S01.E10: Gateway

[formerlyfreedom]

Season finale!

 

After a high-value hostage is kidnapped by the Resistance, the Los Angeles block is placed on lockdown.

 

 

[Nostariel]

Well, that happened.

[sjohnson]

A detailed analysis of what's weird and off about this series is like beating a dead horse. I can only ask why you pretend to up the stakes. to, supposedly, the many deaths from bombing the city when you haven't the nerve to show any casualties. 

 

Done.

[eskimo]

We have to wait till 2017 for the next season?!?  I thought it would be like some shows where they have two shorter, split seasons a year instead of one regular, like spring and fall rather than fall and winter.  I was hoping it would come back in September.  Who remembers the good old days when a show started in September and ran till around May, then ran re-runs through the summer.  Now we get Jan-March then have to wait till next Jan?  That's bullshit in my book.  No wonder shows have such a hell of a time succeeding anymore, they don't give them a chance to build an audience.  If I remember correctly, CHEERS bombed in the ratings it's first regular season, but when it went to re-runs in the summer it found an audience and became one of the most popular shows of all time.  Now they cancel them if they're not hits right off the bat or give them some sort of mini-season once a year and expect people to remain interested.  I like it enough to watch again next year, provided my DVR remembers to record it, because by then, I won't.  So those that were on the fence about the show, they're goners. 

A detailed analysis of what's weird and off about this series is like beating a dead horse. I can only ask why you pretend to up the stakes. to, supposedly, the many deaths from bombing the city when you haven't the nerve to show any casualties. 

 

 

And there's THAT, too.

Edited March 18, 2016 by eskimo

[eskimo]

So the VIP kidnapping turned out to be a VIP murder, and they stopped attacking the colony?  K

[Dowel Jones]

Better pack your gear, Katie.  You're not long for that house. 

 

Was one of those kids in the opening sequence supposed to be Will's missing kid? 

 

I like that speakeasy opening in the resistance hideout door.  It was big enough for anyone to drop a grenade through.

 

With the facial recognition technology they were using at DHS HQ, you would think they would have ID'ed Katie right off the bat in the subway.  But that wouldn't work, would it?

[paulvdb]

I assume that kid was the same Charlie, although it is a common enough name that it could be a different Charlie. But I'm sure someone will compare him to the photo that we saw in a previous episode to confirm that this kid is the same Charlie.

[ZoqFotPik]

Who remembers the good old days when a show started in September and ran till around May, then ran re-runs through the summer. Now we get Jan-March then have to wait till next Jan? That's bullshit in my book. No wonder shows have such a hell of a time succeeding anymore, they don't give them a chance to build an audience. If I remember correctly, CHEERS bombed in the ratings it's first regular season, but when it went to re-runs in the summer it found an audience and became one of the most popular shows of all time.

Correct. While "Cheers" was well reviewed by critics, it wasn't originally very popular, but with Emmy wins and network support it became a huge success. That said, the television industry has changed immensely since then. Back then catching a rerun was the only way to see a missed episode. Now with DVRs, On demand, DVDs, Streaming, and online viewing (legal and otherwise), there simply is no need for reruns.

So the VIP kidnapping turned out to be a VIP murder, and they stopped attacking the colony?

The VIP may not have been dead. It may have just been badly injured or the suit put it into a protective mode of some kind. Since they couldn't get the suit opened there is no way to know.

Was one of those kids in the opening sequence supposed to be Will's missing kid?

I think the kid that was playing with the revolver was Will's kid. Also, based on the little that we saw of the Santa Monica bloc, there may be some truth to the fact that Synder was using relatively kid gloves.

Better pack your gear, Katie. You're not long for that house.

Someone in one of the earlier episode threads asked if the house had been bugged. I guess there's your answer.

With the facial recognition technology they were using at DHS HQ, you would think they would have ID'ed Katie right off the bat in the subway. But that wouldn't work, would it?

I thought that Jennifer did recognize Katie as soon as she saw the video.

I was really hopping Bram and the Teacher would have made it out, so that next season we would have gotten more about what the Aliens are doing on the Moon and in Orbit. So Dallas has been completely destroyed and Seattle had an uprising that was put down with relatively little blood shed. Okay, I'll take any world building.

Edited March 18, 2016 by ZoqFotPik

[placate]

Meh. I think I'll just rewatch the first season of Lost when I need my Josh Holloway fix. This was no replacement for Falling Skies.

[GreyBunny]

So a super-advanced alien is traveling in a dingy subway and has a locator signal that can be thwarted with chicken wire. Alrighty, then.

Poor Snyder, it looks like Pasdar sold him out to the Factory in exchange for his new cushy job. I'd gladly rat out Fucking Lori to get Snyder back, he cares more about his kid than Katie cares about hers, and he's a slimy deal breaker who lies, but it looked like he was trying to keep as many people alive and comfortable as possible. They can keep Bram too, he's just as much of a headache as his mother.

The indoctrination nanny is back with the kids. HAHAHA! Fuck you, Katie!

Edited March 18, 2016 by GreyBunny

[riverheightsnancy]

Lori, asking questions and comforting the other resistance girl how not to be afraid? This from the women of perpetual bug eyes? Terrible casting on her role. She can't move her forehead either. She acts all dumbfounded that what they did has any correlation whatsoever to their area getting blown up. A faction of 5 people is NOT going to be able to put down the aliens. These people are so stupid. I liked her character and acting better on The Walking Dead, now that is saying a lot about her acting here. 

[Netfoot]

Most incredible part of this episode is when FL ripped open the Faraday cage forcing everyone to flee, and nobody put a round into her hip-joint on the way out.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Netfoot

[Straycat80]

Disappointed and mad at myself that I watched this whole season and wasted my time.

I wanted them to show so many things: a flashback of the invasion, some sort of alien spaceship maybe, an alien and/or aliens, not just the dead armored thing, other areas outside of L.A. Or an explanation about what happened to them. And if that little boy at the beginning was Charlie, how did he get separated from the rest of the family?

I won't be watching season 2.

[magicdog]

if that little boy at the beginning was Charlie, how did he get separated from the rest of the family?

 

My guess is he was at a friend's house or part of some recreational activity when the invasion happened.  They showed the kids near the Santa Monica Pier, so I don't think it's too far fetched to think he went with some friends (perhaps those who were with him in the scene) to play and got stuck.

[Dowel Jones]

The VIP may not have been dead. It may have just been badly injured or the suit put it into a protective mode of some kind. Since they couldn't get the suit opened there is no way to know.

 

While they were cutting and beating on the shell, I was really hoping that the alien would wake up, flatten the guy with the drill,  and scream (in alien-speak) "What the holy hell do you think you're doing???  Punk ass kids!  Damn!  This suit cost me money!"

[MrPissyPuppy]

I think all that has happened in ten episodes should have occurred by episode 5 or 6.  There seems to have been a lot of filler on this show as they slowly drag out any reveal of the Hosts/Raps/AlienWhatevers.   This felt more like a mid season finale than a season finale.   And no, I don't want twenty episodes in a season.   

 

Adrian Pasdar's character was in that church where tutor girl was, so he appears to be linked to the alien indoctrination religion. 

 

Didn't they call the kid with the revolver Charlie?   So apparently he is still alive.  I think he was supposed to have been on a school trip when the invasion/takeover happened. 

 

I wanted to like this show since the basic premise is interesting, but it just doesn't work for me.   

[Zoe]

I don't see how they expect people to wait a whole year with such a flat conclusion. They should have saved the Factory reveal for the final shot.

[eskimo]

I hope they conclude the entire story next season, because if the percentage of people on this board that have said that they are done with the show is representative of the percentage of the general audience who are done with this show, then that will be the second and final season.  So if someone from this show's production is monitoring forums to gauge what the feeling is, my advice is to tighten up the plot holes and pick up the pace. 

[xaxat]

So is Broussard in love with Katie? Because that's the only reason I can think of for him not putting a bullet right between her eyes.

 

I think it was a big mistake to wrap the plot around a family drama. 

[tvsoothesthespirit]

I hope they decide to retool the show. I think it's an interesting premise and I like a lot of the actors.  The characters, I'm on the fence about. 

 

I think they could go the deep, character-driven, everyone has a choice to make route and show the sacrifices and moral issues inherent in those choices and have an interesting show. But they really, really need to deal with the problem of defining the enemy. 

 

Just "it's a big bad who is far more advanced than we are and they have taken over," doesn't work (at least for me). I don't necessarily need to know why they're here but the technological inconsistencies are driving me bonkers.  They can mow down a city in the blink of an eye but they travel on the subway. They will find you no matter what unless you communicate in code via landline "untraceable" phone. Obviously the list goes on. and on.

 

Or they can go the action-adventure, archetype route but then they really need to step up the action/adventure and deal with defining the enemy. You need some front-end loading to be able to rely on those sorts of definitions.

 

I have to say that I was incredibly disappointed when the collaborators found the underground tunnel.  What a great way to broaden the show and give the resistance a base that believably might be difficult to find. I will begrudgingly admit that I thought the scientists with the Faraday cage was a clever idea. I probably think that because I don't know very much about Faraday cages except that they are cool.

[sjohnson]

Did have to come back to say it reminded me of how much better Falling Skies was at the beginning, before the nonsense premise of space war ate its guts away. Unfortunately for Colony, it's still just as ridiculous for the resistance to have any chance or for the aliens to have any reason for all this brouhaha. So, like Falling Skies, it too will fall flat on its face. Perhaps you could argue it may not be a damaging fall, being such a short distance?

[ottoDbusdriver]

I watched 10 episodes for that ?  Seriously ?

 

We never saw an alien (the suit covering the alien doesn't count -- it could have been a droid or a robo-presence device for all we know).

 

We never a space ship (other that whatever they were launching into space).

 

We got a brief glimpse of the Factory on the moon -- yet no explanation of what they are doing there.  And they never explained how everyone seems to know that going to the Factory was a serious threat, but did any of them know it was located on the moon ?

 

Instead of seeing Charlie in the Santa Monica colony, I would have been curious to see Beau's (Carl Weathers) adventures on the other side of the wall -- and see if he made it to Big Bear or was robbed by a bunch of kids.

 

So what fired that missile that destroyed the building ?  It certainly wasn't one of the drones, and seemed to come from above.

 

Bram and the astronomer get caught trying to crawl under the wall -- and we never see them again in the episode.

 

We get a brief scene of Proxy Snider and his daughter -- was that some sort of attempt to make the audience empathize with him ?  It didn't look like the Red Hats were holding her hostage, she just came off as a spoiled rich kid.

 

And Wil drives off into the sunset (metaphorically speaking) as he heads to the other side of the wall to look for Charlie.

 

It was just all so damn boring.  

 

And this can't be said enough -- Fucking Lori !!  She ruins everything.

Edited March 19, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[FishyJoe]

I mentioned this in the last episode, why are these 'aliens' being transported around by humans? Of course they transport the 'VIP' in a helicopter now...Even though they seem to have technology far superior to humans, they like to use human transport? Really, that's the equivalent of transporting the President of the USA in an ox cart. Don't even get me started about the subway.

 

I think I'm starting to root for team red hat, because the aliens are so stupid. It makes no sense, but that's what the show has done to me.

[Raja]

So is Broussard in love with Katie? Because that's the only reason I can think of for him not putting a bullet right between her eyes.

 

I think it was a big mistake to wrap the plot around a family drama. 

I think Broussard's love was for her father the Naval officer. And now he will protect his family.

 

The family drama thing is old school Hollywood it is the default to attract the wider audience. You can watch old war movies with one women in the cast and somewhere between the first and second act you cut away from the action to show the romance the soldier left at home

[Clanstarling]

It's funny, I get as annoyed with the show and have many of the same issues as everyone else, yet for some reason I'm still enjoying it and plan to watch next season, if it comes back. It hasn't reached my tipping point, I guess.

The drones and the building explosion confused me. At first I thought someone targeted the drones, and their combined explosion destroyed the building, and there were more effective resistance fighters and our band of five. Then I thought the explosion was just caused by the combined power of the drones.

I laughed when Broussard said something to the effect of "are you ready to die for this" AFTER they'd already ensured their deaths by killing red hats and blowing up the train. Kind of the first rule of resistance, you have to be willing to die.

The first scene with Charlie was confusing, but I liked it. I imagine Charlie as a resourceful fellow, and the head of that little gang. Kind of Lord of the Flies. When Will finds him, he will be a very different boy. IIRC, in the pilot episode, Will said something along the lines of that he'd let go of Charlie, which to me meant that he'd been with Charlie at the time and got separated. Of course, he could have said he "let HIM go" which could also mean he let him go on a field trip. I don't think it was explicitly stated, one way or another. Like so much on the show.

I did like the song playing when Snyder went to his daughter's commune. I don't know if it was written for the show, or a remnant of the hippy days, but it was amusing to me.

Edited March 19, 2016 by clanstarling

[magicdog]

I imagine Charlie as a resourceful fellow, and the head of that little gang. Kind of Lord of the Flies. When Will finds him, he will be a very different boy.

 

 

This could be interesting if Charlie is reunited with his family.  I remember the TV movie, "I Know My First Name Is Steven" about a real life case in which a boy is kidnapped at age 7 and comes back to his family nearly a decade later.  The movie explored how the little boy they knew was gone and there was a lot of clashing since Steven had a loose upbringing (not to mention having been molested for most of that time) and he eventually moved out.  I can see Charlie's life on the street and independence causing friction for the family.

Edited March 19, 2016 by magicdog

[AnnaMayWong]

We have to wait till 2017 for the next season?!? I thought it would be like some shows where they have two shorter, split seasons a year instead of one regular, like spring and fall rather than fall and winter. I was hoping it would come back in September. Who remembers the good old days when a show started in September and ran till around May, then ran re-runs through the summer. Now we get Jan-March then have to wait till next Jan? That's bullshit in my book. No wonder shows have such a hell of a time succeeding anymore, they don't give them a chance to build an audience. If I remember correctly, CHEERS bombed in the ratings it's first regular season, but when it went to re-runs in the summer it found an audience and became one of the most popular shows of all time. Now they cancel them if they're not hits right off the bat or give them some sort of mini-season once a year and expect people to remain interested. I like it enough to watch again next year, provided my DVR remembers to record it, because by then, I won't. So those that were on the fence about the show, they're goners.

And there's THAT, too.

⬆Yes ❗

I was just talking to a family member about the very same thing--months of new episodes then Summer Reruns!

And, the limited time for program development is utterly ridiculous.

[AnnaMayWong]

Oh, I forgot. Damn you, feckin' Lori-Katie ❗

[Dowel Jones]

I read that Sarah Wayne Callies, along with some of the other cast members,  has signed on for a reboot of Prison Break.

[Helena Dax]

What a mess. Katie was completely useless. Because of her, the Resistance didn't learn anything about the invaders. She didn't keep her children safe. She didn't help her husband to find Charlie. At the end, she sits just there, in a empty house, her family scattered away and thousands of dead people who died for nothing.

 

Meanwhile, Will got a chance to find Charlie, made sure his other kids were safe (not his fault the older one ran away), saved people by finding the alien...

 

And you know what? I don't blame Katie, I blame the writers. When she's always wrong and he's always right... No, thanks. Julie Parrish would like a word with you, writers.

 

Also, I don't understand this show anymore. Okay, no, I would understand this show if the human characters were complex, full, intriguing, and the writing was poignant, deep and witty. Then, I'd see the point in avoiding the aliens and focusing in the human reactions to that weird situation. But this? The writing is trite and boring. The characters go from insanely annoying (Katie) to just "meh" (everyone else). So yeah, they need aliens. Tons of them. I'll give them one more chance next season, but if things don't change, I'll leave the show. 

[Accidental Martyr]

 I'll give them one more chance next season, but if things don't change, I'll leave the show.

I don't think you'll be alone. I wonder how many viewers will even return next season after this episode plus a long hiatus?

[Raja]

I laughed when Broussard said something to the effect of "are you ready to die for this" AFTER they'd already ensured their deaths by killing red hats and blowing up the train. Kind of the first rule of resistance, you have to be willing to die.

 

He didn't mean in general as being resistance but that specific moment in trying to get intelligence from the captured or dead host body and they were willing to risk their lives right then and there as the critical moment.  Only Lori operating as the officer in charge, not just a second guard with Broussard taking on the role as her Sergeant took the decision away from them.

[FishyJoe]

So yeah, they need aliens. Tons of them. I'll give them one more chance next season, but if things don't change, I'll leave the show. 

 

Yeah, that had to be the worst alien reveal ever. Even if it's a human, that was just plain crap. After 10 episodes, we really know nothing about them other than they seem to be ridiculously powerful and stupid at the same time.

[xaxat]

I was really hoping Broussard was just going grab an ax and start going brute force on the alien after the second attempt with the saw.

[Accidental Martyr]

Yeah, that had to be the worst alien reveal ever. Even if it's a human, that was just plain crap. After 10 episodes, we really know nothing about them other than they seem to be ridiculously powerful and stupid at the same time.

...and they really like fine art.

[Adira]

Wow, there's a lot of hate on this thread.  I liked it and will watch the next season.

[riverheightsnancy]

I was surprised that they didn't cover/protect themselves. "IF" they were able to open the suit, there is no way of knowing if they could be exposed to some type of alien bacteria or toxin from the body which could kill/harm a human. The way that they treated the body was so rudimentary. It was like they weren't scientists or had any real concept of metals and science, and we know that isn't true because one of the guys invented the drone bug (on the show). I am also surprised that they weren't more curious about it. They were just hacking away at it. I would have been very curious, but very cautious. Typical arrogance, of thinking you know everything there is to know, (obviously they do not know everything about the universe) . 

[Adira]

Well, the guy that created the drone was definitely an engineer, but that doesn't make him a scientist or that knowledgeable about bacteria.  If they were all mostly engineers, it doesn't surprise me they didn't really think much about what they could be exposed to.  And the one woman did mention that maybe the suit was protect humans from the aliens, and not the other way around.

[xaxat]

I saw it more as desperation than arrogance. It was a unique opportunity and they had very limited time and resources to exploit it.

 

It's like a doctor who uses whiskey to sterilize stuff  and works without a mask while doing back country surgery because that's all she has.

 

I would definitely taken the chance. 

[GreyBunny]

And they were all trying to cut and bang on it before trying switches and buttons?  Dumb.

[xaxat]

 

No matter what path they chose, the level of alien tech made them like chimpanzees playing with a loaded gun. 

Edited March 22, 2016 by xaxat

[riverheightsnancy]

I saw it more as desperation than arrogance. It was a unique opportunity and they had very limited time and resources to exploit it.

 

It's like a doctor who uses whiskey to sterilize stuff  and works without a mask while doing back country surgery because that's all she has.

 

I would definitely taken the chance. 

I would think that mechanical engineers would have an understanding of how machines are built and materials used for strength, flexibility, etc.. So for example, instead of hacking away at a smooth surface of the body of the alien suit, perhaps one would try to hack away at a point of weakness, a joint or where the suit might bend. Underneath the neck or places where it would have to be more flexible. Of course, as others have stated, they were pressured for time (but I thought the chicken wire was protecting them) and may not have been thinking clearly. While, I would have risked it as well, I would think that their scientific training (in general-engineering is part of the STEM fields, so they have more hard sciences then say a straight psychology degree) would have made them a bit more introspective about how to approach it. I would maybe have tried to pry off some of the artifacts, instead of just trying to saw into them. Plus, these guys are young, so they may not have as much experience in general. 

[holly4755]

OMG that was exactly what I was thinking, look for joints, flexible material, something cuttable.  In my town they make you cut every thing down to small sizes for the garbage, so I am always cutting up things before I could throw them out and you have to know what you are cutting, wood easy metal hard. Sometimes drills  sometimes sawzalls.

Nope, can't see these guys ever working with their hands, designers maybe, but certainly not builders.

[AudienceofOne]

Finally finished it. It never really gripped me and in the end I got bored. I liked the idea. I liked the set up. I even liked some of the execution. But in the end, the actors were miscast (IMHO) and I just didn't feel it had anything new to say. Collaboration means you live till tomorrow. Resistance means you might die today but create a better world for your children tomorrow. Which is a fine dichotomy to explore if you're not fighting against an enemy like the Raps. Die today. Die tomorrow. Nothing's going to change so what does it matter?

The proper analogy for this show is Palestine. You can fight back or not but you're living in a permanent concentration camp ruled over by a capricious and vindictive group that would happily nuke you with the smallest excuse. Shit ain't changing and so who cares if you set off a bomb that kills you and 15 other civilians? It may not achieve anything but at least you tried to do something.

No show coming out of the US is going to have the balls to make that comparison and so it's an almost wishy washy WWII analogy instead. Oh, the Raps are stealing our art and sending us to "factories" from which we never return. Do we join the Resistance or Collaborate? 

It's a bogus analogy and it showed in the execution.

The worst part was when Holloway's character decides to take his family and run. From a global alien invasion. Run to where? Dumbest. Plan. Ever. And then the show acts like his wife is on the dead-end road to violence even though there is literally no way any of them survive this in the end.

Overall, the show was just not that interesting. And that's not something that can be overcome.

Edited May 25, 2016 by AudienceofOne
Spelling

[biakbiak]

For some reason I thought it was hysterical that Katie said she opened a bar so that her kids would understand that she was more than just a wife/mother, so she chose a business that her kids can't hang out in. I mean I am not shaming her, I have a close friend who is a single mother of two boys who owns a small bar it just seemed a weird answer to his question which wasn't why are you working but rather why did you as a mother of three decide to open a bar.

[CoyoteBlue]

Binge-watching because S3 looked interesting in promos and thought I'd catch up:

Holy crap, it's like Will's herding cats all season, suicidal cats who keep wanting to run into traffic.