Defiance

I watched all three seasons of Defiance when it first aired, and then recently went back and binged it. I'm sorry to say it's not as good as I remembered. And the main problem I have with it is it's repetitive - something you might not notice when spread out over three years but is all too apparent when you watch the whole series over a long weekend.

Let's start with the good stuff - the show had a great premise, and they did a commendable job exploring it in the first season. The special effects makeup was better than average for the small screen, the cast was competent and the sets were quirky but plausible.

Where it fell short was the writing. They rehashed the same plot devices over and over again. I counted four separate and distinct subplots revolving around alien mind control tech. One or two maybe, but by the fourth go-round you'd think the characters would say, "Gee, Mary isn't acting like herself - must be more of that alien mind-control tech..." There were also three separate instances of characters having lengthy involvement with imaginary friends.

There were less obvious repetitions, too. The bad guys (and even some of the "good" guys) behaved despicably again and again - murder, betrayal, treason - yet two or three episodes later all is forgiven, and the bad guys are trusted members of society once more.

So in retrospect I have to say the first season was quite good, but by the second season it was falling apart and by the third it was a case of "been there, done that" to the point of mind-numbing predictability. A sad fate for a show that had so much promise...

Let me first point out that most of the highly negative reviews are from people that are either REALLY upset that their favorites shows were canceled, only want some super techie expensive POS, or don't have the mental capacity to understand what kind of depth and hard work went into this show.

That being said, I am a very picky viewer. Half the shows on network TV claiming to be Sci Fi are watered down and barely beyond their "grounded" approach to the genre. Defiance is first and foremost, Science Fiction.

I admit, the show started out really rocky. The pilot was confusing to a degree, and the limited budget was apparent. But unlike a lot of attention inept who've posted reviews after giving the show 40 minutes of their time, I stuck it through. Two seasons and a lot of emotions later, I can definitively say Defiance has found it's groove.

It's not going to hold your hand. This is in the day of the life of kind of drama. The show wants you to get the sense that these characters really feel, and have their own inner demons. Just when you think someone is an unabashed hero or villain without any dimension, the show begins to peel away at the outer shell and reveals multi-faceted layers.

From the whimsically religious, barbaric and sarcastic kingpin Datak Tar, his submissive yet secretly conniving wife Sahlma; Nolan the nomadic gun for hire and his mysteriously haunted alien daughter Arisa; intelligent Mayor Amanda Rosewater and her prostitute/madame of a sister Kenya who just happens to know the truest face of her clients, there is no shortage of unique interactions and dilemmas. Just when you think you know all there is to know about your favorite character, they surprise you with undeniably real and game changing actions.

The Aliens in Defiance do look human-like. So what. There is enough there to make them both familiar and yet completely other-worldly. The Linguist behind the Dothraki tongue in Game of Thrones has created some of the most beautiful and poetic languages for the major species that needs to be heard to be believed. A lot of time and thought has gone into complete religions, social structures and traditions for each of the 5 (6?) dominant species. Castithans are pale and beautiful, snobbish and cruel with severe repercussions for defying one's long standing cultural beliefs. Iratients are in tune with nature but love to fight and make love. You really must discover the others for yourself.

Special effects are here and there sometimes, but make do to progress the story along and sometimes can leave you in complete awe. And the Music? Amazing. From the Synth themes to the alien takes on well established earth tunes, it has to be heard to be appreciated.

All in all, this show surprised me, and continues to surprise me with it's depth, it's pain, and it's humanity, even if the world is completely alien to me. I never felt this honesty with Stargate, or even my fav, Farscape. With the exception of Ben Browder, they still felt like actors playing a role. These characters inhabiting Defiance seem like neighbors. With mix matched tech and the willingness to end you if you get in the way of their survival.

Give it a shot. Be defiant stop listening to the sore losers.

The first season started off a bit shaky but the characters and story line really developed over time.

It worth sticking with it to get to season 2 and 3. Both seasons had me much more emotionally invested with the characters and almost in tears at some points.

Reminds me of the old Masamune Shirow manga series, "Appleseed". Combine that with Mel Gibson's "Road Warrior" and a bit of "Babylon 5" with maybe a dash of "Command & Conquer" (yes, the video game), and you've got yourself "Defiance".

Now, this sort of story has been tried before many times, and it has failed each time. (Earth 2, Revoloution, Dark Skies, Terra Nova, Outcasts) Either the writing was too naive and silly, or too dark and serious, or the casting failed to deliver engaging characters we liked and cared about. Or the budget simply fell apart. Any one of a dozen problems can sink this sort of show.

"Defiance" might just get it right.

The story is nothing we haven't seen before, but so what? There are no new stories; it's all in the delivery, the fun of the retelling.

A pair of tough-as-nails left over warriors, survivors of a planet-wasting future war carve out a nomadic life for themselves in the badlands. They are tightly bonded, mismatched family for one another, an alien warrior princess and a human super soldier; they don't need anybody but themselves.

So when their path takes them into the middle of new colony filled with politics and problems, desperate, hopeful people of many races trying to build new lives, our heroes have every reason to make tracks and head for the horizon. Such a town is just too much trouble, a great place to get bogged down and probably get killed. No thank-you.

But of course, heartstrings are plucked, making it impossible to leave these babes in the woods to their own demise. Our heroes become protectors in the middle of impossible odds and ego-driven, racist rivalries and all the dirt which makes life a difficult place. A stupid, ugly town filled with stupid, ugly people. Who are also, people with good stuff inside them as well. An unfortunate mix, because if they were all bad, you could just leave them to rot without a second thought. But no, the audience is shown enough hope to want to see these people rise above themselves and just get along. It's fun as viewers to hope. And so our heroes decide to stay.

Such a story would be an unbearable cliché if it weren't done, as this one is, with such a good deal of competence.

The pilot worked, was entirely watchable, was fun, and shows plenty of promise.

No, it doesn't have the unique charismatic spark of a Firefly, or the (albeit wooden) broad-stroke genius of Babylon 5. But it does have all the parts you need for a thrilling series, and better yet, it has the casting and acting chops to make the characters engaging. And best of all, in the midst of all that grime and calamity, it retains the up-beat bounce to make the world a place to want to visit next week.

For a series pilot, getting so many difficult parts to work this well together is extremely hard to pull off. But they did it.

Presumably, as the actors settle into their roles over the course of several episodes, on-screen chemistry can only get better. Hopefully, they've got some good script writers on board to make good use of all this potential, and the budget and executive smarts needed to give this show the chance it needs for a good run.

I think it's just possible that we're looking at a winner. *Just*.

Because this particular road through the sci-fi wilderness is littered with the remains of the fallen. If they pull it off, it'll be a big first.

So I wish good luck to the aptly named, "Defiance" in the face of these long odds.

They'll need both!

OK so there were some dodgy effects, some awful acting, clichéd characters and back stories and at times poor scriptwriting. But having said that, it held my attention for some reason and has the potential to grow on me. This series will live or die on the quality of it's story-telling and inevitably it will have it's hater's and it's liker's. I am reserving my judgement for now to see which group I fall into. Well done though for at least investing in a new sci-fi series. I just hope the writers have the stones to give us something more challenging, intelligent and contemporary than the majority of the drivel on the Syfy channel.