Defiance - The Opposite of Hallelujah - Review - "It's Weird"

    Defiance returned for season two with “The Opposite of Hallelujah,” written by showrunner Kevin Murphy and directed by Michael Nankin. While 9 months have passed since the season one finale, also by the same team, the episode seamlessly catches us up on what’s happened since the events of “Everything is Broken.” It’s a good solid episode that reminds us of what’s really great about this show - well drawn characters, great acting, and a show that really showcases the genre. I have to admit that I am still scratching my head over SyFy’s decision to delay the return of the show to June when it premiered in April last year. While it makes sense to wait until after the fall/winter finales, premiering during the World Cup can only have hurt its live air numbers – which were still very strong.

    One thing SyFy did to keep our interest up for the return of the show was to release minisodes in March. If you didn’t see them before the premiere, you won’t have missed anything, but they are worth going back to watch because they do fill in some interesting backstory about Nolan (Grant Bowler) and Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas).

    This episode nicely mirrors the series premiere in a few ways. The action in Defiance picks up on Founder’s Day again. This time, of course, we are introduced to the new mayor, Neil Pottinger (James Murray) through a special announcement that he is televising for the populace. It helps to immediately draw a contrast to former mayor Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz) who we met nervously giving her first address to the town as their new mayor. Pottinger distances himself from the people and shows them a persona. Amanda was one of them and did not dissemble.

    The flashbacks also show Nolan arriving in Defiance for the first time and recognizing the famous St Louis Arch. In this episode we visit two other cities and recognize them by their landmarks: Chicago and its famous river and the famous Hollywood sign of Los Angeles. Another nice parallel is Irisa and Nolan singing on their way back to Defiance. Of course, this time the sweet moment between them is interrupted by Irisa’s disturbing vision of killing Nolan – which was nicely done and freaked me out totally! Nothing like seeing a character “killed” to make you really realize how much you like said character!

    Pottinger promises to be an intriguing new character. His direct superior from the E-Republic, Viceroy Mercado (William Atherton), clearly doesn’t like Pottinger, calling him a showoff. However, Pottinger goes out of his way to foster Mercado’s hatred because it engenders Mercado’s respect. He’s also clearly obsessed with Amanda. It seems to be a professional interest as he seeks her help in running Defiance, but by the end of the episode, we see that he has a truly unhealthy obsession, and he’s planted a hidden camera in her bedroom which he streams to his private apartment. His very erotic interaction with her gigantic image was another really nicely shot scene.

    Many of the characters have new positions. Amanda has taken over the Need/Want in Kenya’s (Mia Kirshner) absence and is making an even bigger success of it – as she tells Stahma (Jaime Murray), if she could run a town, she can surely run a business. In fact, the entire town is booming and the E-Republic has also promised to join Defiance to the rest of its holdings by extending the railway to it. 

    Rafe (Graham Greene) is now merely an employee in the mine who is expected to keep the other workers in line. There is clearly strife even within the miners as some are simply satisfied with the higher wages the E-Rep is paying. Unfortunately, for the E-Rep and Rafe’s own safety, he sides with the miners and is more concerned with the fact that the miners are being over worked and are resorting to Blue Devil in order to keep going – the reason Datak’s (Tony Curran) business is also booming.

    Alak (Jesse Rath) is acting as head of the Tarrs but in effect, he is just a figure head. Stahma has become the real power behind their empire. Alak is still interested in his music and seems to be starting a music empire – cutting LPs and developing bands. He is clearly not happy running the less legal aspects of his father’s business. He won’t allow Skevur (Michael Dyson) to extract adrenaline from humans to make the drug, and he’s far too lenient in accepting his excuses, leaving the hardline for Stahma.

    I love where they are going with Stahma, who continues to push against the boundaries of her culture. Outwardly, she is still obsequious with the men that she encounters, but in her own home, she is not. We see her pleasuring herself in the family bath – I loved Alak telling her that bathing alone was just weird! She attempts to steer Alak in the right direction – still hiding her own beliefs behind Datak’s name. Alak insists that showing kindness is not a weakness. It’s also clear that Skevur has no respect for Alak and is playing him. In the end, she is the one to punish Skevur, but she does it to make it look like Alak has done it, thereby securing him more respect from his crew and getting the job done. Raiga (Kevin Shand) is the first to go to his knees to honor Alak as his Capo, so I have to wonder if he isn’t Stahma’s right hand in all this.

    I love the chemistry between Rath and Murray. Both their scenes are terrific and subtly show the power shift between the two of them. Jesse, who loves a human after all, recognizes what his mother does. She doesn’t give direct orders – she whispers in people’s ears. He is stunned by her complete honesty, however. It was a nice touch for them to remind us that she has stepped up before – to open the air lock doors – when the men around her have faltered. Stahma is clearly very pleased with the outcome of their “straight talk,” but Jesse seems a bit stunned. Of course, he never really wanted to be in charge of the family business either.

    Stahma is not without her own soft side, however. When she goes to collect the weekly take from the Need/Want, she tries to tell Amanda not to hope for Kenya’s return. When Amanda refuses to believe that Kenya won’t return, Stahma gives her back the entire take. This would seem to be the result of Stahma’s guilty conscience. I love that the characters on the show are not black and white (symbolically anyway! Though is it just me or does the makeup seem less this season?). While it’s nice to see Julie Benz’s wardrobe become a bit more adventurous, I wasn’t as happy to see that Amanda’s grief and perhaps a culmination of failures (failing to look after Kenya and losing the election and control of Defiance) have resulted in her strong character turning to drug use.

    Datak is naturally impatient to get out of Camp Reverie. He is hoping the Votanis collective is working to free him. Ten years already seems like a pretty light sentence for someone who killed an official of the E-Rep, however. I had to wonder how hard Stahma was trying to get him out – is she enjoying her freedom and her own power? Even the way the scenes are shot place Stahma in the background – it’s a nice underscore to what’s really happening.

    I also really enjoyed the effects of Angel Arc – like the remains of Grauman’s, the use of the wall of hands and feet, and the fact that Irisa was down by the cliffs at Sunset and Le Brea because that’s very close to where I stay when I’m in LA! I had worried that we wouldn’t see Irisa and Nolan reunited for some time, so it was great to see their reunion here and them heading back to Defiance. It looks like we are going to see lots of amazing fight scenes with Leonidas this season. I’m looking forward to seeing how what’s happening to Irisa is going to factor into what’s happening in Defiance.

    They’ve definitely changed Irisa’s look to be more mature – older – and it’s great to see more of Leonidas. I’m curious as to why she lies to Nolan about what happened to her. Does she not understand it, is she trying to protect him, is she ashamed, or is she afraid of his reaction? Can’t wait for this to play out! I also liked that one other parallel to the series premiere is that Nolan’s first impulse is to take his little boat – and how great were the effects of him sailing into Angel Arc? – and go to Antarctica, but Irisa insists on returning to Defiance.

    Pottinger’s attempt to have Churchill (Rob Archer) “take care” of Hiat and Josef (Ryan Kennedy) backfires quite spectacularly and is likely to result in more unrest. Of course, it’s also the catalyst that spurs Amanda to agree to work with Pottinger.

    Meanwhile, an unlikely alliance pops up between Doc Yewell (Trenna Keating) and Datak at Camp Reverie. She has a plan to escape and enlists his help. How Datak plans to take back his business while a fugitive remains a mystery, however. They are a terrific odd couple, however, and I’m looking forward to seeing them work together. Keating brings a terrific dry humor to Yewell.

    We only see Tommy (Dewshane Williams) and Christie (Nicole Munoz) briefly in this episode. Both have embraced their new roles – Tommy as Lawkeeper and Christie as Castithan wife. It’s going to be interesting if we see Christie become the more traditional Casti wife while Stahma becomes more independent – like a human.

    This was a great way to start the second season. Our characters have all been changed by the events of the first season. Lots of balls were thrown in the air, and it’s going to be fun to see how they interact and where they fall. While there were some terrific special effects, the series continues to be about more than the effects. What did you think of the episode? Were you happy with the changes? Any changes take you be complete surprise? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!