Colony Plot

In a dystopian, near-future Los Angeles, a couple, Katie (Callies) and Will (Holloway) Bowman, live with two of their three children, under a regime of military occupation by an organization known as the Colony Transitional Authority. They are part of a larger invading force, of extraterrestrial origin, who are referred to as the "Hosts", and as the "Raps", apparently a reference to raptors (the logo of their human forces features a stylized bird of prey). It is said of them that "no one ever sees them". The Hosts have built an enormous wall, around 20–30 stories tall and many meters thick, that surrounds the central part of Los Angeles, and similar walls around other major cities (now called "Blocs"), while various buildings still display severe damage from the armed conflict during the invasion, known as the "Arrival". The geographical extent of the alien invasion is unclear, but it is presumably worldwide. The occupying forces shown to the viewers are all human, speak American English, and consist of black-and-red-uniformed militarized police with automatic firearms and armored personnel carriers. They are nicknamed the "Redhats", and more properly called, along with a privileged class of elites, the "Proxies", also denigrated as the "Collaborators", suggesting that they were all drawn by the Hosts from the local population. It is unclear how the Redhats were initially organized or equipped. They may be staffed by members of what was Homeland Security, and are still often referred to as such. The Redhats do recruit from the local population, though such recruits are sometimes shown to be thuggish or wannabe types. These forces maintain control by separation of loved ones, shoot-on-sight curfews, forced disappearances, random checkpoints and frequent electronic identity checks, limitation of motor vehicle usage to official transport by special permit only (most citizens must walk or ride bicycles), pervasive visual propaganda, slave laborin a facility called the "Factory" for any transgressors (and their families) who are not executed, and electronic surveillance with Host-provided drone aircraft that launch from the wall. Some medical problems, such as diabetes, have been "deemed unworthy for treatment" by the Hosts, to cull the population with a crude form of eugenics. An active resistance movement is referred to as both the "Resistance" and the "Insurgency" (without universal support among the population, even among non-Collaborators), alongside ablack market, though both are subject to ruthless suppression. A resistance cell based in Los Angeles includes at least one former U.S. military/intelligence operative named Broussard. Most basic resources are rationed by the Transitional Authority, while limited trade is conducted between citizens, bartering home-produced, used, and sometimes stolen items. The apparent leader of the resistance is known by the codename "Geronimo", after the Apache leader.

The series begins less than a year after the beginning of the Occupation. The Bowmans seek their middle child (younger son), Charlie, who was separated from them during the Arrival, while they try to survive with meager resources in a changed world that is constantly dangerous despite its urban veneer of order. Will is forced to work for the Redhats to hunt down the Resistance, or his family will be sent to the Factory. Katie, who is (unbeknownst to Will) a member of the Resistance, now has an inside source in Will.