Defiance: Brothers in Arms, Review

Looks like an old friend and a new killer will bring trouble to Lawkeeper Joshua Nolan and the town of Defiance.  In the last episode, we saw Irisa and Tommy hook up… but what about our lawkeeper and Mayor Amanda Rosewater?

One of Nolan’s war buddies, Eddie Braddock, is in town, hunting down Pol Madis, a Castithan weapons designer who caused a lot of casualties during the Pale Wars.  Nolan is able to arrest Pol just seconds before Eddie can get to him, which immediately creates a conflict between the two:  Eddie is supposed to take Pol to the Earth Republic for a hefty sum, but Nolan wants to prosecute him in town…at least, he does at first.  It isn’t long, however, before Nolan is trying to negotiate Pol’s release to speed things up, even though he’s not benefiting from it financially.  The problem is, as we’ve seen before, friends aren’t always friends, no matter how far they go back. Eddie is not the most savory character.  He admits he’s been scrounging for jobs and money, and points out that Nolan used to do the same when he was an ark hunter.  They go have a drink at the Need Want, with Nolan offering what little money he has.  Eddie decides he’s going to “get ass-plastered and find a good whore,” and who should appear but Kenya?  She chooses to go up to her room with Eddie, but for the first time ever, she can’t do her job, and calls in two replacements to perform the “six legged monkey crawl”.  I have no idea what that is.  Would have liked to have seen it, but I’m pretty sure it involves things that can’t be shown on regular cable television.Former mayor Nicky and her associate Mr. Birch pay a visit to Quentin McCawley, convinced that he has the artifact they’ve been looking for.  Rafe is understandably concerned, and wants to get rid of it to protect the family, but Quentin digs in his heels.  He’s been studying the glyphs and making progress on the meaning behind the artifact Luke was hiding, but his father is worried about the short term results.  We know at this point that the twisted golden “key” is the reason for the Volge attack from the first episode, and the reason for Luke’s murder.  What is Nicky going to do next to try to get her hands on it, and what happens if she does?Back at the jail, someone slips an explosive packet of chemicals to Pol, who asks for water, and then salt, and escapes in the resulting blast.  I can see a prisoner asking for water, but wouldn’t salt be a little suspicious?  Anyway, Nolan and Eddie start going door to door, person to person (or, alien to alien) trying to find him.  They visit Datak, who is unusually nice…possibly because Pol has fixed him a special treat after showing up uninvited.  Datak swallows a capsule that allows Pol to control the level of pain he feels via a ring on his finger, and he uses it to make sure Datak gets rid of the law. So, they head out of town, nearing a checkpoint, but not before Nolan rolls up in his 2012 Dodge Charger.  I think…it’s a pretty crappy looking vehicle for the town lawkeeper.  When Datak asks how they knew Pol was with him, Nolan says, “Back at the house?  You were nice.”  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Eddie has had a hidden agenda, planning to get an even larger bounty from the Votanis Collective, not from the Earth Republic.  Instead of going to a prison, Pol would be living the high life in Brazil, so…what’s a lawkeeper to do?  Shoot him.  THAT was a bit of a shocker…With Pol dead, Eddie reveals that there is a bounty on Nolan’s head as well:  A quarter million, so Eddie is willing to take him in.  Nolan agrees to go, on one condition.  Eddie has to tell everyone that Irisa is dead to protect her.  When the rollers from Earth Republic show up, surprisingly, Eddie takes the fall for Pol’s murder.  I wasn’t expecting him to stand up for Nolan.  I figured he was just going to be a scumbag who would blame someone else for the time he served in prison, etc., but as it turns out, Eddie is okay.  He even uses the same blast component Pol had to escape on his way to Vegas Prison. Mr. Birch breaks into the McCawley house, looking for the artifact, but gets confronted by Quentin and zaps him, trying to steal the key from his pocket.  Quentin comes to and ends up strangling Birch, with dead brother Luke speaking to him, telling him that he has to do it.  Quentin does, and dumps the body in the same spot in the mines where he was supposed to destroy the artifact.  Luke might have been the shadier kid, but now Quentin has committed murder…wow.  Didn’t think he had it in him.  And what is Nicky going to do about this little setback?In the end, Nolan visits Kenya, who abruptly dumps him for no apparent reason.  She obviously has feelings for him, and has discussed this with Amanda.  Heck, Amanda even told Kenya that Nolan is a nice guy… different… but no, Kenya decides he’s “not her type“.  Speaking of Amanda, she arrives back at her office to find flowers and a note, but from whom?  Oh, crap, I hope it’s not Connor Lang, the rep from Earth Republic who seemed kind of sweet on her.Final review:  Lots of surprises in Episode Six, and for once, it was nice to see Datak on the receiving end of some pain.  One of the best moments near the end showed him at Doc Yewll’s office, getting the tablet, um, “flushed” out of his system from the back end.  Best line:  As Eddie is being arrested, he tells Connor, “A lot can happen between here and Vegas, sunshine!”  and smacks him playfully on the face.Worst moment:  Irisa blowing off Tommy when he asks her to come back to his place.  Come on, girl!  You put the first moves on him!  That was totally cold.  This was by far one of the most exciting episodes of the show, and I’m completely hooked.  Can’t wait to see what happens when it returns in two weeks.

Den of Geek Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars