Is Alien Jesus Coming to Beam Up the Children of USA's 'Colony'? Episode 7 Says Yes

I think a lot of viewers of Colony are probably as confused as I am after last night’s episode — the best, but also most puzzling, episode of the show so far. Though much of “Broussard” focused on the tension between the Resistance leadership, Katie, and Will, this show starts on a very Leftovers-esque note. We see a congregation assembled for an odd kind of sermon, regarding a “great day” for which the children needed to be “prepare[d]” (shades of Childhood’s End, as well).

Later, Katie and Will’s daughter Grace’s tutor clandestinely hands her a book describing the prophesied event; there’s an X-Files-like image of a beam going up into the sky on the cover. Lindsey alludes to the fact that the children will play a pivotal role when a messiah-like personality arises from a hibernation of thousands of years. The daughter is instructed to keep the plan a secret from her mother and father.

It’s unclear, but the dictate seems to be coming from the aliens. The congregation treats “the Arrival” like a blessing — a religious event. The opening sermon makes no mention of the totalitarian, segmented military state the Earth has become in its wake; according to this perverse new church, the invasion restored prosperity and order.

Sadly, Katie’s son Bram does not appear to help his science teacher build that telescope, so we can finally start to see what the overlords are getting up to. We don’t know how soon the “Greatest Day” is approaching, but every episode we seem to be getting closer to a clear picture of it. With Colony set for a Season 2, one wonders if it will explore a post-alien-messiah universe, where human consciousness has been elevated — or rather, extraterrestrial-ized. One can only imagine that humans will no longer have any free will to fall back on.

Of course, this ambiguity highlights what is good about Colony, which despite its sometimes painfully slow-burning techniques and matter-of-fact dialogue, is plotted very deftly. It keeps the viewer completely in the dark, and hungry for more details to trickle out. The Hilter Youth-like overtones are juxtaposed in this episode with scenes illustrating the completely displaced moral center of the upper-crust, Green-Zone-dwelling class, and their sexual coercion and manipulation of Madeline, Katie’s sister. Cryptic scenes make it clear that some of these dissolute mansion-dwellers have some role in terms of implementing the alien messiah plan — something big is certainly coming.