This week’s episode of “Defianceâ€, ominously-titled “The Serpent’s Eggâ€, began shortly after the events of the last one, with the recently imprisoned Rynn being transported to another correction facility, this one a bit larger than the relatively modest one in Defiance. Not one to stand on ceremony, Nolan opted to accompany her, and it’s a good thing he did, as things went south pretty quickly- and not just because of Rynn, as expected.
Also along for the ride was Amanda, off to deliver some cash to the Earth Republic, as more of a pay-off than an agreement, as Defiance is none too keen on getting into bed with the ER. Accompanying her is the ER Ambassador, Olfin Tennety (Jane McLean), an attractive woman with not one but- count ‘em! – two husbands! You go on with your bad self, “Big Loveâ€.
Rounding out the bunch is the driver, Ugarti, and a Reverend- or so he says- Sy Preston. In no time, Rynn has snatched someone’s pen and uses it to un-cuff herself and make a break for it at the first opportunity. Nolan is not so easily fooled and corrals her, but then all hell breaks loose and the driver is killed, with both of the Ambassador’s husbands shot, to boot, by bandit-types. Or were they?
Turned out that Tennety was pulling a fast one and trying to double-cross herself, sort of. When the not-so-good Reverend busted out the firepower and his boys backed him up, it seemed like an elaborate plan to apprehend all the money on the transport, both from Defiance and the Ambassador, especially as he kidnapped the latter. But she was in on it, and was actually trying to snag Defiance’s cash so that they would be in debt to the ER- and she would get herself a nice little promotion- and a couple of divorces in the process. Ouch! Poor dudes.
Fortunately, one of them makes it out alive, as does Rynn, who escapes, but redeems herself when she helps Nolan and Amanda out. This proves to be a better way to free herself than her previous attempts, as the Mayor pardons her for her efforts. Although her actions were pretty off the rails to be honest, at least the guys she hurt actually did wrong by her, unlike the entire town she was looking to take out with freaky bug creatures. But they stopped her before she could succeed, so I guess she’s somewhat pass-worthy- not that Amanda really had a choice, under the circumstances.
Back at the home-front, we got a little more of Irisa’s back-story, when she spotted a Castithan that she recogni ed from her past, or so she thought. Convinced he was Daigo, who took part in some freaky ritual involving snakes and other wacky stuff, Irisa snatched him up and tied him up in some isolated location to torture…err, make that question him, wink wink.
Deputy Tommy, gets wind of it and confronts her, but it ultimately turned out she was right on the money. You don’t forget something like that, obviously. It was precisely that incident that Irisa referred to when she alluded to Nolan killing her parents, and saving her, something she’d made clear was a good thing. Now we know why, to say the least.
What we don’t know is what exactly was going on with that ritual, as Irisa set a snake on Daigo, before he could entirely explain everything, but the gist of it seemed to be that, if the ceremony had been completed, Irisa would have become “Aleka the Destroyer†and “The Devouring Mother,†among other fun-sounding titles. Daigo felt that his death would cause this to happen, so Irisa flipped the switch on him, and refused to, preferring to let him live with the knowledge that he had failed. As it stands, she’s already got some freaky powers, so I think she’ll be okay.
That was about it, save the fact that, after Amanda sent Tennety off to prison, one of her people set her free, thus showing that she’s not the only one corrupt at the ER. I’m guessing we haven’t seen the last of her, or the last of the ER trying to screw up Defiance’s situation. She did ask for all the dirt on Amanda her people could dig up, so now that’s personal. Daigo also joins the Ambassador on the long haul home, having had quite enough of Defiance, thank you very much.
So, a decent episode overall. Some super tense moments, especially with Irisa and Daigo, but also with him and Tommy as well, who kicked the crap out of him on Irisa’s behalf at one point. For his troubles, he and Irisa did the dirty at the jail, reminding me of “The Walking Dead†when Maggie and Glenn did the same at the prison. Not very sanitary, people!
The transport was also pretty engaging overall, with all the double-crossing and backstabbing going on all over the place, plus a pretty enjoyable shoot-out scene, with Amanda really taking one guy’s head off at one point in pretty awesome fashion. She’s pretty awesome, right? No talk about the whole sister thing this time out, but you could feel the vibe between her and Nolan on the trip from hell.
What did you think of “Defiance†this week? Liking that they keep changing it up every week, in terms of the types of stories they’re telling? Like this one almost seemed like a hybrid of “24†and “The Road Warriorâ€, for instance, whereas other episodes have played like “CSI†or “The X-Files†or what have you. I don’t mind it so much thus far- it seems to keep things interesting and unpredictable, and that’s a good thing. What do you think?
Sound off below in the comments section!
Defiance Season 1 Review “The Serpent’s Egg”
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