Premiers 14 January 2016
In a dystopian, near-future Los Angeles, California a couple, Katie (Callies) and Will (Holloway) Bowman live with two 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". An enormous wall, as tall as a skyscraper and hundreds of yards thick, surrounds Los Angeles and other major cities (now called Blocs), while various buildings still display severe damage from armed conflict during the invasion, known as the Arrival. The geographical extent of the alien invasion is unclear, but 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 weapons 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. The Redhats are also referred to as Homeland Security, suggesting that the entire U.S. Department of Homeland Security is now under the control of this Transitional Authority. These forces maintain control by separation of loved ones, shoot-on-sight curfews, capricious "disappearing" of citizens at gunpoint, random checkpoints and frequent electronic identity checks, limiting of motor vehicle usage to official transport by special permit only (most citizens must walk or ride bicycles), pervasive visual propaganda, slave labor in a facility called the Factory for any transgressors (and their families) who are not executed, and electronic surveillance with drone aircraft that appear to use some form of anti-gravity.
Many medical problems, such as diabetes, have been "deemed unworthy for treatment" by the Hosts, to cull the population with a crude form of eugenics. There is an active resistance movement referred to as both the Resistance and the Insurgency (without universal support among the population, even among non-Collaborators), alongside a black market, though both are subject to ruthless suppression. Most basic resources appear to be provided on a rationed basis by the unseen occupation authorities, while limited, secretive trade is conducted between citizens by bartering home-produced and stolen goods. The Collaborators believe that the Hosts (whom they refer to as "our Hosts") will leave Earth after taking the resources they need.
The Bowmans, who are involved in the Resistance, 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. They are suddenly thrust into the position of acting as double agents.
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