Defiance

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.

I have read reviews on this site by viewers who do not like Defiance, sometimes comparing it to Firefly. Granted, Firefly is a great show, but what did we learn from its early departure from TV? The network wanted Firefly to capture the minds of its viewers quickly, so they did not air the first episode first. Believing that a more action-packed episode would grab new viewers more quickly, they shuffled the episodes--a strategy that alienated viewers and led to the show's demise. When I read criticisms about the pace of Defiance's first episode, I say let the show develop and see where it goes.

Now that we have seen a number of episodes, I for one am glad I stuck with Defiance. Here are some of my reasons:

1. It has an array of interesting characters. They are not interesting only because the different races are interesting. Each character is well developed and multi-layered. They are not one dimensional--all good or all bad---but portray strengths and frailties, positive and negative traits.

2. The cast is wonderful. Starting with Graham Greene, you have Grant Bowler (Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged)and Mia Kirschner (great in The L Word) Julie Benz and Stephanie Leonides, etc.

3. The music. I have particularly enjoyed some of the songs they have used as background, masterpieces of mood.

4. The innovation. Some have criticized the weaponry or languages used, for instance. But the action does not take place on an alien world, so it makes sense that the weapons are a combination of past and future, mixed with earth-based technologies (same with the vehicles). Considerable time was spent devising different languages for this show. I find them interesting but not distracting.

5. The various cultures represented are deeply portrayed, with their own music, rituals, prayers, languages, religions, prejudices, and personality tendencies.

6. Although the various races/cultures have distinctive features, characters still seem to live in the same world, coping with the same issues. As one character said, "In this world we live in, there's no place for the fragile." Everyone who has survived to exist in Defiance bears the scars of their struggles, literal and figurative. Defiance is named after the town/valley where it is set, and everyone in Defiance seems to believably come from the same town, living in a hard-won and dynamic harmony of different voices.

7. Defiance is a show about values. Love can overcome bigotry. Cooperation produces better results than warfare. These are examples and I am sure we will encounter more as the show continues.

8. There are also larger story arcs developing, and this gives me hope for much more to come.

9. Last but not least, Defiance has genuinely likable characters--one of the most necessary elements for a show you want to watch.

Update 7/21/14: After many episodes, this show is still good. Good characters and challenging stories.

So judging from what I've read, it seems that most these reviews are only aware that Defiance existed as a TV show. Most video gamers know that Defiance also exists as a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) video game that went hand-in-hand with the show. While the show takes place in St. Louis, the game takes place in San Francisco. Each week with a new episode of the show, came new missions in the game which were loosely tied to events of the episode. Characters from the show would periodically make appearances in the game while characters from the game would periodically make appearances in the show. While DC and Marvel have their crossovers and spin-offs, never has a TV show and a video game crossed over in such a way before. This was an innovative idea for sure! I get that not everyone plays video games but you're missing half the story. It's like writing a review about Harry Potter after only reading books 5, 6 and 7.

Now that I've sung the high praises about the concept of Defiance, let's mention the elephant in the room. Gamers know the developers rushed the game to be in-sync with the production of the show. The game could be pretty buggy at times which eventually lead to it's being taken over by another developer and rebranded. Even with all it's bugs and broken bits, it was still a game I enjoyed playing!

For the actual show itself, most of the acting was great, Grant Bowler and Stephanie Leonidas are hilarious together. He's clearly not the parenting type and he couldn't be more over his head with a crazy, rebellious alien! They made such a great team. This show had a "small community" feel to it while it still provided much action. Tony Curran and Jesse Rath play a convincing father and son butting heads over just about everything. His relationship with his mom is a bit creepy but it's a Casthithan thing I guess??

Overall it's still a good watch without playing the game, most of the important story points are touched on in the show but having a game that played out with it just makes the show that much more interactive.

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...

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.