Some actions can’t be undone. Some bring consequences that go far beyond what was intended. And some can unexpectedly rip your heart out. Tonight, we saw some of those actions, and the ripples will continue to be felt through next week’s finale, and into the new season, next year.
The opening scene, of the balloons sent up in remembrance of those lost a year ago – you saw that they just hit the anniversary of the Arrival? – should have been quite beautiful and touching. But either the Visitors thought the balloons were potential weapons, or more likely, the Red Hats were clamping down on any sign of civil disobedience on this anniversary of Zero Day. This demonstration, one of several in the city, started out as a peaceful, quiet one, and ended with violence on all sides. It seems that as Proxy Snyder is beginning to feel pressure from higher-ups on how he runs his Bloc, that pressure is funneling down to the people, making an already difficult situation intolerable. Of course, there will be reprisals.
Katie and Will are going in opposite directions. I had thought that Will would come around to Katie’s side, and join her in the Resistance – hadn’t it sounded like that? More than once he said that he was “working on it,” “in his own time” – what he really decided was that the family needed to get out of Dodge. Not a bad idea, but not what Katie was expecting.
Will’s made a plan with Beau – I knew I liked him! They’re going to gather Katie, Gracie (who, it seems, will probably not go willingly, after Lindsay’s “revelations”) and Bram, and Maddie and her son Hudson, and escape up to Beau’s home in Big Bear – I wonder if his wife is still alive? They’ve come up with a way to get Snyder to let them out of the Bloc – to “investigate” supposed terrorists that they’ve “tracked” to the Old Commerce building downtown. They have a pretend shootout, amid the remains of what looks like an abandoned wedding reception, tell Lagarza that the bad guys escaped down a stairwell, giving them reason to come back there and continue to “investigate” – in reality, find some way to grab the family and make their way through the wreckage. But it’s not a perfect plan and in the end, they find the tunnel themselves – the same tunnel that Bram has been through – and decide to use it to escape. It’s a long shot, it’s daring – but it may be their only hope of getting out of the mess and to some place where they may be left alone. And Will thinks Katie wants the same thing, after their little hypothetical chat at the Yonk – but she’s got other ideas, and has made other decisions.
Gracie’s book from Lindsey looks scary, doesn’t it? Are the Visitors planning to take all the children and use them for something? (Have any of you watched Torchwood’s mini-season “Children of Earth”?) The quick visions we got of her book looked scary – I’d really like to know more about what they’re planning, and what the Church of the Arrival and their youth group is preaching. When Katie hands the book to Bram, he seems horrified. Katie’s comment sums up her feelings about the entire situation they’re living through, and why she’s fighting against it: “Don’t ever believe anybody who tells you that what we’re dealing with here is benign,” she tells him.
And what interesting plans Katie has! Broussard’s got designs on her – whether they’re purely professional, or whether he would like Katie to keep for himself, that’s a different question. When he teaches her to shoot, he tells her, “A long time ago, I made decisions that meant I was going to go through life alone. But I didn’t have anybody standing at the threshold to warn me. You do. And I’m telling you the road you’re heading down is going to change you. There is no coming back from it.” He’s taking her down that dangerous path, teacher her how to shoot, compartmentalize her feelings. What I’m not hearing from him, though, is any anger or rationalization about why they’re fighting. They’re up against overwhelming odds, unlike any war we’re used to, where the enemy has the same thought processes, weapons, and motivations your side does. Here, we don’t know completely what the other side is capable of – so far, it doesn’t look like anything a small group of fighters can throw at them can be effective! Doesn’t it seem nearly futile? Will’s plans to get his family to safety seem much more rational.
COLONY — “Zero Day” Episode 109 — Pictured: (l-r) Tory Kittles as Broussard, Sarah Wayne Callies as Katie Bowman — (Photo by: Isabella Vosmikova/USA Network)
Everybody’s making big decisions. Even Maddie has found a way to get herself in a better position, by setting Charlotte up. She’s figured out that Charlotte is skimming the art treasures, holding back some for herself, and when she humiliates Maddie by telling her basically to clean the kitchen or be replaced, Maddie takes advantage of Nolan’s interest in her to make sure that she can move into Charlotte’s place by, I have to assume, ratting out Charlotte’s scheme to Snyder. Nolan works for the Proxy, and Snyder needs people on his side right now – how better than to give Nolan an out from being caught up in his wife’s theft? “In this world, loyalty and trust are such critical qualities,” he says to Nolan. “What I need to know is, how far can I trust you?”
(As an aside – Maddie’s sad moment earlier over finding a painting that she and her husband had owned – the painting was by American artist Patrick Nagel. Nagel’s popularity crested in the ’80s, with his posters of seductive women, in stark lines and simple forms. You can learn more about his work here.)
Will and Katie are now at a breaking point. Can they come back from this argument? I don’t know. “I’m the only one who’s been serious about protecting this family,” he shouts at her. “How long have you been spying on me? Lying to me? Selling me out to those killers you work for?” “I did it to protect you,” she yells back. They’ve both been trying to take care of each other, without letting the other know – their communication has been non-existent, but Will has been more up front with her than she has been with him. “Bullshit!” he throws back at her. “You did it for you. You did it because you can never accept things the way they are. I should have shut you down the minute I figured out what you were doing. Instead, I’m running around town trying to clean up after you.” But she’s got a good retort – about how he didn’t tell her about his plans to go through the Santa Monica gateway to try to find Charlie – she’s right, they never would have known what happened to him. But now there’s a bigger, more dangerous mess that Katie’s gotten herself into – can, or should, Will even try to clean up after this one?
When Katie refuses, Will gives up his chance – he’s apparently not going without her – and tells Beau to get himself out while he can. Despite their goodbyes, I wonder if Beau really can leave Will and his family. He’s a principled man. I think he’ll be back to help. As he tells Will, “Doesn’t matter what a man has if he doesn’t have purpose.” Do you think Beau will make it his purpose to help Will and his family?
So the new cell – Broussard, Katie, Eckhardt, Morgan and BB – set up Eckhardt’s plans to derail the train carrying the VIP and kidnap him. Katie is now more than a lookout – she’s crossed a line she can never return from. The tech they used to get the intel was cool – larger than a bumblebee, but probably not that noticeable. But their facility with explosives isn’t as advanced, and instead of the “nudge” they expected, they actually crash the train and kill everyone on board! Did your mouth just fall open like mine did? Not that we weren’t expecting, on some level, an alien “chief minister,” but there he was, in quick strobe flashes. Is he dead? What have they done? I’ve had a very large doubt this entire season that the “Visitors” are really aliens, and I must say that this quick image rocks my conspiracy theory – how could all this have happened so quickly and without notice? – but I’m not completely willing to give up this idea. Despite the fact that the thing they found only seems to have four fingers.
With one episode left, what do you want to see answers to? What’s too big for one episode? We still have a bunch of unanswered, or at least unexplored questions – Charlie, the identity of the Visitors, what’s happening to Snyder, the Bowmans’ escape… and so much more! Let me know what you’re thinking!
Our interview with Morgan, Thora Birch
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