Colony: Lost Boy

February 16, 2018 8:11 PM - Season 2, Episode 11

An attack on the Green Zone, told from five different points of view. Bram is no more the good son.

** soundtrack for the ep (I know, I know, but The Simpsons made the same error)


* Karen films a Red Hand propaganda video, "If you collaborate, you die."
* Karen toasts an assembly of young Red Handists to prepare them for a grand coordinated assault in the Green Zone; "To liberty!"


** Bram's Day
* Bram wakes up moments before his watch alarm goes off at 5:30am, leaves Broussard HQ before anyone's awake
* At the Red Hand staging area Bram remembers Maya through a pencil sketch
* Karen toasts an assembly of young Red Handists to prepare them for an assault in the Green Zone; "To liberty!"
* Bram: "To liberty."
* After the general toast Karen fills Bram's empty hand with a ceremonial drink, gives a pep talk, introduces him to - "another soldier" - Patrick
* In Junior Highschool talk Karen assigns them to be 'buddies' for the assault, (the ceremonial drink today appears to be cheap blended whiskey, J _ _ _ B _ _ g/j _ _ _)
* Patrick and Bram (under the guise of one Green, Robert; Issued 2014/11/28 Expires 2018/11/28) enter the Green Zone disguised as gardeners in coveralls; Bram has a doof but maintains composure
* P & B meet with the other Red Hands in an abandoned unfinished house, RHs assemble handguns from parts smuggled in individually; Bram receives a handgun and a ski mask
* P & B enter the grounds of a mansion as the main gate opens and a SUV pulls out; Bram ducks behind a tree after catching a glimpse of who is inside
* P & B pretend garden until the designated time, mask up; in the distance, gunshots and screams begin ringing out
* Gunshots and screams outside intensify as Patrick leads just walking into and through the mansion with guns drawn, bends down to examine a spent an unspent shotgun shell
* Patrick receives two shotgun blasts to the chest from around the corner, footsteps and a shadow approaches Bram
* COMMERCIAL BREAK


** Will's Day
* Will and Charlie play catch in the dribbly and dank tunnels of Broussard HQ with grins, with catching mitts they look super comfortable in;
Will: "Hey how you doin'? I know we haven't been easy on you since you got back."
Charlie: "It's better than Santa Monica!" ... "I'm not the one you should be worrying about..."
* Will stalks off to find Bram, who should currently be 'doing inventory with Mom'
* Instead Will cases Bram's room, find a sketchbook and a looseleaf pencil sketch of Maya; in walks Bram: "What are you doing!?"
* Will over-parents, Bram kid-deflects;

Bram: "I only snuck out once."
Will: "Who is she?"
Bram: "A friend."
W: "A girlfriend?"
B: "I don't know."
W: "Is it worth risking our lives for her?"
B: "She's dead."
W: "... ... Will you tell me?"

* Bram responds well to being treated as an adult, admits he probably was manipulated and he knows Maya's name, lies about how Maya died when questioned;
Bram: "I snuck out to see her mother and needed to tell her what happened so wasn't be stuck wondering... but she was a mess" ... "What was I supposed to do, you don't talk to me."
* Bram vocalizes his sympathies to the Resistance (rather, Red Hand); Will heartfully informs Bram that his goals are for safety for the family, not resistance
* Bram calls out his hypocrisy; Will: "You listen to me, Bram. I was on the inside - this isn't a war we can win. We resist - by surviving. And I'm going to need your help to do that."
* Bram says 'ok' and they hug it out
* Will runs into Katie, snuggles a little; Will shares his latest parenting woes, Katie parents right back
* Will and Katie's relationship is mostly aok again but Will still has problems sleeping, goes to check on Bram - who's missing


** Maddy's Day
* Maddy and her kid are having a blast at the backyard pool at the Burgess mansion, gunshots ring out in the distance; immediately Maddy: "Hudson. Get out of the pool right now."
* Maddy calls for her two servants by name, locks the doors, gets Hudson to go hide, obtains a chef's knife from the overly wasteful 'lunch bar' beside the crust-less finger sandwiches and fresh fruit
* There's a disturbance at the just locked front door, a now-armed and rather fit Maddy investigates
"Aunt Maddy. It's Bram. Please let me in. I'm alone, please open the door!"
* Maddy thinks twice, opens the door, Bram lies and lies, Maddy tells Bram that his family fled
Bram: "What."
* Bram advocates leaving "You have a car, right?", Maddy leans towards staying
* Hudson: "B'wam!"
scowly Maddy: "Hudson! Come here!"
* Bram lies some more, convinces Maddy to take her with him in her car out of the GZ
* Maddy is suspicious of Bram, Bram is unconvincing but Maddy is distracted; responding Red Helmets encourage Maddy to continue to the gate out
* Maddy makes it to the gate, the lieutenant pulls her aside and clues her in that Bram fits the profile of the attackers, Maddy lies for Bram, proceeds through the gate
* Maddy to Bram: "Get out. ... Get out!"; Bram complies


** Snyder's Day
* In a cheap motel, Alan enjoys his morning routine of getting spiffy for work, enthusiastically responds to a knock by a couple of Red Helmets: "The ambassador's ready for you, sir."
Alan: "From my palace to his then!"
* A 'Los Angeles Colony Transitional Authority' SUV brings Alan to a Mansion in the GZ
* A towering Ambassador King greets diminutive and smarmy Alan; who wages a pro-Helena personality campaign against Alcala
* King is non-committal, stating that he is pro-results
* Alan leaves for his next visit the 'Minister of Intelligence' - as Patrick and Bram enter the premises through the open gate releasing Alan's SUV - Alan sees something from the corner of his eye but dismisses it
* Alan dismisses the car asking the Red Helmet to pick up 'that file' from 'Elaina's office' ('Helena's office'?) and rings the doorbell
* Alan hears shots and a thud, turns around looking for his SUV, hears more shots, runs
* ... and runs and rolls down a small hill and runs some more and rolls down another small hill
* Later, after dark, Red Helmets do a sweep of the GZ green belt, finds a snivelling Alan
* Helena debriefs a begrimed Alan, Alan reports that King would have been in the bag; Helena is in a controlled fury
* H & A strategize, Alan proposes a dirty tactic, Helena picks up on using Burgess' ties with Alcala


** Katie's Day
* Katie plays a sombre game of checkers with Gracie, Gracie: "I'm worried about Bram."
Katie: "Me too, love."
Charlie: <perks up>
Katie: "But Dad's going to find him."
Charlie: "We shouldn't stay here."
Katie: "Why not?"
Charlie: "What if Bram gets caught?"
Katie: "He's not going to get caught."
* Sound of door opening, Katie picks up and cocks a pistol and investigates; it's Bram huddled in the stairwell; "Everyone's out looking for you. ... Your father. Morgan. Broussard. "
Bram: "I'm sorry."
* Katie is a hardass, lets up, eventually warms up and lightly hugs Bram from behind, "I've got you."
* Katie finds the pencil sketch of Maya - on the back of a 'FOOD RATIONS: MENU NO. 7"^ label - with a bloodstain on an edge
* Gracie: "Is Bram OK?"
* Katie confronts Bram, Bram admits joining the Red Hand was a mistake, Katie absolves him but asks for details "to make it right"
* Will returns home asking for Bram, starts yelling; Katie plays peacemaker, Will summarizes what happened - is pissed at Bram
* Bram admits to his involvement with the RAP ship explosion, rages
* Will rages back, Katie holds him back and professionally debriefs Bram
* Bram reveals that he is still an innocent (has not taken human life)


** Ambassador King's Day
* King shows Alan out, retrieves a satellite phone from his enviably expensive leather man purse and makes a call in German and using NATO radio alphabet to call in his passcode to announce that his 'report' will be sent later that night
* As King sits down for lunch and paperwork, gunshots ring out from down the neighbourhood
* King calls for backup, spies ski-masked attackers, is instructed how to arm himself and enter the safe room until King notices an attacker trying to gain access
* The voice instructs King on how to load a shotgun; King starts loading the shotty from a box of Bilson branded shells
* "Pump the shotgun to chamber a round."; King does so, a shell pops out and skitters away down the hallway in front of him
* Scrambling to retrieve it King sees a masked intruder in a decorative mirror, backs away; the voice advocates he go to the 'safe room'
* King ignores the advice, puts down the sat phone, and shoots the invader once, rechambers another shell, and shoots again when Patrick bends down to inspect the loose 12 ga shotgun shell
* King continues, sees another invader, pulls the trigger - and has a misfire

* Bram shoots King in the chest with a Beretta 82FS (he's apparently left handed like his old man Will), shoots him twice more in the chest
* Bram impresses his right palm with Kings blood, transfers it on the outside of a French door that he leaves through the premises from



^
FOOD RATIONS: MENU NO. 7
NOTICE
The manufacturers of of these goods have complied with all the requirements set forth by transitional authority law. Every person is cay=utioned and re-_ _ _ _ red not to remove the contents of this box until arrival at the appropriate ration station.
UNLAWFUL TO TRADE OR SUBSTITUTE RATION_
Inpector IA7_ _ _ _

posted by porpoise (10 comments total)

For the record this was Season 2 episode 11. Boy was I confused for a second there.
posted by mmoncur at 2:14 AM on February 17, 2018

This was not the most coherent Rashomon episode I've ever seen.

Also, remember the first season where Broussard and Katie meticulously timed the drone and redhat response and figured out that any resistance action would have at most 90 seconds to accomplish their goals before the drones showed up to murder everybody? The writers don't.
posted by tobascodagama at 4:45 AM on February 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure that this season has established that the drones move at the speed of the plot.
posted by nubs at 6:46 AM on February 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Mod note: Fixed the episode number
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:06 AM on February 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

I liked Maddy's arc.

But yeah, problem child Bram.

re: drones - another wth is that the RH were able to smuggle so many guns into the GZ, taken apart or not.
posted by porpoise at 10:09 AM on February 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm still struggling with Bram becoming cold blooded enough to do what he did this episode and lie about it.
posted by nubs at 10:18 AM on February 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Bram... I dunno, but I think the writers and the actor did a good job here of showing "scared teenager" who doesn't quite understand consequences.

The lying, well, acquired survival response?

He's shown as looking like he's never handled a handgun before (surprising, given his dad and very likely his mom routinely continue to train with firearms - but maybe not surprising the Bowmans don't want their kids around guns?).

He's lucky the handgun given to him was already chambered/ double action/ not safetied.

When Patrick got shot, Bram's basically wetting himself, fires once at center of mass (I'm surprised the gun didn't stovepipe given his limp grip). "Oh my god. I shot someone!" His solution to his problem was making sure the guy he shot was dead (two more hasty shots to the center of mass).

The lying, well, he'd "get into more trouble" if he revealed that he killed someone.

Bram's probably really messed up right now and prone to making poor decisions for a while.
posted by porpoise at 7:05 PM on February 17, 2018

I think the actor did a good job, I'm just struggling to understand the transition from the Bram of the camp who flinched a lot, to the Bram who watches his "partner" for the day get gunned down, in turn guns down another man, and then has the presence of mind to flee to his aunt's house and first (a) lie about what's going on with him and then (b) act vaguely threatening enough to his cousin to get his aunt's co-operation to escape and finally (c) straight up lie to his parents about what he did that day. He comes across not as messed up, but rather more calculated and cold-blooded to me.

And I don't think he can go back to the Red Hand either - him showing back up where so many of their operatives died in what looked like a mass suicidal attack is going to cause questions too. He's a kid without a country right now.
posted by nubs at 9:40 AM on February 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'd like to think seeing that level of devotion from Maya really inspired Bram, and that he felt his parents weren't doing enough and didn't let him do enough. Those are a perfect storm that leads to the life-changing decision of pulling a trigger for a teenager. Kind of like how terrorist organization gets young men to do what they want.
posted by numaner at 1:25 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

I just want to say that Home Invasion Tech Support was my favorite.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:37 PM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]