Nolan's desperate search for Irisa yields vital information which takes him south; back in Defiance, the Earth Republic has installed Mayor Pottinger, a charming, calculating and ambitious man who takes control.
The season opener starts off with a bang. At the end of last season, the Earth Republic took over the town pushing aside newly elected mayor, Datak Tarr. Datak kills one of the E-Rep agents and gets sent away to a very futuristic Alcatraz miles away from Defiance. He has to literally fight for food thrown to him by the guards. When Doc Yewell saves him, the two decide to work together to plan an escape. Meanwhile, the remaining Tarrs are engaged in a power struggle over the empire Datak built. Alak becomes the man of the family but he is not Datak. Stahma reminds him of that daily. Alak is soft on his cronies. So Stahma decides to take over the family business. First off, this is brilliant. Stahma has been pulling all of the strings since season one. With Datak out of the picture, we can see what she is really capable of.
The Tarrs are looking in new directions in this season but Nolan wants the one thing that makes him happy: Irisa. We see Nolan travel all over the west searching for his adopted daughter. Then he lands on the island of California. He goes to Los Angeles which is called Angel Arc or Arch. He meets up with some old “friends” of his that want him dead because of some shady business in the past. They hold him at gun point. Then suddenly, Irisa comes up draped in a California state flag and saves Nolan from his captors. Their entire story leads them back to Defiance. The interesting thing about their plot line in this episode is the unanswered questions left on the table. How did Irisa get to Angel Arc or Arch? Why does she continue to have visions of the little Irathient girl? Why did she lie to Nolan about how she got to Los Angeles in the first place? This story line was the action part of the episode.
The last major issues in the season opener revolved around the E-Reps and their regime. It seems that Amanda, Tommy, and Rafe has settled into their new roles as bit role-players. The fact is that Amanda is still Mayor (kind of) because Datak is in prison but she now runs the Need/Want in Kenya’s place. As she waits for Kenya to return, Amanda has been occupied with the new drug Alak is supplying to the citizens of Defiance. On the other hand, Tommy and Rafe are working for the Earth Republic. Tommy is a soldier in a high ranking position and Rafe is tied down by Pottinger. He keeps his mines if he does not complain and continue to play nice.
Over all, this was very good season opener. I will have to say that this show knows how to choreograph fight scenes like no one else can. Action movies should take note. Hell, all TV should take note.
This episode sets up a few things. We discover that the E-Rep, Mayor Pottinger, is obsessed with Amanda. Stahma has let to tell Amanda that Kenya is dead. Also there is a rising resistance to the Nazi-like E-Rep occupiers. Something tells me that Nolan and Irisa will play apart in leading this rebellion -of -sorts. And for some reason Datak thinks that every woman should give him a hand-job. This season is looking up. It has all the potential of being better than the first. Long live Defiance. Defiance airs on SyFy.
Here is a super trailer for the season:
Image: SyFy