Colony: Sierra Maestra
May 29, 2018 10:18 AM - Season 3, Episode 3 - Subscribe
Will evaluates the Resistance Camp's safety. Katie wants to be more involved. Broussard and Amy find survivors outside the wall.
+ Los Angeles Colony: San Fernando Bloc (6 months previously?)
* Amy working at a hospital, LA Block is evacuated/ renditioned
* an orderly asks Amy for medical help for a friend on the down low for a head wound
* Amy (former urologist): "This isn't stitches and some antibiotics. This is brain surgery."
+ Broussard and Amy (present day)
* starting their months-long trek North, Bamy see a makeshift camp under an overpass in the distance
* Amy is for seeking help (in general), B maintains his risk aversion, Amy: Whats the harm in talking? 'sides, if it goes badly you can just... shoot them."
* Amy: "I'm not armed. He is but he doesn't want to shoot anyone. I know he looks like he does but that's just his face."
* Amy passes a Pharmacology skillcheck, camp recruits them as mercenaries for a raid in exchange for a ride North
* Oliver(?) lays out the plan for the raid, a heavily defended 'deadzone' with untouched supplies
* B thinks it an unneccessary risk, Amy is more pragmatic
* B applies his military skills to assess the deadzone, protected by land drones, designs a plan
* Bamy and four wanderers execute the raid
* timing is tight, blown, but primary pharmacy objectives completed
* upon leaving, a semi is speeding towards them horns blaring, B holds back Amy
* because a land drone is chasing the semi, it and another splats the wanderers while Bamy hide in a dumpster
* after the drones leave, Bamy hole up and loot the pharmacy at leisure, B blames the wanderers for not following the plan
* Amy: "I've been around plenty of death." B: "Then you know how to deal with it. You just need to keep moving."
* B tells Amy that the next window is opening and that they have to go - which makes no sense why they didn't take their time to loot the place the first time around
* continuing on their trek at night, Amy stumbles, Bamy notice something strange
* gravity isn't doing its thing quite right
* clearing a ridge they see a sprawling non-terrestrial derived structure/ complex emitting strange noises, B: "We've got to get out of here."
* Bamy continue their trek, during a break discuss the complex they encountered
* on a radio call Amy receives word that the camp's signal's down
* Bamy continue on their trek North
+ Resistance Camp (Present Day)
* the Bowmans and Alan prepare breakfast in a Nissen hut, Commander MacGregor walks in and introduces himself, sends the kids outside (Bram makes a point of staying)
* MacGregor wants the story on the gauntlet, Katie summarizes
* "You're welcome to stay in the camp. Provided you follow the rules. Children go to school, adults work. There's a strict curfew, no one is allowed outside the perimeter without permission, and there are no. electronics. of. any. kind."
* the "defector" is actually considered by the camp "a prisoner of war" - the rumours of a "defector" is purely psyops
* MacGregor wants everyone to write everything they know about LA down
* Will's spidey senses tingle, distrusts MacGregor, discusses with Katie whether they really have a RAP or not
* Dr. Landay introduces himself to the Bowmans, offers doing a physical for everyone, Charlie obviously distrusts him
* "work" at the camp is menial with a seniority hierarchy - not meritocratic, Landay is apprehensive, Will plays along for now and reports to the fields
* during a break from digging a trench Will tries making friends with Ed, asks about the guards, asks about some ex-Marine with a Bugs Bunny tattoo (Broussard's friend, who Nao identified for her bona fides), Ed answers in the negative and is obviously uncomfortable
* Bram and Alan report for duty assembling counterfeit Authority crates
* Katie has a security detail assigned to her, when prevented from seeing MacGregor, she asks to see Vincent
* Katie complains about the detail to Vincent, "Like I told your husband, this is a 'political' place."
* Vincent claims there really is a RAP in camp, Katie is skeptical and pries, requests a seat at the table
* Vincent reveals that he had to disobey orders to pick up the Bowmans
* that night, Gracie and Charlie apparently had an ok day
* Alan pulls Will aside, "The playbook look familiar to you?... This place is being run like a Colony... MacGregor... trust me, I know the type."
* Alan advocates for cutting and running, "This place isn't safe, not for us."
* Will falls prey to sunk cost fallacy and a place for his kids, soft-blackmails Alan with their shared secret
* Vincent arranges for Katie to meet with MacGregor
* Katie is polite and compliant, asks to be more involved and see the RAP, MacGregor weasle words and stonewalls, Katie is unimpressed but remains polite
* Will reads from 'A Wrinkle in Time' to the family in the Nissen, Katie returns, reports being stonewalled
* Will, singsong, "Lots of secrets here."
* what sounds like a sonic weapon - with RAP overtones - is deployed on the camp
* Alan: "The RAP(?)! It's online!"
* the entire camp reals, the Bowmans+A run towards the RAP enclosure
* MacGregor has been fucking around with a RAP suit, finally manages to cut power or something
* Katie snarks, the RAP suit continues to blinkelights but more quietly
* Will, boggling: "It's a damned machine!"
* RAPmale voice: "It's a damned machine."
* Katie: "Did it just speak?"
* RAPfemale voice: "It speak."
* tentative two way communication ensues, MacGregor reveals himself to be a dumbass, Vincent reveals himself to not be a complete dummy, Will has an agile mind
* RAPs are trying to escape an enemy pursuer, needs humans as a labour resource (editor: why?!!!) and as "allies"
* Will wigs that the RAPs enemy is on their way here or are already
Katie: "What will they do when they get here?"
RAP: "Zero."
Vincent: "They'll do nothing?"
Will: "... I don't think that's what it meant."
* RAP makes noises about 'human. equal. ally. human. equal. partner.'
* MacGregor calls bs, RAP trots out 'our enemy is your enemy. we. are. your. defense.'
+ Los Angeles Colony: San Fernando Bloc (6 months previously?)
* Amy working at a hospital, LA Block is evacuated/ renditioned
* an orderly asks Amy for medical help for a friend on the down low for a head wound
* Amy (former urologist): "This isn't stitches and some antibiotics. This is brain surgery."
+ Broussard and Amy (present day)
* starting their months-long trek North, Bamy see a makeshift camp under an overpass in the distance
* Amy is for seeking help (in general), B maintains his risk aversion, Amy: Whats the harm in talking? 'sides, if it goes badly you can just... shoot them."
* Amy: "I'm not armed. He is but he doesn't want to shoot anyone. I know he looks like he does but that's just his face."
* Amy passes a Pharmacology skillcheck, camp recruits them as mercenaries for a raid in exchange for a ride North
* Oliver(?) lays out the plan for the raid, a heavily defended 'deadzone' with untouched supplies
* B thinks it an unneccessary risk, Amy is more pragmatic
* B applies his military skills to assess the deadzone, protected by land drones, designs a plan
* Bamy and four wanderers execute the raid
* timing is tight, blown, but primary pharmacy objectives completed
* upon leaving, a semi is speeding towards them horns blaring, B holds back Amy
* because a land drone is chasing the semi, it and another splats the wanderers while Bamy hide in a dumpster
* after the drones leave, Bamy hole up and loot the pharmacy at leisure, B blames the wanderers for not following the plan
* Amy: "I've been around plenty of death." B: "Then you know how to deal with it. You just need to keep moving."
* B tells Amy that the next window is opening and that they have to go - which makes no sense why they didn't take their time to loot the place the first time around
* continuing on their trek at night, Amy stumbles, Bamy notice something strange
* gravity isn't doing its thing quite right
* clearing a ridge they see a sprawling non-terrestrial derived structure/ complex emitting strange noises, B: "We've got to get out of here."
* Bamy continue their trek, during a break discuss the complex they encountered
* on a radio call Amy receives word that the camp's signal's down
* Bamy continue on their trek North
+ Resistance Camp (Present Day)
* the Bowmans and Alan prepare breakfast in a Nissen hut, Commander MacGregor walks in and introduces himself, sends the kids outside (Bram makes a point of staying)
* MacGregor wants the story on the gauntlet, Katie summarizes
* "You're welcome to stay in the camp. Provided you follow the rules. Children go to school, adults work. There's a strict curfew, no one is allowed outside the perimeter without permission, and there are no. electronics. of. any. kind."
* the "defector" is actually considered by the camp "a prisoner of war" - the rumours of a "defector" is purely psyops
* MacGregor wants everyone to write everything they know about LA down
* Will's spidey senses tingle, distrusts MacGregor, discusses with Katie whether they really have a RAP or not
* Dr. Landay introduces himself to the Bowmans, offers doing a physical for everyone, Charlie obviously distrusts him
* "work" at the camp is menial with a seniority hierarchy - not meritocratic, Landay is apprehensive, Will plays along for now and reports to the fields
* during a break from digging a trench Will tries making friends with Ed, asks about the guards, asks about some ex-Marine with a Bugs Bunny tattoo (Broussard's friend, who Nao identified for her bona fides), Ed answers in the negative and is obviously uncomfortable
* Bram and Alan report for duty assembling counterfeit Authority crates
* Katie has a security detail assigned to her, when prevented from seeing MacGregor, she asks to see Vincent
* Katie complains about the detail to Vincent, "Like I told your husband, this is a 'political' place."
* Vincent claims there really is a RAP in camp, Katie is skeptical and pries, requests a seat at the table
* Vincent reveals that he had to disobey orders to pick up the Bowmans
* that night, Gracie and Charlie apparently had an ok day
* Alan pulls Will aside, "The playbook look familiar to you?... This place is being run like a Colony... MacGregor... trust me, I know the type."
* Alan advocates for cutting and running, "This place isn't safe, not for us."
* Will falls prey to sunk cost fallacy and a place for his kids, soft-blackmails Alan with their shared secret
* Vincent arranges for Katie to meet with MacGregor
* Katie is polite and compliant, asks to be more involved and see the RAP, MacGregor weasle words and stonewalls, Katie is unimpressed but remains polite
* Will reads from 'A Wrinkle in Time' to the family in the Nissen, Katie returns, reports being stonewalled
* Will, singsong, "Lots of secrets here."
* what sounds like a sonic weapon - with RAP overtones - is deployed on the camp
* Alan: "The RAP(?)! It's online!"
* the entire camp reals, the Bowmans+A run towards the RAP enclosure
* MacGregor has been fucking around with a RAP suit, finally manages to cut power or something
* Katie snarks, the RAP suit continues to blinkelights but more quietly
* Will, boggling: "It's a damned machine!"
* RAPmale voice: "It's a damned machine."
* Katie: "Did it just speak?"
* RAPfemale voice: "It speak."
* tentative two way communication ensues, MacGregor reveals himself to be a dumbass, Vincent reveals himself to not be a complete dummy, Will has an agile mind
* RAPs are trying to escape an enemy pursuer, needs humans as a labour resource (editor: why?!!!) and as "allies"
* Will wigs that the RAPs enemy is on their way here or are already
Katie: "What will they do when they get here?"
RAP: "Zero."
Vincent: "They'll do nothing?"
Will: "... I don't think that's what it meant."
* RAP makes noises about 'human. equal. ally. human. equal. partner.'
* MacGregor calls bs, RAP trots out 'our enemy is your enemy. we. are. your. defense.'
De nada!
* The RAP
The shows handling the releasing info about the RAPs in dribbles, in retrospect, worked out well. I keep wanting to know more. Hoping that the "sciencey" background is solid enough (ie., not a travesty).
The RAPs must surely know how to communicate with humans, so yeah this RAP's behaviour is super sketchy.
This answers my skepticism on why the RAPs would travel interstellar distances for some meatbag slaves. They're looking for meatbag slave shields.
Now, did the Biologics make the RAPs and they got out of hand or are the Biologics seeking vengeance/ protecting the rest of the galaxy's biological lifeforms?
I'm still surprised Will and Katie didn't take anything from the not-RAP crashed fighter, the one with the biological alien in it.
* MacGregor
Yeah, I liked how the writers are writing the resistance as just people. Some good, some bad. Some competent, some just faking it.
MacGregor and the Red Hand leader are kind of like Manson or Koresh - charismatic but they have an actually credible external existential threat to work with.
posted by porpoise at 2:43 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
* The RAP
The shows handling the releasing info about the RAPs in dribbles, in retrospect, worked out well. I keep wanting to know more. Hoping that the "sciencey" background is solid enough (ie., not a travesty).
The RAPs must surely know how to communicate with humans, so yeah this RAP's behaviour is super sketchy.
This answers my skepticism on why the RAPs would travel interstellar distances for some meatbag slaves. They're looking for meatbag slave shields.
Now, did the Biologics make the RAPs and they got out of hand or are the Biologics seeking vengeance/ protecting the rest of the galaxy's biological lifeforms?
I'm still surprised Will and Katie didn't take anything from the not-RAP crashed fighter, the one with the biological alien in it.
* MacGregor
Yeah, I liked how the writers are writing the resistance as just people. Some good, some bad. Some competent, some just faking it.
MacGregor and the Red Hand leader are kind of like Manson or Koresh - charismatic but they have an actually credible external existential threat to work with.
posted by porpoise at 2:43 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Watching this, I really felt like MacGregor used to be... *someone*, anyway. I mean, with some legit experience in survival or organization - his skillset and instincts are not on par with Broussard or Will, so he wasn't in intelligence work, but he's a lot better at organization than anybody in the Red Hand.
posted by mordax at 5:53 PM on May 29, 2018
posted by mordax at 5:53 PM on May 29, 2018
Can the RAPs communicate with humans easily? They use intermediaries usually and who knows what a POW RAP has gone through.
posted by Query at 6:10 PM on May 29, 2018
posted by Query at 6:10 PM on May 29, 2018
Can the RAPs communicate with humans easily?
I mean, on a structural/racial level, we know the answer is 'yes' from a bunch of stuff, including Snyder's pre-invasion recruitment and the ambush they laid for Broussard and his people. They trawled Earthly databases like pros.
So at least someone among the RAPs can clearly communicate with humans just fine. Whether that's an ability possessed by the rank and file is another matter - the humanoid drone bodies don't seem to be alive at all, so no clue what they should or should not be able to do autonomously.
posted by mordax at 8:53 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I mean, on a structural/racial level, we know the answer is 'yes' from a bunch of stuff, including Snyder's pre-invasion recruitment and the ambush they laid for Broussard and his people. They trawled Earthly databases like pros.
So at least someone among the RAPs can clearly communicate with humans just fine. Whether that's an ability possessed by the rank and file is another matter - the humanoid drone bodies don't seem to be alive at all, so no clue what they should or should not be able to do autonomously.
posted by mordax at 8:53 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm enjoying this season, even if we have Snyder-betrays-everyone-again as a looming plot point.
Amy and Broussard are good together, her character has to pull a lot of weight as a late addition to the series and it works well.
MacGregor really reminded me of John Locke on LOST, kind of an idealistic leader but maybe too committed to his ideology to be trusted.
the way the Resistance are portrayed: not as cinematic heroes, but desperate people who are in over their heads and frequently working at cross-purposes.
I like this too, and it's NOT like The Walking Dead where half the humans are outright evil. They're just trying their best and differ wildly in their methods and their competence. Even the collaborators are arguably doing what they think is best for humanity or for themselves.
Can the RAPs communicate with humans easily? They use intermediaries usually and who knows what a POW RAP has gone through.
I assume some RAPs are specialized in communicating with humans, but this isn't one of them. Also I'm wondering if the RAPs are all mechanoids, or if this is just a low-level pilot robot they've captured?
needs humans as a labour resource
This makes sense to me, especially if the RAPs are strictly robots, or their labor force is. They might be resource-limited. It might take them 20 years, say, to mine all of the metals needed to build 20,000 robo-laborers, but they can stop on Earth, wave some guns around, and have hundreds of thousands of slaves in a year. The one advantage biological entities have is the very low cost of producing more.
One more comment: I usually don't like "walking mech" robot designs, and I'm still not sure that design makes sense when the RAPs are so good with flying drones... but man, those walkers are completely real-looking and scary. Well done CGI people.
posted by mmoncur at 9:03 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Amy and Broussard are good together, her character has to pull a lot of weight as a late addition to the series and it works well.
MacGregor really reminded me of John Locke on LOST, kind of an idealistic leader but maybe too committed to his ideology to be trusted.
the way the Resistance are portrayed: not as cinematic heroes, but desperate people who are in over their heads and frequently working at cross-purposes.
I like this too, and it's NOT like The Walking Dead where half the humans are outright evil. They're just trying their best and differ wildly in their methods and their competence. Even the collaborators are arguably doing what they think is best for humanity or for themselves.
Can the RAPs communicate with humans easily? They use intermediaries usually and who knows what a POW RAP has gone through.
I assume some RAPs are specialized in communicating with humans, but this isn't one of them. Also I'm wondering if the RAPs are all mechanoids, or if this is just a low-level pilot robot they've captured?
needs humans as a labour resource
This makes sense to me, especially if the RAPs are strictly robots, or their labor force is. They might be resource-limited. It might take them 20 years, say, to mine all of the metals needed to build 20,000 robo-laborers, but they can stop on Earth, wave some guns around, and have hundreds of thousands of slaves in a year. The one advantage biological entities have is the very low cost of producing more.
One more comment: I usually don't like "walking mech" robot designs, and I'm still not sure that design makes sense when the RAPs are so good with flying drones... but man, those walkers are completely real-looking and scary. Well done CGI people.
posted by mmoncur at 9:03 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
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So, I'm really liking what's going on here on a number of levels.
* The RAP was not a disappointment.
I still want to know more about them, but I liked the way it communicated by mimicking the voices of people speaking to it. Like... that level of evasiveness on the part of the RAPs is, itself, revealing about them if that makes sense? They're really committed to humans not learning much about them.
I also like the reveal that they also have enemies, placing humans squarely in a no-win situation. (Particularly since humanity doesn't have much of an opportunity to check their story out, which may or may not be bullshit.)
* Man, MacGregor.
Something I've enjoyed about this show from the jump, and especially in S2, was the way the Resistance are portrayed: not as cinematic heroes, but desperate people who are in over their heads and frequently working at cross-purposes. I liked it with the Red Hand, and I like it here too. I particularly liked the mirror between a labor camp and MacGregor's camp, need and fear pushing people into the same horrible place they were trying to escape.
I think Colony is seguing into post-bloc life pretty well in S3, something I wasn't sure they'd pull off.
posted by mordax at 1:34 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]