Defiance - Put the Damage On - Review - "Ghosts From the Past"

    This week’s episode of Defiance, “Put the Damage On,” was written by Nevin Densham and directed once again by Allan Kroeker. Densham’s only other writing credit is Grimm.

    This was an interesting episode because it seemed to turn a lot of the Defiance universe as we’ve come to know it on its head. The disorientation of the three characters who were – as it turned out – under the influence of the “ego bug” is also felt by the audience as we’re kept guessing about what is going on throughout most of the episode. The title seems to be a reference to the bug’s ability to turn on the damage that has been done to the characters – Amanda’s rape, Pottinger’s obsession, and Yewell’s guilt.

    We learn what was in the yellow case that Pottinger (James Murray) was mysteriously opening in the previous episode – it was the ego bug. His ultimate purpose was to have Yewell (Trenna Keating) upload all of Amanda’s (Julie Benz) memories from the ego bug. It’s possible that this is why Amanda was hit the hardest by the bug. Benz is very good at playing crazy, paranoid, and stoned. Presumably Yewell and Murray only got lesser cast offs from the defective ego they implanted in Amanda. Why Pottinger wants Amanda’s memories still remains to be seen. Is he simply trying to get more information on Conor Lang (Gale Harold)?

    What all three of them hallucinate is quite fascinating in its own right. It’s not surprising that Amanda would hallucinate paranoia about the man who raped her, but why attribute Nolan’s (Grant Bowler) voice to her mysterious attacker? It’s clearly healthy for her to work through what happened, but she seems to have completely misunderstood Nolan. It was pretty clear to  viewers very early on that she was hallucinating – for example about three sentences in in the scene in which he stops her in the alley, it was clear to me that this was not Nolan as soon as he said, “we don’t really care about anyone.” So perhaps when he said it’s about your sister, Amanda’s psyche was really feeling badly about being in a relationship with her sister’s former boyfriend. In many ways, Amanda has picked up her own life by simply assuming Kenya’s.

    Pottinger and Yewell both seem to hallucinate people they were involved with too. Of course, Pottinger’s seems painfully one sided. Did Lang know that Pottinger was clearly holding a torch for him? The portrayal of Nolan in Amanda’s hallucinations cautions us against taking what the hallucinations say as true – we know this hallucinated Nolan doesn’t act like the Nolan we’ve come to know and love. But then we also come back to why he’s downloaded Amanda’s memories. It could also be that he simply wants information from the night Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas) changed or from when Amanda worked with Lang in New York.

    Yewell is visited by Lav – a former colleague – but more importantly her former lover/partner. It was really interesting seeing this side of the character, and this storyline provided some unique insights into the character as she was able to talk to someone in a way she would never talk to anyone else in Defiance. Keating does outstanding work in this episode peeling back the layers of Yewell. I was thrilled to see her getting more to do – as I have been so far this season.

    Lav comes looking for forgiveness – though she is dying. Yewell’s first reaction is a medical one to try and save her. In fact, she’s trying to assuage her own guilt in not saving Lav from her suicide. Lav tells her that forgiveness is divine, and Yewell snaps that to forgive is deeply human. She is supposed to be dying of a bug they designed to kill humans – it seems clear that Lav is a manifestation of Yewell’s own guilt over what she has done to humanity – and perhaps what she is doing now. She has seemed to be atoning for her past all along in her desire to help the people of Defiance, and it's only her intervention that saves Amanda.

    In fact, Lav killed herself over the guilt she felt about what they were doing. She wants Yewell to come with her – kill herself, but Yewell refuses, saying the people of Defiance need her and she’s not allowed to die. Helping them is her penance. She doesn’t say whether her penance is for letting Lav kill herself or for the terrible things Yewell herself has done. By the end of the episode, Yewell says she’s removed Pottinger’s and her own bug. She also says she didn’t download any of Pottinger’s memories – but is she lying? Maybe she’s gathering evidence to use against him to truly win her own and Defiance’s freedom? She keeps her own ego bug because she says she’s not quite ready to give it – Lav - up. Is Lav her conscience? Will she keep that part of her around until she frees Defiance and atones for her past and then let her go?

    Keating is also outstanding as she patches up Datak (Tony Curran). I love these two as partners in crime. Datak, of course, is the bad guy who you hate yourself for rooting for. It was nice to see Stahma (Jaime Murray) get the upper hand and come out of the shadows, and it was fitting for Datak to be punished for what he’s done – especially to Alak (Jesse Rath), but at the same time, you never want him out of the picture. Yewell uses tough love on him and tells him to “burn the Castithan crazy scrolls and fix your family from the inside.”

    In the end, Datak uses the Castithan scrolls to find a loophole to get himself insinuated back into the family. Stahma is clearly disgusted that she has to let him back in. We saw in the last episode that Datak is starting to be able to control himself enough to use subterfuge – even if it means debasing himself – to avoid a fight and get what he wants. It was particularly interesting that Christie (Nicole Munoz) came out of her shell and went right after Datak and called him “a disgusting troll.” It was nice to see that she does have some of her father’s fight in her after all.

    My favorite scene in last night’s episode had to be Rafe (Graham Greene) being welcomed to the Tarr family home by Stahma. Murray and Greene are both just outstanding in this scene. Rafe’s embarrassment is quickly replaced by a growing admiration for Stahma as she tells him that she knows he had Alak beaten and has threatened to do so again. She tells him that really they are on the same side, in that SHE is the one running the family business and Alak is just a figure head – who she will protect. This scene was also nicely choreographed – both verbally and physically – as Stahma tells Rafe why Casti women must wear a beaded gown in the bath and Casti men don’t. I loved her sliding through the water behind him as she talked to him.

    Rafe certainly seems right at home and rubs it in Datak’s face when he arrives. I loved him asking if it was ok that he borrowed Datak’s slippers. In fact, by the end of the episode, Rafe is also considering working with Datak – who promises weapons from the Voltanis collective. Once again, Datak uses honey to get what he wants – to get his life back. He reminds Rafe of all that Rafe has also lost – his home and his mine. Rafe is clearly interested.

    Meanwhile, Amanda and Nolan’s relationship is strained. He’s found her Blue Devil straw. He tells her he was worried about her and her response is that she wasn’t herself – again, the show asks us to read this more deeply. It’s not just the ego bug that’s having an effect on her – it’s also the drugs.

    Tommy (Dewshane Williams) and Irisa are assigned to guard Amanda – really all we see from them this episode. Irisa remarks that it isn’t right that Rafe has lost his home, but Tommy seems firmly on the E-Rep’s side as he says that Rafe got what he deserved for what he did. When Irisa is shot, we see that whatever is inside her heals her again and once again she hides this from Nolan – I’m hoping she tells him sooner rather than later what’s going on – or possibly she’ll confide in Yewell – though I doubt it...

    This episode – like the series – takes an interesting and liberal stance on sexuality. We were meant to see Pottinger’s obsession with Conor Lang as not right or healthy, but there’s plenty of other evidence that it’s not the homosexual nature of the relationship that is to be questioned. Christie and Deirdre (Kristina Pesic) have an interesting conversation as Deidre suggests she can show Christie how to satisfy Alak better – but also suggests they can enjoy themselves. Yewell and Lav appear to be the same sex. Their relationship is clearly still cherished by Yewell. Finally, even though he uses it as a cover, Datak crosses both cultural, racial and gender lines by choosing to go upstairs with Crisp (Shamier Anderson). Now, he does use it as cover to talk about getting weapons, but Datak seemed perfectly comfortable in Crisp’s room.

    Defiance continues to challenge viewers to think outside the box, and this episode is a good example of that. What did you think of the episode? Do you think Rafe and the Tarrs make intriguing allies? What do you think Pottinger wants with Amanda’s memories? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!