Carlton Cuse is keeping the storyline of his new USA show “Colony” under such tight wraps that during the show’s TCA panel on Wednesday star Josh Holloway joked, “In the tradition of working with Carlton Cuse, I don’t know anything that’s going on.”
Holloway previously charmed audiences as the roguish Sawyer on Cuse’s previous show “Lost,” which still has many viewers scratching their heads.
“Colony” follows Holloway and “The Walking Dead’s” Sarah Wayne Callies as parents trying to protect their family from a mysterious force that has occupied Los Angeles and installed a puppet human government. Holloway said he enjoys shooting the show in LA, as the city is now “an exotic location.”
“No one shoots here anymore,” he said. “I’m proud to be on a show that’s bringing drama back to LA, and like Carlton said it is a character in our show.”
Cuse and fellow executive producer Ryan Condal also said they did not want to make another alien invasion story. “The true villains for us are the humans who have decided to turn against their own kind,” Condal said.
But according to Callies, the rebels in the series potentially pose as big a threat as the collaborators. “Passion and zealotry can be as dangerous as an occupying force,” she said.
Condal also talked about the influence he and Cuse drew from real occupations, such as the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. “The creative goldmine is what happens after Paris went back to ‘normal life,’” Condal said.
“What happens when it’s not soldiers, it’s not an army versus an army? Are you going to collaborate? Are you going to resist? Are you going to go down the middle and keep your head down and not get noticed?” he continued.