Reviews

Defiance: Everything is Broken, Review

The Season Finale leaves us with some questions answered, and even more awaiting answers.

By Jen Johnson | July 9, 2013 | | 0

The Defiance season finale has arrived, and as the promotions are saying, “One will do the unthinkable. One will meet their fate. And everything will change.”I have no doubts about that. I’m not sure that someone “meeting their fate” necessarily means they’re going to get bumped off, but the show has already seen the demise of quite a few characters. Most were peripheral (evil scientist Pol Madis and backstabbing Ben Daris), but there were some surprises (Yewll’s euthanization of ex-mayor Nicky, which was then made to look like a suicide). And then there’s Sukar, who was presumed dead but then rose up from his funeral only to be put into a coma by Nolan, so he’s sort of dead. At least we’ve been warned, so there won’t be any crazy Game of Thrones-like moments where viewers are freaking out while their friends take video of their reactions.We’ve also seen Doc Yewll and Kenya Rosewater come out of the shadows and turn into major players in the story lines. Yewll once collaborated with Nicky, but has turned over a new leaf and decided to be a true healer whose importance to the town cannot be underestimated. Kenya gets in over her head when she starts an affair (albeit a paid one) with Stahma Tarr…intriguing, but I wish actress Mia Kirshner would have a little more fire in her. Too often she delivers her lines with all the passion of reading off a grocery list. Still, Kenya must be a pretty good lay for Datak to be so upset about being dumped and for Stahma to risk her own life to visit her. Things will definitely get interesting in the mayoral election. I guess even in 2046, sex, politics, and violence are still intertwined.When Stahma pulls Datak away for a quickie to help him relax during the election, it doesn’t take long for him to figure out he’s been cuckolded. Normally, he would “lay her guts out,” as he so eloquently puts it, but first he needs her vote, of course! Nolan finds Irisa with Rynn, and the Earth Republic finds Doc Yewll, threatening her with torture and smashing things in her lab until she agrees to help. This unfortunately results in a run-in with a group of mercenaries, including Black Jonah, who is an interrogation (torture) expert. One Irath gets shot in the head, but before Tommy becomes the next victim, Irisa gives herself up.Datak wins the election, and when Stahma meets up with Kenya in the woods, she poisons her through the surface of a flask, not with the actual contents. Just before Kenya passes out, they have a little lovers’ spat about being a client versus having feelings, etc., but Stahma is so sneaky that you really don’t know what she’s doing until it’s too late. She’s poisoned Kenya to prove her loyalty to Datak…so…what now?What now is that Datak has killed Colonel Marsh after just learning about the powerful weapon hidden at the bottom of the mines, which can be activated by the now two artifacts inside Irisa. While busting her out of her surgery, Nolan is shot…and dies.

Wait…what???

Ok, I suppose the show can survive without Nolan, but…

WHAT???

Sukar arrives to tell Irisa that her destiny is to fight the great evil in the mine, and that Nolan would have kept her from that path. The Irath god Irzu appears as a child, calling upon Irisa to become a new weapon. She releases the two artifacts, jumps into the mine…and Nolan is alive……while the Earth Republic rolls into town.Final review: Surprises, yes, but I was almost expecting Datak and Stahma to commit suicide after he killed off Colonel Marsh. This is a total cliffhanger that will have to wait until June of NEXT YEAR. Did Irisa survive? Is the weapon activated? Where are Kenya and Quentin? WHAT THE HELL? The only optimistic part of the show was seeing Datak get betrayed by the E. Rep. He might be underhanded, but even he can be fooled. And did he really forgive his wife so easily? (Though, is making her murder her lover ‘easy’?) I think that’s one more thing that’s going to go unresolved for a while. Still, this finale was not as shocking as I expected it to be. It’s a good show, but next season is going to have to step it up.