Warning: General spoilers ahead

I absolutely loved season 1 of Colony and counted it as one of my favorite new shows of 2016. So, as you can imagine, I’m beyond thrilled that the super-long hiatus is finally over, and the series returns for season 2 tomorrow night. However, if you go back and re-watch season 1, one of the big things that is glaringly missing is an account of that first day of the Arrival. Sure, we have an anecdote here, an anecdote there, but no real scenes or visuals that brought that horrific day to life. Well, as it turns out, that may have been part of the plan from the get-go, with most of tomorrow’s season 2 premiere being a flashback to that fateful day just over a year ago.

After having covered several of Carlton Cuse’s other shows, I have come to describe the showrunner as “the master of the flashback.” Take, for instance, FX’s The Strain. The series just wrapped up its third season this past October, and even after almost 3 years, there were still a couple of flashback episodes. They were perfectly placed and always told a great story that either moved the overall plot forward or put a character’s actions into perspective. Cuse’s use of flashbacks in the season 2 premiere of Colony is no exception, and in my opinion, was a brilliant way to start the new season. Instead of diving right in where season 1 left off (which is what most series would normally do), we go back to where it all started and see how our characters got to the pivotal points they found themselves in at the end of last season.

All of the little hints that were dropped about day 1 of the Arrival last season we finally get to see play out. Take Broussard (Tory Kittles), for instance. He said he had just gotten back from a deployment on that day and also that his mother died from the shock. We get to see all of that firsthand and also how coincidence — or perhaps a twist of fate — had Broussard wonder into The Yonk to strike up a friendship with Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies) which, as we all know, will have serious implications later on.

We also learn a great deal about former Proxy Snyder (Peter Jacobson), and I will say it’s not what you would expect. I was expecting a lying cheat who was a jerk to his wife and daughter in his old life, but as it turns out, the wife is more of an ass. We also discover that Snyder wasn’t lying when he said he had seen one of the Hosts, and the look on his face at that first meeting is priceless. The episode actually spends a lot of time on Snyder, and that should be a fairly good indication that he’ll likely play a big role in the new season, regardless of his demotion.

However, the bulk of the episode is devoted more to the Bowman family, particularly Will (Josh Holloway).  We get to see him in his old job at the bureau as the events of the Arrival play out over the course of 1 day, and we are also introduced to his former partner, Devon (guest-star Carolyn Michelle Smith). Back before everything happened, the two had somewhat of a rocky professional relationship and as a result, you may be inclined to think the flashbacks with this character may be irrelevant. First, nothing is ever irrelevant in a Carlton Cuse show, and so, trust me, she becomes very important in the next few episodes.

All in all, a fantastic start to the season. The premiere was superbly-written and had the perfect balance of action, suspense, emotion and character development, and it filled in the gaps of that first day of the Arrival, which were sorely missing thus far. The only complaint I really have is there was no real warning towards the end of the episode when it finally shifted back to present day, and so, for about a good 15-20 seconds, I was thoroughly confused. However, in the bigger scheme of things, the issue is very minor and had very little impact on what I rate as a solid “A” episode.

The season 2 premiere of Colony  is titled “Preoccupation” and airs Thursday at 10/9c on USA.

VIDEO

Season 2 Trailer:

Season 2 Trailer #2:

Josh Holloway, Tory Kittles and Peter Jacobson SDCC Interview:

Adrian Pasdar and Amanda Righetti SDCC Interview:

PHOTOS

s are closed.