The Emerald City

**The Emerald City** is the 6th episode of the 3rd Season of Colony and the 29th episode overall.

## Synposis

It’s hard to believe that things could get worse for the Category:Bowman family after losing Charlie, but they do. Although the rest of the family made it out of the resistance camp when the occupation attacked, they’re miserable and alone out on the open road – and Grace’s arm is badly in need of medical attention. Meanwhile, Alan Snyder has landed in the lap of luxury in Switzerland and we get our first look at the brains behind the algorithm the Global Authority used to classify people.

### The algorithm that started it all

In a flashback to the Institute for Global Advancement, a nervous man undergoes a screening exam for a job interview. He is an unimpressive failure who flunked the bar exam (test which bestows the exam-taker the ability to provide legal services to the general public,otherwise known as an attorney or lawyer in a particular American state) three times. But he passes the screening. Everett Kynes is angry that his algorithm is being misapplied, but the agent doing the interview says the institute was only interested in the algorithm’s uncanny ability to specifically classify the human population. Kynes goes back and tells his employee to download the entire database of the world’s population on the sly.

### The Bowman family reaches the end of the road

The Category:Bowman family family is filthy, exhausted, and doesn’t have the luxury of time to grieve for Charlie. Grace’s broken arm is getting worse. At night, Will stays up to keep watch as his family sleeps by the side of the road. One night Will wakes up with a jolt to see a walker bearing down on him. The walkers don’t fire, Will knows that they’re being herded toward Seattle. Soon they run out of options: Grace’s arm is infected and she’s on the verge of going into sepsis, which is a death sentence. Katie says they have to take her to the Seattle colony, she doesn’t care what happens to her and Will, she can’t lose another child. Will relents when Bram is OK with the consequences, too.

### Fresh off his latest betrayal, Snyder enjoys some R & R

At his cozy Swiss chalet, Snyder is enjoying the spoils of his victory: hot showers, a butler who cooks, and cocktail parties. Helena Goldwyn trots him out in front of Global Authority big wigs and lauds him for personally taking down the Resistance camp. Snyder rebuffs the job offers and plaudits, saying he just wants to lie low. But later Goldwyn tells him about the second alien threat and the severe demand for labor. She wants to rendition the San Fernando and Santa Monica blocs but is getting pushback from the proxies, her political allies. She mentions the fact that one algorithm selected everyone in the local and global authorities. But, she notes, Kynes' algorithm didn’t account for adaptability. Snyder’s own ceiling was supposed to be governor, but he surpassed that. She argues it “would be a tragic waste of talent” for him to stop his rise here.

### Time is running out for Grace Bowman

Out on the road in the rain at night, a car finally stops for the Category:Bowman family. Will tries to beg and bargain with the father of the family of five, but he has no leverage. Finally Will calmly explains that he needs the car and will leave it for them outside the colony. Then he pulls his gun. He lets the family take their things and apologizes to the man before he leaves him and his family on the side of the road. The Bowmans make it close to Seattle before the car finally runs out of gas. They walk the rest of the way, carrying Grace, back into another colony.

### Just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in

Snyder picks up a woman who caught his eye at the cocktail party. She hangs on his every word and ends up back in his bed. But in the middle of the night, his conscience gets to him and he wakes up his butler for the incident report on the camp assault. He sees Charlie Bowman’s name listed among the dead and the pictures of all the casualties. He summons the proxies of San Francisco and Santa Monica to Switzerland to try to convince them to allow their blocs to be renditioned so the hosts can build a factory. When they try to bargain, Alan smugly calls in guards and announces to the dining room that while he was undercover he was surprised to learn they sympathized with the Resistance. He has them hauled away. Back in his chalet, Snyder gets a visit from an irritated Goldwyn. She’s not happy about the public stance he took with the proxies, but Snyder points out no one will side with them after they’ve just been accused by treason by the golden boy of the occupation. He says he's done listening to the voices in his head.

### The ‘Daltons’ find themselves back in another colony

There are hundreds of people inside the colony wall, but the Bowmans are able to quickly summon medical help. Will, Katie and Bram meet with Iris, their “advocate,” who promises to place them with the best possible home, while doctors help Grace. Will gives their names as "Dalton" and Iris takes photos of them all. She says that one of them should always be in the intake tent in case she needs to reach them. Katie sends Bram away for food as Will starts to lose his fight to hold it together. Bram returns later reporting there’s tons of food and water but the camp is fully wired, they know it’s a matter of time before they’re recognized. Katie tells Bram if they come for her or Will, he has to look after Grace. When Iris returns, she reports that Grace has a bad infection but is expected to recover. But it’s time for Will’s interview. Expecting the worst, he says goodbye to his family. After giving his name again as James Dalton, Iris sets him down for the algorithm test we saw in the open. We zoom in on the screen focused on Will. It says: Will Bowman.

## Cast

* Josh Holloway as Will Bowman
* Sarah Wayne Callies as Katie Bowman
* Peter Jacobson as Alan Snyder
* Alex Neustaedter as Bram Bowman
* Isabella Crovetti-Cramp as Gracie Bowman

## Recurring and Guest Cast

* Ally Walker as Helena Goldwyn
* Wayne Brady as Everett Kynes
* Ray Campbell as Proxy Lee
* Bruno Oliver as Proxy Fleming
* Scott Patey as Evan Hazeldine
* Stephen Lobo as Roy Morrow
* Yasmine Eker as Elan
* Holly Elissa as Iris
* Haig Sutherland as Julien
* Dale Godboldo as Eric
* Ben Cotton as Jim
* Jessica Heafey as Carla
* Lorraine Colond as Waitress
* Jara Zeimer as Teen #1
* Forrest Rozitis as Teen #3
* Celeste White Steel as Refugee

## Notes

* Evertt Kynes, played by Wayne Brady, seems to have an independent streak which was demonstrated when he asked his assistant Roy Morrow to download 7 billion record database collated and sorted. If Will Bowman was already detected, why was he not handed off the the IGA, unless Kynes has other plans for him.

* Stephen Lobo who plays Roy Morrow, starred in other sci-fi serials such as Continuum and the X-files,

## Trivia

* The episode title "Emerald City" refers to an informal designation of Seattle.

* This alleged cutting-edge research conducted by Everett Kynes, is actually well-established. In fact, it is based on the work of Paul Ekman centered on micro-facial expressions, and how such expressions can reveal deception. His research was dramatized in the television series "Lie to Me", starring Tim Roth. Dr Ekman's work had also been used in Emotional Decoding Algorithms as well. Point of fact, his research has been distilled to members of law enforcement, such as Customs and Border Protection personnel who assess International Arrivals.

* Stills of After Action Report being reviewed by Snyder:

Some of the Acronyms/ Abbreviations used in report: ROE- Rules of Engagement; RPG - Rocket Propelled Grenades; Tango - Target