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Colony

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews

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69

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	Your Score
7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Ratings

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Colony

Now Playing: Colony

Colony

Series Details & Credits

USA | Release Date: January 14, 2016

Summary: In a future occupied Los Angeles, former FBI agent Will Bowman (Josh Holloway) and his wife (Sarah Wayne Callies) are given an opportunity to be reunited with one of their sons if they cooperate with the occupying authorities.

Creator: Carlton Cuse and Carlton Cuse and Ryan Condal

Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Suspense, Science Fiction

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Recent Episodes

tbd
S3:E13. What Goes Around
Air Date: July 25, 2018
tbd
S3:E12. Bonzo
Air Date: July 18, 2018
tbd
S3:E11. Disposable Heroes
Air Date: July 11, 2018

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

69

Positive:

18

Mixed:

6

Negative:

0

Critic Reviews

91

IndieWire Liz Shannon Miller

Jan 20, 2017

Season 2 Review: Colony isn’t exactly dense with hope. But here in Season 2, it remains filled with great ideas that make it challenging television, in the best way. Read full review

83

The A.V. Club

Alex McCown

Jan 12, 2016

Season 1 Review: What the series lacks in depth and visual elegance, it more than makes up for in sheer entertainment value. Colony combines the best aspects of USA’s past (generic shows that are nonetheless sugary treats) with the heady rush of its contemporary, Mr. Robot-era mission: Classing up the joint. Read full review

80

Washington Post

Hank Stuever

Jan 14, 2016

Season 1 Review: Aided by a strong script that seems to recognize this [Next to fear, sadness would of course be the overwhelming shared emotion if some otherworldly force disrupted our social order.], Holloway and Callies come across as characters who know the real depth of a doomed world. Read full review

75

Entertainment Weekly

Kevin P. Sullivan

Jan 6, 2016

Season 1 Review: The setup leaves Holloway as a person torn between two bad choices--a spot in which the actor thrives--and the mystery of who now rules L.A. should be enough to keep you interested. [8/15 Jan 2016, p.99]

70

Los Angeles Times

Mary McNamara

Jan 14, 2016

Season 1 Review: "What's really going on?" quickly becomes as big a question as "What will happen next?" as episodes jammed with plot remain often maddeningly opaque.... The stars give the show life--Holloway and Callies play an easily likable married couple with an increasingly complicated relationship, and Jacobson shines greasily as spokesman for the new overlords--but the wall gives the show meaning and potential relevance. Read full review

60

The New York Times

Mike Hale

Jan 13, 2016

Season 1 Review: Eventually, though, what seemed intriguing starts to feel slack and inconsequential, as the focus remains on police-procedural investigations and the duplicities in the Bowmans’ marriage. You start to hunger for answers. Read full review

40

We Got This Covered

Isaac Feldberg

Jan 12, 2016

Season 1 Review: It wants to succeed as a bold, bracing new drama laden with rich mystery and moral turpitude; but as it stands, the show rarely displays any signs of creative intelligence--let alone dramatic life. Read full review

SEE ALL 24 REVIEWS

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7.7

User Reviews

10

ds84k0

Oct 7, 2021

This series is a captivating, believable sci-fi story unlike most other shows in the genre. First 2 seasons were excellently done; both the actual story, as well as the cast and directing. Season 3 the tone is completely different; can tell the directors have lost drive or made some kind ofThis series is a captivating, believable sci-fi story unlike most other shows in the genre. First 2 seasons were excellently done; both the actual story, as well as the cast and directing. Season 3 the tone is completely different; can tell the directors have lost drive or made some kind of change which negatively impacted the show. And then the fact that it got cancelled… I would give Colony a 12/10, if it weren’t for the cliffhanger at the end of season 3. Someone really dropped the ball, not helping renew this show for the last 2 seasons. Still, one of my top shows of all time. Watch one episode, and you will begin a complete binge of this show… impossible not too.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

10

Sclick

May 28, 2019

I’m really disappointed to see this show go. Three seasons just wasn’t enough.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

8

tarekali

Jan 3, 2021

This series was instantly addictive for me, no wonder it won numerous awards in science fiction circles. Season 2 episode 1 should be mandatory teaching in intelligence, military and government circles. It is a masterclass on how to take over a civilization by accessing its internalThis series was instantly addictive for me, no wonder it won numerous awards in science fiction circles. Season 2 episode 1 should be mandatory teaching in intelligence, military and government circles. It is a masterclass on how to take over a civilization by accessing its internal databases, by securing key players through elimination or neutralization, by misleading potential enemies into self destruction before they even understand the threat they face. Above all just like every other fallen civilization, nothing is possible without internal collaborators, it is the enemy within that always opens the doors and enables the overwhelming victory of external enemies. The militarized impassable walls are the physical manifestation of divide and conquer. The sheer genius of the invasion is a precision decapitation of humanity’s will to fight and survive. Needless to say the special effects are world class. Alien, ship, creature and tech design are outstanding. I felt like I was immersed in a live action version of the venerable Half Life series from Valve. I would not be offended if some drone and walker designs were thus inspired. It's also interesting to see the dynamics and contrast of a well run versus abandoned ghetto, to see the contrast between the semblance of peace and security, and the total descent into rule of the strong and exploitation of the weak. Human nature is always a moment or catalyst away from showing its worst self. It’s the old interplay of ideologies and ideas, the struggle of dominating the public mind and perception. Like all occupations, both sides wrestle to control the narrative, guerilla tactics galore. To me the most telling lesson of this series is the epic scale of self defeat and betrayal that humanity is capable of. The elites in the series abandon humanity twice, once in the initial invasion and once again when opportunity for freedom presents itself. This is absolutely typical and looking at the historical wealth inequality of the world today, it is exactly how the elites will behave when a global catastrophe happens. However what hurts more is the global betrayal of foot soldiers who will of course casually claim they were following orders. This is the same mind control we have seen in Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, Cambodia, post soviet Serbia, Rwanda, modern Myanmar, present Uyghur region China, etc. The capacity for common men and women to ruthlessly slaughter their own, based on evil orders from higher up, remains a curse of humanity. In season 3 there is a twist regarding who is the real enemy, but Katie keeps the perspective clear and laser focused on the enemy within, which is always far worse than the enemy without. It is of course a real shame this amazing series was cancelled. I really hope it gets picked up again or rebooted on another network.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

7

cylun

Jan 7, 2021

The ideas in this show and how they are translated give a convincing impression. The storytelling is thrilling and balances a reasonable amount of mystery with twists and foreshadowing. The main critique simply is that every season follows a different story arc without any consistency amongThe ideas in this show and how they are translated give a convincing impression. The storytelling is thrilling and balances a reasonable amount of mystery with twists and foreshadowing. The main critique simply is that every season follows a different story arc without any consistency among the seasons. Overall, it was worth watching regardless.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

5

zerobane

Jan 31, 2022

Season1 blaze in with dazzling scenes of intrigue, susepense and un-anwsered questions. Very paltible enemies and authoritarian rule along with some fairly good characters. 9 out of 10... Season2 derails into some side story that is lackluster and really only has 1-2 good epsiodes; rest ofSeason1 blaze in with dazzling scenes of intrigue, susepense and un-anwsered questions. Very paltible enemies and authoritarian rule along with some fairly good characters. 9 out of 10... Season2 derails into some side story that is lackluster and really only has 1-2 good epsiodes; rest of mostly stale drama. 5 out 10

Season3 is truly tragic; first 10 or epsiodes are just cringe inducing drama as the characters cry and whine. Just stale and shallow writing. Towards end of season some real story and plot points start building up again. Truly tragic as there was so much they could of done with this world but failed to take it really anywhere.
2 out of 10

Great base story and world created; the actual content and story is lackluster.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

3

MeritCoba

Feb 14, 2021

Perhaps it is unfair to opinionate on a series when you have only seen the pilot, but a pilot needs to be enticing and it wasn't for me: it was boring.
I tried to figure out what it was that was boring, but it wasn't any particular thing, but rather several things combined. The first was thePerhaps it is unfair to opinionate on a series when you have only seen the pilot, but a pilot needs to be enticing and it wasn't for me: it was boring.
I tried to figure out what it was that was boring, but it wasn't any particular thing, but rather several things combined. The first was the protagonist. He is a pretty guy living with his beautiful wife in a house with two pretty children.
He is determined to find his third child who is lost in another part of town and was never heard from again. When trying to get to that other part of time the 'resistance' conveniently blows up the truck he is in and he, as sole survivor, gets captured by the police and then forcibly recruited into the police, because he is special. To find his third child he becomes an idiot and risks all, which, makes even less sense as the story progresses . For as we later learn that he is a special military FBI dude and in hiding as most got killed when the aliens took over. So not only does he willing endanger himself and his family but he has even more reasons not to do so. In fact, it makes no sense as it doesn't even get him nearer to his goal. But lucky for him he is wearing plot armor and the leader wants him to find the resistance and he doesn't get offed and nor is his family. Lucky guy!

The leader is a henchman for the aliens, which is convenient for the story as you don't need to show them. He is played as an amicable guy who tries to do the convincing by talking, but in the mean time hinting at worse things if you were to go against his wishes. If this was a crime series set in Chicago he would be Al Capone. A cliche.
At this point we have a pedestrian setup and nothing interesting has happened.
I don't quite see the point of aliens as they otherwise have no presence in the pilot. They might as well be left out and nothing would have changed. And yes a pilot ought to at least hint at something.

The series would be interesting if it mirrored current day events more and would cast the protagonist as a initially loyal cop who increasingly gets uncomfortable with the way things are going. Where do you stand as a policeman? You could make him an instructor with a military background, which would make him see that the police increasingly gets to be more and more like an occupation force as the training turned from policing to direct violence.
(A good way would be to have police go through military training, which is that they have to run through a maze where cardboard figures popup and they have to shoot those figures. The subtle difference here is a shift: initially it might look the same: both have to establish that the pop up is an antagonist and not an innocent bystander, but were the police would aim to diffuse and arrest, the military aim to destroy.)
Instead of splitting the city in parts you can start of with slowly building up go from more patrolling to curfews to lockdowns to searches to forcibly entries and the reactions: protests, resistance and revolution. A riot leads to a curfew, which leads to a demonstration, which leads to a crackdown, which leads to violent demonstrations. Slowly the city gets turned into a prison. The leader can be replaced by various politicians who have their own agendas. Perhaps there is a leader of sorts, a governor or a burgomeister(a mayor, but that name makes it more Germanic) You can still introduce the plot where he wants to find his son, but now he tries to do that initially via the official means and finding it gets him nowhere. He feels he is getting stonewalled. So you can then have him doing increasingly illegal things. Also it would be good to make him flawed. One way can he that he has a war injury(or ptsd) which is the reason he is an instructor. And perhaps he resents it. And perhaps a border officer or beat cop allows him to go to other parts, which is what he wants. So he fakes he is healthy, by say: using drugs or some other illegal means.

The difference here is that in my vision he is average joe trying to do his best and getting drawn into situations willingly and unwillingly. Yes, he is different because he is a cop with a military background, but he is not so special as to get the attention of 'the leader'.

In the pilot he is special: he is a good guy who has all the gifts: he is pretty, health, married with a pretty wife, he is skilled. So he gets the attention of the leader who says: hey you're so good that I want you to be part of my team, no matter what. Of course, I am bad at writing series. For the true aim of series is to create unending drama and fabricated conflicts that can last forever. I don't like drama.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

3

Crinky

May 10, 2019

The story line is interesting but meandering. The intended climax is just misplaced. The story line progresses without explaining the main details. The writing repeats itself creating a redundant plot. It's like the writers couldn't figure out which story line they liked better.. I'm gong toThe story line is interesting but meandering. The intended climax is just misplaced. The story line progresses without explaining the main details. The writing repeats itself creating a redundant plot. It's like the writers couldn't figure out which story line they liked better.. I'm gong to finish the show but right now I'm just fed up with the excessive story building.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

SEE ALL 8 REVIEWS

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Seasons & Episodes

69

Series Overview
Season 3

tbd
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: May 2, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E13. What Goes Around
  Air Date: July 25, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E12. Bonzo
  Air Date: July 18, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E11. Disposable Heroes
  Air Date: July 11, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E10. Sea Spray
  Air Date: July 5, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E9. The Big Empty
  Air Date: June 27, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E8. Lazarus
  Air Date: June 20, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E7. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
  Air Date: June 13, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E6. The Emerald City
  Air Date: June 6, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E5. End of the Road
  Air Date: May 30, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E4. Hospitium
  Air Date: May 23, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E3. Sierra Maestra
  Air Date: May 16, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E2. Puzzle Man
  Air Date: May 9, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E1. Maquis
  Air Date: May 2, 2018
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: January 12, 2017
Season 1

69
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: January 14, 2016