WARNING! SPOILERS BELOW!!
Woah! I really didn’t expect that ending at all. It was beautiful, as Nolan jetted through all the different systems in the Omec ship, you could tell the VFX people had really gone wild. What about the bit with the meteor shower hitting that moon??
*sigh*
I will miss Kindzi. I wish she hadn’t got mulched, that she’d died in some way that was recoverable in her superduper state. Or that they’d just nutted her and put her in a sleep pod.
I loved the intense scene between Amanda and Stahma, both actresses just were perfect, I was doing little squeals watching it. The fact that the writers staged it during the dressing change made it extra painful and sad to watch, Stahma almost breaking down as she washed Amanda’s blood away.
When Defiance first started, I was a little disappointed with it: the aliens didn’t feel alien enough and I’m done with aliens who come from planets light years away but, surprise, surprise, pair bond in heteronormative units, have nuclear family structures and all the rest of it. I want alien aliens. Yes, I know shows are constrained because of budgets, hence the latter Trek curse of ‘alien with a bumpy nose’ but even TOS had the Horta. And what about Rygel from Farscape?
But in the two seasons since then, I feel the show has broken through that barrier, of every alien simply being a human but with white skin or a lion face or whatever. The Omec were great because they were hunters and they appeared to have the same social structure as eusocial insects but with both kings and queens (All Fathers and All Mothers). Add to this that incest is the norm in their culture and the show handled it as such and we’re finally getting towards alien aliens.
Ironically, we don’t yet know if Defiance will be renewed for a fourth season. It seems that once shows hit their stride and start producing startling, distinctive television, that’s when they hit trouble with SyFy. It’ll be a damn shame if we don’t get to return to the Defianceuniverse because it’s finally all clicking, all the species and alliances feel real and the actors inhabit their characters, absolutely believably.
So, I guess that’s why they sent Nolan off on that space trip. It was kind of a thank you to us fans as well and showed us that there are wonders out there we have yet to see. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Defiance season 4.
But in the meantime… have some fanfic I just wrote:
ALL HAIL THE ALL FATHER!
Three years have passed since the people of Defiance saved the Earth from the Omec. Today is a town holiday; it is Nolan Day. Lawmaker Irisa hurries down the narrow alley between two aluminium huts to the daycare centre where her son, Lucas, waits patiently at the gate. She nods to Carer David who is holding Luke’s tiny hand.
“How has he been?”
“Oh, a little angel, as ever! He’s just happy sitting in a corner with some crayons and I -”
The Carer is interrupted by a boom that echoes across the town, shaking the walls of the many makeshift buildings. Looking up at the sky, Irisa sees contrails passing overheard. Ships? Too small… Missiles?
“David, can you keep Luke here, I have to see what’s going on!”
“Of course, Irisa, of course! But you take care!”
“Mommy? Where you going?”
Picking the worried looking toddler up, Irisa says, “I’ll be back real soon, Luke, I promise! I love you! You stay here and do me a new picture, will you? Draw me a picture of Grandpa Datak, will you?” She kisses him on his little plump cheeks and then hands him over to David, already turning her radio on to contact Amanda.
As she jogs towards the jail, Amanda crackles over the radio.
“Irisa! What the hell is happening?”
“I have no idea! But meet me at the buggy and we’ll drive up the ridge, that’ll have the best visibility. And pick up Doc Pandey on the way in case there’s injured survivors.”
“Will do!”
Bursting into the jail, she grabs the nearest sack and starts throwing in automatic rifles, pistols, ammo and a couple of grenades. She pauses for a second and then throws in four more. She can almost see Nolan grinning at that. Even now, she knows he’s alive. Of course, Amanda can’t believe that, won’t believe it but Irisa… she can’t believe anything else.
As she opens the door, the world turns over, as if she’d tripped on something invisible and she is flat on her face, dazed. As she picks herself up, blood oozes from her cheek and forehead. She looks up the street.
Omec.
Omec are walking down each side of the street shooting any citizens who are in their way or appear even a slight threat. That’s what they must have done to her. But why is she still alive? The Omec aren’t known for their pacifism. Why are they only stunning the townspeople?
A huge Omec female strides into the space cleared by her clan. She snarls and then bellows, “Behold, the All Father! Behold your Lord, your Ruler, your Saviour!” She puts what looks like a gulanite beacon down and then backs away. As it unfurls into an Omec launchpad, it sings to itself and then issues a horrible squawk. Almost immediately, there is another boom overhead, another capsule. As it descends, it leaves a trail of purple-hued smoke behind it before finally coming to rest on the pad. Irisa can feel the heat radiating off the surface as it cracks and pings, the composite cooling after re-entry.
The capsule peels itself down to the ground, revealing an Omec in full armour including a garishly overblown helmet.
Irisa reaches behind her and starts to loosen the pin on one of the grenades she palmed while the Omec where distracted by the lightshow.
The Omec All Father takes his helmet off, scratches at his beard and then grins at Irisa. The shock washes over her in waves, cold then hot. Her mouth is as dry as dust.
“A grenade, Irisa? Really? Is that any way to greet your old pappy back from his travels?”