Reviews

Defiance: Goodbye Blue Sky, Review

An arkfall, possible immortality and a holy quest for Sukar and Irisa? Defiance comes back with a vengeance.

By Jen Johnson | June 4, 2013 | | 0

A new Defiance is back after a two week absence. If you thought the Volge attack from Episode 1 was bad, wait until you see the new outside threat heading toward the town of Defiance. It might make our little tornadoes look like a walk in the park!Irisa has another vision in her sleep, this time of shrapnel falling from the sky. She packs up to head out to the Badlands, knowing she has to help Sukar, accompanied by a reluctant Nolan. Everyone knows that a storm is coming, and as it turns out, a sharp chunk of metal has hit Sukar, killing him. Irisa is invited to attend his funeral, called a sinking ceremony, but Nolan has to leave her in their care for the time being.At the top of the arch in Defiance, Alak and Christie are already having some pre-wedding issues regarding a Castithan bathing ritual that all newlyweds go through. She’s clearly not comfortable having the whole family naked in the tub together, but Alak tries to reassure her that it’s only twenty minutes and then, like any other teenage boy, keeps trying to make out with her. Little does he know that mother Stahma is paying a visit to the Need Want to set up a little educational session for him, so that Alak is schooled in pleasing human females.Watching the interplay between the alien characters and human characters is interesting, because it’s not too different from watching two people from different races or countries talk to each other. Stahma complains that human women are far too complicated; Kenya insists that they’re not, and unintentionally insults the Castithan woman, offering to buy her a drink to make amends and then set something up for her son. Again, the aliens are not so much alien as they are human-like beings with different cultures and values. They have a very lengthy discussion, during which Kenya notes that Stahma is so focused on her family that she rarely does anything for herself…like create spoken poetry, which she used to do before her father disapproved back on her home planet. This is probably the first time we get to see the softer side of Stahma, who is usually sneaky and underhanded in her dealings with humans. She might not be so bad after all. At the sinking ritual, Sukar’s possessions and body are lowered into a tank full of “broth” that is supposed to dissolve his flesh and leave his bones to be dispersed on Earth. Right in the middle of a rather mournful song, Sukar suddenly rises up, unharmed and ready to go to Defiance to carry out a holy mission, asking Irisa to join him. As he rips through town, robbing stores and hurting people, Irisa tries to stop him, but agrees to stay with him only because she knows they have both been called upon by their god Irzu, who has given the gift of visions to Irisa and now immortality to Sukar. Which is a little more alien. Thank you, creators.Former mayor Nicky pays a visit to the McCawley household, trying to pry answers out of Rafe and Quentin regarding the disappearance of her assistant, Mr. Burch. Quentin tells Rafe he killed Burch, but lies about getting rid of the key he was looking for. Rafe lies to Nicky, saying that he was the one who killed Burch. Nicky doesn’t buy it, and gets slightly choked out by an angry Rafe before she leaves…but not before she gets in one last parting shot about Quentin’s late mother. Now, this is something I’ve been interested in, but I have a feeling that wrinkle in the story won’t be unfolded until quite a bit later.When deputy Tommy is hit during the storm, Nolan takes him to Doc Yewll, who has already been attacked by Sukar. He’s taken her ark-brain interface, which is not powerful enough on its own to do anything, but when hooked up to something like, hmmm, the transmitter up at the top of the arch, could be used to connect to something like, hmmm, a spaceship that can be directed to fall right onto the town, destroying everything. Nolan puts two and two together and heads to the arch to stop Sukar, but as they get into a fight, Irisa stands back until Nolan shoots him multiple times. Irisa goes ahead and flips the switch to direct the ship to Defiance, but as it turns out, it’s being directed away from the town, and crashes in a remote area. It’s a little complicated, but as Doc Yewll explains, the metal piece that originally hit Sukar contained mini robots (nanites) that helped regenerate the flesh, which was why Sukar couldn’t be killed until the mission was completed by Irisa.Confusing, I know, but at least it involves alien technology, which is something we really haven’t seen a large amount of in the series so far.Irisa attends Sukar’s second funeral (for real, this time), holding onto her faith to Irzu, since her visions still can’t be explained. Near the end of the episode, we find Stahma and Kenya in bed together, which is a HUGE no-no for Castithan wives, who are supposed to be loyal and are always subservient to males, no matter what their liro, or caste, dictates. Stahma enjoys having her little secret, but warns Kenya that her husband Datak would kill them both if he found out. They start kissing and, um… Is it getting hot in here or am I just typing really fast?Final review: This was one of the more convoluted episodes so far, with a lot going on that you wouldn’t be able to keep up with if you just jumped into the series. Best moments: The village idiot standing outside in the storm with a colander on his headDoc Yewll delivering her usual deadpan lines (about Sukar, “For a dead guy, he kicked the crap out of me pretty good.” to Irisa, about her visions, “It wasn’t because of some ooga-booga Irathient god.”). The various confrontations are getting pretty intense, and we’re only halfway through the show. And yes, it’s a drama for the most part, but I would like to see Irisa lighten up a little. She’s so intense, it’s almost painful to watch her sometimes. I hope she can find some way to be happy about something…anything, but the situations that arise almost don’t allow for her to show anything but frustration and anger.