History Main / TheColony

* ''Film/TheColony2016'': Titled "The Colony" in the UK; A 2016 film about Colonia Dignidad

* ''Film/TheColony'': A 2013 PostApocalyptic film.
* ''Film/LaColonia'': Titled "The Colony" in the UK; A 2016 film about Colonia Dignidad

''The Colony'' may refer to:

* ''Series/{{Colony}}'': A 2016 series airing on the USA Network.

* ''Film/LaColonia'': Titled "The Colony" in the UK; A 2016 film about Colonia Dignidad

* ''Film/TheColony'' or ''FilmLaColonia'': A 2016 film about Colonia Dignidad

* ''Series/{{Colony}}'': A 2016 series airing on the USA Network.

* ''Film/TheColony'': A 2013 PostApocalyptic film.

* ''Film/TheColony'': A 2013 PostApocalyptic film. [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160996/]]

* ''Series/TheColony'': A "survival experiment" reality show broadcast on The DiscoveryChannel.

* ''VideoGame/TheColony'': A 1988 ActionAdventure FirstPersonShooter released by Mindscape.

[[redirect:Series/TheColony]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Colony_702.jpg ]]

''TheColony'' is a "survival experiment" broadcast on The DiscoveryChannel, in which ten people (and later more) must rebuild after a simulated viral outbreak kills most of the human population. They are given several blocks of abandoned industrial park bordering the LosAngelesRiver in downtown Los Angeles, where they are allowed to do anything they want and scavenge any supplies they can find.

Emphasis is placed on dealing with resource scarcity, novel uses of common (and not-so-common) found items to provide for the group in such a situation, and weighing the survival of other groups against the survival of one's own (i.e. stealing). There are several semi-scripted encounters with others (various wanderers, raiders, and a trader), which demonstrate possible social interactions in such an environment and the play between compassion (give them food because it's the right thing to do?) and pragmatism (keep it for yourself because you need it more?). All actors are forbidden to directly harm the Colonists (lest they risk an [[{{ExecutiveMeddling}} insurance nightmare and subsequent cancellation]]), but panic, emotion, and malnutrition (on the Colonists' side) meant that accidents could still happen.

A second season aired with a new setting (Louisiana), apocalypse scenario (Bird Flu outbreak) and group, and has fixed the main criticism leveled at the first season (hostile groups being forbidden to directly harm the colonists).

With a bevy of [[{{MacGyvering}} improvisation]], survival tips, the lack of a "game show" atmosphere, and the lack of a tangible "prize" other than the experience itself, ''TheColony'' is an interesting series that breaks from the typical reality show mold.
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!!''TheColony'' provides examples of:
* AbandonedHospital: In one episode, the colonists raid one for medical supplies.
* AbandonedWarehouse: The colonists take one over and live in it for the entirety of the series.
* ActionGirl: One of the female colonists (Leilani) is a self-defense instructor and one of the "negotiators" of the group.
* AfterTheEnd: The entire show's premise is that the colonists are trying to survive the post-apocalypse and find greener pastures.
* BigFancyHouse: Well it's certianly not ''fancy'', but they have a giant building stocked with almost everything they could possibly need to build whatever they needed.
* ChekhovsGun: Or, more accurately, [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Chekhov's flamethrower]].]]
* ConfessionCam: Used liberally throughout each episode.
* CoolCar - they built a van with retractable solar panels that ''runs on woodsmoke''.
* CoolOldGuy - John C. A self-professed "mad scientist," he designed their flamethrower as well as a Tesla coil that [[{{AwesomeYetPractical}} used lightning bolts to create ozone so that they could purify their water without needing to boil it]].
* DesignatedGirlFight: While Andre and Elizabeth are getting kicked out, Elizabeth flails and hits Allison. A hair-pulling catfight immediately commences.
* DramaticShattering: When the raiders attacked and broke into the warehouse, they shattered bottles of goat milk. The cameras zoomed in and replayed the shattering many times.
* FaceHeelTurn: To some extent, the colonists turned alignments for a temporary time. While adamantly against raiding and stealing from "other people", they do it twice anyway in the name of their continued survival.
* FanDisservice: The first episode ends with John C. happily laughing and running around completely naked in the rain. ... any other member of the show would have been preferred.
* FightingForAHomeland: The colonists have to fight off threats that come at them every episode that threaten their ability to stay in the colony warehouse.
* GangBangers: While not entirely accurate, the raiders seem to fit the Gang Banger style. Always rolling in groups, using weapons "gangsta" style, and all wearing very closely matching clothing and makeup or masks, in some cases.
* GrandFinale: The last episode, the Colonists had to use the vehicles they had been building since about the fourth episode to escape. They also got to use their lethal weapons, like flame throwers, electric fences and molotov cocktails. Obviously scripted and meant to be a spectacle.
* HappyRain: Both the first and second seasons seem to miraculously have a huge rainstorm the minute they're done building a water collecting device.
** In the first season, the water collection system was a quick improvisation of the warehouse's natural gutter system. It wasn't so miraculous, although it was quite happy.
* HeelFaceTurn: Joey's back story - he was a prison inmate who turned his life around. He claims that's where a lot of his security knowledge that he uses in the Colony stems from.
* HospitalHottie: Two of the more attractive members of the first season cast are a doctor and a nurse. Who both manage to remain clean and pretty looking throughout.
* JerkAss: Mike was not a very happy or pleasant person. To the point where some people on the show actually monologue about how "I'm sure Mike is actually a nice guy, deep down..."
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For all of the unflattering talk about him, Mike usually has a reason when he goes off on someone(especially with the people who have TooDumbToLive tendencies), and more often than not, he's quick to complement someone who does something right(even if it's only on the ConfessionCam).
* {{MacGyvering}}: A lot of the show is about how the colonists can build extremely useful things (such as an ozone water cleaner or even cars and trucks) out of junk that has been scavenged.
* OncePerEpisode: Several times per episode, the colonists come under "Phases" in which some kind of situation is forced upon them. It can be as simple as someone begging for food at their doors, or all the water pipes in the warehouse suddenly bursting.
* ProductPlacement: There are a few moments where the camera seems to "pause" on the logo of Harbor Freight Tools on certain items the colonists have acquired or are in the process of acquiring.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Joey begins considering leaving the other colonists near the end of the season when the situation began to grate on him. [[spoiler: He does leave the group at the very end, but by that point it had instead become IChooseToStay, with Joey deciding to stay in L.A. to help rebuild it.]]
* ScaryBlackMan: Andre subverts this trope by turning out to be the original owner of the warehouse. [[spoiler:He plays it straight by returning in the finale.]]
* ScavengerWorld: Of course.
* SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness: The Colony inhabits a strange place on the scale. Unlike most reality shows, the Colonists do not acknowledge the show, and characters seemingly lack MediumAwareness, but the GenreSavvy Narrators poke holes in the wall while they give survival strategy tips and a play by play of the psychology and sociology involved in rebuilding society. The biggest MindScrew though is that the characters themselves actually think it's reality, or seem to. They act like, and possibly think that, there is a FourthWall between themselves and the real world. ThisIsReality ensues.
** Commented upon by a psychologist narrator sometime around Day 38. While they may have taken solace in it being a show in the beginning, their continual psychologically-stressful trials made it seem more real the longer they stayed.
* ThePlague: What kills all the other people that are supposed to be in Los Angeles. The colonists and raiders are obviously unaffected; most likely they are the small subset of humanity naturally immune.
* TokenReligiousTeammate: John V. Shown leading a prayer in an early episode. Made most evident in (and after) the encounter with the "missionaries".
* TooDumbToLive: It's a good thing the show was just a simulation, or else some of these people would ''never'' have survived as long as they did. Joey needs help building a water heater on the roof for their shower. Where are the other people who said they would help him? [[spoiler: Eating lunch, sun bathing, or making pretty dresses out of their fabric.]]
** In one episode, Mike is busy trying to clean up the overflowing sewage in the bathroom, and cuts his hand, putting him at risk of staph infection. Understandably panicked, he rushes out and yells for Allison, the trauma nurse, to get ready to treat him. Her reaction? She smugly crosses her arms and doesn't do crap because she ''didn't like the way he shouted at her''. Granted, Mike has established himself as a bit of a JerkAss and butted heads with almost everybody in the past, but for goodness' sake woman, it's a legitimate problem! Quit being so petty and do your damn job!
** The "survivor" who wanted to continue being a vegetarian in the post-apocalypse.
*** In fairness, he changed his tune when it counted.
** The "colonists" in "Recon Mission". Seriously, you leave your home and all of your belongings completely unguarded and then get pissed when others don't realize someone's living there?
** Before the "colonists" got their generator fixed for good (after the gasifier was ready, but before second alternator was added), their batteries were almost dry. Cue Amy cutting rod for slingshot with angle grinder, draining the batteries to the critical level. When Mike went vocal about that, everyone consider that ''he'' is the bad guy, shouting at people for no real reason.
** In terms of simulation, the idea of turning shotgun shells into fireworks was probably the only thing the colonist could do (well, maybe barter them). But in any other conditions wasting a pack of 12 gauge rounds for fireworks that didn't even worked was pure stupidity.
** More or less the whole problem is very often "blue-collar workers vs rest". Most of the time someone did something really dumb it was on "rest" side, endangering critical projects. That's probably why in later episodes every step and every project was explained in layman terms to every "colonist".
* ViewersAreMorons: Every, single, episode had that psychologist explaining that the colonists thought this was real, and it made sense to. Even near the end of the season. Very frustrating if you're doing an EpisodeBinge.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The colonists can't just simply go back home because it is assumed that everyone in their hometown is dead from ThePlague.

!!The second season provides additional examples of:
* TheAce: In a way, "Tick." As an ex-Marine sniper, hunter, and survivalist, he's essentially the exact guy they needed since the beginning of the season.
* BaldOfAwesome: Deville's gloriously shiny dome.
* BreakTheCutie: Becka, who was the only person in the season who didn't seem to have any specific skills useful for helping the colony, being a model. And even though she seemed like just the AlphaBitch, it was still heart breaking to see her crying pain after being maced in the eyes, and watching her [[spoiler: Get grabbed by three men, tied down, and dragged away while screaming for help.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: Amber was repeatedly shown to be out of her element, and from the start seemed to be just slightly distanced from the group. Throughout the season it showed her trying to let down her guard and try to be a team player, but still isn't very good at socializing.
* ConfessionCam: Again, used liberally throughout each episode.
* CoolOldGuy: Deville. A 70-year-old retired contractor, he's apparently stepped up as the ''de facto'' leader of the Colonists, with his experience providing many of the ideas they adopt to survive.
** As of the latest episode, Sally has been elected as the "leader". However, Deville remains an incredibly capable, level-headed and productive member of the group, having constructed a cistern, which will provide them with weeks of water.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The new Colonists' starting location has less food, less water, and much more severely damaged shelter. Their home base is less secure and, unlike the first season, they are physically attacked almost from the get go.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: As the colonists escape on an airboat, they are met by a gang of armed thugs at their destination.]]
* [[DroppedABridgeOnHim Dropped A Bridge On Them]]: [[spoiler: Michael and Amber. While out scouting, a random "infected" survivor jumped out and coughed blood on them both. They were then forced to leave the show because they are "infected".]]
* MrFanservice: Reno appears to be allergic to shirts.
** In fact, all of the mid-to-young age guys tend to enjoy working up a sweat with their shirts off.
* FanDisservice: A bunch of pretty girls stripping down to their underwear? Hot. A bunch of girls ([[WalkingShirtlessScene and]] [[MrFanservice Reno]]) gagging, sobbing, and about to vomit while dragging around a bunch of maggot infested rotting pig carcasses in their underwear? Not so hot.
* GoshDangItToHeck: Jim. "Son of a biscuit!" indeed.
* AHouseDivided: Chronic lack of food has stressed the Colonists so badly that they're blowing up at each other regardless of the seriousness of the issue.
* ImNotHereToMakeFriends: Amber is being portrayed somewhat as this, being confrontational with the other colonists, saying that she unashamedly always speaks her mind, and taking a "good of the many" approach with Becka's kidnapping, telling the other colonists not to give away too much, and even insulting Becka in ConfessionCam to argue she's not worth it.
** Played straight with Sian, [[spoiler: she leaves the colonists and goes with VOPA.]]
* TheLadette: Amber and Sally, a logger and mechanic respectively. Their presence will no doubt lead to the most butch cat fight ever seen.
* TheLoad: Subverted. In the first episode, George appeared to be this. He takes a nap during dinnertime and rides a bicycle instead of walking with the group when they went out searching. However, he since became one of the most productive colonists after constructing a forge and bellows, allowing them to craft metal into weapons.
* ThePlague: The premise of this season is that the region has been devastated by a mutation of the avian flu, and that the colonists are among those who are not yet infected. This creates an added challenge, as anyone who comes into physical contact with outsiders has to be quarantined for 12 hours to make sure they weren't infected.
* TheStinger: So the colonists escape the raid on their fan boat to live in a nice 2 floor house in the bayou right? [[spoiler: When they get there, there is already a bunch of people living there!]]
* MaleGaze: When the girls stripped down to put on smocks in the second episode, the viewers got two loving, lingering shots of their panty-clad behinds.
* ShipTease: Reno & Becka anyone? He agreed to stay in quarantine with her and they had friendly conversation for ''12 hours''.
** Then the scene between Reno and Sally, of him saying that he doesn't like the idea of someone besides him working with her. He then had to clarify that he didn't mean as a jealous boyfriend way.
** And how about when Sally says if she was just being self-centered and not thinking about the group, she would hop on the motorcycle with Reno and just take off together. Try watching any scene with them together after that and not seeing a touch linger, a hug extended.
* SixthRanger: Tick. A badass ex-Marine Sniper who has been living off the land way better than the Colonists have. He then joins the colonists to help tighten up security as well as showing them how to hunt and gather better.
* NeverSplitTheParty: Hoo boy...
* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: The first episode of season 2 averts the ''hell'' out of this.
** And now they've killed an Alligator...we can only hope no one tells PETA about this show.
* SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness: When the colonists receive happy videos of their family members saying hello and asking if they're having fun. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming it's really emotional]], but it seems to completely demolish the fourth wall.
* TeamMom: Sian. Does most of the cooking, takes care of inventory with the food, but also comforts Jim when they find a macaroni painting made by "his kids".
* TrueCompanions: Deville, at least, feels this way about the colony members.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids:
** Jim started off as a praying loving Christian man who intended to be moralistic. But ''very'' quickly he became a bitter, angry, distrusting individual, all of the fighting and stress took a toll on his view on life.
** Taken to its extreme when Tick arrives. Jim is so suspicious of him that he sleeps outside. Becka comments that looking at him, hairy, greasy, and hunched over a fire outside looked more like some kind of creepy animalistic cave man than the nice guy he was at the start.
* WhamEpisode: The end of the first episode already has the colonists physically attacked by a militia, who proceed to steal their medicine and a goodly portion of their food...and unlike the first season, "physically attacked" in this case meant that there were headlocks, throwing the colonists around, an elbow to a colonist's back while putting them into a headlock, slamming a colonist into the pavement, pinning them to the ground, and ''pepper spray right in their eyes.'' This leads to:
** DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything and {{Squick}}: Unlike the Mad Max-esque spectacles of the first season, the portrayal of the militia raid looked and felt a little like a gang rape.
** Oh God, Becka. She's going to have nightmares for weeks after this experiment after that spectacle. The previews for next episode seem to suggest that it gets even worse for her.
* WhatTheHellHero: After [[spoiler: Michael and Amber were "infected" and forced to leave the show, Becka quickly states that they never really felt like a part of the group/family anyway.]] You can ''see'' and the shock and sadness in Deville's eyes. Reno mentions losing respect for her. And Jim, who took longer than anyone to accept [[spoiler: Michael and Amber]], immediately calls her (and himself) out on it.
* WrenchWench: Sally is an auto-mechanic.
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''TheColony'' is a "survival experiment" broadcast on The DiscoveryChannel, in which ten people (and later more) must rebuild after a simulated viral outbreak kills most of the human population. They are given several blocks of abandoned industrial park bordering the Los Angeles River in downtown Los Angeles, where they are allowed to do anything they want and scavenge any supplies they can find.

* FridgeLogic: The colonists create a very lethal flamethrower for defense. It works great, and is a fantastic weapon. But who the hell are they going to use it on? Whether or not they are "role playing," they surely must realize that they can't actually kill a human for the show, right?

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: After Sian [[spoiler: leaves in the VOPA trucks, we can hear screaming, thumping, and a hissing gas noise overlaid on the sound track. Clearly she made the wrong choice.]]
** [[spoiler: Though it's also possible she was squealing with delight and kicking at the seats, but there's no way to really know]]

* SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness: The Colony inhabits a strange place on the scale. Unlike most reality shows, the Colonists do not acknowledge the show, and characters seemingly lack MediumAwareness, but the GenreSavvy Narrators poke holes in the wall while they give survival strategy tips and a play by play of the psychology and sociology involved in rebuilding society. The biggest MindScrew though is that the characters themselves actually think it's reality, or seem to. They act like, and possibly think that, there is a FourthWall between themselves and the real world. ThisIsReality ensues.

* HappyRain: Both the first and second seasons seem to miraculously have a huge rainstorm the minute they're done building a water collecting device.

* NightmareFuel: After Sian [[spoiler: leaves in the VOPA trucks, we can hear screaming, thumping, and a hissing gas noise overlaid on the sound track. Clearly she made the wrong choice.]]