Defiance (2013-2015)

I recently checked out this SyFy show on Amazon Prime, and while I think it starts a bit slow, it isn’t long before things really get going with an intriguing mix of characters and cultures all figuring out a new world together. Featuring a fine cast of genre standbys and terrific production design, I quickly became invested in this show.

In 2013, “Ark” spaceships carrying members of the six Votan races, fleeing their dying solar system, arrived on Earth. They terraformed the planet for their purposes and spent years battling the humans in a conflict known as the Pale Wars. But our story takes place later, in 2046, after the wars are over and humans and Votans have gotten used to a somewhat wobbly truce. Nolan, a human veteran/salvager, and his adopted Irathient daughter Irisa find themselves one day in the town of Defiance, what was once St. Louis. In most places, humans and Votans keep separate company, but Defiance is something of a grand experiment in the different races living and working together. Nolan and Irisa have been wandering for years, but even though Defiance is far from idyllic and can be something of a trouble-magnet, they gradually start to realize they can make it their home.

After I started the show, I discovered that it was created by Rockne S. O’Bannon, who also did Farscape. And even though the two shows are very different, it immediately made sense to me. Defiance isn’t as whimsical as Farscape – no characters are played by puppets and there’s a great deal less comic vomiting – or as high-concept – very few episodes venture outside the realm of traditional storytelling – but I see similarities in how the two shows develop their cultures. It’s clear that Defiance puts a lot of thought into how Votans live (with a particular emphasis on Castithans, Irathients, and Indogenes,) as well as how human society has changed, both as a result of terraforming/the war and from mixing with alien cultures. Little details in dress, customs, food, religions, languages, and more add so much, making the terraformed Earth and the different cultures within it feel solid in ways that they sometimes don’t in sci-fi.

Another aspect I really like about the show is the fact that it takes place 33 years after first contact. In many stories like this, we would either begin with the arrival of the Arks and proceed into the war or have finished all that generations ago. Instead, the terraformed Earth is still a place in transition. There are Votans here who remember coming on the Arks, and there are humans who remember life before aliens, but there are also humans and Votans alike who’ve been born in the intervening years and don’t know any other world. This makes for a lot of growing pains in how the different cultures try to get along (for instance, the human mayor Amanda trying to figure out how to handle a Castithan legal/religious ritual that flies in the face of human morality) and creates a lot of different vantage points through which all the characters can interact.

While I love the world-building and many of the characters, the nuts and bolts of the plot can be a little iffier. There’s variety here, some Creature of the Week stuff, some epic cosmic arcs, and some more interpersonal-driven stories. Some of it’s a little corny/basic, some of it is pretty good, and some of it is awesome. It’s this inconsistency that makes me feel the show gets off to a slightly rocky start, but once I started getting into the world and getting to know the characters, I think 1) the overall trajectory of the plot evened out a bit more and 2) I was invested enough that I didn’t mind occasional plot dumbness.

Like I said, there are plenty of familiar genre faces in the cast. Leading the pack as Nolan is Grant Bowler, who I still remember in his brief role as the freighter captain on Lost, and Julie Benz (Darla from Buffy and Angel) plays Amanda. Key Votans are played by Tony Curran (who I’ll always love from appearing on Who as the titular van Gogh in “Vincent and the Doctor,”) Jaime Murray (I haven’t seen Warehouse 13, which I understand is a fan favorite project of hers, but she’s popped up in various shows like Gotham and Once Upon a Time,) and Jesse Rath (Brainy from Supergirl!) I’m not familiar with Stephanie Leonidas and Trenna Keating, who play Irisa and the Indogene Dr. Yewll, but both of them are excellent in their roles.

Warnings

Violence (including references to rape,) language, sexual content, drinking/smoking/drug use (made-up sci-fi drugs,) and strong thematic elements.