First Thoughts on the new Discovery Channel Show: The Colony

The Colony, the new simulated post-disaster reality show airing on the Discovery Channel, aired episode 1 on Tuesday night. Overall, I am intrigued by the premise and the first episode did not suck. For those that don't know me, that's a compliment. First episodes are all preparation and little H, so it is hard to really hook a viewer in episode one. I'll be back around for more when episode 2 airs.

So let me critique it a bit.

First, the setup. The resources available to the cast are quite extensive, even water. Don't get me wrong, this certainly could happen and I know it would be kinda hard to shoot this reality show without peppering the scene with resources, but most disaster survivors will not have access to dozens of batteries, a converter, close-by fresh water, well-stocked first aid kits, sand and charcoal for water filtration, etc, etc. In a post-survival environment, this crew is clearly in a relative Eden.

Second, the worthiness of this 'experiment'. The intro states these people will help us study post-disaster scenarios, but I would argue this is not an empirically-useful experiment. It is sanitized greatly. It has to be to work in this television format (and to keep people from being seriously hurt or to keep them from being very sick). As far as I know, there is no control experiment to mirror this one. There are no tested variables. The initial set of survivors was carefully selected to include a widely divergent set of highly-specialized skills which is incredibly unlikely under any realistic disaster scenario. There is no way to know how much of what these people do is greatly influenced by the people creating the tests. This isn't scientific, and I have a very hard time believing a lot of very useful information will come from it.

Third, this is a reality show. Again, it is controlled and sanitized by producers and the safety and legal teams. The primary goal of the show is entertainment, not realism. That's not a negative so much as it makes it clear that the show is not really attempting to show what is likely, only what is likely given an enormous influence of conditions and decisions made by the producers, writers, directors, and overseers. The participants are much less in control of their actions than in a real disaster scenario. Fear of the unknown here is manufactured with midnight maurader raids and resource shortages, but every participant knows without a doubt they will not be abandoned to die should they fail to procure enough water. That is a serious disconnect from the real situation.

So, some critiques based solely on the first episode. None of these were unexpected, and I'd also argue none of them will terribly impact whether or not I enjoy watching the show. I'm a skeptic, so I question these things by default.

The Colony has potential, but don't take it too seriously as an objective study. It is not one. However, if the show serves to educate people on the difficulties and dangers of post-disaster survival, it has more than justified its existence. I hope the narrative doesn't get bogged down in cast arguments and loud fights. Sure, they will happen (and are a vital component of what happens in reality), but editing can blow these arguments well out of proportion and cause the viewer to focus too much on people yelling and to focus too little on learning how the cast solves very difficult problems collectively.

I may have more on the show after more episodes. At any rate, I'll tune in again for Ep 2 and look forward to exploring more of this scenario.