Reviews

Defiance: Past is Prologue, Review

Two episodes left, and the show keeps leaving us wanting more, especially with this week's ending.

By Jen Johnson | July 2, 2013 | | 0

Only two episodes left, and I’m betting there will be a lot left unanswered by the time we reach the end of the season. Tonight, we take a closer look at the upcoming mayoral election, which has generated more than a little tension between Amanda, Datak, and Nolan.Everyone knows by now that Datak Tarr is an asshole. He makes shady business deals, has thugs knock people around when they can’t pay up, hates Iraths, hates human beings, has no qualms about murdering others, and regularly cheats on his wife with hookers. Aside from the occasional one-liner, the guy has no redeeming qualities. He weaseled his way into the town council. Now he wants to run Defiance. That, my friends, is a frightening prospect.Nothing, however, beats Datak’s demand of his son, Alak, to attempt to kill Amanda Rosewater. After being publicly shamed for disappointing his father at the wedding, Alak is sent off to get one of his friends to whack the mayor during an outdoor debate. The lawkeepers are on high alert, though, having gathered wind of the assassination from Kenya. How did she know? Oh, yes, she’s banging Datak’s wife, Stahma.The debate ends in tragedy, not for Amanda, but for Alak’s friend, who was going to play a prank and shoot her with a paintball gun. Apparently, Castithans don’t know that when you pull out a weapon and point it at a public figure’s head, you are going to get shot. This pits the members of the town council against each other, with Amanda having the final word in supporting Nolan. Things get really ugly when Datak gets his hands on Nolan’s military files and blasts him over the town’s speaker system, slamming Amanda in the process for her unwavering support. And somewhere, in the middle of all this, I suddenly wonder if Stahma helped set the whole thing up by confessing to Kenya. Hmm…Everything happening in this episode is just reaffirming the fact that Datak is willing to sink to unbelievable lows to get his way. He thinks he’s being sneaky, but Nolan knows the files came from the Earth Republic, and Alak knows that Datak set up the “assassination” hoping to disgrace Nolan for killing an innocent (but stupid) kid. Even a vicious fistfight with Nolan leaves Datak with his status intact, even when Irisa kicks him in the face.On a side note, we do find out that the strange golden artifact that everyone’s been so eager to get their hands on is a device similar to something planted into Irisa when she was a child. This will most likely explain her visions, but when Doc Yewll tries to remove the implant, freaky silver tendrils come out, Irisa wakes up, and destroys the office before disappearing. She wanders around in the forest with a gaping wound in her back, only to be found by Rynn. A few episodes ago, Rynn escaped on her way to prison and wound up in San Francisco, but…why is she back near Defiance? [Editor/Gamer Note: She went back to Defiance after the Lawkeeper in San Francisco (a friend of Nolan’s from the war) begrudgingly told her what happened to her father, since she had been able to help him with one or two issues. Thus, when learning her father was in a coma she blew town towards Defiance.]Final review: This is, by far, one of the best episodes so far, and I have a feeling the finale next week will be amazing. All of the major story lines are coming to a head: The artifact’s meaning, Datak’s underhanded rise to power, Irisa’s feeling that she is the Irath angel of death, and the tenuous relationship between Stahma and Kenya. The best line this week comes from Amanda when she tells Nolan, “I trust you with my life.” That’s a pretty bold statement coming from someone who hired him on a few short months ago. She and Nolan have each other’s backs, even if things won’t turn out well for either of them. Scariest line: Stahma telling Kenya, “I love Datak because of his cruelty. We are a team.” Here’s hoping someone can put the team out of commission.