I ca n’t think of how many telly appearance I ’ve seen where a promising pilot is observe by a crappy 2d instalment . It ’s like hoi polloi get burn out attempt to make the fender as awesome as it can be , and so the second sequence suffers . But I ’m happy to cover that Defiance has no sophomore slump .
The lovably pompously titled “ Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go ” did n’t have a climatic battle between the inhabitants of Defiance and some alien menace , but that was to its vantage , I call up . rather of pumping in a CG battle to shew that SyFy ’s $ 100 mil is being pass somewhere , this quieter episode gets to shade in the fiber and establish a few relationship , and this time , alternatively of running down a list of line TV situations , it throws in a few really interesting twists .
Let ’s start with the end of last week ’s episode , specifically with the Castithan “ soldier ” who melt down like hell when things suffer bad . As it turn out , the traditional Castithan punishment for desertion is a very slow , public execution ( with an luxuriant system of weightiness , pulleys and rocks ; it ’s pretty awesome ) . Nolan is n’t a swelled fan of this , but Mayor Amanda informs him its Defiance ’s policy to let the various foreign societies utilize their own traditions , even if that custom mean letting someone exit slowly in the middle of the street .
But Nolan does n’t have time to deal with this , because Amanda ’s x - assistant Ben — the guy who blew up the power shell generators in the airplane pilot — has escaped with a bomb through one of Rafe McCauley ’s mines , into Old St. Louis ! ( As it turn out , the alien terraformer seems to have taken a shine to the old metropolis , so instead of demolish it like most other city , it just sort of cover it with a mountain . ) This is awesome , because 1 ) it take care coolheaded , but more because 2 ) it gives us a lot more information on how Earth has changed without any ham - handed exposition . Anyways , Rafe and a few of his adult male lead down in pursuit , along with Sherriff Nolan , who wants to check that Ben abide awake for questioning , and that Rafe does n’t kill his son Luke ’s orca .
Meanwhile , Lady MacBeth Montague — er , Datak Tarr ’s married woman Stahma is busy try on to keep her hotheaded husband from doing something heady , as well as attempt to keep her son ’s wedding to Rafe McCauley ’s daughter Christina on track . In the Sherriff ’s office , Irisa decides to free the Castithan traitor and put him in poky ( Deputy Sherriff Tommy back her up with a shotgun , and , when asked on what earth the military man is being imprisoned , awesomely replies , “ Loitering . ” Deputy Sherriff Tommy is the best ) .
And that ’s about it for the other eccentric ; back in the mine , Nolan and Rafe had figured out that while Ben ’s dud would n’t do much on its own , if he sticks it in St. Louis ’ nuclear power plant life , things are going to get a mickle more radioactivity - y in Defiance . Of of course , our submarine sandwich intercept him in the nick of time , to be follow by a shockingly farsighted “ will Rafe take the killer of his son of sacrifice personal revenge for the outstanding unspoilt ” figure . Rafe does n’t snap Ben , but Ben make out to commit suicide by Rafe anyways , grabbing Rafe ’s gun and shooting himself in the intestine .
And then there ’s that final set of scenes , set to a Nirvana book binding ( which is bloody ballsy , I might add ) . Mayor Amanda lead the citizens of Defiance to the woods to abide by the 41 family who died in the pilot . Then Rafe , bothered by tidings his other boy Quentin and Ben the traitor said ( specifically , why was Luke meeting with a sheik who was planning on destroying Defiance in the woods lately at Nox ? ) finds a shit - net ton of John Cash and a deep ( foreign ? ) aureate artefact in Luke ’s room . And finally , Datak Tarr has a pleasant meeting with the Castithan two-timer who had been chained up and whom Irisa freed ; the human race give thanks Dalak for allow him spend some clip with his kinsfolk , and is next see in front of the sherriff ’s office with his throat slit .
This is my favorite moment in Defiance so far , which shows that while Defiance the city is built on the theme of tolerance and residential district , some customs die fucking hard , and this is drop dead to be a constant root of drama in the show . I opine that ’s great . It ’s a really interesting base , and with eight different alien species , there ’s so many storytelling possibilities to be mined out of this . It ’s a tough issue , but a relevant egress , and it ’s a lot more interesting than another CG battle scene . And if Defiance has the balls to add this military issue to the forefront in episode 2 , then that ’s an extremely good signaling .
My second favorite moment is Rafe ’s discovery : I had assumed , and not unjustly so , I retrieve , that Luke ’s dying in the airplane pilot was just another understanding to inseminate dissent between the McCauleys and the Tarrs , but this picture reveals that Luke was almost certainly up to some uncollectible motherfucker . Now , Rafe has to administer with that not just as a father , but as a xenophobe who short realizes that not all human are necessarily trusty , either … not even his own Logos . It ’s a very interesting twist to what has been the stockiest of Defiance ’s stock characters , and again , I remember it bodes well for the show .
And these developments did n’t just occur at the oddment ; the scene where Datak Tarr yells that he ’s determined to uphold Castithan traditions mainly because he ’s now the guy cable on top is an interesting shade to the reference , one that remind us that the cultural differences that could keep Defiance from becoming a real community are sometimes personal as well .
frankly , I ’m truly excited that not only is Defiance starting to crack the molds from the first episode ( not separate them , but there are unquestionably cracks ) , but that it ’s obviously pick a major motif to explore , that of how unlike people and different culture get along — or fail to get along . The best scifi series use science fable to see at real world issues like these ; I do n’t cerebrate we can call Defiance the best yet , but this is a all-fired fine start .
Assorted Musings :
• It had gravely bugged me why St. Louis had renamed itself rebelliousness ; I know that fight was extra , but renaming things , especially well - established city , is nearly impossible to do because old habits die hard . Then this episode showed me that literal St. Louis was still around , just covered by a terraformed mountain and over to the side . So Defiance really is a newfangled Ithiel Town . I appreciate that .
• decent now , my biggest problem with Defiance is that Irisa is still a white slate , and since she was the one who technically introduced the show with her interior soliloquy , I finger like we ’re presuppose to care her or discover with her or something . mayhap that ’s not the grammatical case , but right now she feels like the weak of all the major and semi - major characters , even though she ’s on all the promo stuff .
• Apparently the Castihan families are very nerveless about just cling out in bath together . A nicely strange usage , that indicates how unlike the Castithans are , and while we might think it ’s creepy , the prospect is shot whole straight , argue it ’s evidently no big muckle for the Tarrs .
• Okay , I detest masses who pitilessly nitpick these less - than - arduous scifi show for things that are unbelievable or believable ; the show is what it is , it ’s made its bed , and you’re able to choose to catch some Z’s with it or not . But then I also really desire an in - show explanation of why virtually every individual alien have on human apparel . Were all the aliens clothes destroyed in the war ? Did they just like Earth clothes that much better ? Were they nude ? Oh my god , they were naked , were n’t they ? ! And when they come to Earth they realized they were nude and got all abashed ! Holy shit , we totally Eve’d the hell out of jillion of naked extraterrestrial being !
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