoils are on pause for another week.
All around, Colony season 2, episode 2 had done a great job at showing us the continuation of what happened after the season finale since episode one was mostly spent showing us what life was like before the arrival. We have a sense of the impending problems to come from this cult that’s building within the GZ and we’ll have to see what that means for Katie and Maddie.
My fear is that Katie isn’t really doing the best for her family with the actions she takes. In a lot of ways, Katie reminds me a lot of Sarah Wayne Callie’s past performance as Lori from The Walking Dead. She takes actions in the name of family without truly thinking about the effect that they can have. Did she not just push Maddie further into the hands of Nolan and his rich zealot friends by going around her back? Has she not always been a counter to Will’s actions by her affiliation with the resistance? She’ll need to really start to think like a parent and partner if she means to do well by her own.
I give Colony props for the way that they showed Will going in and dealing with the crime lord without needing to have another character try to talk him down. Too many times in television we have a character learn something terrible and personal and want to take immediate vengeance but is talked down by another. Will learned that someone had harmed his kid and he handled it. It was refreshing to see.
There’s an exciting time ahead for this show. A great season two plot has begun and we’ll be along for the ride. Check up here on what stars Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies were saying about Colony Season 2.
Let us know what you thought of Colony Season 2, Episode 2 down in the comments below!