Lessons learned from "The Colonly"

I'm not usually a fan of "reality" shows but I am making an exception for the Discovery Channel series "The Colony". Usually, I find "reality shows" are either incredibly staged or simply boring. The series "The Colony" fits more into the "staged" category. The participants were given the scenario that they were experiencing the downfall of civilization due to a viral plague and were provided a temporary sanctuary in a former factory. There, they were given some supplies, tools, materials and an opportunity to try to not only survive but rebuild a piece of civilization.

Although the show had several do it yourself tricks to solving problems the first season reminded me of the 80's series, the "A-Team." In that series the heros were usually "trapped" somewhere that just happened to be a fully stocked machine shop. They would happen to have enough time, knowledge and materials to build something impressive such as an armored car that they would use to defeat bad guys with. In spite of the first season looking like a giant Harbor Freight machine tool commercial, there were some useful lessons to be learned. For example, a sand-charcoal-boiling water purification is a neat trick (just don't forget to boil the water). The emphasis on water systems also had another surprise for me. I knew the importance of health when it came to drinking water and showers in addition to a wastewater system. However, it looks like a pedal powered washing machine could be a surprisingly important device for anti-septic practices too. The projects of building a spark-gap radio, Tesla coil and wood gassifier truck were a bit far fetched but the projects kept the show interesting. The observations by the "experts" on social interactions were useful too.

In my opinion, the biggest problem was the existence but non-interaction with the camera people. For example, it was a bit hard to convince the viewer of a stealthy night action with a guy trailing behind with a big-ole camera light on! That problem might have been overcome with more static placed cameras. Then again, the cinema photography might start resembling the extremely boring "big brother" series. What might have been interesting would have been if cameras were used like the series "Survivorman". That is, the participants would manage their own cameras. Then again, it might then lead to many of the truly interesting scenes being lost. I can imagine the dialog during a crisis scene... "Hey, stop F***ing with your camera and help me fight!"

Second, the simulation assumed an apparent non-existence of working guns. The only people who had guns were some trading nomads who could have easily taken everything the group had. None of the rogues had guns but did have lots of fuel for running noisy motorcycles. Of course, just one bad guy with a working firearm on either side would have distorted the social dynamic sufficiently to make every participant simply fortify in their respective buildings. That's where the boring part comes in. Laying siege to a place may take weeks with no real action.

It's also rather depressing that the participants decided that fighting, scavenging then finally fleeing were the winning criteria. It would have been much more interesting to develop secure localized production of something and restore a piece of a local economy. Instead, in both seasons, the emphasis seemed to be to simply fortify a camp, fight some neighbors then build an "escape" vehicle to go somewhere else. Such a strategy might work in a very small disaster. However, that's no way to go about rebuilding civilization!

I do give kudos to the director who realized this and decided to show a brief scene at the very end of the second season to dispel the idea that fleeing is always the best option. The last scene was where the survivors make it to their destination on their home built vehicle only to find - more desperate hungry people! In fact, I was surprised that there was little debate about the validity of a radio transmission which claimed lots of food, utilities and other survivors. That kind of transmission could easily have been a trap set by another survivor group!

However, even with it's faults, I think the series is worth a watch. It has  numerous observations about human nature under various situations along with some technical tips. While it's no instruction video, it's a good jump point to investigating possible methods, procedures and devices that might be handy in a disaster (hint: try the solutions in a non-crisis situation BEFORE you assume they are practical). If nothing else, the series will probably make you not wish for a crisis at all and try harder to maintain the civilization you have now!