Defiance [Season 1, Episode 1]
Pilot (120 min)
Shown 15/Apr/13
Like the other new show
Revolution
, this is set in a post-apocalyptic future.
A Han Solo character and his alien foster-daughter Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) drive across the wilderness, looting tech from crashed alien starships.
They find refuge in the town of Defiance,
built on the ruins of St Louis, Missouri, and peopled with an all-star cast.
The Mayor is Amanda (
Julie Benz
), the hooker with a heart of gold is Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
), and the head miner is Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene, who worked with Mia in
Wolf Lake
). The local aliens have English accents - Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) rule a dynasty of Albino Alien gangsters.
The result is big-budget, with lots of CGI SPFX.
No bad thing, on a TV show.
The creator is
Rockne O'Bannon
, best known for his work on the excellent show
Farscape
.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 2]
Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go
Shown 22/Apr/13
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 3]
The Devil in the Dark
Shown 29/Apr/13
The alien biker gang is still in town.
Worse, a horde of alien super-insects are on the loose.
They seem to be targeting specific individuals.
The Sheriff's adopted daughter Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) is having panic attacks and hallucinations.
It turns out she may have latent psychic abilities
that the aliens can help her tap into.
It seems there may have been scenes cut out. Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
), the town whore, is strangely nowhere to be seen.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 4]
A Well Respected Man
Shown 06/May/13
Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
) promises the Sheriff he can have free goes.
Then she goes and gets abducted.
The flashbacks are of the childhood of the Mayor (
Julie Benz
). She gave her sister a medal of
St Finnegan, patron saint of lost children.
Robin Dunne (
Sanctuary
) is a mad scientist who creates narcotics by draining fluids from victims.
This sounds similar to an ep of
Farscape
, though is not as well executed.
The title of the ep is a reference to local alien gangster Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
). He is doing the Council's business as a middle-man,
despite being the victim on the Sheriff's vendetta.
All he wants is respect.
Datak's rival, Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
), has problems of his own.
His surviving son wants to open a mineshaft,
but it was closed for a very specific reason ...
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 5]
The Serpent's Egg
Shown 13/May/13
As befits the show's pseudo-Western ethos,
the sheriff and lady mayor take a hi-tech stagecoach to the next town.
But in the middle of the post-apocalyptic desert they are ambushed.
Back in Defiance, the red-headed alien girl Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) and token black guy are left in charge.
They end up re-enacting a completely different film -
Death and the Maiden.
Granted, the producers probably assume the target audience are unfamiliar with the film or stage-play.
We get flashbacks to how the sheriff met his adopted daughter.
This was hinted at before,
but it is good to see it actually laid out.
And this links in with the plot arc for the girl.
There is also a political story-arc involved.
In previous eps, Mayor Amanda (
Julie Benz
) mentioned the risk of a hostile takeover by bigger political powers.
Now we get to meet one of those power-players,
and learn she will be important in future episodes.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 6]
Brothers in Arms
Shown 20/May/13
Rob Stewart (
Amazon
) is in town.
He is a Bounty Hunter working for the Earth Republic,
after an albino alien who is wanted as a war criminal.
The villain can MacGyver up some WMDs at a moments notice.
And he is a very dangerous man while he is on the run.
Graham Greene's son investigates the mysterious symbols.
But he comes to the attention of the ex-Mayor (
Fionnula Flanaghan
) and her henchman.
Luckily, the youngster has his dead brother's ghost to advise him.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 7]
Goodbye Blue Sky
Shown 27/May/13
The Alien biker gang run into a meteor storm,
consisting of shrapnel from an alien ship in decaying orbit.
The rest of the ship is coming down,
and it will land directly on Defiance!
Luckily, the Sheriff's alien foster-daughter Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) teams up with the undying body of the dead biker leader.
Fionnula Flanaghan
pays a visit to Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
). Her assistant has gone missing,
and she suspects Greene had something to do with it.
So much for conspiracies -
by using a minion who could be traced back to her,
she revealed her involvement.
This is far clumsier than in the pilot episode.
Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) pays a visit to the Brothel.
She doesn't know much about human honeymoons,
and needs a bit of guidance from Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
). Unfortunately, Kirshner's acting falls far short of what she achieved in
The L Word.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 8]
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
Shown 03/Jun/13
The sheriff investigates the alien ship that crash-landed last week.
He discovers a cryo-chamber with a NASA astronaut from 2013.
Naturally, he takes the astronaut (the lieutenant from
Stargate: Universe
) home to meet the other humans.
Middle-aged Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) especially bonds with him -
they were from the same generation, after all.
There is a nice reference to the
Twilight
series, which Greene featured in.
Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
) continues her story arc with Stahma (
Jamie Murray
).
The Mayor's acquaintance from New York is back again.
He offers her a job there, to get her away from Defiance -
perhaps to protect her, and perhaps to undermine Defiance.
He is facing off against human rivals (who we met in previous eps)
and the alien coalition -
which so far has only been alluded to.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 9]
If I Ever Leave This World Alive
Shown 10/Jun/13
The humans start to fall ill.
Naturally, it is key humans who fall ill first,
because we care about the characters and how they affect the town.
For example, Amanda the Mayor (
Julie Benz
) is dying, but strangely her sister Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
) is nowhere to be seen!
Iratients (red-headed aliens) are carriers,
but do not suffer the effects of the illness.
Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) and Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) finally agree on something.
Naturally, it is something with unpleasant undertones.
The Iratients are to be rounded up
and Quarantined in a disused mine.
The miners' Militia are set as guards.
And instead of helping keep the peace,
the Sheriff's daughter actively helps the Irathient spirit-riders cause havoc.
Datak Tarr really comes into his own.
We get a clearer idea of his own agenda -
this show is becoming a lot more like
Farscape
, it is getting better with every episode.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 10]
The Bride Wore Black
Shown 17/Jun/13
The Albino lad's bachelor party ends in the discovery of a hidden corpse.
Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
) had a husband, it seems.
He was a bit of a scumbag,
mistreating everyone except the Deputy kid.
So everyone had a motive to kill him,
and nobody cared too much when he mysteriously went missing.
Fionula Flannigan
is plotting, as ever.
And the alien doctor lady is part of her scheme.
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 11]
Past Is Prologue
Shown 24/Jun/13
The Albinos push up the pressure for the Mayoral elections.
This includes pressurizing the sheriff -
he is too closely aligned with Amanda (
Julie Benz
), so he is an obvious target. Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) reveals herself to be the manipulative Lady MacBeth we always knew she was.
The Doc continues her secret experiments with the superweapon.
But this has a mysterious effect on the Sheriff's daughter Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
).
Defiance [Season 1, Episode 12]
Everything Is Broken
Shown 01/Jul/13
The election comes to a surprise conclusion.
But this is irrelevant, because the Earth military decide to take over anyway.
Nolan tries to save Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
). We now know what is wrong with her -
but it is given away as poorly-delivered exposition,
an example of told when it should have been shown.
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) finds out about his wife's outside activities.
Will he be forgiving, and see the possibilities,
or will his cruel and vengeful side emerge?
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 1]
The Opposite of Hallelujah
Shown 19/Jun/14
Our hardboiled hero Nolan (Grant Bowler –
Lost World
) is still looking for Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
).
He has tracked down the alien conspirators and coerced info out of them,
proving himself to be violent as well as obsessive -
like Liam Neeson’s serial killer character in Taken.
But when he finds her, he does not realise that she has a deadly secret of her own.
She insists they return to Defiance, rather than seek safety elsewhere.
The new Mayor is Stephen from
Primeval
. He has a strange obsession with his predecessor (
Julie Benz
), who has taken over her sister’s Need-Want business … and her drug habit.
There is an anti-ERA element in town,
mainly miners who are upset at the fall in working conditions.
Two of them try some petty sabotage,
but are too stupid to realise that E-Rep security
is not so poor as to let them get away with it.
Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) seems happy enough to buckle under and work for the E-Rep.
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) is in prison with the doctor woman, getting hand relief from whatever
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 2]
In My Secret Life
Shown 26/Jun/14
Our hardboiled hero (Grant Bowler –
Lost World
) and Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) arrive back at Defiance, and promptly start a dispute with the E-Rep.
Then someone sets off a bio-bomb, using a standard explosive charge combined with vicious alien parasites as shrapnel.
The new Mayor orders Nolan (Grant Bowler –
Lost World
) to investigate.
Arissa will stay in jail for assaulting an E-Rep officer until he finds the bomber.
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and the doctor have a plan to get out of prison.
They find an inmate who has motivation (religious fanaticism),
provide him with means (a shiv) and wait for an opportunity (the Mayor’s visit).
The Mayor is equally vicious and underhand,
attempting to coerce the Doctor into performing illegal experiments again.
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 3]
The Cord and the Ax
Shown 03/Jul/14
Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) gives his Albino son-in-law a warning
Don’t get yourself or your wife involved in your family’s gangsterism.
The kid has bigger things to worry about – his father Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) is still trying to get released from prison.
Rafe’s alien housemaid goes missing.
The Lawgiver sends Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) to help investigate,
despite knowing that there is something very wrong with her.
Unfortunately Arissa is to blame,
as she is possessed by the alien AI she made a deal with in last Season’s finale.
We see the ep from her perspective in typical film noir style.
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 4]
Beasts of Burden
Shown 10/Jul/14
Now the gangster Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) is out of jail, he has to re-exert himself in the family.
His wife, Lady MacBeth (
Jamie Murray
), wants to be an official partner in the business.
But he prefers to pressure his son into playing a bigger role.
The new Mayor (James Murray -
Primeval
) is ambushed, and his new mining technology is stolen.
The Lawgiver is assigned to hunt the raiders down.
The ep ends with a bitter twist for a couple of local VIPs.
How the mighty have fallen!
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 5]
Put the Damage On
Shown 17/Jul/14
The lady ex-Mayor (
Julie Benz
) is being stalked. An attacker from her past,
who sounds familiar, somehow assaults her and then disappears without trace.
She goes to the Lawgiver for protection, but things get worse.
Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) gets shot, but has no sign of a bullet wound.
The doctor should be helping, but she has an old friend over to stay.
Something is not quite right about their relationship,
But they are alien invaders who worked together in a vivisection lab so normal is an abstract term when they are concerned.
The gangster Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) has been replaced in his home by Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) the now-homeless father of his daughter-in-law.
Can the two rivals team up against their mutual enemy – the Earth Republic?
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 6]
This Woman's Work
Shown 24/Jul/14
The E-Rep boss (William Atherton) is back in town.
He orders the Mayor (James Murray -
Primeval
) to go investigate a crash-landed alien ship.
Nolan is ordered to accompany him.
They almost start to bond – after all,
Nolan has Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) and the Mayor has his hulking bio-man bodyguard.
Unfortunately, they run into a survivor from the ship.
The alien does not know the war ended 17 years ago.
The Mayor has 43 troopers with him, for all the good it does him.
Tommy quits his job working for Nolan,
and his girlfriend Berlin (the E-Rep Barbie) wants them to move to Texas.
But when Tommy goes to tell Arissa, he gets a shock.
Lady McBeth gets condemned by the local religious fundamentalist.
Yes, she actually believed that her husband was the only one in their community
who valued their culture’s misogynist traditions.
It turns out there is a subculture of humans who cross-species dress as Castafans.
Yes, they role-play the traditions that Lady MacBeth is trying to undermine!
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 7]
If You Could See Her Through My Eyes
Shown 31/Jul/14
The predatory female DJ who pretended to be the young bride’s friend now shows her true colours.
She wants Alek for herself, so she tries to split him up from his wife.
Naturally he is less than impressed when he discovers a club filled with Castie-dressing humans.
Someone murders the Castafan handmaiden.
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) is in the frame for it, since he was the last one to have sex with her.
He turns to the Doctor and Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) for help.
They are the only ones who will believe him.
The law-giver knows something is wrong with Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
). She heals lethal injuries,
and was implicated in the disappearance (and mysterious re-appearance) of Rafe’s servant.
How he could afford a servant when his very home was rented from the Earth Republic is not explained.
By incredible coincidence, the murder turns out to be linked to the Castafan-dressing club.
Yes, the A and B-plots are tied together.
And there is a C-plot, when Arissa meets a couple of her fellow Irathients.
One of them she met before – the woman who was exiled for murder.
It seems that all is forgiven.
The other is a male, who Arissa met in her dreams or visions – or rather,
her memories of an Irathient hijacking of the starship they came to Earth on.
Of course, what are the chances of the C-plot crossing over too?
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 8]
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Shown 07/Aug/14
Ex-Mayor
Julie Benz
gets a phone-call – yes, even 17 years after the apocalyptic alien invasion there is still cell-phone reception.
A blackmailer has her sister Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
), and insists on a trade – her for an Irathient prisoner the Earth Republic is holding.
Unfortunately the prisoner is supposed to be the only one who can lead the government to a dirty bomb in New York.
There are less than 50,000 people living in New York these days, but that is beside the point.
Nolan and the Doc are happy enough to try to torture a confession out of the suspect
– it is just like old times for the two of them.
But because torture is ineffectual even at the best of times, the E-Rep needs to bring in brain-scanner tech.
Kenya tries to escape from her captor.
Could she not have tried this at any other time in the past year or so since her capture?
Or did she deliberately wait until it was dramatically important?
And where the hell has she been since last Season’s finale?
Nolan sends Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) out to explore.
Unfortunately she gets side-tracked, and meets some of the folks she infected with the AI.
It was built to control a space-ship, so what does it need a load of humanoid zombie slaves for?
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 9]
Painted From Memory
Shown 14/Aug/14
The Earth republic mayor (James Murray -
Primeval
) is back from his trip to the mining camps of the Dakotas.
No sign of his superior, however.
But he is just in time to get involved in another plot.
Kenya (
Mia Kirshner
) is returned to Defiance, where her sister the ex-Mayor (
Julie Benz
) welcomes her with open arms. Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) is naturally horrified by this turn of events,
and takes her hubby out to the woods to find a certain shallow grave.
Unfortunately, the whole hillside is now concealed under fast-growing flowers.
It turns out that this is part of an unbelievably convoluted plot.
Yes, we discover the specific reason why the ex-Mayor’s memories were siphoned off electronically and copied a few episodes ago.
It was not for mere curiosity, there was an even more complicated reason for it.
Also, a technology from a Season One episode is used again.
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 10]
Bottom of the World
Shown 21/Aug/14
Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) steals an energy source from the Earth republic base.
Nolan intervenes, but she has lost his trust now.
The E-Rep ambassador visits.
Rafe’s son is still up to no good.
He is working for the Votanus Collective,
but his only goal is to get the return of his mother (
Linda Hamilton
).
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 11]
Doll Parts
Shown 21/Aug/14
Treasure Doll, the hooker-cum-DJ, comes to a sticky end.
Well, she seduced a gangster and tried to blackmail him into leaving his wife for her,
so her fate was not unexpected and there is a long list of suspects.
Nolan heads out of town to help Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
), so he leaves the ex-Mayor (
Julie Benz
) in charge in his absence.
There is no sign of the Earth Republic mayor this week, but nobody cares.
Arissa is being controlled by the alien ship's AI.
It wants to terraform the world and annihilate the human race.
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 12]
All Things Must Pass
Shown 28/Aug/14
Nolan is still dragging Tommy to safety.
It is only fifteen Klicks, which is three hours at average walking speed or 15 minutes in a vehicle travelling at 60kph.
In theory Nolan could leave Tommy, run to safety and bring a rescue vehicle back.
The albino couple are kidnapped, chained up and interrogated about Kenya's murder.
Will the ex-Mayor get revenge for her sister's death?
Or will the albinos actually sort their marriage out?
With both Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) and Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) separately incarcerated,
the Doctor cannot expect any more food packages to arrive.
She sets out to explore the cave, and discovers the alien warship.
Defiance [Season 2, Episode 13]
I Almost Prayed
Shown 28/Aug/14
The E-Rep decides to go after Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
).
Julie Benz
teams up with Stephen and the alien Doctor.
Nolan has his own plan, which does not involve killing the girl.
Rafe’s estranged wife (
Linda Hamilton
) is obsessed with getting her daughter, son-in-law and unborn grandchild to the Wotanus Collective.
Naturally, Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
Wolf Lake
) must team up again to stop her.
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 1]
The World We Seize
Shown 12/Jun/15
Some new aliens arrive on Earth.
They have blue skins and fangs, like
Amanda Donahoe
in
Lair of the White Worm
(only dressed like Ali Baba). Their aim is the mineral in the mines under Defiance.
Nolan and Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) find themselves rescued from cryo-sleep.
Seven months have passed, just enough time for most of the repercussions of the previous Season to have been glossed over.
The Earth Alliance (and most of the population) left when the mines were sealed up.
The new Law-Keeper is the Earth Alliance babe, Tommy’s widow.
Apart from that, most of the regular cast are gone.
Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene -
<Atlantic Rim
), Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) have finally tracked down
Linda Hamilton
. But before they can storm her compound, the alien general (Lee Tergesen -
The Collection
) and his small army arrive.
They plan to kill all humans, and their next stop is ... Defiance!
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 2]
The Last Unicorns
Shown 12/Jun/15
Nolan and the others try to keep their prisoner secure.
However, she has superhuman strength and a thirst for blood,
so it will be harder than usual to keep her under wraps.
Worse, her species is identifed.
They used to enslave and eat the other Wotan species.
The albinos, Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and Stahma, are ordered back to Defiance as spies.
But the General (Lee Tergesen -
Weird Science: The Series
) does not trust them. And rightfully so ...
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 3]
The Broken Bough
Shown 19/Jun/15
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and his wife arrive back at Defiance,
with a story of escaping from the General (Lee Tergesen -
Weird Science: The Series
). Nolan decides to take Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) and have a look for himself.
Unfortunately Arissa’s new pacifist nature makes him deem her untrustworthy
- and since last Season she was the avatar of a murderous alien warship,
That is really saying something!
Datak tries to rebuild his criminal empire,
but he is so clumsy that even the new lawgiver (the former EA girl) can catch him.
She has forgotten the life-debt she owes him for sparing her
when his men took out the EA camp last Season,
and the Mayor (
Julie Benz
) has also forgotten how she forgave him for the fate of her sister.
Yes, the Mayor has been holding a grudge for quite some time.
Nolan and Arissa run into Rafe McAuley’s ex-wife (
Linda Hamilton
). She gets to use the old Come with me if you want to live line,
making this show a better homage to the original than
Terminator: Genisys
.
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 4]
Dead Air
Shown 26/Jun/15
With all the weapons destroyed, Nolan and the Mayor (
Julie Benz
) go looking for more.
There is an E-Rep arms dump three hundred clicks away, so they get driving.
How they refuel on the long drive is not explained.
When they get there, they meet an old friend ...
We discover what happened to the Mayor’s lover (James Murray –
Primeval
) after the end of the previous Season.
That was a major loose end to the plot, and this episode is a quick tie-up for it.
It seems that the Mayor’s character development from last Season was an illusion.
Just as we learned in the previous episode that
her forgiveness towards Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) was a lie,
now we discover that she never had any real feelings for the E-Rep guy either.
We knew all along that he had a super-creepy obsession with her,
but her actions over that Season indicated that she was comfortable with him.
Now, when she discovers his true nature (overblown out of all proportions)
her actions are equally excessive.
It seems her virtue is more valuable than her younger sister’s life.
Let us compare and contrast with Datak and Stahma.
Datak is a gangster, a murderer, and an all-round scumbag.
Yet he always comes out on top,
even when being controlled by the VC General (Lee Tergesen –
Weird Science: The Series
). His wife Stahma, the Lady MacBeth of the show,
plans to seduce and assassinate the blue-skinned super-alien.
In many ways she is worse than her husband,
since she is smarter and more subtle if no less cruel.
But unlike the E-Rep creep, she will not be punished for her crimes.
The problem with the episode is not the bleakness,
the fact that evil goes unpunished.
If anything, the problem is the predictable rape-and-revenge plot
that is wheeled out to tie up loose threads from the last Season,
something that is both anti-climactic and damaging to that Season.
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 5]
History Rhymes
Shown 03/Jul/15
Nolan is comatose, and his foster-daughter Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) is missing. Mayor Amanda (
Julie Benz
) must get them both together, convince the doctor to help,
and bargain with the blue-skinned enchanter woman to get access to her technology.
The deal with the enchanters is the doctor’s idea, and she still holds a grudge.
Nolan and Arissa both have Votanus technology in their brains.
This means they are linked,
and share a series of painful memories.
Nolan’s parents and his sister were killed by the Votans,
and as he grew up embittered and heartless he was
not exactly father of the year to the young Arissa.
In all fairness, it was not entirely one-sided.
But the twist in the tale is that, thanks to the alien tech in their heads,
if they are ever more than a mile or so apart then they will both die.
The problem is,
after sharing the painful memories they do not want to be near each other.
This Season seems to be all about reversing the established relationships between characters.
In the previous two episodes it was Amanda's feelings for Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and Stephen that were inexplicably altered.
Now it is Nolan and his foster-daughter,
who are the core pair that this show is built around.
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 6]
Where the Apples Fell
Shown 10/Jul/15
Alek Tarr has escaped from the Votanus Collective,
and returned safely home across hundreds of miles of post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The first thing he does is rat out his parents,
who risked everything in order to keep him and his son alive.
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) and Stahma go on the run, desperate to escape Defiance.
The Doctor is a semi-willing helper.
Nolan leads the manhunt.
He has Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) nurse-maid Alek’s baby while Alek helps hunt for Datak.
Berlin identifies the arms dealer who helped the VC as her new BF (Ian Ziering –
Sharknado
).
The VC general (Lee Tergesen -
Weird Science: The Series
) has a visitor – his wife, all the way from Brazil.
She has come with secret orders demanding his army return home.
It turns out that he was merely to perform a recon mission in North America,
not a full-scale invasion complete with genocidal atrocities.
But will he obey orders?
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 7]
The Beauty of Our Weapons
Shown 17/Jul/15
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) gets a swift and speedy trial.
The jury are not his peers –
Mayor Amanda (
Julie Benz
) and Sheriff Nolan both vote to execute him,
for their old grudges against him as much as anything.
The Doctor is also on the jury, although this is also a conflict of interest
as she should be a witness as a victim and a suspected accomplice.
Still, at least the humans have not turned their wrath on her too.
Von Bock (Ian Ziering –
Sharknado
) comes to town to sell weapons and hook up with his ex-GF, Berlin.
This seems not dissimilar to the E-Rep Mayor’s relationship with Amanda,
so it might seem predictably creepy.
On the good side, he gives the town a good deal so
Datak Tarr’s sabotage of the original weapons
and Amanda’s sabotage of the deal with the E-Rep mayor
is rendered irrelevant.
Nolan starts to organise a militia, with local Votans joining in.
However, the elders are reluctant to ask their tweenagers to fight when Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) is not among the enlisted.
After all, they read the paperback potboiler
that names her as an indestructible warrior.
Nolan has to prove himself willing to risk his child,
in exactly the same way that Datak Tarr was not when his son was a VC hostage.
Unfortunately Arissa is suffering from severe PTSD.
The VC army is still preparing its assault.
Last episode Nolan established that the town is
protected by mountains on three sides,
with the stasis net guarding the only approach.
These defences are well known,
so it is logical to assume that the VC have a cunning plan.
Datak tries to save his honour by requesting a traditional Castie execution – the shaming rack.
Elsewhere, Stahma hides out with the blue aliens.
But the blue female is murderously jealous of her.
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 8]
My Name Is Datak Tarr and I Have Come to Kill You
Shown 24/Jul/15
General Rahm Tak (Lee Tergesen -
Weird Science: The Series
) sends a team into Defiance, under the perimeter defences.
They target Mayor Amanda (
Julie Benz
) and Sheriff Nolan.
Luckily there is a stranger in town who has a very convenient set of skills.
Nolan takes the teenage Militia to counterattack the VC army.
Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) is back as her old self.
However, Nolan selects the new guy as his second in command.
Well, the guy certainly has the skills to take on Nolan and Arissa at the same time.
The Doc suggests Plan B.
It is a suicide mission, so there is only one person they are willing to sacrifice.
Luckily, Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) has survived the shaming rack so far ...
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 9]
Ostinato in White
Shown 31/Jul/15
The body of an Indigene is discovered, torn apart by a powerful beast.
The Doc investigates.
She has a human sidekick now, who never filled this role in previous episodes.
Is he a new recurring character, or just a redshirt?
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 10]
When Twilight Dims the Sky Above
Shown 07/Aug/15
The Votanus Collective sends an ambassador.
Nolan is suffering from delusions brought on by the VC tech in his brain.
Will Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) stand by him?
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 11]
Of a Demon in My View
Shown 14/Aug/15
Berlin returns to Defiance.
She comes alone, without her boyfriend or any of his bodyguards.
However, the only obstacle she meets is
an annihilated convoy of Votanus Collective vehicles.
The guards are all dead, although Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) somehow survived.
And even though Nolan is missing,
Arissa shows no ill effects from the tech that links their brains.
Whoever took Nolan must be close-by ...
Nolan wakes up in the custody of Kenzi, the Olmec girl.
Yes, somehow she single-handedly took out the entire heavily-armed convoy.
It is one thing to hunt down a few harmless civilians,
it is something different entirely to take on a small army.
Will she be able to take her father out?
While the hero is now a damsel in distress, and the villain is a female,
the gender-reversal takes another level.
Berlin and Arissa, the acting and former Sheriffs, team up with Mayor Amanda (
Julie Benz
). Meanwhile, the female Doctor has been enslaved to kidnap people for the villainess.
Elsewhere, Lady MacBeth AKA Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) plots to reunite her family.
All in all, lots of female characters in empowered positions.
But will a SciFi show (especially a SyFy show) be acknowledged for this?
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 12]
The Awakening
Shown 21/Aug/15
Kenzi leads the first of her soldiers back to Earth.
They set up a base-camp near Defiance,
and start to feed on the people the Doctor kidnapped.
The Doc’s human sidekick (who Nolan rescued from the E-Rep Mayor’s cage)
blindly believes Nolan will save him again.
Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) has other plans.
Nolan tries to take Kenzi out.
However, since the show has to last another episode this proves impossible.
Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) plots to reunite her family.
Unfortunately, since she is now Kenzi’s main target all she does it put them at risk.
Defiance [Season 3, Episode 13]
Upon the March We Fittest Die
Shown 28/Aug/15
The Tarr family team up with Nolan and his team.
The Doctor has a plan to destroy the Omec ship in orbit.
She leads Nolan, Arissa (
Stephanie Leonidas
) and Datak Tarr (Tony Curran -
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
) on a boarding mission.
But they cannot do it without Kenzi noticing.
Stahma (
Jamie Murray
) and Mayor Amanda (
Julie Benz
) are left together, to take care of Defiance and each other.
Will they start to bond, or will they kill each other?
The ending is a nice tie-up for the show.
Not to give away any spoilers, but it is bittersweet as opposed to sickly sweet.
