Colony
Season 2 Episode 4: “Panopticon”
Directed by Juan José Campanella
Written by Ryan Condal & Wes Tooke
Starring Josh Holloway, Sarah Wayne Callies, Peter Jacobson, Tory Kittles, Amanda Righetti, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Paul Guilfoyle, Ally Walker, Alex Neustaedter, Isabella Crovetti-Cramp, Jacob Buster
Created by Ryan Condal, Carlton Cuse
USA
Air Date: Thursday, February 2nd, 2017, 10:00pm

Last time on Colony, Will, Devon, and Charlie (Josh Holloway, Carolyn Michelle Smith, Jacob Buster) took a “coyote” to get over the wall back into the LA bloc. It was really scary, but Charlie was a champ. Unfortunately, a drone noticed them and reduced Devon and the 2 strangers to blood spatter. After studying Will for a bit, it went away. Jennifer (Kathleen Rose Perkins) put more pressure on Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies) to give up Broussard (Tory Kittles), but Katie genuinely had no way of getting him. She apologized to her sister and prepared to send Gracie (Isabella Crovetti) there, and give herself up. She waited for Homeland to knock on the door, but when the knock did come, it was Charlie and Will.

Spoilers below.

Colony 2.4 “Panopticon” review: “Total Informational Awareness” is the goal. A vote is taken to destroy Los Angeles, but it goes in LA’s favor.

Katie is floored having Charlie home, but has the unenviable task of telling Will about Bram. He is distraught, more so than when he had to tell her what it was like in the Santa Monica bloc. He tries to talk to Charlie about what happened to him, when he sees him stockpiling food. Charlie also hides under the bed with a knife when there is a knock at the door.

Jennifer is watching the Bowmans through the surveillance cameras (even the bathroom!), as Will tells Katie the story. Jennifer decides not to spill the beans on Will, after waffling back and forth a few times. She lies to the detective, but he smells a rat. She still observes. You can tell she is lonely, sitting in the dark, becoming emotional about this family.

Katie: “What about us?”
Will: “I don’t know.”

Jennifer gets a “backstage tour.” Cameras are everywhere. They will be looking into her life. She then gets quite an earful, when Katie fills Will in about her situation with Jennifer, and Will says he can work her. Despite that, she still doesn’t turn him in. She gets demoted and deletes all of the Bowman files. Afterwards, she goes home and watches videos of her husband, while she washes bunches of pills down with wine. But no one is watching her screen at the moment.

Charlie sets Lindsey’s book on fire. Will notices that the smoke alarm did not go off. He asks Katie to help him clean up, and she’s happy because it looks like he’s ready to be husband and wife again, but instead he whispers that they are being watched. They probably will be together. They have to stick together, plus fake shower sex can easily turn into real.

This was a quiet episode, enmeshed in feelings, rather than violence. The tension throughout was palpable and a character in itself. I actually enjoyed it more than the other episodes, because the dawning horror was thick within the calm. Really happy that Charlie is finally back home, but I do wish that Bram was there too. I’m looking forward to seeing how this family handles things when they are all together fully, both physically and on the true same side. The Jennifer thing upsets me. I hope she is saved next week, because she has a bunch of unexplored layers that are a boon to this show, much like Snyder.

Colony airs Thursday nights at 10:00pm ET on USA.

Image Gallery

Video

On the Next: Season 2, Episode 4 | Colony

Jennifer keeps an eye on the Bowman house. The family encounters unexpected challenges when Charlie returns home.