Defiance Season 2 has arrived in full storm! The premiere has shown us how far everyone was willing to go (or fall, as the case may be) these last 9 months, and what possibilities the future may hold. Join Michelle and Ben as they discuss the highs and lows of the premiere, the patriarchal nature of hand jobs, Undercover Bosses in Defiance, and a future Prison Break! Not to mention all the yummy lore provided to us by the Defiance Crossover Missions! Have a listen after the break!

Listen now:

EPISODE 1 “The Opposite of Hallelujahâ€

Recap

Its Founder’s Day in Defiance again, although unfortunately no one gets the day off from work. We are introduced to the new Mayor of Defiance, Niles Pottinger, who is quite the dapper gentleman and who is no stranger to the townspeople after serving as provisional mayor for the past nine months. The stasis net has been repaired and McCawley mines have been nationalized and are fully in E-Rep hands. Rafe is still working the mines, but he’s not very happy with the working conditions. Amanda is in control of the E-Rep and has gotten good at denying the Mayor’s requests to come work for him at the Mayor’s office. It seems she is quite happy running the NeedWant. Alak is officially in charge of Datak’s business interests, but it looks like Stahma is the one making the major decisions.

Nolan is on the hunt for Irisa and finds her in LA (after she saves him, of course). Irisa isn’t very open about why she disappeared, and it turns out she’s still having visions of Irzu. Nolan is ready to blow everything and head to Antarctica, but Irisa wants to go back to Defiance.

Alak is struggling to maintain Datak’s hard edge. He lets one of his cronies, Skeevur, off too easily when the guy fails to deliver the blue devil that Alak paid for, and Stahma lets her son know that she is not happy about his decision. Alak, trying desperately to exercise some authority over his mother, lets her know that he can do whatever he chooses since he is now the man of the house.

Meanwhile, back in the mines, there is a horrible accident. A worker has lost his arm due to an accident with the equipment. He doesn’t make it, leaving two grieving sons who take to the streets to voice their discontent with E-Reps. Pottinger orders the new Lawkeeper, TOMMY, to arrest them. But he then tells his right-hand bioman Churchill to “take care of them.†Churchill takes them via landcoach into hellbug country and allows them to escape. One brother dies, while the other makes it back to Defiance.

When Amanda finds out how the new Mayor set the boys up, she’s not happy and decides that the best way for her to prevent anything bad happening is to accept Pottinger’s offer of Chief of Staff in his office.

Alak discovers that Stahma ordered Skeevur to be beaten and confronts her about it. This time, Stahma doesn’t back down and lets Alak know that she is the one in charge and that he will not question her about her decisions.

The episode ends with the usual music montage, but something is different! It’s an original song created for Defiance and written by Kevin Murphy. We see Amanda slurping up some drugs, but this scene quickly gets creepy as we realize that Mayor Pottinger has hidden a camera in her bedroom and is watching the live feed from his own office. Nolan and Irisa are riding back to Defiance, but things get horrific as Irisa slashes Nolan’s throat! But, it turns out this was just a vision. The episode ends with Irisa glimpsing a vision of Irzu in the backseat of the roller.

Thoughts and Observations

• 
  
• The narrative structure for this episode flowed very well. Unlike last season, which was narratively clunky at times, the unfortunately dead miner and his sons meshed well with the other storylines.
  
• This episode was all about bringing us back into the world, and it did that very well. Here’s hoping it continues throughout the season and doesn’t solely rely on episodic storytelling like it did in season one.
  
• Niles Pottinger is smug, pompous, power driven and has an obsessive personality. He hates and respects Viceroy Mercado, is after the Ambassador position once held by Connor Lang, and creeps over Amanda. The E-Reps have funded the Maglev Spur in addition to nationalizing the mines – both Mercado and Pottinger have a lot to gain.
  
• Doc and Datak are both in prison, but Rafe is still in his home, helping Pottinger out in the mines. This shows that Pottinger really does believe Datak and Doc are more dangerous. Also, this puts Rafe in a very difficult position. His daughter is married and living in the Tarr household, he has lost his mines, basically he can’t afford to make another wrong move. Did he really overwork his mine workers and are there factions that really do believe the E-Reps are better?
  
  • 
    
  • I’d like to see how the rest of the town interacts with the E-Reps: is it divided down the middle? What do the factions look like and who is on which side?
    
  
  
  
• Nolan had visions of what Irisa went through that night. He saw Sukar and Irzu and Irisa jumping into the magical void of rings.. and Irisa STILL lies about what happened.
  
• Amanda wears the title of Madame very well. This turn of events doesn’t feel forced at all, and seems quite natural for her. Though now we see that she is struggling with the disappearance of her sister much more than we thought, becoming addicted to adreno and refusing to admit that she may never come back. Where does she buy her adreno, and is this an opportunity for her and the Tarrs to cross paths more often? Who is her supplier? (thats easy… Stahma.. those little packets..)
  

Favorite Scenes and Dislikes

• 
  
• The last scene with Stahma and Alak was good on so many levels: the dialogue, the acting, and the directing. It shows that Stahma is able to harness her power without going off the rails like her husband. It also answers that very important air lock question.
  
• It was nice to see Amanda confront Mayor Pottinger. It shows that she is unafraid to speak truth to power (although it could have been the drugs and the booze talking).
  
• I enjoyed the scenes with Viceroy and the Mayor. It’s another reminder that alliances in Defiance aren’t always what they seem, and cracks can appear on any side that may hinder the success of one group, particularly the E-Reps. It would be wise if Amanda would put this fissure between Pottinger and Mercado to good use.
  
• I could have done without that last handjob effort from Datak. The thought of Doc going anywhere remotely near that, even if it was against her will, gives me the shudders.
  
• I will be glad to see the characters interact more as the season progresses. Seeing Nolan and Stahma go head to head, watching Alak interact with Berlin, etc.
  
• Call me gullible, but that last vision with Nolan completely shocked me. Here we are, transported back to the good times of season one with both Irisa and Nolan singing along to a country song together, and then BAM! the writers just flip it on the audience. It is one last reminder that all the rules have been thrown out and we’re are all in brand new storytelling territory.
  

Speculations and unanswered questions

• 
  
• Clearly Nolan is unattached to Defiance – after all, he didn’t even contemplate going back. It was Irisa who said she wanted to return. So how will Nolan react to going back to the town?
  
• How are Doc and Datak going to escape and will their partnership last once they are out of Camp Reverie?
  
• Will Amanda continue to speak truth to power or will she come under Mayor Pottinger’s spell? And will Mayor Pottinger bear a striking character resemblance to the Governor from The Walking Dead?
  
• Irzu is clearly using Irisa as a weapon, but to what end? To expound on this, Irzu, or whatever she is, made a silent promise to resurrect Nolan if Irisa becomes her weapon, so why is she sending visions of Nolan’s death to her? Has Irisa become some sort of sleep walking assassin, with no real knowledge of who and why she kills? Will Nolan become a target? And have we really seen the last of Daigo?
  
• Who is the Mohawked Casti woman who we kept seeing throughout the episode and why was she killed?
  

MVP of the Episode

• 
  
• Nolan & Irisa – For immediately easing back into that father/daughter/idiot relationship that we all love. Their rapport is evident and the actors do an amazing job of communicating that love for one another.
  
• Amanda – For tossing aside our expectations of drowning her sorrows in a bottle of Scotch and taking charge when and where she needs to. A backbone from Kenya, and a hint of Stahma, and she can run this town again.
  

Favorite Tweets

Stahma, seriously, please don’t talk about your son while giving your creepy husband a handjob. #Defiance

— Hellbugs (@HellbugsInLove) June 20, 2014

#Defiance was that alka-seltzer in that bath? … does… does alka-seltzer do that if it’s in the bath? You know.. for science.

— Tracy Sanderson (@Pantrocious) June 20, 2014

@Pantrocious @HellbugsInLove “plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a joy it is.”

— Trick Dempsey (@TrickDempsey) June 20, 2014

Poor kids… If they’d read the script, they would’ve known there were hellbugs in those woods. #Defiance

— David J. Peterson (@Dedalvs) June 20, 2014

Well… 2 hand-job scenes and 2 masturbation scenes later.. That was ep1 of season 2! #DEFIANCE pic.twitter.com/mzo44uGhE4

— Jesse Rath (@jesserath) June 20, 2014

Drug abuse should not look this sexy #Defiance

— Heir to the Demon (@SL_D3sign) June 20, 2014

Finally sitting down to watch the #Defiance Season 2 premiere. Can’t wait to hear what @NebsiNsaNe and @womenofdefiance think about it!

— Chris (@Almazar) June 20, 2014

Reviews Across the Web

• 
  
• IGN – All Roads Lead Back to Defiance, by Jesse Schedeen
  

  http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/20/defiance-the-opposite-of-hallelujah-review

  
  

“The whole quest [to find Irisa] might not have amounted to much given that the end result was just the two turning around and heading back to Defiance. But the increased emphasis on Irisa’s visions and her apparently uncontrollable murdering streak is certainly intriguing.”

• 
  
• A.V. Club – Defiance: “The Opposite of Hallelujah” by Rowan Kaiser
  

  http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/defiance-opposite-hallelujah-206039

  
  

“But what makes this part of the story stand out in this episode isn’t Alak himself, but his mother Stahma. To no viewer’s surprise, she’s really the brains behind the operation. What Defiance does well, though, it make that a surprise to the male characters on the show, particularly Alak. Stahma’s generally less interesting when she’s pure Lady MacBeth, and more compelling when navigating the alien-but-still-recognizable patriarchal system.”

• 
  
• Huffington Post – Loving the Aliens (And the Humans) Building a New World, by Maureen Ryan
  

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/19/defiance-season-2_n_5511463.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment&ir=Entertainment

  
  

“The new E-Rep overlord, Mayor Pottinger, is smartly turned out, conniving, condescending and very smart: He’s basically everything you’d want in a capable villain, and James Murray plays him with precision and élan. And that gets to the heart of one of the reasons I enjoy this show. What’s often missing from dramas ofany kind these days is something that “Defiance” has in abundance: A sense of fun.”

• 
  
• TV by the Numbers, written by Amanda Kondolojy
  

  http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/06/20/syfys-new-epic-supernatural-drama-series-dominion-and-returning-defiance-score-strong-premieres/275370/?utm_campaign=WP%20%3E%20Twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter

  
  

“Kicking off the night at 8PM (ET/PT) with its Season 2 premiere, Defiance delivered 776K Adults 18-49 and 948K Adults 25-54.”

“Defiance had strong premiere numbers, with 2 million viewers. When the show premiered last year, its had about 4 million viewers, but these are still strong numbers for season two.” 

• 
  
• Den of Geek - Defiance Season 2 Premiere Review: The Opposite of Hallelujah, by Michael Ahr
  

  http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/defiance/236615/defiance-season-2-premiere-review-the-opposite-of-hallelujah

  
  

“Amanda Rosewater feels much more genuine as the proprietor of the Need Want than she ever did as mayor, whether she’s paying Stahma Tarr the Castithan crime family’s cut of the profits or indulging in a little “blue devil†pick-me-up. With these new flaws, her decision to take the job as Pottinger’s chief of staff doesn’t seem as naive and idealistic as it would have last year.”

Defiant Few – ‘Casual’ Gaming for Sweeps

A radical criminal is hellbent on destroying any chance of peace between humans and Votans. Each week, Camden Pace – an Arkhunter inspired by the “Defiant Few†soldiers that halted interspecies war in 2030 – will assign you a new mission to stop the renegade’s terrorist plot.

• 
  
• 12 weeks, 12 missions. Complete each mission to earn an entry into the sweepstakes to win a 2015 Dodge Challenger.
  
• Register at defiantfew.com and then complete Escape from Camp Reverie.
  

Season 2 Crossover Content (and what it means for the show)

• 
  
• Cradle to Grave – The first and in my opinion, best of the three cross-over missions available for Season 2. The face of the missions task you to help Eren Niden find the medical records of William Paraba who is in critical condition. Will is famous because he is one of the first recorded Human-Votan hybrid. We also learn that Dark Matter is involved. While playing through the mission and being awarded intel, we learn a few things.
  
  1. 
     
  2. that Dr and Mr Paraba wanted children and were able to have one, Will, but Dr Paraba died during the pregnancy.
     
  3. that Dr Franklin, who was responsible for finding a way to make a viable human-votan hybrid, was also working with E-Rep to create 30 viable embryos that they are developing in converted biomen vats for testing.
     
  4. that Dark Matter are involved. They are cleaning up any trace that they have Votacide 4X and were trying to use it to threaten the Votanis Collective into engaging the ERep in war.
     
  5. and that Erin Niden has a budding relationship with Rosa
     
  
  
  
• Stahma’s Interest – This is the second crossover mission and pretty straight forward. Varus hires you, the arkhunter, to help him on a case of stolen shipment. In this case, the shipment belongs to “Favi†Tarr and Varus’ enemies have intercepted his shipment for the House of Tarr. This crossover serves to inform us
  
  1. 
     
  2. that Alak is head of the House of Tarr (prior to the premiere).
     
  3. that Stahma and Varus are in bed together.
     
  4. that while Varus was the one screwed by this theft, the true target was Stahma and that they do not want to be known, as of yet.
     
  5. and that someone in the Tarr business has been removed and Stahma is looking for someone to fill the position, namely the arkhunter.
     
  
  
  
• Nolan’s Return – We run in to Nolan while investigating the possibility of some Bandits starting a Votan Trafficking Ring for Jon Cooper. After a well deserved greeting by the arkhunter, we team up and put a stop to the trafficking ring. Here we learn that
  
  1. 
     
  2. 99ers, led by a Castithan named Kihako, the Predator of Serpents, are *responsible for kidnapping Irathients and holding them at Mine 99.
     
  3. unlike the snake cult that Nolan has chased across the Storm Divide, this cult is only kidnapping Irathient males.
     
  4. Kihako seems to be searching for a mate for the Devouring Mother and no one has measured up yet.
     
  5. Nolan now owes the arkhunter a hell of a large debt.
     
  6. Varus is aware that Nolan is in the area and has given orders to not let him leave.. which leads us to the scene in Episode 1.
     
  7. and that without Irisa, Nolan is reverting back to No-Man, the Butcher of Yosemite.
     
  
  
  

Defiant Few Durango Challenges

http://www.trionworlds.com/defiance/en/2014/06/16/defiant-few-durango-challenges-now-available/

Two new timed trials have been added to Paradise and Madera, where you will be racing for the best time in the all new retrofitted Dodge Durango! Right now the vehicle is race only but as Season 2 starts to hit its stride, the Durango will be available as a purchasable vehicle from the Defiant Few Vendor during Season 2. And yes, that means a new Faction to earn reputation in. The Defiant Few faction vendor will contain Dodge Durango’s in various colors, weapons, costumes, and titles. According to DefianceData.com, the new faction and vendor will appear with episode 5.

New Threat Coming from Silicon Valley

http://www.trionworlds.com/defiance/en/2014/06/19/producer-letter-defiance-season-2-kickoff/

“But there are more interesting times ahead.

Starting with the Gunslinger Trials, we began to drop hints of the dire events occurring in Silicon Valley. Von Bach Industries has research labs in the valley, but communication with these remote facilities has been disrupted for months now. It won’t be long before the troubles there come spilling out into the rest of the bay.”

• 
  
• We’ve got a lot of content coming out over the next three months: new missions, new gear, a new vehicle, and a new landmass.
  
• New enemy factions are coming to the Bay Area – the Grid
  

“You see, something bad is happening in the ark belt … and on our quiet planet below. As events in St. Louis and in San Francisco reveal startling similarities, you’ll realize no one will escape the conflict to come without sacrificing something they hold dear.”

“Silicon Valley is overrun by the Grid, and a strange new cult has begun to take root in the bay. New missions, new battles, and new technology beckon brave souls to gamble with their lives.”

 

• 
  
• THIS WEEKS ARKHUNTER CODE IS: Paradise
  
  Make sure to enter it at Defiance.com/Ego to get this weeks reward of 15 day Patron Pass! Remember, this code expires Saturday, June 28th!
  
• 
  

  Join our PC clan IGNI FERROQUE! <defiancereporter.guildlaunch.com> No registration required, just look for me in-game, Corso Vanlocke, to get an invite!

  
  
  

CONTACT US!

Email: defiance@mmoreporter.com

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Michelle: twitter.com/womenofdefiance

Ben: twitter.com/nebsinsane