I have been called a “super-fan” of the show Colony. I’ve watched the first season three times through, and spent many hours analyzing clues and details we learned in season 2. To say that I am anxiously awaiting Colony season 3 would be the understatement of the decade.
To pass the time, I’ve taken to Twitter-stalking those involved with the creation and production of the show, and searching for information on specific locations where they’re filming episodes of Colony season 3 in an effort to get some hints about what will happen. What I’ve learned can’t really be classified as spoilers, since I don’t know anything for sure. You can consider the information below to be “informed speculation.”
As you may know, if you’re paying attention to entertainment news, the upcoming season of Colony is being filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. Filming started in September, and is continuing. The following is a bit of what I’ve been able to learn. It’s a whole lot of filling-in-the-blanks using my imagination.
Let’s talk about Location
At the end of this article, you can read a list of locations where shooting for Colony season 3 has been taking place recently. Several of these locations are wooded outdoor locations in North Vancouver, featuring a river, a footbridge and lots of trees. These locations fit right in with where I imagine the Bowmans will go after leaving LA at the end of season 2.
If you remember, near the end of season 1, Will’s partner Beau left the bloc to head to his cabin at Big Bear. Google tells me Big Bear is the name of a lake in Southern California (see map). Nearby is the Bear Mountain ski resort. So it’s safe to say the wooded locations near Vancouver bear a strong resemblance to the Big Bear region. It makes sense that the Bowmans might try to find Beau and the locations seem to support that as a possibility.
Murdo Frazer Park has a wooded area with a pond and a cabin that looks a lot like the cabin I imagine Beau would have. And the location where filming is taking place as I write this, Belcarra Regional Park, has a lake that looks similar to Big Bear Lake. And then there is the photo of a lake tweeted out by Ryan Condal, with the caption “Episode 3.03.”
What Else We Know
Some of the scenes in the new season will involve shots of vehicles driving. It also seems at least one of these will include gunfire. One of the upcoming episodes will involve some kind of explosion involving a truck. The information given out to residents near the locations where these scenes were filmed includes these details.
It’s hard to tell from watching social media, but it seems like Amanda Righetti is not on location in Vancouver. Or if she has been, her involvement has been limited. I have a theory about this: it seems like, at least in the early episodes of Colony season 3, Maddie won’t be with the Bowman family, so filming of scenes involving her could happen completely separately.
Adrian Pasdar, the actor who plays Nolan Burgess, recently appeared in the first episode of Season 3 of Supergirl, which is also filmed in Vancouver. Ally Walker (Helena Goldwin) is playing one of the main characters on the new show Ghosted. I’m not sure if this means their characters are not appearing on Colony this season. There’s no way to really tell, except it’s obvious all of these talented people have other work besides our favorite show.
Tory Kittles posted an interesting photo on his Instagram that might or might not have anything to do with what’s in store for Broussard in season 3. And if you’re wondering about the Bowman children, the only thing I could find is this photo posted on Twitter by Peter Jacobson.
Two other nuggets of information I discovered: an actor named John Hoogenakker will be in episode 1 as a character named Scott Garland, and Waleed Zuaiter will play a character named Vincent in episodes 2, 3 and 4. More new characters will likely be added as time goes on.
Other Locations
The Casa Mia Mansion is one of the locations where shooting has taken place. This large estate has been used as the McCallum residence in the pilot of Psych, the Corto Maltese Mansion in season 3 of Arrow, and the offices of the Dunlear Foundation in an episode from the first season of Lucifer. It was also used as the Grey Family Mansion in Fifty Shades of Grey. It has lots of rooms, interesting roof lines and many outdoor settings. With its terra cotta tile roof and California type architecture, it could easily be used for one of the fancy homes in the Green Zone.
An office building at 5255 Heather Street is another location that has been used in many TV shows – it was used for several different settings, including City Hall, in Arrow season 5. It was the West View Library in the 5th episode of the first season of Fear the Walking Dead. It looks like this vacant building offers lots of options for filmmakers for interior shots and also urban outdoor scenes. The different sides of the building have different looks. The interior and, presumably the roof, also offer many options for scene settings.
I spent some time looking at photos of these locations that I could find using Google. I live in upstate New York and I’ve never been to western Canada. This is as close as I’m going to get. The pictures really sparked my imagination. I can see lots of possibilities of how these locations could be used to film scenes involving areas that are outside of the established colonies.
What Does This Mean for Colony Season 3?
It seems we’ll have a good share of outdoor scenes in season 3, including some driving scenes. We also know the locations listed provide a rich backdrop of settings. This goes along well with the choices the show’s creators have made of locations for the first two seasons.
None of this answers any of the burning questions we really want to know. What will happen to Maddie? Will Snyder’s push button device lead to the Bowmans getting captured by the Global Authority? It’s certain there will be action-packed scenes and interesting settings and, apparently, a good deal of walking in the woods.
Looking at these locations left me even more excited for Colony season 3, which can’t come soon enough.
When will Colony Season 3 begin?
As of when I’m writing this, we don’t have a definite date. Here are the hints I’ve been able to find:
- It will definitely happen in 2018, most likely in January.
- The widely accepted date is January 11, though that is not definite. I think it’s based on when season 2 started last year.
- My cable TV’s On Demand service has the last 5 episodes of season 2. (All of which expire on January 11th.)
List of Shooting Locations
The following list is based on information from WhatsFilming.ca.
- September 11: Murdo Frazer Park in North Vancouver
- September 13-15: Lynn Canyon Park in North Vancouver: scenes include simulated gunfire, and driving scenes along the Main Service Road and the Twin Falls Service Road.
- September 18: North Shore BMX in North Vancouver
- September 21: Inter River Park in North Vancouver
- September 28: Casa Mia Mansion, Southwest Marine Drive, Vancouver
- September 29-October 2: 5255 Heather Street, Vancouver: shooting of interior dialogue scenes and one short exterior dialogue scene at the former administration complex.
- October 4: Private property off Quarry Road, Coquitlam
- October 5, 6, 10-12: Safeway Distribution Centre, 7185 W. 11th Ave., Burnaby. A driving sequence in which a truck explodes when it comes to a stop. Flames and smoke will be visible and there will be a large “boom.”
- October 11-13: Belcarra Park and Sasamat Lake (near White Pine Beach): filming on a trail parallel to the lake and on the water. Dialogue scenes consisting of actors walking through the woods and at the lake.
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