After all the bait-and-switch scheduling and ridiculous cancellations of recent years, SyFy certainly owes genre fans a great new show. With a solidly good first season and a ton of potential, Defiance may yet blossom into that epic program we have craved.
The future earth of Defiance has been overruled and terraformed by three alien races: the spiritual warrior Irathients, the mostly creepy-crawly and rather evil Castithans, and the very mysterious and sketchy-seeming Indogenes. The aliens are all referred to as Votans, though the nature of their connection and their home worlds' hsitory remains shrouded in secrecy due to the writers' strong season 1 focus on the here and now. The "here" is the town of Defiance (formerly St. Louis), where Mayor Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz) and Lawkeeper Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler) navigate a treacherous series of events, from murders to natural disasters and plagues. The overall feel is that of a classic western series such as Gunsmoke with science fiction embellishments.
As many viewers were quick to note, the show owes about as much to Firefly as it does to Shakespeare, so generously does it take inspiration from other works and throw these elements into the melting pot of its still-simmering identity. Fans of Stargate SG1 or Farscape may feel equally baited by the cheesetastic alien costumes and customs, as well as the awesomely silly "future swears."
Although Defiance is derivative, it cleverly cribs fun aspects of excellent forebears in a way that charms much more than it grates. After all, we miss those shows and their quirks. What remains is for Defiance to spin that charm into its own uniqueness.
By the time Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas) leaps into the unknowable abyss of the war ship/beast within the cave system of old St. Louis, the show has thoroughly set the scene for Season 2 to advance into full-on event tv. We've effortlessly become fond of the "little wolf" Irisa, a petulant teen Irathient who was adopted years ago by the human Nolan, who is, of course, a soothingly familiar character type: the war veteran turned adventurer turned reluctant hero.
It's equally easy to be sucked into the soapy and suspenseful goings-on of the rest of the townspeople. Among them, the standouts are Jaime Murray's seductively inscrutable Stahma, her repulsive villain husband, Datak (Tony Curran), the gruffly wise Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene), and the hooker with a heart of gold and no luck whatsoever, Kenya (Mia Kirshner). And it was refreshing to see that certain elements of Season 1 were unpredictable. The seemingly unavoidable love triangle between Nolan, Kenya, and her sister Amanda was derailed early on, with Kenya soon embroiled in a tricky and intriguing relationship with Stahma. And rather than dragging the "Mayor Nicki" storyline out too long, the writers nipped it right as it was verging on annoying.
As enjoyable as the town setting is, it would be very interesting to get into space and other planets next season. How about some flashbacks to the Votan homeworlds? Or even some present-day excursions into the stars (apparently unlikely due to the human race's grounded status as the show has currently established it)? I wonder if the writers could work in such plotlines while keeping the thread of the town stories intact.
In any case, they have plenty to learn from the highs and kinda-lows of Season 1. The cool, old-school feel of a one-shot murder mystery or train heist. How trying that whole Nicki thing almost got. The potent shot of quality earned by a shocking twist such as we saw in the Stahma/Kenya plotline (is the latter really dead?! Meh). The not-entirely-interesting Earth Republic, whose shenanigans are thus far of a sub-Monroe Republic or Lucian Alliance ilk. And the emotional punch of a sacrifice made under epic circumstances involving a crazy McGuffin.
I look forward to seeing where the show goes next summer - what a long wait! And I am also highly intrigued to see what else SyFy has up their sleeves with their multiple new shows to be released this and next year. Could the network once again be more than a destination for lame-o made-for-tv movies about sea creature/storm splices? Here's hoping.
