Shootin' the Shtahko: Defiance Discussion

Defiance is right entertaining so far. I'm watching and things are unfolding in a predictable yet pleasing manner. Then, in the last few minutes of the show, a twist!

Massive Major SPOILER:

Spoiler:

Revealing it early will only make the rest of the action around this make more sense. That said I think this is going to end up being a twist with a another twist or two inside it, all wrapped around a twist.

What I liked is that they set up enough plot lines to show that it's not just this overarching plotline about saving the city, but also other things like:

A love triangle with the two sisters and our rugged hero

A romance between the deputy and his daughter

His daughter perhaps running off in a fit of pique to join her people for a while and putting him in a difficult situation.

The whole Romeo and Juliet storyline with the the alien boy and human girl

The "man" (the Earth Republic) should be good for quite a bit of interplay as well.

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It all just depends on how they handle it really.

I love Irisa and Nolan's relationship. It's strained because he's not a perfect parent, but at the same time you can tell that all his schemes and dreams are aimed toward making a better life for her, and she forgives him his trespasses because she loves him, too. When she shows up with the spirit rider cavalry, my thought was "there's Daddy's little girl makin' him proud." And their little bit of snarky dialogue before she throws that huge hug onto him was precious. Now that I think about it, when Nolan coaxed Irisa out of her funk at the beginning of the show with the Johnny & June Cash song, I thought that was brilliant and quite representative of their relationship. Stephanie Leonidas, the actress playing Irisa, is cute as a bug out of the makeup, which completely transforms what she actually looks like.

I'm not sure that Irisa and Deputy Dawg are gonna be a romance, but they've certainly got the chemistry for an interesting friendship. That said, though, if a brotha can score him a redheaded alien hottie who likes knives, more power to him. I'm just sayin'.

Speaking of alien hotties, Stahma Tarr is hot. Well, Jaime Murray is hot, which translates well over to her character. The bath scene... hubba hubba... I can just imagine what might have been going through the mind of the makeup artist who did her full body paint (assuming he was a red-blooded heterosexual man): "I get paid to do this?" The Tarrs are an interesting couple. I don't think they're evil because they're evil, but they're criminals by nature and upbringing. Culturally, they see nothing wrong with plotting the way that they do.

Apparently, to my understanding, interbreeding is possible. I wonder what cross-breeds are gonna look like?

I think the Deputy will pursue her forever, and when she finally is ready to give it a try, he'll find someone new

Deputy Dawg doesn't strike me as being crazy enough to want to have a romantic relationship with a woman who has explained to him, in graphic detail, how she could escape from the cell by breaking his arm and finishing off by decapitating him, all while complimenting him on his cooking. That kinda turns me on, but I'm weird like that.

No, but I do see him as the kind who would try and tame her with kindness. And pursue was the wrong word - pine for her.

Gideon Shaw wrote:

Apparently, to my understanding, interbreeding is possible. I wonder what cross-breeds are gonna look like?

That was covered in a "Faceoff" challenge. (Which, "coincidentally" was just released on Hulu.)

I saw the Han Solo-esque return, though I didn't forsee it being a two part deal.

And, like knowing as soon as you see him that Sean Bean's gonna die in a movie or tv show, the lady playing the ex-mayor has played an unlikeable character in everything I've seen her in. So I expected bad things from her at the outset, and wasn't disappointed.

My favorite though: the doctor. She steals every scene she's in.

"If you distract me, we go boom! If you keep talking to me, we go boom!"

Check out the actress Trenna Keating. She's not hard on the eyes out of her makeup.

Frankly, neither is Stephanie Leonidas or Jaime Murray.

Yeah the Doc is definitely one of the best written characters and the actress has some of the best delivered lines. She's the kind of doctor a mining town would need though - Miners are notoriously hard headed.

As are some newly minted Lawkeepers (cough) Nolan (cough) Irisa

By the way, it's no great surprise that aliens appreciate Johnny Cash, since he probably spent time among them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1bHaUk1CM

I don't know how you did it, Tom, but the ad with the video was for Defiance.

yanno, AdBlock plus for Chrome or Firefox is awesome - no ads

This was one of youtube's built-in commercials, but it was specifically for the TV show, Defiance, which was oddly appropos.

Yeah Adblock kills those too. Surprised me too.

But that would've ruined the coolness of Tom's Defiance-themed rickroll. 'Cause he did it on purpose. Yeah, that's the ticket. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Don't forget: New Episode Tonight!

Apparently my superpower is to cause dramatically appropriate advertisements. Oh well, still better than talking to fish I guess...

Tom! Vikings! Discuss!

Maybe I should start a thread for that?

Gideon Shaw wrote:

Speaking of alien hotties, Stahma Tarr is hot. Well, Jaime Murray is hot, which translates well over to her character. The bath scene... hubba hubba... I can just imagine what might have been going through the mind of the makeup artist who did her full body paint (assuming he was a red-blooded heterosexual man): "I get paid to do this?"

Since the makeup artist can't possibly devote sufficient time thanking God for his job, (see episode 2) I feel like I ought to offer prayers of gratitude on his behalf.

Indeed, Brother Thomas, indeed.

So, new topic of conversation: What was everybody's impressions of "Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go"?

Personally, probably because of the fact that I've seen the pilot half a dozen times this past week, it didn't make as big of an impression on me as the pilot did. It was still a great episode. We learned new things about the cast of characters who inhabit the town. Irisa has a problem with "chains" as she put it. McCawley wanted to be a photographer. Datak knows how to woo the type of woman who appreciates his kind of woo (can we say "explosive decompression", boys & girls? I knew that you could.) Another Irisa observation: she really has never had a friend before.

And the alien terraforming weirdness can fold the earth up and over St. Louis, but keep the Arch standing.

One other oddity, from the pilot. The Volge commander tells those around him that the platform (with the super mega battery thing on it) is making him nervous, so one of his boys shoots near it. Doctor is knocked down, which is enough for the Volge. To quote Family Guy, "what, are we paying by the laser now?"

Wait, Tom, were you expecting realistic tactical decisions by Hollywood writers? If we're picking nits, how come Amanda and her sister were both armed with MP-5Ks, and how come said short barreled 9mm SMGs were capable of piercing Volge body armor? You'd think, since the town has "Voltech blasters" they'd have been passing out blasters. Even the assault rifles being used in that scene were, by and large, carbines, short barreled rifles with less range and less hitting power. Where were the bazookas, the RPGs, the heavy machine guns and mortars? The Volge had mechs with cannons. If they're such a threat, why doesn't the town's militia have weapons that are capable of taking the bad guys down?

The only thing I can think of is that some Hollywood idjit decided that Nolan just had to sacrifice the terra sphere to prove what a good guy he really is, and that they really wanted a "Star Trek technological solution" to what is really a military problem. The fact that the way into Defiance is a narrow canyon would have worked in the favor of the defenders.

"The Volge are climbers." What kind of bs is that? Of course, they're "climbers." They're bipedal humanoids, ergo, they can climb. Duh. Had it been me, I'd have put my troops across the valley floor where the Volge's numerical advantage would have been less of an issue. Only the front rank can see you to shoot at you. Up on the canyon walls all the Volge can see you to shoot at you. Which leads me to ask "Why climb at all?" Their weapons can range up there anyway. No need to climb if you've got plasma weapons that can slag the rock behind which the defenders are hiding. If you're gonna put troops up on the canyon walls, put mortar sections up there, guys with trebuchets and giant ass slingshots, indirect fire weapons and rain misery down on the advancing troops. Throw up bulwarks where the stasis net used to be, and shoot the shit out of the Volge as they approach.

"How many did we lose?" "41". You were frakking lucky, Nolan! The Volge are worse shots than Imperial Stormtroopers.

End rant.

They also had access to explosives - both mundane (from MacCauley's mining operations) and superduperium (from the recent episode which traitor boy steals.) I'd be willing to bet that Volge's don't react well to avalanches. At the very least avalanche one side of the deep narrow valley while shooting at them from the other side.

The real shame is the lack of close air support...

But we're still gonna tune in next week for episode three of this sci fi soap opera, ain't we?

Of course! The show's problems are well outweighed by its strengths.