Nolan is on patrol with Tommy, outside of Defiance in a
runner (and Tommy’s been reading Moby Dick and is quoting it – yeah that’d
annoy me too). Nolan’s taking Tommy to his first ever Arcfall. As they head to
it, they discuss whether Sukar was divinely inspired and if there’s anything
between Tommy and Irisa. Is there? No really is there? Uh-huh, Tommy you’re not
being believed. I’m never a fan of all these “rawr daddy/older brother will
threaten boy who is with sister”, it’s so infantilising of grown women.
Especially after Nolan isn’t exactly in Irisa’s good books at the moment (kudos
to Tommy for not responding with “well,
sir, I promise not to kill her heroic friend and mentor while he fights to save
all our lives. How’s that?”).
Inside the large Arcfall they find the usual compliment
of wreckage and dead bodies – but it oddly contains a lot of Earth technology
as well, including something with an American flag on it. And uniforms from
NASA, including a suit for a G. McClintock. They find human bodies in some of
the life pods – and, in one of them – a living man. They hurriedly free him
from the pod and he asks them if they’re Americans. Nolan says he was –
checking his dogtags they see he is McClintock.
They drive him back to Defiance and he wakes up in the
car, wanting to call his wife and asking where he is. Nolan tells them St.
Louis – but there’s a lot more to tell. He gets edgy and worried by the Votans
around him. Nolan gently takes him in hand and asks Commander Gordon McClintock
what year it is - he thinks it’s still 2013. Before the Votans arrived.
In Amanda’s office, Connor
the Earth Republic Rep, is back. They continue their antagonistic flirting
and go out for dinner. He talks about their passion for Human and Votan coexistence
but as far as she’s concerned she’s achieved that in Defiance – but he wants
her to try it for the whole of E Rep. She laughs at the idea of working for the
Evil Empire (he objects to being called an Empire which… yeah that shouldn’t be
the objectionable word there). He tries to encourage her with all the good she
could do then resorts to saying he missed her and calling her “Mandy”,
apparently what he called her in a past relationship.
Which is when Irisa calls her to see the newly landed astronaut
– and Amanda doesn’t bring Connor. Gordon is being examined by Dr. Yewll who
has her usual wonderful bedside manner, poking his head around. Astonished, he
touches Yewll’s scaled skin and gasps that it’s softer than it looks – she tells
him he’s too young for her. Outside Amanda discusses it with Nolan – apparently
Gordon is known, but he’s known to have died when the space station blew up. Of
course the alternative is that the space station was a staged accident, the
Votans destroyed it and kidnapped the humans on board to study them – which puts
something of a lie to their “we come in peace” claim when they first arrived.
Amanda introduces herself and Yewll continues her investigation – including using an alien device to scan his eyes. The device flashes and as it does it causes flashbacks – to his wife, Grace, and to being on the Votan ship with teams of Indogene examining him. He violently pushes Yewll away in panic.
At Need Want, Datak gets angry with one of the
prostitutes, Tirra, pushing her away onto the bed, because he hired Kenya and
she sent a replacement. Kenya tells him she’s had to cut back her client list
and that Tirra is skilled. Datak takes Tirra’s hand and insults how rough it
is, squeezing her hand and hurting her – Kenya, gently but firmly insistent
tells Datak to let her go – tells him, doesn’t ask. Datak leaves.
Gordon leaves the doctors and is mobbed by cheering
crowds asking for autographs and interviews. Nolan and Amanda help him through
the crowd to a runner, but Connor sees him and seizes on the opportunity – they
could use his abduction as a way to attack and discredit the Votanis Collective
(so much for his “co-existence” spiel). Amanda and Nolan tell him to back off.
They take him to Rafe McCawley’s house because his house
is the closest to an old fashioned, pre-Arcfall house, to help him feel at
home. Rafe welcomes him, like everyone else he sees Gordon as something of a
hero; there was a book and a movie all about the disaster and it was iconic. To
add insult to injury in the movie his role was played by Robert Patterson. It’s
a happy friendly evening (including mocking Amanda for knowing about Twilight)
but Gordon’s burying some angst – especially when he looks at the book of his
story, complete with pictures of his wife.
He’s from Alabama and asks if he can go there to see his
wife (who would be 60 now) Rafe agrees to help but they tell him they can’t fly
anymore – radiation and debris in the atmosphere makes it suicidal. He asks
about space travel – but that’s completely over as well.
At the Tarr household, Datak is bathing (and apparently
fantasising) when Datak comes in shocked to see her bathing alone – apparently it’s
taboo for a Castithan woman to bathe bye herself. He tells her what happened at
the Need Want and how shocking he found it that Kenya “disrespected him” and
how it made no sense. Stahma distracts him, kisses him and encourages him to
bathe.
That night Gordon dreams about people speaking in alien
languages – and then tries to strangle Amanda. Before he can hit her, he’s
tackled by Rafe and Nolan. Dr. Yewll is called to treat Amanda (and to give her
orders she better not refuse) and Gordon thanks Nolan and Rafe for stopping
him. Rafe is still clinging to the hero worship and is sure that he would have
stopped, but Nolan sends him to the lock up while he continues to apologise.
They take Amanda to the doctors and Connor barges in
hearing what happened; Nolan stops him and pushing him outside until Yewll says
it’s all fine. Connor splutters at Nolan for not keeping Amanda safe but he’s
not impressed since he’s not convinced the Volge attack wasn’t ERep doing (and
what about
the ambassador who tried to slaughter them all? Why not bring that up?)
Nolan goes to see Irisa and ask how Nolan is – she says
he’s in pain, he doesn’t belong there and he knows it. She can relate – Nolan tries
another apology but Irisa won’t hear it, sorry won’t bring Sukar back to life.
He asks if she feels she doesn’t belong and she asks where she has ever
belonged – and says Sukar made her feel like a home. Nolan tries to say with
him is her home but she doesn’t agree.
Gordon has another episode, slamming himself against the
floor and walls. Nolan and Irisa help hold him down and slap him until he clams
down – and notice that Gordon bleeds silver, which is a trifle odd. From there
he goes to Yewll and holds her in a headlock – as a doctor she must have
noticed that he bled silver like an Indogene. He accuses her of knowing he was
dangerous – and that she put Amanda at risk
Everyone more calm, Irisa, Nolan, Tommy, Irisa, Gordon
and Connor interview Yewll who confirms that the Votans investigated Earth
before announcing themselves. A rogue programme where Indogene volunteers would
be surgically altered and infiltrate and, when possible, kill, especially at
the highest level. And Gordon is a prototype because they never got the damn
things to work right. Gordon doesn’t buy
it and repeats several memories he has – Yewll asks if he remembers smells or
tastes. He doesn’t – they’re much harder to imprint; and extracting memories
destroys the original brain so the real Gordon McClintock is dead. Amanda asks
Yewll why she lied and Yewll said she feared the Earth Republic using it as a
weapon against them. Connor agrees that he will – and Gordon loses it, attacks
everyone, knocking everyone back, taking Irisa’s knife, grabbing a gun and
leaving – after Nolan tells Tommy not to shoot him.
At the Need Want, Stahma and Kenya have just slept together and Stahma asks Kenya why she refused Datak. Kenya says it’s because she knows Datak being with other women hurts Stahma so she doesn’t want to be part of it – which amuses Stahma; she says Kenya’s sweet but also foolish since she’s made Datak suspicious and being a cuckold is immensely shaming for Castithan men. Kenya tries to sympathise with Stahma’s bad marriage (Stahma denies it’s bad and insists that she loves her husband) and how controlling Datak is. Stahma pays Kenya and tells her she wants to keep coming back – but Kenya needs to be smarter, she needs to “play the game” better.
Rafe gets a report that there is a breach in the mine
near one of the lakes. Rafe tells them to block it off and leave. He goes there
himself to find Gordon, with his gun, looking out over the lake. He sits and
talks with Gordon, drawing him out. Gordon says he’s just a weapon; Rafe says
Indogenes never change, they’re too emotionless, but humans change and rage
against their fates all the time. He Rafe tells Gordon what he has lost – but he
hasn’t thrown himself off the cliff, because he’s not a coward, because he loves
life – and says it’s life and memories that makes a person, not your vessel.
And that he may have a chance with his wife – if she loved him she’d take him
any way she could. Gordon asks what if he isn’t as strong as Rafe and Rafe
tells him if that’s the case, then jump.
Gordon gives Rafe the gun.
The next day in Amanda’s office she talks to Connor and
confirms that Gordon jumped. After grieving for Gordon, she tells Connor she’s
staying in Defiance. He lays it out on the line, the Earth Republic wants into
Defiance because it’s on a motherload of Gulanite, a precious resource and
source of energy. And it turns out that evil ambassador Orfin has convinced her
boss that Amanda is the only thing stopping the Earth Republic moving in. Connor
wants her to move to New York so he can protect her. Her refusal drags up the
relationship baggage between them and her leaving him before.
Nolan sees Rafe and gets his gun back. Nolan suggests
recovering Gordon’s body but Rafe says it went too deep. Nolan points out that
that makes Rafe the last person to see Gordon alive – or even that Gordon is even
dead. Rafe replies, in perfect deadpan, that that’s true.
We cut to Gordon going to see an older woman in her 60s.
They hug.
Nolan goes to Yewll and demands to know what she did
during the Pale Wars. Yewll said it was a war, you try to win those – as Nolan
should know who butchered enough of her people. They’re interrupted by a woman
coming into the clinic and collapsing, bleeding from her nose. Yewll runs to
her, ordering everyone to get on their gloves and masks, and tells Nolan they
have a plague.
This was an episode with a lot of meat that I hope is
further developed. For the sake of the fragile peace between the Votans and the
humans, how much of the crimes of either side during the Pale Wars can be
dragged into the light? How much will it damage the fragile peace? For that
matter, as
we’ve seen before, how much are the major forces, the Earth Republic and
Votanis collective, actually invested in peace or gearing up for another war?
How do you balance finding out what weapons are out there and even bringing war
criminals to justice against shattering the peace or risking their expertise
being again put into effect. For that matter, after the war is working as a
doctor doing enough to redeem Yewll – and can Defiance manage without her
dedicated expertise? That
same expertise with WMD that saved them from the Volge before.
It’s a really big, knotty conundrum that really needs
burying into.
Then there’s Irisa – constantly struggling as an
Irathient while Nolan continually tries to put her in a human box and making no
real allowances or even imagining that she’s more than just a different looking
human; the disconnect she has between her own culture, traditions and beliefs
and what Sukar represented to her as a way to reclaim both those traditions and
her own people and sense of belonging. It’s clear Nolan cares for her as a
daughter – but he isn’t seeing Irisa the Irathient.
And that’s before we get to the nature of personhood with
Gordon or the intrigue with keeping the Earth Republic out
Stahma and Kenya look interesting in development in that
Kenya, in refusing Datak for what she imagines Stahma wants is implying some
genuine desire on her part (though she still takes money unlike with Nolan –
but she could take both Stahma’s and Datak’s money). But is it desire and
affection for Stahma or pity for what she sees as an abused and controlled
wife? The money leaves much in doubt on Kenya’s side if not Stahma’s. Of
course, it also has to be a secret relationship under the shadow of Datak’s
anger which could get very unpleasant very quickly.
See, Defiance? You don’t need woo-woo devices and
hallucination brothers!
With the season finale of Defiance approaching, I know there's many people trying to catch up. You can watch Defiance online here to catch any episodes you may have missed
With the season finale of Defiance approaching, I know there's many people trying to catch up. You can watch Defiance online here to catch any episodes you may have missed
