“Colony” 1.5 Review: Geronimo, Geronimo, Wherefore Art Thou, Geronimo?
On this week’s episode of USA’s hit sci-fi drama Colony, the tension between the Occupation and the Resistance reaches an all-time high, and it looks like full-on war could be on the horizon. On the Resistance side, Broussard and the others are celebrating their elimination of one of the Transitional Authority’s head honchos—Phyllis—while also preparing to launch their biggest assault on the Occupation yet. Meanwhile, Proxy Governor Snyder and the Occupation are commending themselves for a massive victory of their own: the supposed capture and subsequent execution of the notorious leader of the Resistance, Geronimo.
However, not everything is as it seems. The main focus this time around is on the Resistance’s elusive leader himself—hence why the episode is titled “Geronimo”—and who exactly he is in real life. Previously, Will had deduced that Geronimo resides in the Green Zone, but as it turns out, the identity of Geronimo is much more complicated than that. Is Geronimo even a person or is he an idea? From the looks of it, it’s possible that Geronimo was merely a figurehead of the Resistance as well as an invented propaganda tool used to rally people to the cause.
This doesn’t sit well with Proxy Governor Snyder. He needs a real live person to punish for all of the Resistance’s transgressions, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to acquire said person. In the wake of Phyllis’s murder, Snyder is more adamant than ever that Will, Beau and the other agents of the Occupation dedicate all of their time to finding Geronimo, which they do. Will and Beau launch an intensive investigation, accompanied by a team of friendly neighborhood Red Hats (and when I say friendly, I mean the opposite. Did anyone else cringe when they pummeled that poor woman in the face???). Their investigation leads them to a hipster couple, who appear to be responsible for writing the speeches that Luis Ortega read over the radio.
I admit that I was a little disappointed by this development. For all intent and purposes, it looks like this hipster couple was telling the truth; they invented Geronimo in order to rally people to their cause. As far as Resistance leaders go, this couple is hardly impressive, but I do have to applaud them for withstanding the interrogation tactics of the Occupation and practically spitting in their torturers’ faces.
Nevertheless, Snyder isn’t satisfied. He needs somebody more menacing to use as a scapegoat and win back public approval. So, he makes a deal with a prisoner to pretend to be Geronimo for a time and, in return, Snyder will let him go. The man agrees, and Snyder conducts a massive trial in which tearful victims come forward to testify about Geronimo’s many crimes against the state. By the end, Snyder delivers a verdict: Geronimo will be executed for these crimes. Of course, the prisoner isn’t worried because he made a deal with Snyder, right? Wrong! If anything else, this episode demonstrated what a double-crossing worm Snyder is. He refuses to uphold his end of the deal and executes the man for crimes that he didn’t commit. I thought it was especially significant that no one in the audience cheered or uttered a word as they witnessed the hanging. By having them remain stoically silent, the director emphasized the mind-numbing resignation that most of the population are feeling in the wake of the Arrival.
Snyder wasn’t the only one who showed his true colors in this episode. The Resistance, in my opinion, also demonstrated that, in terms of brutality, they are just as bad as the Occupation. They are willing to do anything in order to further their cause, including murder people and accept casualties. Of course, we’ve already seen evidence of this in previous episodes, but it was brought to the forefront this time around. It reminds me of the Resistance movement in The Hunger Games trilogy, which stood the risk of becoming just as bad as the people against whom they were revolting. It makes me wonder if Broussard will need to be taken out in the future so as to preserve the integrity of the Resistance.
It also seems that the Bowman family is headed toward an implosion of epic proportions. Will is more suspicious of his wife than ever before, especially since Jennifer implied that he might be unwittingly responsible for the intelligence leak in their department and informed him that Phyllis had suspected that Katie was the culprit. I don’t believe that his suspicions have been assuaged. I think that he will continue to keep a sharp eye on his wife’s actions from here on out if the next episode’s activities don’t expose her completely. Katie’s best option at this point is to come clean. It already seems like she’s regretting getting involved with the Resistance due to their tactics, and the only person who can help her in this regard in Will.
In addition, Bram is also fraternizing with Resistance sympathizers, which puts the Bowman family more at risk. I am intrigued by the possibility of seeing the Hosts through that telescope, however. According to this episode, only select individuals have actually seen the Hosts—including Phyllis—which makes me wonder: Why are they hiding? Before her murder, Phyllis made it clear that she didn’t trust the Hosts or the Transitional Authority. Is this because she’s actually seen them in the flesh? Undoubtedly, she knew things about them that others do not and want kept secret, but I have a hunch that the “Hosts” are actually much more vulnerable than we all initially thought.
All in all, I hope we gain so more insight into the Hosts in future episodes. I also anticipate that we will learn more about this “Governor General” that Helena mentioned. Will he or she come into play later on? And how will that affect Snyder’s rule over the Los Angeles bloc? Is the Resistance extinguished because of Snyder’s actions? I doubt it. After all, as that hipster couple said, the people are Geronimo, and stifling one voice won’t deter the multitudes of others who are raising their own.
New episodes of Colony air on Thursdays at 10:00 pm ET/PT on USA.