Four episodes into Syfy’s Defiance and I admit that I’m already hooked
with the show. It has become one of the
four TV series I’m currently closely following each week (the rest being Castle, Psych, and Elementary). The first impression one will have of the
show is of being a Firefly rip-off
because of the sci-fi western flavor and the “rugged frontier”-like
setting. It also borrowed several of the
elements and tropes from other past sci-fi TV shows like Farscape, Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine, and Battlestar: Galactica
(there could be more but these are all Defiance
has reminded me of). But, yeah, most of
the parallels are Firefly’s.
Defiance, as of time being, is far from Firefly-esque awesomeness, but it has the potential of getting
there. That’s why I’m watching it. That’s why I’m looking forward to each new
episode.
THE PREMISE
The greatest thing about this
show is the premise. I find it fresh and
appealing, despite of being merely a smart juxtaposition of ideas from premises
of past sci-fi properties.
Here’s the background of the
story…
Votans – the collective name of
seven alien races from the Votanis star system – arrived at Earth in 2013. They were surprised to discover that humans
are already occupying it since they thought that the planet was uninhabited. They intended to make Earth their new home
after their system was destroyed by a stellar collision.
The Votans and Humans were, at
first, despite the tensions and hostilities, merely having negotiations for the
settling of the aliens, whose majority was still in hypersleep aboard the Votan
fleet orbiting the planet. Then in 2023,
an assassination of a Votan envoy sparked the war between Humans and Votans. This was dubbed the “Pale Wars” and dragged
on for seven years.
Then in 2030, the apocalyptic
event known as “Arkfall” happened, changing the face of the Earth. It was ushered in by the mysterious explosion
of the Votan fleet in orbit. Votans
blamed rogue human commanders for it while Humans believed it was the result of
disastrous weapons experiments by the Votans.
The results was the death of the millions of Votans who were still in
the ships, and the crashing Votan ships towards Earth accidentally activated and
released Votan terraformer technology.
The unintended, uncontrolled terraforming caused severe, drastic and
chaotic changes to the Earth’s biosphere and geology. Votan plants and animals were introduced to
the ecosystem, and some native plant and animal species were badly mutated by
the unrestrained terraforming technology, creating disturbing hybrids or new
species. The considerable, traumatic
change in the environment of Earth made it dangerous and unfamiliar to both
Humans and Votans.
The debris of the Votan ships
formed an artificial belt around Earth which has been dubbed “Ark belt.” Periodically, debris would drop – a sort of minor
“Ark falls” – to the ground, which is both perilous and beneficiary to those
survivors below, since there’s chance for salvaging valuable Votan technology from
the wreckage to be sold or used.
Because of Arkfall, the two sides
were both greatly worn out, prompting an end to the Pale Wars. There was a lack of remaining organized governments
for both humans and aliens, thus, there was a rise of communities and factions of
humans and aliens banding and cooperating together to survive in this new world
(hence, the Western frontier-style setting).
One of these said communities is
the town of Defiance (hence, the name of the show), named after the legendary
Battle of Defiance – where soldiers from both Human and Votan armies defied
their commanders’ orders, stopped fighting, and banded together instead to save
endangered civilians (the soldiers from this battle was given the venerable
title of the Defiant Few, in which the main character, Joshua Nolan, is one of).
THE CHARACTERS
One of the main reasons that made
Firefly awesome was its lead
character, Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds.
That character was so easy to get fond of, thanks largely to the
portrayal of the charming Nathan Fillion.
The lead of Defiance, Joshua
Nolan, has many strengths as lead character.
Though he seems unremarkable at first, liking the character steadily
grew on me. Nolan and Mal have some similar
characteristics with each other like both being grittily but roguishly cowboyish,
and both being former soldiers in a past significant war and had been
participants in a legendary battle during the war – Nolan, one of the Defiant
Few in the Battle of Defiance, and Mal, one of the Browncoats in the Battle of
Serenity Valley. However, unfortunately,
despite these similarities, Nolan’s no Captain Mal. Mal is more charismatic and easily
lovable. And since you won’t help
comparing Defiance with Firefly, you will always compare Nolan
with Mal and find the former paling in comparison with the latter.
My most favorite Defiance characters are the husband and
wife duo of Datak Tarr and Stahma Tarr.
They are far the most fascinating and strongest characters in the
series. The depictions of the two – a
large part attributed to the effective performances of the characters’ actors –
have successfully portrayed the said characters’ depths and intriguing features. In a way, these two and the emphatic entertainment
they bring from their performances are reasons enough to watch the show.
The weakest characters, in my opinion,
are Alak Tarr and Christie McCawley. I
don’t like them. I don’t dislike them
either. And that’s actually worse than
disliking them, since it means the characters can’t get a reaction from
me. I find them unimportant, bland, and
distracting. Maybe because there’s an
air of Twilight in their
romance. Then again, to be fair, the
show is still early though and there’s a lot of room for improvement.
To be honest, aside from Datak
and Stahma, I find the others aren’t very exceptional. Oh, they’re okay. Joshua Nolan, Irisa Nyira, Mayor Amanda
Rosewater, Kenya Rosewater and Rafe McCawley are fine and have their moments. But the tang of being “stock characters”
can’t be removed from them yet. As for the other minor characters – with the exception of Alak and Christie – I find them essential
and relevant in the flow of the show.
Nonetheless, the show is at its
early stage and the characters are still developing, thus, it’s necessary to
reserve most judgment regarding the characters.
MOST ANNOYING PART
Aliens would converse. They would start their conversation in an
alien tongue. Halfway through the
conversation, they would switch to English.
And that bugs me greatly. To be
fair, this happens in a lot of other sci-fi shows.
Also, the CGI
could be better. But it’s not a major
complain from me. As long as the amount
of interest and thrill that the plot and the characters can generate overweigh
the mediocre CGI quality, that’s fine with me.
And, so far, that is what is exactly happening in the series.
IN CLOSING…
Defiance has been so far promising
and entertaining. If we don’t compare it
to Firefly or any other shows, it stands on its own as a pretty solid show worth watching.
I said in the opening that I’m
sticking around with Defiance because
of its potential. And as long as I feel
that the potential is still there, I will be following the show. In fact, I think that even if the show fail
to achieve that level of awesomeness I’m hoping it would become, as long as
that feeling of potential – just this – remains present, I’ll actually take it. I’m willing to continue watching it for
that.
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