Reviews

Defiance: If I Ever Leave This World Alive, Review

The Plague hits Defiance and we see what some are willing to do in order to create Order. Or Chaos. Either way, makes for good TV right?

By Jen Johnson | June 18, 2013 | | 0

Ok, so let me start out by saying that I made a mistake. Sukar is not dead. His spine is shattered and he’s in a coma, but otherwise, he’s perfectly fine! The Spirit Riders are taking care of him, getting medicine from Defiance, but the Iraths aren’t exactly welcome in town anymore now that the plague has surfaced. It’s pretty nasty, making you bleed from the mouth and eyeballs, and only humans get sick from it, so yeah, they’re not too happy with the Irathients right now.Earth Republic camps out just outside Defiance, imposing a quarantine. No one can leave town, but at least Irisa seems happy bonding with her new family. During a town council meeting, we see how haughty the Castithans can be regarding other Votan races. When Irisa and her friends are nearly arrested (sorry…quarantined) by Rafe, needless to say she fights back. When the officers grab her, I was hoping she would spit in their faces just to scare them a little. That’s why I like Irisa. She’s got spunk.

Even though a cure for the plague is available, Nolan and Connor have to get through the garrison of troops to get it. And finally, we get some headway on the mystery of Quentin’s mother, from former mayor Nicky, who is willing to trade the artifact for information about her possibly still being alive. As the plague spreads, even to Amanda and Christie, tensions arise, and the mines the Iraths are forced into are reminiscent of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.Connor drops a bomb on Nolan, revealing that Amanda aborted his own baby without telling him about it. The standoff at the border gets intense, but everyone backs down and Nolan is allowed through to get the antiviral. The conditions of the Iraths remind me of other plague movies and novels, such as The Strain, Contagion, Outbreak, and Twelve Monkeys. The entire town is shut down, some are isolated, etc.I’m sorely disappointed with Quentin. I know he needs the truth about his mom, but it’s pretty brutal. Rafe and Nicky had an affair? Ugh. That’s a mental image I can’t really fathom right now.

I was surprised that Stahma stepped up and got Datak to release the Iraths from the mines. Casti women are supposed to be subservient, but she is clearly a very strong figure regardless of her status. I’m equally surprised to see Datak show up to save Nolan…until he threatens to destroy the antiviral, but then turns on the Iraths and kills Connor too. The only reason he saves Nolan is to cover his ass.Final review: So happy to see Irisa and Nolan back together, but heartbroken to see Amanda mourning the death of Connor. This was a much more emotional episode than I was expecting. When I watched the first few minutes on Facebook, I knew not everyone would survive, but it was certainly tense trying to figure out who it would be. And Yewll and Nicky are in cahoots? Wow. I don’t think there have been this many shocks since my husband got hit by lightning a few years ago.