Nolan and Tommy search the woods for
Irisa after she ran off last episode. They track her though Tommy wants to
talk about how wrong it is that Nolan is being pushed out.
It’s election day and everyone is tense, including Datak
making sure every Votan, no matter how dismissed, are reached out to; and
Stahma has very good ways to help him relax with a special new sex trick.
At the polling station there are lots of photographers
and Kenya makes a snarkly little comment to Datak about keeping an eye on his
wife after he praises her for the press. This rouses Datak’s suspicions,
especially because the only other person who had performed that new sex trick
on him was Kenya. He threatens to kill Stahma right there – but needs her vote.
She goes into the polling both with Datak making an amusingly patronising
comment for the cameras, and panics.
And Yewll has a whole squad of armed men, Earth Republic by the look of them, in her clinic. She scolds them for not knocking. Because she’s Yewll and awesome. Colonel Marsh wants the Kaziri – apparently there’s a Votan ship with a powerful weapon at the bottom of that mines and Yewll and her people have been looking for it for almost 3,000 years. They threaten to kill Yewll and one of Colonel Marsh’s men is Black Jonah – an infamous torture expert. Yewll tells them that both keys are in Irisa
Ryn has taken Irisa to the Irathient Spirit Rider Camp
where Sukar is preserved on life support – something Ryn continues to blame on
Nolan who catches up with them. Nolan tells Irisa what Yewll told him – a crashed
ship under Defiance with a weapon that could kill every human – or every Votan –
on Earth. It needs 2 keys to trigger and that was what the cult
who kidnapped Irisa wanted her for, to carry the keys. Irisa has some more
angst about being the destroyer.
Stahma goes to Kenya to tell her that Datak intends to
kill her and probably Kenya as well, urging her to leave with her since she
doesn’t deserve to be killed for Castithan law when she’s not a Castithan and going
to Nolan and Amanda will likely start a war. Kenya doubts her, especially since
Stahma hurt Amanda with her plot. Stahma tells Kenya when and where she will be
when leaving and leaves it with her.
The Earth Republic forces – who Nolan identifies as
mercenaries not regular army – arrive at the Spirit Walker camp and quickly
hold everyone at gun point (Nolan and Irisa hide, but Tommy is taken when he
tries to protest they have no right to do what they’re doing). Jonah kills one
of the Irathients when Irisa doesn’t come out, he threatens to kill the rest
and Irisa gives herself up. Nolan is left behind with a guard who is ordered to
“clean up” who Nolan promptly kills and steals his gun.
In Defiance, the results come in – Datak is the new
mayor, by a narrow win. Kenya commiserates with Amanda over her loss and Kenya
is really hammering home how much Amanda means to her and how grateful she is –
it could almost be a goodbye.
Kenya meets Stahma at her rendezvous point and Stahma
gives her a drink to warm her after walking so long in the cold. Kenya throws
it back and points a gun at Stahma, demanding she drink it, suspecting it to be
poisoned or drugged. (If she’s clever she may have a poison that affects humans
but not Castithans). Stahma won’t drink it. Uh-huh, she claims it was penance,
a way for Stahma to show Datak she was seeking atonement. Kenya says she’s
going to use Stahma as a ransom to make Datak leave Defiance. Stahma asks if
Kenya ever had feelings for her or if she were just a client – Kenya says just a
client. And passes out – the poison was on the flask (and Stahma is wearing
gloves).
Oh, do not try to outsmart Stahma. That’s cunning, very cunning indeed.
The mines are crawling with E-Rep soldiers and Yewll
tells them they can’t remove the keys from Irisa because they have somehow
become absorbed into her cells. They hope to run a charge through Irisa to
being them out – Yewll says it’ll burn her, the human doctor says it’s
survivable an Yewll says “so’s castration”. See, this is why I love Yewll.
Datak enters his new office and is angry at Colonel
Marsh, who joins him, because he occupied the mines without telling him. He’s
furious because his new mayorship has been undermined on the first day – and is
smart enough to realise this is about more than the gulanite deposits. Colonel
Marsh dismisses him, calling him an “uppity little Haint” (a slur for
Castithans). You have to wonder what Datak expected, getting into bed with the
human dominated Earth Republic?
Stahma goes to see Datak and tells him that she’s done
what he asks – and finds that Datak has killed Colonel Marsh. Oh dear, what
was that about Castithans and pride and how even the appearance of an insult
had to be answers – seeming is being? Guess the Colonel didn’t do his
research. He tells her that the Earth Republic will come for them and they both
say how they will miss home.
At the mines, Yewll whispers to Irisa to do what she did in her office again. Jonah criticises her for going soft, since the rumour is that Yewll used to dissect humans while they were still alive. Yewll, in a gloriously bored tone says “yeah yeah yeah, I was a monster. I regret my past and I’m trying to do better, you should be taking notes.” See, this is why I love Yewll.
Nolan and the Irathients move on the mines and free Rafe
who the Earth Republic imprisoned (he owns the mines afterall). They attack and there’s gun fire while inside
Irisa or the Kaziri did what it did before, what Yewll told her to – and shoots
out its tendrils. Yewll throws in some extra meddling with the equipment to
help matters – when Nolan arrives, everyone in the tent is unconscious.
Rafe is injured in the arm. Tommy stays to guard him
while Irisa and Nolan go looking for a roller, killing more mercenaries until
Jonah arrives. Nolan shoots Jonah – but he hits Nolan as well; severely enough
to cause him to bleed from the mouth. Irisa tries to get him to get up, hitting
him, pushing him – but Nolan dies.
She sees Sukar, walking around and talking, and they both
go to the mines. He says Nolan had to die because he couldn’t be allowed to
take her from this place; she’s the Devouring Mother. She goes into the mine –
along the way she sees a running figure and drops her gun and gives chase. She
catches up to an Irathient who says she is Irzu (an Irathient god – of everyone’s
path). Irisa denies believing her, believing in her, but Irzu knows Irisa wants
what she can give – Nolan back. Irisa asks what it will cost, Irzu says “everything”
– and calls her the Devouring Mother, the Destroyer. She must become Irzu’s
weapon
The first step, Irisa stands among the cave paintings.
The Kaziri shoot out their tendrils and reform in her hands, allowing her to
pass through the wall, revealing a churning chasm into which she drops them.
Something huge and golden moves as she relives her life with Nolan. She says
his name and jumps down onto the giant glowing, broken sphere, when she hits
more energy is emitted and it shoots out golden light
Outside, Nolan wakes up, alive again. He walks onto a
ridge calling for Irisa – and sees a column of Earth Republic soldiers moving
into the town.
Well damn that was a season finale… who’s alive and who’s
dead? Irisa? Kenya? Datak? Stahma? So many cliffhangers!
3,000 years looking for a very powerful weapon system
that the Indogenes have been looking for? Yeah, I want some explanation as to
why this system was lost for 3,000 years but is still more advanced than both
current Votan technology and Votan technology as it was before leaving their
home system (especially with the Indogenes being a culture that constantly pursues
science and research, it beggars belief that such a culture couldn’t match what
their ancestors produced millennia ago) and how this “lost” artefact was moved
to a ship (complete with cave paintings!) and moved to Earth. And how humans
have even the slightest clue about it? But then it is a thing of magic and
religion and science and at least 3 Votan races and who knows what else?
There remains just so much unknown, so many questions to
ask and a whole lot of storyline hooks for the next season
Which is one of the things that I have loved about Defiance – it does have so many hooks. The battle for Defiance to be independent, the conflicts between humans and Votans and the different cultures, the Votans living on a new planet, the still echoing effects of the Pale wars, Amanda as the nervous and growing in confidence new mayor, Datak’s quest for power and legitimacy, Christie and Alak’s Romeo and Juliet relationship, Rafe trying to hold his family together, Yewll and her path for redemption – and that’s before we get into the woo-woo buried under the town.
I think a lot has gone into the world building as well.
There has been a real effort to build not just entire languages, but real,
strong cultures for the aliens – particularly the Irathient and the Castithans.
While they’re more human than I would expect of aliens, their cultures are
still very distinct, internally consistent and maintained so well that Datak
killing Colonel Marsh, despite it being almost suicidal, made perfect sense
according to his culture and its mores. This helped make the world an
incredibly rich and very very real feeling despite it having a truly
imaginative and new concept, bringing both Dystopian and peaceful Sci-fi
together.
My complaint about the alien issues is one I’ve had from
the beginning – their issues are often used as a stand in for the Other which
is an annoying element of appropriation we’ve covered before. They’ve been
used to explore colonisation, land theft, cultural assimilation, forced loss of
culture, internment camps, police prejudice and violence and many more. All of
these are real world issues facing marginalised groups – but not only have they
been appropriated but they’ve been appropriated poorly. Each of them have been
a one week plot, rapidly forgotten as the story went on, there’s no depth or
ramifications, no long term consequences and no presentation of the oppression
these acts represent. They’re one off issues, covered, resolved and ignored in
one episode – not presented as ongoing problems.
As to actual marginalised people, we do have some POC –
firstly we have Rafe and his family. He’s an interesting, deep character, hard
working, gruff, ultimately good if rather reactionary, deeply loyal to his
family but slow to change and prone to being dictatorial. He’s a complicated
character and I generally think I like him. The main problem I have with Rafe
is that while I quite like him in a position of power this often casts him as
the intolerant oppressor when the aliens are being used as a stand in for the
other. Having a man of colour – and a Native American man at that – be the
coloniser who stole Irathient land and is intolerant of the alien’s native
cultures is… hard to swallow.
The second is Tommy – I like Tommy, he has some history and development and I like his budding relationship with Irisa. I don’t like that the old law maker died and he was instantly dismissed as a possible replacement, nor the frequent way he is presented as childlike and naïve (aside from anything else, that doesn’t really fit his past). But I do like that he is, perhaps more than anyone else on the cast, the one with firm principles. I do think he’s underused again – usually just silent back up, a complete background character.
While these characters are here, we have to remember that
Defiance is St. Louis which is a “minority majority” city – with less than 43%
of the population being non-Latino White and with 49% of the population being
Black which isn’t really reflected even in crowd scenes or with recurring minor
characters
One thing that I do like is that the writers have taken
an opportunity to change Earth culture and not be so bound by current mores –
Kenya is a prostitute, runs a legalised brothel and while she gets some
contempt for it, she proudly fights against it and has a sister who is the
mayor. We see with Olfin that polyamorous marriages are not only allowed but
are not even considered noteworthy (though it’s a shame that was undermined by having
Olfin be willing to kill her husbands so casually). It’s a shame that, with
this cultural shift, the same-sex relationship we see still has to be kept hidden
and illicit. It’s also deeply undermined with both Stahma’s plotting (up to
seeming to murder Kenya) and Kenya being paid for her services (unlike Nolan,
whom she was with for free) and feeling so much pity for Stahma. At the end of
it, we don’t even know if either of them were actually attracted to each other
or pursuing their own agendas or both. The representation is really undermined
In terms of women though we have a number of excellent
characters. We have the intelligent, ethical, repentant Yewll (who is awesome).
The conniving, evil, but crafty Nicky. We have Kenya, sexual, sensual but
caring and compassionate. We have Irisa, finding her way between cultures,
young but growing and learning and passionate, even if impulsive, a skilled and
dangerous fighter. Christie, unsure, kind, fairly passive but still determined
to get what she wants and set her own path. Stahma – often seen to be under
Datak’s thumb in a deeply misogynist culture, yet still wielding considerable
power with her brilliant manipulations. Amanda, the town’s leader, uncertain,
growing in confidence with firm principles. The women are very different from
each other in many ways but they are all very good characters partly because of
their diversity and the diverse ways in which they are strong.
All in all this series has been very good – complex and
involved with a lot of issues, a lot of separate storylines that are woven
together. I worried about the large cast but it has handled it well, kept them
together and kept them all real without distracting from the core of Defiance.
It’s good writing to keep both all the storylines open without having them
running off all over the place, soap-style. And it all stands on a very solid
base of some excellent world building
I look forward to season 2. If you have missed any of
season 1, you
can catch up here.
