Colors
Yellow
Yellow means power. Autumn tells Royal this explicitly in the second episode. So, they give us one, and it’s up to us to figure out the rest. Autumn and the other leaders of the cult are all dressed in yellow in the future. Many places of power are yellow throughout the show, such as the bank, the jail, and even the kitchen table in which the Royal family gathers for family decisions. The magical bear that delivers the message to Autumn has a yellow mouth.
Green
Green seems to signify chaos. Perry, the most impulsive and violent character, is swathed in green light and wears green clothing throughout the show. Autumn wears a lot of green when she first comes onto the ranch, as she introduces a lot of chaos into Royal’s life.
Pink
Pink seems to mean loyalty. Maria is wearing a pink sweater when she attempts to protect Rhett from the police questioning. Autumn is frequently seen wearing a pink scarf that resembles a collar. She goes on to become a cult leader, and her first disciple is recruited in a dramatic scene that sees Billy’s green camouflage turn bright pink.
Blue
Blue, the most prominent color in the show, might as well be referred to as Aristotelian blue. Plato’s earliest critic, Aristotle wears blue in the famous fresco The School of Athens. He holds a copy of his great work, “Ethics”, and points downwards towards the Earth. Aristotle is the champion of empiricism, and a scientific view of reality based on our senses. He rejects Plato’s notions of the forms or any higher order of reality besides our worldly experience.
As most of the characters are essentially inside Plato’s cave, it makes sense for them to be seen frequently in blue. Note the scene in the morgue during Trevor’s autopsy. Blue is on heavy display, as medicine is just the sort of science that embodies an Aristotelian worldview. Aristotle is even credited with forming the first medical school in the ancient world.
Recall that Royal tries to cover up the hole with a large blue tarp. He is trying to hide the red, Platonic realm of the forms with the blue, earthly realm of the cave.
Red
Plato is wearing red in The School of Athens. He holds a copy of his “Timeaus” (a teleological creation myth that offers a supernatural explanation of the world’s existence) and points upwards towards the heavens. Platonic red symbolizes a higher, supernatural level of existence that exists outside the earthly realm of our senses. It also represents the red fire at the mouth of Plato’s Cave that casts the shadows of the forms onto the wall of the cave.
Autumn is in town to basically bring the fire. She donned a red jumpsuit before leading someone to the hole for the first time (her father, Perry).
