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Colony Goes To Vancouver

colony_banner_2880x1260*** Spoiler alert ***

This post will contain some references to the Colony season two finale.  Stop now if you don’t want know anything.

As one show leaves the Canadian city of Vancouver another books its tickets for a visit in a few months.

Season two of the sci-fi-ish drama series Colony from the USA Network came to an end in America last week with the airing of the 13th episode of the 2017 run.  Days before then it was announced that the show had been renewed for a third season.  Part of the news was that filming would move from Los Angeles, California, to Vancouver.

As the show has been very firmly set in Los Angeles, with lots of on location and little studio-based work, it looked potentially have made things difficult for the production.  The decision was largely a financial one as the tax breaks California offers to TV shows and movies to film in the state are limited in number and was no longer available to Colony.  As it happens season 2 ended with the Bowman family (Josh Holloway, Sarah Wayne Callies and three kids) leaving the LA ‘block’ (the city walled in by the invading alien ‘hosts’) signalling a potential major shift in focus going forward.  Who knew that just outside LA was Vancouver :-)  Potentially damaging to a show that moves so far from LA is the possible loss of cast members.  Not all actors will want to spend several months away each year.  Colony being a relatively short run may not suffer as much as one of the big 20+ episodes series.

Colony season one ended with the first evidence of what awaited those sent to ‘the factory’ as punishment by the ‘hosts’.  It was a base on the moon.  With Kathryn’s character being taken away by the authorities for hoarding works of art she was supposed to be collecting for the ‘hosts’ her chances of being seen again were slim.  That glimpse of her possible fate gave rise to hope we might see her again.  She might have been able to use her skill of manipulating others to improve her circumstances.

Sadly the only time we saw Kathryn’s Charlotte during the season 2 run was during a couple of ‘previously on…’ flashbacks highlighting the type of person her husband was, a political animal giving her up to the ‘hosts’ to save his own position.  With the move to outside the block it seems even more unlikely that Kathryn will be making any further appearances in Colony.  She is part of the show’s universe though so you never know.

All of which adds up to this probably being the last KM UK post on the subject.

Colony Season 2 Date Set

colony_banner_2880x1260In the past week there have been a couple of significant announcements regarding the upcoming season two of the USA network TV sci-fi-ish drama series Colony.

First:  The debut date for the first episode of season two is set as the 12th of January 2017.  That means the show is retaining its Thursday night slot.  A promo video is out there.

Second:  Additional characters and the actors who will play them have been named.  William Russ (Cold Case, S07E18, The Last Drive In) will be a new resistance fighter Hennessey.  Keiko Agena (Gilmore Girls, due to return to the TV this coming week with a new mini-series) is a new Homeland Security staff member working with Kathleen Rose Perkins (Episodes) and Josh Holloway (Lost).  And finally we meet another Redhat (the army/police enforcement squad working with the invaders) questioning his role in the form of Paolo Andino (The Last Ship).

I say ‘finally’ but earlier this year Tony Plana (Ugly Betty), Jessica Parker Kennedy (Black Sails), and Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill) were announced as joining growing the cast as well.  Tony will be the new bloc proxy, replacing Snyder (Peter Jacobson will still be on the show).  We will likely get more of a look at the so far hidden side of the occupation because Jessica is someone in one of the labour camps.  Towards the end of season one we saw Thora Birch in a significant position in the resistance.  She and her small crew captured one of the aliens.  Thora will not be in season two but her character remains, now in the shape of Bethany.

Amanda Righetti (The Mentalist), Adrian Pasdar (Agents Of SHIELD), Peter Jacobson (House) and Tory Kittles (True Detective) are all returning to the series in recurring roles.

An obvious omission from this list is Kathryn.  We last saw her character Charlotte, the wife of a political figure (Pasdar) and art collector, being taken away by the Redhats for keeping works of art that should have been handed over to the authorities.  That could very well spell the end for Charlotte but we did see glimpses of the labour camps that humans were taken to so all is not necessarily lost.  Sadly though, I do think we have to assume that Kathryn will not be returning though.  Let us hope I am wrong.

Colony season two will continue the story of the Bowman family and their fights for survival in a world taken over by an alien force.  The world has been split into walled-in state-sized ‘blocs’.  What remains of the human population is held within these areas.  Little is known of what lies between them.

Josh Holloway (Lost) and Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead) are searching for their missing son as well as looking after their other two children.  He is essentially a cop coerced into working for Homeland Security.  She is a resistance fighter, risking everything for the sake of freedom from the invaders.

Putting Colony Back In The Con

colony_banner_2880x1260Thursday will be a busy day for the main cast and creators of the TV series Colony, as well as geeks in California.

Both the San Diego Comic-Con and Legendary Digital Networks (the production company behind Colony) own ‘Camp Conival’ events are happening this coming week.

The SDCC is a huge event covering all aspects of sci-fi and fantasy in TV, films, computer games and of course comic books.  There will be guests doing signings and interviews, and previews etc.  The event takes place primarily at the San Diego Convention Center starting on Wednesday (20th July) afternoon but things really get going from Thursday morning.  Sunday is the last day.

For an hour from 4:45pm the writers/producers Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Ryan Condal, and actors Josh Holloway (Lost), Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead), Adrian Pasdar (Agents Of SHIELD), Peter Jacobson (House) and Tory Kittles (True Detective) are all due to be taking part in a discussion panel.  They will be answering questions about the upcoming second season of the USA Networks sci-fi series.

Alongside the SDCC behemoth Legendary will be holding their own separate Camp Conival event at the Petco Park baseball stadium (presumably in the conference facilities rather than on the field) to showcase the large number of entertainment products they produce.  They are not some small company making the occasional series.  You will have heard of many of the pies they have their fingers in.   The aforementioned Agents Of SHIELD, other TV shows like Ash vs Evil Dead, computer game Call Of Duty, film Nerve, and a new Power Rangers movie due next year are all under their umbrella.  How often do you see a pie/umbrella mixed metaphor?

Yes, there is going to be another Power Rangers movie.  Who knew?  The young Rangers are largely unknown actors but heavyweights Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect) are the big names starring in other roles.  The lovely Elizabeth will be Rita Repulsa.  Not sure how she’ll pull-off ‘respulsive’, but I’m willing to let her have a go 😮

The Camp Conival panel with the same people taking part is due at the earlier time of 1:15pm on the same Thursday.  That could be awkward for timing except for the fact that Petco Park (sponsors naming venues huh?) is right across the road from the San Diego Convention Center.  It’s almost like they planned it!

The fact that Kathryn is not involved in either of these panels should not be taken as a sign of her not being in Colony any more.  They are only likely to invite the core cast.  Of course we don’t know either way whether we’ll be seeing her again as Charlotte the art collector.  We last saw her being taken away for keeping the best stuff for herself.

If you are able to attend either event on Thursday then be sure to ask repeatedly if Kathryn will be making a return to the show and let us know the answer.

The Comic-Con event website is here.