Josh Holloway (Sawyer, from “Lost”) heads a fine cast that includes Peter Jacobson (Taub, from “House”) in a thrilling dramatic take on what the world might become once aliens have landed and divided humanity into those who collaborate, and those who suffer if they don’t. A wall has been erected to keep the huddled masses out of the ‘good’ part of California, and the stage is set for conflict and character development. Jacobson’s character heads the ‘Red Hats’, the security forces that enforce the division of mankind into the ‘regular’ people & ‘the new elite’. Smuggling and resistance is a large part of daily life under the alien overlords’ rule. The parallels between real life in the 21st century & the fictional world of ‘Colony’ are nicely handled, and the political statement that the writers are making is clear: there already is a division between the haves & the have-nots is real and disturbing. Robotic drones patrol the skies, your neighbors may turn on you at any minute, and the tension is palpable from the very first scene. I liked the first episode a lot, and I hope the quality of writing stays this high. ‘Colony’ stands a good chance of being a hit if people tune in, it’s really well done.

— Steve Davis

In a dystopian near-future Los Angeles, residents live under a regime of military occupation by an organization known as the Transitional Authority. The Authority serves an extraterrestrial group referred to as the “Hosts”, about whom little is known. The symbol of the collaborating forces features stylized birds of prey, or raptors, which gives rise to their nickname, the “Raps”. The Authority enforces Host policy via militarized police called Homeland Security and nicknamed the “Redhats”.

The Hosts took control on a day known simply as the “Arrival”. Late that day, massive rectangular blocks descended from the sky, linking together to build walls dividing the city. One of these walls, 20 to 30 stories tall, many meters thick, and many miles in length, surrounds the central part of Los Angeles, where the series is set. Other similar walls have been constructed around neighbouring urban areas, called “blocs”, with the whole referred to as a “colony”. Traffic passes through the walls at heavily secured checkpoints, called “gateways”, which allow the Authority to strictly control the movement of people and the distribution of consumables, such as food and fuel, which are rationed. The geographical extent of the alien invasion is unclear, but it is presumably worldwide.

A privileged class of elites, drawn by the Hosts from the local population, are denigrated by some bloc residents as collaborators. The ruling forces maintain control through the separation of loved ones, shoot-on-sight curfews, forced disappearances, random checkpoints, frequent electronic identity checks, limitation of motor vehicle usage (most people walk or ride bicycles), pervasive visual propaganda, slave labor in a place called the “Factory”, and electronic surveillance with Host-provided drone aircraft that launch from the wall. Some medical problems, such as diabetes, have been “deemed unworthy for treatment” by the Hosts, to cull the population.

A resistance movement is referred to as both the “Resistance” and the “Insurgency”. An informal barter-based black market has also sprung up, trading in surplus materials and home-produced goods.

In the second season, it is revealed that a large organization, known as the Global Authority, stands between the Transitional Authorities of the colonies and the Hosts. In flashbacks, it is revealed that before the Arrival an organization called the “Institute for Global Advancement” was collaborating with the Hosts, recruiting suitable people for the Transitional Authority.

Season 3 begins six months after the Bowmans’ escape from the Los Angeles bloc as Will and Katie struggle to rebuild their family in the world beyond the walls. When their peaceful existence is shattered, they are sent on an odyssey that will finally reveal the horrifying truth behind Earth’s mysterious occupiers and once again force our heroes to choose sides.

Academy Award Winner Kevin Costner stars in ‘Yellowstone,’ an original television series following the violent world of the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in the United States. ‘Yellowstone,’ from Taylor Sheridan, the writer of ‘Hell or High Water’ and ‘Sicario,’ also features Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Gil Birmingham, and Cole Hauser. Premiered June 20th 9/8c on Paramount Network

Yellowstone follows “the Dutton family, led by John Dutton, who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, under constant attack by those it borders — land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first National Park. It is an intense study of a violent world far from media scrutiny — where land grabs make developers billions, and politicians are bought and sold by the world’s largest oil and lumber corporations. Where drinking water poisoned by fracking wells and unsolved murders are not news: they are a consequence of living in the new frontier. It is the best and worst of America seen through the eyes of a family that represents both.

The story of a group of very different men fighting in the American Colonies for freedom, and how they will shape the future for the United States of America.

The Sons of Liberty was an organization that was created in the Thirteen American Colonies. The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. They played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765.^[1] The group officially disbanded after the Stamp Act was repealed. However, the name was applied to other local separatist groups during the years preceding the American Revolution

Source: Wikipedia

Behind the scenes:

In an age of plunder and greed, the richest gold strike in American History draws a throng of restless misfits to an outlaw settlement where everything – and everyone – has a price.

Welcome to Deadwood… a hell of a place to make your fortune.

The story begins two weeks after Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn, combining fictional and real-life characters and events in an epic morality tale. Located in the Black Hills Indian Cession, the “town” of Deadwood is an illegal settlement, a violent and uncivilized outpost that attracts a colorful array of characters looking to get rich – from outlaws and entrepreneurs to ex-soldiers and racketeers, Chinese laborers, prostitutes, city dudes and gunfighters.

S01E09 No Other Sons or Daughters

With annexation looming, Swearengen calls a meeting to set up an informal government. Bullock and Alma compare notes on Ellsworth, and each other; Farnum gets a special-delivery letter from Hickok; Utter offers Jane a job; and Stubbs prepares to make a go on her own, with Tolliver’s avowed blessings.

Source: Pogdesign.co.uk

“tautly paced and suspenseful” with “well-developed characters”, declaring that “Brad Wright has a real knack for creating futuristic series”

Lawrence Devoe, – TheaterByte.com

In a post-apocalyptic future, thousands of special operatives are tasked with preventing the collapse of society. These operatives, known as “travelers”, have their consciousnesses sent back in time and transferred into the body of present-day individuals who would otherwise be moments from death, to minimize unexpected impact on the timeline. The transfer requires the exact location of the target, made possible by twenty-first century smart phones and GPS. Prepared using social media and public records concerning their targets, each traveler must maintain the host’s pre-existing life as cover for the rest of their lives, while carrying out missions in teams of five. These missions are dictated by the Director, an artificial intelligence in the future that monitors the timeline, aimed at saving the world from a series of catastrophic events. One method by which the Director communicates with travelers is via pre-pubescent children used as messengers; unlike adults, any child can safely be taken over for a few minutes and then released from control without risk of killing them. All travelers are required to behave according to certain protocols to protect the timeline. As the series progresses, however, travelers affect the present and future in unanticipated ways. Showcase explained the protocols on its blog.

Courtesy:  Wikipedia