In this episode entitled “If I Ever Leave This World Alive”, the town of Defiance is in the midst of a plague. This plague has ravaged many and the town council is slowly falling under Datak’s control. Ex-Mayor Nicki gets what she wants. And the rest of the season’s groundwork has been laid out in this episode.

This episode begins with a group of Irathients getting chased out of town because everyone thinks that the Irathients have the disease. Luckily, Irisa comes to stop the Castithans from throwing rocks at the Irathients. One of her Irathient friends asked her to come and pray with them and she obliges.
Meanwhile, the town council is in the midst of a heated debate about what to do about the Irathients. Datak suggests gathering up all of them and putting them in the caves. This is very reminiscent of the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

The first people we see being sequestered is Irisa and her friends. Rafe personally takes a band of his miners to her apartment. He comes up to the deck where Irisa is and tells her that they all have to go to these camps. Of course Irisa fights. First, she pushes Rafe off of the deck onto a few miners. Then she instructs half of the group to elude capture. She fights off the band of miners but she gets captured anyway. Then Nolan and Amanda show up. Nolan draws his gun but realizes that he is helpless and can’t stop Rafe from taking her. Amanda and Nolan head back to the jailhouse so that Nolan can arm up and free the Irathients. Then Doc Yewell comes in and informs the two that a cure is nearby in the Badlands.

Nolan and Amanda recruit Connor Lang from the Need/Want and Lang and Nolan go on. We see that Amanda is infected and later on she will be unable to act as mayor leaving the door open for Datak and Stahma.

Nolan and Connor take a trip. While in the car, we learn that Connor got Amanda pregnant and they got an abortion. That event tore a hole in their relationship and they went their separate ways. Then they run into an E-Rep Blockade. We see Olfin Tennety (the E-Rep Representative who tried to kill Nolan) trying to prevent the two from continuing their mission. However, the commanding officer allows them to go.

When they arrive back into town, Nolan begins to have symptoms of the plague. He is coughing and sweating profusely. Then the car tires go flat. Nolan gets out and sees that there is a sheet of nails directly behind them. Then Irisa’s Irathient allies ambush the men and take them to the precinct. Nizar hails the mayor but he talks with the Tarrs instead. He wants the Irathients freed and his brother released from the mines. The problem with the last demand is that his brother was killed when a female miner entered the holding cell trying to stop a praying ceremony.

The power play of the season begins here. Rafe was supposed to be interim mayor after Amanda came down with the plague. However, Rafe was too sad to do the job because of Christie’s condition. So Stahma talks with Nizar and hands the hailer to Datak. She tells Datak to release the Irathients.

In the next scene, Datak heads over to the precinct. He tells Nizar that his brother was killed in an altercation. He convinces the Irathients that destroying the medicine and allowing the plague to kill off the humans is the will of the Votan Gods. He pours gasoline on the case and throws it out into the street. Nizar goes out to shoot it on fire but Datak’s henchmen kills Nizar. Then Datak kills everyone except for an Irathient woman who gets the best of him. Connor Lang gets up and helps Datak. Then Datak shoots the woman repeatedly and spits on her. He also kills Connor Lang because it would not look good for his narrative. However, Datak saves Nolan.

This episode explains a few things within minor plots. Quentin and Nicki exchange information. He gives her the artifact and she tells him that she had an affair with Rafe. For your information, the artifact gave Quentin the ability to see Luke. She also tells him that his mother is alive. Rafe’s wife was bi-polar and Rafe could not care for her anymore after trying to kill Quentin. So Quentin goes west to find her. We find out that Datak and Rafe were associates during this time.

We find out that Nicki is also responsible for the attack in the first episode. She reveals this when she speaks to Doc Yewell. We now know that the good Doctor is working with the Ex-Mayor to do some dastardly deeds to Defiance. However, we do not know what exactly.

In the final moments, Datak and Amanda gives an radio address from the top of the St. Louis Arch. Datak gives a speech announcing his candidacy for the mayor of Defiance. While he is speaking, Stahma mouths the words of the speech in the background.

Overall, THIS WAS THE BEST EPISODE OF THE SEASON! We see that the Tarrs are the most powerful force in Defiance and Nicki is trying to wipe the town off of the map. What makes this episode so good is the role of Stahma Tarr. She has been orchestrating the rise of Datak since the episode “A Well Respected Man”. She is essentially the Tywin Lannister of the series. She does not want the crown but she wants the power. Every move she has planned out has come to fruition and no one has stopped her let. Defiance airs on SyFy.

Here is next week’s trailer:

image: NBC Universal