Colony: Gateway
January 27, 2017 9:02 AM - Season 1, Episode 10 - Subscribe
Katie and the resistance struggle to gain something from their unexpected outcome. The Bloc goes on lockdown as the Hosts express their displeasure. Will gets some favours. Synder is done. Maddie uses her connections. Bram takes a runner.
I suspect Jennifer is the person who made sure that camera got installed. Will was sure leaning on her this episode, and I think she's playing a long game.
I guess the question is when was it installed, and how much have they said in the privacy of their own home since then?
I think it was a good season-ender. Like you said, nothing too dramatic has changed, but I don't feel like the characters have been spinning their wheels either. The pacing is really good, which is a rarity for both action and sci-fi shows.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:12 AM on January 27, 2017
I guess the question is when was it installed, and how much have they said in the privacy of their own home since then?
I think it was a good season-ender. Like you said, nothing too dramatic has changed, but I don't feel like the characters have been spinning their wheels either. The pacing is really good, which is a rarity for both action and sci-fi shows.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:12 AM on January 27, 2017
Also, maybe I just don't know enough, but that was the poorest looking Faraday cage I've ever seen - chicken wire? Seriously?
Yes, that was quite sketchy, to say the least. (Faraday cages don't strictly need to be grounded or anything, at least when your concern is blocking transmissions inside from leaking out, but it certainly helps.) Depending on the RF frequency (and how do they know the Raps actually use RF as opposed to some more exotic tech anyway?), the chicken wire could either pretty much work or else leak like a sieve.
The chicken wire Faraday cage was nowhere near as sketchy as using a single sheet of mylar for the same purpose, though. ;)
Onward to Season 2!
posted by tobascodagama at 11:38 AM on January 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yes, that was quite sketchy, to say the least. (Faraday cages don't strictly need to be grounded or anything, at least when your concern is blocking transmissions inside from leaking out, but it certainly helps.) Depending on the RF frequency (and how do they know the Raps actually use RF as opposed to some more exotic tech anyway?), the chicken wire could either pretty much work or else leak like a sieve.
The chicken wire Faraday cage was nowhere near as sketchy as using a single sheet of mylar for the same purpose, though. ;)
Onward to Season 2!
posted by tobascodagama at 11:38 AM on January 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
Everything has changed, and yet nothing has. I suspect that's a key thing to keeping a show like this going.
posted by nubs at 11:41 AM on January 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by nubs at 11:41 AM on January 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Season 2 is currently airing, but I don't want to post it if people are planning on waiting for it to make it to Netflix or whatever.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:09 PM on January 29, 2017
posted by Rock Steady at 6:09 PM on January 29, 2017
I'm going to be waiting for Netflix because I have no cable anymore; but don't let the Netflixers stop anything.
posted by nubs at 6:20 PM on January 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by nubs at 6:20 PM on January 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
They initially used an aluminum/mylar space blanket as their mobile Faraday cage. I'm not sure about that, but lots of prepper-types online seem to think that it works.
I used to need Faraday cages around my electrophysiology rig; we just used metal windowscreen mesh with an aluminum angleiron frame. It was flimsy as heck, but it did the job (couldn't get cellphone reception nor AM/FM radio in there, didn't have an XM device to test with). Not sure about the chicken wire here, and frequencies and whatnot. The perforated metal types of cages around industrial electric generators have holes of a similar size as chicken wire, but thicker bars.
Funny story; fellow grad student down the hall was having intermittent but insane noise crop up in her rig. Spent several futile months jiggering with her cage.
I had to to run something somewhere downstairs and noticed that a new fMRI clinic had been commissioned. Thought nothing of it until one lunch when fellow gradstudent was bitching about her rig again. Put two and two together - we went on a fieldtrip to map out where her e-phys room was and where the fMRI was. You guessed it, she was right on top of the damned machine. Anyway, extended the cage to reach the floor and laid down a layer of mesh on the floor and problem solved.
Geeze, what a tease trying to get through the suit.
The tutor and kids, it reminds me a lot of the historical use of child hostages and acclimatizing them to the 'Lords' way of thinking (applied Stockholm syndrome). Indoctrinating the scions of their pawns in the controlling co-opted religion is a really sound strategy. Still creepy af.
Good season finale.
The final scene causes me to reconsider what those warehouses that the kids were raiding were. It's still crazy to me that those weren't better guarded/surveilled; in light of that, I think Unicorn on the cob might be closest to the mark and it's just an abandoned warehouse and looting too much at a time and bringing it back inside the walls would draw attention.
Which raises another point of what the heck is going on in-between the walled colonies. Are there scavengers/survivors (human) roaming between the colonies? Supposedly Beau is now one of those -why how isn't there more organized looting and concentration of life-supporting resources, with concomitant guarding of said resources?
posted by porpoise at 7:07 PM on January 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I used to need Faraday cages around my electrophysiology rig; we just used metal windowscreen mesh with an aluminum angleiron frame. It was flimsy as heck, but it did the job (couldn't get cellphone reception nor AM/FM radio in there, didn't have an XM device to test with). Not sure about the chicken wire here, and frequencies and whatnot. The perforated metal types of cages around industrial electric generators have holes of a similar size as chicken wire, but thicker bars.
Funny story; fellow grad student down the hall was having intermittent but insane noise crop up in her rig. Spent several futile months jiggering with her cage.
I had to to run something somewhere downstairs and noticed that a new fMRI clinic had been commissioned. Thought nothing of it until one lunch when fellow gradstudent was bitching about her rig again. Put two and two together - we went on a fieldtrip to map out where her e-phys room was and where the fMRI was. You guessed it, she was right on top of the damned machine. Anyway, extended the cage to reach the floor and laid down a layer of mesh on the floor and problem solved.
Geeze, what a tease trying to get through the suit.
The tutor and kids, it reminds me a lot of the historical use of child hostages and acclimatizing them to the 'Lords' way of thinking (applied Stockholm syndrome). Indoctrinating the scions of their pawns in the controlling co-opted religion is a really sound strategy. Still creepy af.
Good season finale.
The final scene causes me to reconsider what those warehouses that the kids were raiding were. It's still crazy to me that those weren't better guarded/surveilled; in light of that, I think Unicorn on the cob might be closest to the mark and it's just an abandoned warehouse and looting too much at a time and bringing it back inside the walls would draw attention.
Which raises another point of what the heck is going on in-between the walled colonies. Are there scavengers/survivors (human) roaming between the colonies? Supposedly Beau is now one of those -
posted by porpoise at 7:07 PM on January 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I am really surprised at how much I got into this show. It has its flaws, but it struck a really good balance between intrigue/tension, action, eyecandy, and worldbuilding.
It also had its sublime moments; the urchins (streetkids) ambushing the homeless/traveler dude and stealing his stuff, then splitting it up (plays with the revolver, the Mother:charges dynamic, "ok, lets go trade this stuff in for some breakfast") was a great snapshot showing how f**ked everything is.
Good point, nubs, as long as they stay as parsimonious as they have been this could be kept going without being too cheesy or shark-jumpy.
I have access to season 2 episodes as they air, and will be watching. At this point, can't not. I want to find out what the Raps are - but am not expecting to find out.
posted by porpoise at 7:14 PM on January 29, 2017
It also had its sublime moments; the urchins (streetkids) ambushing the homeless/traveler dude and stealing his stuff, then splitting it up (plays with the revolver, the Mother:charges dynamic, "ok, lets go trade this stuff in for some breakfast") was a great snapshot showing how f**ked everything is.
Good point, nubs, as long as they stay as parsimonious as they have been this could be kept going without being too cheesy or shark-jumpy.
I have access to season 2 episodes as they air, and will be watching. At this point, can't not. I want to find out what the Raps are - but am not expecting to find out.
posted by porpoise at 7:14 PM on January 29, 2017
Are there scavengers/survivors (human) roaming between the colonies? Supposedly Beau is now one of those - why how isn't there more organized looting and concentration of life-supporting resources, with concomitant guarding of said resources?
My impression is that there are, but on the order of hundreds or maybe dozens of people across all of the Pacific Colonies (or whatever the West Coast region is called). Not enough to establish even rudimentary cities/towns. They may need to remain intentionally isolated from one another to avoid the attention of the Raps.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:22 AM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
My impression is that there are, but on the order of hundreds or maybe dozens of people across all of the Pacific Colonies (or whatever the West Coast region is called). Not enough to establish even rudimentary cities/towns. They may need to remain intentionally isolated from one another to avoid the attention of the Raps.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:22 AM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Good point, nubs, as long as they stay as parsimonious as they have been this could be kept going without being too cheesy or shark-jumpy.
Yes, but at some point they will run into a problem. Too parsimonious for too long means the viewers get tired of the tease and raises the probability that the answers provided won't be satisfying; and too much too fast means we get bored. It worked in the first season because they gave us solid characters and most of what changed was about them in S1.
I have a lot of hopes for them continuing, but this is the usual point at which I get nervous about investing too much in "mystery box" shows - I've been burned by the fact that there's really nothing in the box a few too many times.
posted by nubs at 9:44 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yes, but at some point they will run into a problem. Too parsimonious for too long means the viewers get tired of the tease and raises the probability that the answers provided won't be satisfying; and too much too fast means we get bored. It worked in the first season because they gave us solid characters and most of what changed was about them in S1.
I have a lot of hopes for them continuing, but this is the usual point at which I get nervous about investing too much in "mystery box" shows - I've been burned by the fact that there's really nothing in the box a few too many times.
posted by nubs at 9:44 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
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I suspect Jennifer is the person who made sure that camera got installed. Will was sure leaning on her this episode, and I think she's playing a long game.
The question we were left with at the end of all this, was what did anyone gain? The pieces have moved around the board a bit, and the ones removed seem to be getting replaced, and there's no positional advantage. Perhaps a marginal gain from the piece of technology stolen from the suit for the resistance? Will is finally headed for the destination he started towards in Episode One, and Maddie's insulin access seems secure, but beyond that - well, a lot of people are dead, the power of the Hosts has been demonstrated, and I think Bram and Mr. Carson are about to get a much closer look at that moon base than they want. So do they gain Charlie just to lose Bram?
Also, maybe I just don't know enough, but that was the poorest looking Faraday cage I've ever seen - chicken wire? Seriously?
Anyways, enjoyable first season of a decent-not-perfect show. Broussard was a standout, going from what I thought was a background character to a major pivot point for the plot. Josh Hollaway needs a shave and a haircut.
Looking forward to what might happen in S2.
posted by nubs at 9:21 AM on January 27, 2017 [3 favorites]