Ever since Battlestar Galactica ended Syfy has been digging for its newest classic that would last throughout the ages. Defiance starts out 33 years after ‘ark fall’. Ark fall was a time when alien ships arrived on earth. These ships were arks, carrying the remaining existence of the Votan races.
Nolan quickly learns who is in charge in Defiance as he tries to gain some money in order to get back to his prize find and leave Defiance. This ended up not happening after the lawkeeper is killed in a brawl with Rafe McCawley over the death of his son and the suspected killer Datak’s son.
Nolan helps discover that Defiance just about to take part in a huge battle with the Volge and that insiders within Defiance plotted to destroy the stasis net in order for the attack to occur. The real question is why? It’s clear that there is more to the story than we are lead to believe. The doctor ends up saving the town, with Nolan’s help, using the power core he recovered from the fallen Ark ship. Nolan’s payday may be gone but it appears he has decided to stay in Defiance.
The previous mayor meets with a mystery guest and it appears that the former mayor is involved in the events that lead up to the attack. They are in search of something. What is their backup plan?
Be sure to checkout our overview of the series, its characters and the story in our previous article.
So what did the 2 hour premiere of Defiance give us? It gave us a lot of things that worked and a few things that didn’t.
What worked
Characters we care about
Nolan and Irisa, played by Grant Bowler and Stephanie Leonidas, are the first 2 characters we see at the start of the series and all throughout the pilot. The chemistry is more than the father/daughter story we are told at the start. They are different races but they work off each other very well. The opening music scene with Nolan and Irisa singing Johnny Cash was a nice touch.
The Tarr family are an outstanding look at the criminal underground and the family that goes with it. Datak Tarr played by Tony Curran and Stahma played by Jaime Murray are incredible. Murray plays a seductive, classy and highly political character who, with or without her husband’s knowledge, has ambitious plans of her own.
Amanda Rosewater, played by Julie Benz, is another character who has depth and for lack of a better word balls. She is the one person who is keeping the balance between the various races and preventing an all out war among the various races. Benz is a fixture in SciFi and Fantasy TV and fans of hers are excited to see her back in action.
Story
There is always a happy balance that must be maintained between too little and too much story telling. With a story as complex as Defiance, one must find a way to get the viewer up to speed so they understand what is going on. But at the same time, they must also make sure not to overload and confuse the viewer with too much story. The series spends about 2 minutes at the start giving us a basic overview of where things were and where they are and then continues to put in small clues throughout the pilot about why things ended up this way.
CGI mixed with real world grit
When dealing with Science Fiction there is always a level of CGI that must be included as you are dealing with things that don’t exist. Some successful shows have been heavy on the CGI (like Battlestar) and others light on it (like Firefly) and both were just as stunning and enjoyable. Defiance falls into the category some place in the middle. The CGI allows for stunning visuals and an alien earth feel to the series but doesn’t over complicate or alienate the feel. The real world grit and practical makeup work is stunning and enhances the entire experience.
Music
Bear McCreary heads up a great music ensemble throughout the show and his signature music is heard loud and clear. Just like with BSG and Caprica the music helps to bring in the various plots, stories and characters with a futuristic tone and classical feel.
What doesn’t work so well
Too many characters introduced
Some shows have the ability and the fan loyalty to accept a massive amount of characters at the start of a season (i.e. Game Of Thrones). Some day Defiance may gain that type of following but for now, it was a bit too many to start. There were several characters that were on-screen too little and didn’t gain any interest for the viewers including the Indogene Doctor, Amanda’s sister who runs the Need/Want and the lawkeepers deputy. The good news is, that is somewhat short-lived as these characters gain some story and life in episodes 3 and 4.
Lack of technology explanation
Okay so the series cannot spend an entire episode explaining how everything works, but even a small discussion on some of the technology would be nice. This is minor but it feels like throughout the episode you are the odd man out who just doesn’t get it while everyone else does.
Sprinting at the start
The downfall of many potentially epic shows is sprinting from the gate. Shows that start out too ambitious are unable to keep it going after a few episodes and end up slowing up by the end of the season and losing fan interest in the process. Only time will tell if the writers were able to keep the steam going forward past the pilot. We have seen the next 2 episodes, and while the pace does slow some, it’s not slow enough to cause a major loss in interest. The real question is what about after that?
Game/TV Series Tie In
The big media blitz has been about the transmedia features of the series and its tie in with the game. During the pilot many previews of the game were shown but it’s just not going to hit with a large portion of your viewing audience. Unless you are into gaming, that part doesn’t matter to you. I think Syfy needs to tone down the advertising of the game during the TV Series to avoid confusing fans.
Sound off below and tell us your thoughts on tonight’s 2 hour premiere, the battle and the story overall.
