Colony: Fallout
February 4, 2018 4:32 PM - Season 2, Episode 6 - Subscribe
The Resistance reaches out to Katie; Will wants to help his wife bury her past.
* 'Northern England' - authoritarian types in black leather double breasted long jackets and SMGs kneel up a tent city's denizens, shows them a picture of Eckhart
* A lady recognizes him, </Russian/> (?): "We have the mother."
* Meanwhile, back at the Yonk (Yoknapatawpha)
* Will and Katie enter and greet Jake who has spent the night scouring the bar for bugs; the place is clean, Katie thanks him with a bottle of something nice
* Katie and Will pore over Burgess' heisted data: 'Unknown File Format,' Will intends to see if his work computer has the right app
* At work, Will pretends to be getting up to speed on the Broussard files
* A coworker leaves an Authority terminal unsecured, Will nonchalantly slots in Katie's USB drive - 'Level 2 Access Required'
* Deterred, Will approaches Betsy in her office, Betsy has divided loyalties but still breaks for Will and spills
* Betsy enters her 'Level 2 Access Code' just as Bob enters without knocking; Will palms Katie's drive
* Betsy is unconvincing, Will and Bob butt heads, "You for example are a bloodhound. There's no point in teaching a dog to use a computer."
* Broussard spies two young men defacing Authority posters, tagging them with Red Hand prints
* Red Helmets apprehend the Red Handists
* At Broussard HQ, BB removes a component and sticks it under a makeshift Faraday cage
* Eckhart is antsy and being a dick
* BB has a nasty respiratory affliction, some kind of facial dermatitis, and gets a nosebleed - coughs blood all over Eckhart's face
* While doing some accounting, Katie is interrupted by a knock, cautiously retrieves a hidden pistol
* It's Morgan, asking Katie to help BB who she thinks is dying
* Semi-disguised Morgan and Katie board a bus, sees Broussard's gang's photos prominantly posted, has the presence of mind to maintain opsec
* Trying to cover his own distress, Eckhart's an overreacting dick towards Katie
* BB is in really rough shape, exhibits symptoms of accute radiation sickness
* Katie phones Will from a payphone using plausibly deniable language
* Bob catches Will leaving, "By the way, I had your friend 'transferred.' Betsy, right? Thank you for calling her out to me... I owe you for that one." and lets Will leave
* Will meets Katie at the Yonk who catches him up on BB and expresses lack of confidence in Broussard's "kids"
* Will pays an unexpected visit to Dr. Weisman (their kids used to play in Little League together) in the Green Zone who's hosting a BBQ party; Will has to flash his badge
* Will intimidates Weisman with lies to go for a ride with him, with a medical bag
* Katie and Will brings a hooded Weisman to Broussard HQ
* BB is in critical condition with high fever, tachycardia, haemoptysis - but the underlying cause is unknowable without lab tests, but at least it probably isn't an infectious cause
* They risk taking BB to Weisman's old (confiscated) medical offices; Morgan and Eckhart have to stay behind
* Katie, Will, and Weisman ski-mask up, breaks into the med lab with BB in tow, Will tunes his radio into emergency dispatch
* Weisman takes 30 mL of veinous blood and spins it down for some reason, diagnoses radiation exposure; prognosis - he's got 48 very ugly hours left
* Will and Katie brings Weisman home-ish, Katieblackmails reminds Weisman that he had just helped the resistance, shows him her insurance pictures of him helping
* Broussard returns to HQ
* Will and Katie bring BB to his bombed-out former home, BB asks Will for the comfort of a bullet in the head
* Broussard waits in the shadows behing the Yonk for Katie and Will, Will tosses an empty pistol cartridge for Broussard to catch, "This belongs to you.", walks away
* Katie summarizes at Broussard, pushes him to be more responsible towards his crew
* Bram is unloading boxes, spies Alan in the distance
* LA's deputy proxy (Burgess) and Madeline pays the Labour Camp a visit, Alan plays the genial host, acknowledges everyone's surface relationships
* The reason for the visit is that Madeline wants to see Bram
* Burgess shares a premium drink from his flask with Alan via Dixie CupTM, reminds Alan that he should be showing some gratitude towards Burgess; Alan is a little less than grateful
* A "special shipment" is due to pass through camp headed off-planet, Burgess wants a look-see, Alan plays coy and tries hiding behind 'rules'
* Jenkins brings Bram to see Madeline, she tries to smuggle him some home-baked goodies and news up Bram on Charlie's return, Bram's pissed at Madeline's hypocrisy about 'rules,' leaves without the goodies
* Alan enters a restricted area of the camp with a keycard, brings Burgess along
* In a warehouse full of crates, Burgess boggles at all the material slated to go off-planet (in the next shipment, of possibly many more shipments), wants to see Global's special package
* Past another restricted gate, Alan shows Burgess 11 fancier-looking crates
* Burgess cracks one open with excitement, boggles some more at a pod inside
Alan: "What is it?"
Burgess: "You know they say Faith requires belief without proof. This is proof."
* Madeline pushes Burgess to get Bram released, is unsuccessful
* Burgess plies Madeline with promises of power, "We're so close. We just need to be patient."
* Alan finally manages to connect to Helena over the phone, lets her know about Burgess' visit and interest in the Global Authority's shipment
* Plays politics, lets the audience know that there are (other) pods with contents - the one Burgess saw was empty, "For the moment."
* Angel and Bram have the surprising freedom to visit some people in a storeroom/workshop, Bram gets vouched for, is shown a reasonably sophisticated improvised explosive device
(I still failed to catch where Maya's name is revealed.)
* Back at BHQ, Eckhart continues to be a dick, takes off, sees Wanted Posters with his mother's face, takes them down - there are many many more
* An alert siren starts sounding in the distance
* 'Northern England' - authoritarian types in black leather double breasted long jackets and SMGs kneel up a tent city's denizens, shows them a picture of Eckhart
* A lady recognizes him, </Russian/> (?): "We have the mother."
* Meanwhile, back at the Yonk (Yoknapatawpha)
* Will and Katie enter and greet Jake who has spent the night scouring the bar for bugs; the place is clean, Katie thanks him with a bottle of something nice
* Katie and Will pore over Burgess' heisted data: 'Unknown File Format,' Will intends to see if his work computer has the right app
* At work, Will pretends to be getting up to speed on the Broussard files
* A coworker leaves an Authority terminal unsecured, Will nonchalantly slots in Katie's USB drive - 'Level 2 Access Required'
* Deterred, Will approaches Betsy in her office, Betsy has divided loyalties but still breaks for Will and spills
* Betsy enters her 'Level 2 Access Code' just as Bob enters without knocking; Will palms Katie's drive
* Betsy is unconvincing, Will and Bob butt heads, "You for example are a bloodhound. There's no point in teaching a dog to use a computer."
* Broussard spies two young men defacing Authority posters, tagging them with Red Hand prints
* Red Helmets apprehend the Red Handists
* At Broussard HQ, BB removes a component and sticks it under a makeshift Faraday cage
* Eckhart is antsy and being a dick
* BB has a nasty respiratory affliction, some kind of facial dermatitis, and gets a nosebleed - coughs blood all over Eckhart's face
* While doing some accounting, Katie is interrupted by a knock, cautiously retrieves a hidden pistol
* It's Morgan, asking Katie to help BB who she thinks is dying
* Semi-disguised Morgan and Katie board a bus, sees Broussard's gang's photos prominantly posted, has the presence of mind to maintain opsec
* Trying to cover his own distress, Eckhart's an overreacting dick towards Katie
* BB is in really rough shape, exhibits symptoms of accute radiation sickness
* Katie phones Will from a payphone using plausibly deniable language
* Bob catches Will leaving, "By the way, I had your friend 'transferred.' Betsy, right? Thank you for calling her out to me... I owe you for that one." and lets Will leave
* Will meets Katie at the Yonk who catches him up on BB and expresses lack of confidence in Broussard's "kids"
* Will pays an unexpected visit to Dr. Weisman (their kids used to play in Little League together) in the Green Zone who's hosting a BBQ party; Will has to flash his badge
* Will intimidates Weisman with lies to go for a ride with him, with a medical bag
* Katie and Will brings a hooded Weisman to Broussard HQ
* BB is in critical condition with high fever, tachycardia, haemoptysis - but the underlying cause is unknowable without lab tests, but at least it probably isn't an infectious cause
* They risk taking BB to Weisman's old (confiscated) medical offices; Morgan and Eckhart have to stay behind
* Katie, Will, and Weisman ski-mask up, breaks into the med lab with BB in tow, Will tunes his radio into emergency dispatch
* Weisman takes 30 mL of veinous blood and spins it down for some reason, diagnoses radiation exposure; prognosis - he's got 48 very ugly hours left
* Will and Katie brings Weisman home-ish, Katie
* Broussard returns to HQ
* Will and Katie bring BB to his bombed-out former home, BB asks Will for the comfort of a bullet in the head
* Broussard waits in the shadows behing the Yonk for Katie and Will, Will tosses an empty pistol cartridge for Broussard to catch, "This belongs to you.", walks away
* Katie summarizes at Broussard, pushes him to be more responsible towards his crew
* Bram is unloading boxes, spies Alan in the distance
* LA's deputy proxy (Burgess) and Madeline pays the Labour Camp a visit, Alan plays the genial host, acknowledges everyone's surface relationships
* The reason for the visit is that Madeline wants to see Bram
* Burgess shares a premium drink from his flask with Alan via Dixie CupTM, reminds Alan that he should be showing some gratitude towards Burgess; Alan is a little less than grateful
* A "special shipment" is due to pass through camp headed off-planet, Burgess wants a look-see, Alan plays coy and tries hiding behind 'rules'
* Jenkins brings Bram to see Madeline, she tries to smuggle him some home-baked goodies and news up Bram on Charlie's return, Bram's pissed at Madeline's hypocrisy about 'rules,' leaves without the goodies
* Alan enters a restricted area of the camp with a keycard, brings Burgess along
* In a warehouse full of crates, Burgess boggles at all the material slated to go off-planet (in the next shipment, of possibly many more shipments), wants to see Global's special package
* Past another restricted gate, Alan shows Burgess 11 fancier-looking crates
* Burgess cracks one open with excitement, boggles some more at a pod inside
Alan: "What is it?"
Burgess: "You know they say Faith requires belief without proof. This is proof."
* Madeline pushes Burgess to get Bram released, is unsuccessful
* Burgess plies Madeline with promises of power, "We're so close. We just need to be patient."
* Alan finally manages to connect to Helena over the phone, lets her know about Burgess' visit and interest in the Global Authority's shipment
* Plays politics, lets the audience know that there are (other) pods with contents - the one Burgess saw was empty, "For the moment."
* Angel and Bram have the surprising freedom to visit some people in a storeroom/workshop, Bram gets vouched for, is shown a reasonably sophisticated improvised explosive device
(I still failed to catch where Maya's name is revealed.)
* Back at BHQ, Eckhart continues to be a dick, takes off, sees Wanted Posters with his mother's face, takes them down - there are many many more
* An alert siren starts sounding in the distance
I'm ok with BB being the only person affected - inverse cube law notwithstanding; to get that level of sickness in that short amount of time, Morgan and Eckhart would be showing some symptoms.
To practice some apologia for the writers, something like a fuel flea might be plausible; BB inhaled one that escaped the Rap comm when he opened it up and got it lodged in his lungs (hence the haemoptysis, if he had ingested it his guts would have liquefied and dribbled out of his butt instead).
The draw-veinous-blood-and-spin-it-down is either lazy or bs or both. If the clinic had a flow cytometer, you could feed it heparinized whole blood right away and gate off the side band to get a lymphocyte count. Or the classic method is to ammoniun chloride RBC lysis (then spin it down and resuspend in a known lower volume - treated peripheral blood becomes clear, doesn't stay red) and count the remaining lymphocytes under a 40x scope with a haemocytometer. Or layer whole blood over Ficoll, density gradient centrifuge, collect the lymphocyte layer and count with a haemocytometer.
Another nitpick - at such large presumed exposure, BB should have also had some neurological symptoms like trembling or seizures.
More apologia: these people aren't very clued in medically and also the symptoms could be from a biological infectious agent or a chemical toxin. Or hell, since this is scifi it could potentially even be nanobots designed to attack unauthorized breaches of critical Rap equipment.
But yeah, radiation, duh.
posted by porpoise at 11:10 AM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
To practice some apologia for the writers, something like a fuel flea might be plausible; BB inhaled one that escaped the Rap comm when he opened it up and got it lodged in his lungs (hence the haemoptysis, if he had ingested it his guts would have liquefied and dribbled out of his butt instead).
The draw-veinous-blood-and-spin-it-down is either lazy or bs or both. If the clinic had a flow cytometer, you could feed it heparinized whole blood right away and gate off the side band to get a lymphocyte count. Or the classic method is to ammoniun chloride RBC lysis (then spin it down and resuspend in a known lower volume - treated peripheral blood becomes clear, doesn't stay red) and count the remaining lymphocytes under a 40x scope with a haemocytometer. Or layer whole blood over Ficoll, density gradient centrifuge, collect the lymphocyte layer and count with a haemocytometer.
Another nitpick - at such large presumed exposure, BB should have also had some neurological symptoms like trembling or seizures.
More apologia: these people aren't very clued in medically and also the symptoms could be from a biological infectious agent or a chemical toxin. Or hell, since this is scifi it could potentially even be nanobots designed to attack unauthorized breaches of critical Rap equipment.
But yeah, radiation, duh.
posted by porpoise at 11:10 AM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
I was also upset at how he was getting sick and how they should've figured it out sooner, and what a drag it was to try to save him when obviously they had no way to really save him. But it all seemed moot at the end. And it also felt like the actor needed to be written out. Between him and Devon, this show seems to really like killing off POC, but sadly I'm not surprised.
posted by numaner at 4:05 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by numaner at 4:05 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
Frustrating episode; a lot of time and energy wasted on a situation that was obviously not going to end well.
I was hoping/thinking that Will might be smart enough to kill BB and use that as a means of sucking up to the Authority - he went out and chased down a lead and he found BB, but had to kill him as BB was on a suicide mission due to illness. Or something. I mean, I guess if he was a cold blooded game player like that he could have rolled up the entire cell and presented the authority with four corpses and the gauntlet. But doing that would only lead to more questions, I guess.
posted by nubs at 8:55 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
I was hoping/thinking that Will might be smart enough to kill BB and use that as a means of sucking up to the Authority - he went out and chased down a lead and he found BB, but had to kill him as BB was on a suicide mission due to illness. Or something. I mean, I guess if he was a cold blooded game player like that he could have rolled up the entire cell and presented the authority with four corpses and the gauntlet. But doing that would only lead to more questions, I guess.
posted by nubs at 8:55 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this would have been a good opportunity to spin shit into gold by having Will bring in BB's corpse and some trivial ephemera. Say BB killed himself due to his illness and the rest of the cell left him behind.
As it is, Will fucked off while actively under suspicion by his boss and partner with a shitty cover story that will trivially fall apart under the slightest investigation if, for instance, somebody thinks to check the video surveillance of his house to see if he actually went home to his sick kid.
This was a really frustrating season all around, in a lot of ways, and I think this episode exemplifies a lot of the problems with the writing. Just a whole lot of false dilemmas and writers forgetting about established plot points and world-building.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:54 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
As it is, Will fucked off while actively under suspicion by his boss and partner with a shitty cover story that will trivially fall apart under the slightest investigation if, for instance, somebody thinks to check the video surveillance of his house to see if he actually went home to his sick kid.
This was a really frustrating season all around, in a lot of ways, and I think this episode exemplifies a lot of the problems with the writing. Just a whole lot of false dilemmas and writers forgetting about established plot points and world-building.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:54 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
This was a really frustrating season all around, in a lot of ways, and I think this episode exemplifies a lot of the problems with the writing. Just a whole lot of false dilemmas and writers forgetting about established plot points and world-building.
At times it feels so well crafted and thought out - that everyone is playing careful games, trying to maintain or possibly even advance their place/position, and then an episode like this, where Will is charging around in an Authority vehicle, flashing an Authority badge, while we know he's under suspicion and that there is near omnipresent surveillance...just frustrating. I laughed out loud when he pulled up in front of the abandoned medical clinic in his big black SUV, wearing his black suit and tie, and put on mask on his face. Like they couldn't figure you out in two seconds, Will.
Which is why I was hoping he could use BBs death to maybe explain things to his boss/partner - it would have made the episode sit a little better because he's shown them that yes, he is a bloodhound, and he works best if they give him room to run. Anyways, I also hope they can explain how a group of twenty-somethings in a labour camp can build a pretty sophisticated looking suitcase bomb in the next episode.
posted by nubs at 8:22 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
At times it feels so well crafted and thought out - that everyone is playing careful games, trying to maintain or possibly even advance their place/position, and then an episode like this, where Will is charging around in an Authority vehicle, flashing an Authority badge, while we know he's under suspicion and that there is near omnipresent surveillance...just frustrating. I laughed out loud when he pulled up in front of the abandoned medical clinic in his big black SUV, wearing his black suit and tie, and put on mask on his face. Like they couldn't figure you out in two seconds, Will.
Which is why I was hoping he could use BBs death to maybe explain things to his boss/partner - it would have made the episode sit a little better because he's shown them that yes, he is a bloodhound, and he works best if they give him room to run. Anyways, I also hope they can explain how a group of twenty-somethings in a labour camp can build a pretty sophisticated looking suitcase bomb in the next episode.
posted by nubs at 8:22 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have to assume the bomb was smuggled in from outside somehow, there's no way they built it on-site.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:45 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by tobascodagama at 8:45 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Which would imply that there is a Resistance group out there much more organized, capable, and deadly than Broussard's. Which I guess is somewhat implied at this point? Broussard's cell is tiny, and the Resistance takedown at the employment centre was a much larger group, and I guess Broussard has been trying to make contact, which explains mystery guy in the theatre. Ugh, why is every new character white this season?
I want to see Kate get connected with that Resistance. They might understand how to use her and Will intelligently.
posted by nubs at 8:59 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
I want to see Kate get connected with that Resistance. They might understand how to use her and Will intelligently.
posted by nubs at 8:59 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure that the improvised suitcase bomb was supposed to be made with bits-'n'-bobs scrounged from/smuggled into the labour camp - re: Jenkins' comment about how the explosion at the camp (last/previous ep?) was someone trying to make a bomb "but got the recipe wrong."
Though... it looked like a couple of sticks of commercial trinitroglycerin and some wires and a timer stuffed into a knockoff Pelican case.
Yes, the implied ubiquitous surveillance doesn't seem like its doing a whole lot of good for the Authority, so far. I would have expected the Raps to, I dunno, upgrade the Authority surveillance equipment with facial/gait recognition or something, and automatically track and trace everyone's movement/location.
posted by porpoise at 10:03 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
Though... it looked like a couple of sticks of commercial trinitroglycerin and some wires and a timer stuffed into a knockoff Pelican case.
Yes, the implied ubiquitous surveillance doesn't seem like its doing a whole lot of good for the Authority, so far. I would have expected the Raps to, I dunno, upgrade the Authority surveillance equipment with facial/gait recognition or something, and automatically track and trace everyone's movement/location.
posted by porpoise at 10:03 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
As it is, Will fucked off while actively under suspicion by his boss and partner with a shitty cover story that will trivially fall apart under the slightest investigation if, for instance, somebody thinks to check the video surveillance of his house to see if he actually went home to his sick kid.
I like this season a lot more than you do, but this is entirely fair: their cover stories are embarrassingly slipshod, and since a core show premise is 'Will is this uber professional,' he should definitely have more game here.
I would have expected the Raps to, I dunno, upgrade the Authority surveillance equipment with facial/gait recognition or something, and automatically track and trace everyone's movement/location.
Nah. Hanging the Authority out to dry is part of their game, IMO: they've given humans guns, communications infrastructure and whatnot. Making the Authority scrabble after stuff the hard way keeps them too busy to become an effective resistance themselves.
Plus, the Raps don't come down to the colonies much, meaning that the particulars of this aren't necessarily that important to them - they only really need most of the people down most of the time to do whatever they're doing. Investing in the place would just cut into the margin of whatever profit they're on about here, probably.
posted by mordax at 11:07 AM on February 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
I like this season a lot more than you do, but this is entirely fair: their cover stories are embarrassingly slipshod, and since a core show premise is 'Will is this uber professional,' he should definitely have more game here.
I would have expected the Raps to, I dunno, upgrade the Authority surveillance equipment with facial/gait recognition or something, and automatically track and trace everyone's movement/location.
Nah. Hanging the Authority out to dry is part of their game, IMO: they've given humans guns, communications infrastructure and whatnot. Making the Authority scrabble after stuff the hard way keeps them too busy to become an effective resistance themselves.
Plus, the Raps don't come down to the colonies much, meaning that the particulars of this aren't necessarily that important to them - they only really need most of the people down most of the time to do whatever they're doing. Investing in the place would just cut into the margin of whatever profit they're on about here, probably.
posted by mordax at 11:07 AM on February 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by tobascodagama at 8:28 PM on February 4, 2018 [4 favorites]