Defiance, “All Things Must Pass,” was written by the team of Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer and directed by Michael Nankin. Slavkin and Swimmer last penned episode four of this season and Nankin has directed more episodes than anyone else, including the season opener – he’ll also be back to direct next week’s final episode of the season. Frankly, this episode really didn’t gel together for me and felt a lot like it had been “team” written to tie up a lot of the various plot threads.
It will be a shame if all of the carefully teased out plots are abandoned in favor of an action episode that races to save the planet. We saw nothing of Alak (Jesse Rath) in this episode – what of his and Christie’s baby? Will it be born before the end of this season? Is the Amanda (Julie Benz), Pottinger (James Murray), Nolan (Grant Bowler) triangle over? Has Pottinger over played his hand and is Nolan simply opting out in favor of Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas)?
If you’ve been regularly reading my reviews, you’ll know that I’ve been waiting for them to give Dewshane Williams (Tommy) more to do, so you can guess just how upset I am that they killed Tommy. That said, I did like what they did with his storyline in this episode. The lighting and cinematography of Nolan pulling Tommy through the woods was lovely, especially the shot in the dark when Nolan realizes that Tommy is gone and we see only a fraction of Nolan’s face from behind. I did like how Tommy saw people in the woods and then we flashed to them. It was nice to see a glimpse of the relationship that Tommy and Nolan had in the first season and for Nolan to finally admit that Tommy isn’t a kid anymore.
I still feel that the show under-used Williams. Anna Hopkins (Berlin) delivers a fantastic performance as she learns that Tommy is dead. I do hope that she isn’t the next to go. I’ll be interested to see if she is completely consumed with revenge – or at least taking Irisa into custody. I hope that they don’t squander her character the way they did Williams. Interestingly, however, the show really is better, in general, with its women characters. And for that, I give this show many kudos.
So far, Linda Hamilton (Pilar) has been incredibly under used as well, however. Given how much story needs to be told in these last few episodes, it seems odd to bring her in so late and give her very little to do – so far. Her performance so far has been under-whelming with the exception of the reunion with Rafe (Graham Greene).
Rafe’s reunion with his long lost love is perhaps Greene’s finest performance in the show to date. His love for Pilar comes through loud and clear. I loved how this scene was shot – giving us only partial views of the actors faces – particularly Rafe’s as we see a small portion of him that he has shown to no one over the years – that part of him that is a husband and a lover. The reunion between Rafe and Pilar also provides a nice contrast to the reunion between Datak (Tony Curran) and Stahma (Jaime Murray). The result of Pilar and Rafe’s reunion is a further reunion between Pilar and their children. The result of Datak and Stahma’s reunion appears to be the possible death of three of their crew.
Datak and Stahma’s reunion was one of the best parts of this episode – though Pottinger kidnapping them to present to Amanda to kill for revenge was definitely over contrived. Amanda may have fallen from her ideals as mayor, but she certainly hasn’t fallen that far. Does Pottinger really know her that little after all this time? I suspect that Amanda’s decisions next week will be based on her shock that Pottinger could think she would abandon the law in favor of revenge. Of course, it remains to be seen if she will be able to legitimately pin Kenya’s murder on Stahma – or if she will even try.
It is always fun to watch Curran and Murray together on screen and both deliver terrific performances – as we’ve come to expect. While it’s been fun to watch them be adversaries this season, it’s also a lot of fun to watch them work as a team. It’s clear in the first scene how far both have come this season. Stahma really isn’t as good at manipulating Datak as she used to be because she doesn’t really want to be – she’s no longer to completely subjugate herself to get what she wants. She’s ready to show her true – more intelligent! – face to Datak. Datak is almost ready to admit just how much that turns him on – and how much that is a part of why he loves her. For all he says he can’t change, he already has. It’s very telling when he goes to the men and tells them that he was working off of old customs and that he realizes it’s time to embrace the new world – he really is ready now to let Stahma be a partner with him.
It seems pretty clear that at least part of what had been keeping the two apart this season was Stahma’s resentment of Datak for making her kill Kenya. For his own part, once he realized how much Stahma really did love Kenya, it drove home what Stahma was willing to do for him – and for their family. Like Rafe, Stahma will put family first. I have to wonder if they are going to stick to the Raiga (Kevin Shand) killed Kenya story and that’s one of the reasons the paralyze him and dump him in that hole – or is it just punishment. I do hope we haven’t seen the last of Raiga though! While the Sensoth make up has always been a bit hokey, Shand has done a great job with what he’s had to work with – mainly just his eyes and some mouth gestures – showing us more of Raiga, particularly in these last few episodes.
The one effect that really did work for me in this episode was Irisa turning on the space craft. It’s really the only scenes we see with her, but having her put a rock in the air and then throw a handful of dirt up and then those bits of dirt become the ships in orbit was a pretty cool effect.
Finally, we also see Doc Yewll (Trenna Keating) figure out what’s going on. I just wish I could figure out what’s going on with her character! First she’s on our side, then she’s a bad guy again, and now we are supposed to like her again? I feel that Yewll and Amanda were both on a journey this season, but I don’t feel like we got enough of the journey to really understand it. That said, I loved her figuring out that the ego implant that was letting her see her dead lover was actually the ship manipulating her. I also quite like that the Indogenes are supposed to be this mentally superior race, and Yewll proves this time and again – though she isn’t smart enough to keep Pottinger from manipulating her – we’ll let that go.
There’s only one episode left to go for this season. I suspect that the last hour will be action-packed, but I hope that we get some additional closure from all our main characters. I also hope that once the show finishes airing in Canada, we will hear that it’s been renewed for a third season. For all the quibbles I have here, this is still one of the best science fictions shows on air right now. It’s also one of the best shows in regards to strong, complex female characters. What did you think of the episode? Are you anxious to see Christie have the baby? Do you think that Stahma and Datak are better together or apart? Do you think that’s it for Amanda and Pottinger? Were you sad to see Tommy die? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Remember to watch the finale and tweet #RenewDefiance!
Good review--and pretty much agreed about the episode's problems. Remeber when a guy tried to impress a girl with flowers, rather than bound and gagged victims and a gun to shoot them with? Seriously, Whaaaaa?
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