The Colony is a relatively new reality TV show poised to break into my holy trilogy of shows(Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race). The Colony plays Tuesday nights on the Discovery Channel at 9PM central.  It follows a cast of seven colonists secluded on ten acres of abandoned property in New Orleans Louisiana.  The property is some of the abandoned buildings left demolished by the flood caused by the flood waters of hurricane Katrina.  The colonists must contend with the natural elements as well as vigilantes that the producers have visit the camp at least once per episode to gauge the reaction of the survivors.  Sometimes the wanderers come peacefully to trade goods or ask for charity while other times they raid the camp to steal valuable food, tools, or medical supplies.

The concept is that the colonists must survive and begin rebuilding their lives after a biological disaster that has wiped out the majority of the planets population.  They must build shelter, find food, and establish some sort of order in their lives.  The cast of season two is a mixture of people with assorted backgrounds including inventor, model, construction foreman, mechanic and teacher.  The survivors are dropped of with minimal food and no electricity or running water.  They must scrounge the site for tools, food, and building materials to help better their situation.

Pandemic Victims

In episode one the survivors meet for the first time after a 72 hour quarantine to simulate the biological disaster.  As part of the parameters of the show if the colonists come into contact with any other humans they must wear bio suits or go into quarantine after having contact with them in order to make sure they have not become infected.  They begin the first day investigating the multitude of buildings that makeup the complex looking for suitable shelter and usable items.  There is a confrontation with wanderers that attack the camp and steal their medical supplies.

Season 2 is looking much more intense than season 1.  The colonists this time around are starting with less and are in a less defensible shelter.  The confrontations are much more violent than the past season where they were discouraged from actual physical contact or fighting.  This time around there are fists flying, mace and weapons actually being used.  It’s as if they get so caught up in the show that they forget they are actually on a show.  I am wondering when the producers are going to step in and tell everyone to calm down.  Until then I plan to continue watching.