The Defiance Thread - News about the Show and Game

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by PlainSimpleJoel, Dec 14, 2012.

  1. Ayelbourne

    Ayelbourne Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    In defense of the Castithans, they only had a post-apocalyptic wardrobe to work with.
     
  2. degra

    degra Fleet Captain Newbie

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    watched the second episode what a waste of money. Everything about this show is bland. Done with this
     
  3. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The US government is dedicated to attacking the peoples and governments of many, many nations across the world, mostly Muslim or African. Liberals like to call it humanitarian intervention, R2P, responsibility to protect. Very little from daily life shows up on television, especially not so-called serious drama. But as commonly happens, the scifi trappings allow a little of it to creep in. The show thus far is straightforwardly presuming the more or less official view, which is conventionally deemed wisdom, because.

    As to seeming a bad idea, well, many agree, but US democracy has nothing to do with the opinions of citizens being consulted. Indeed they are often the targets of economic policies.
     
  4. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well Defiance is clearly a kind of immigrant story that's about humans and aliens coming together as a society in this town. The kind of cultural hybridity and fusion is I think the point; we're clearly not really meant to buy into say Rafe's general resentment towards Votans for creating the circumstances that lead to Earth's accidental terraforming.
     
  5. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    That fuck is crucified and no one else runs from battle and everyone is saved form the next big bad.

    It's sensible.

    What does the US do to deserters these days?

    We all know what Malcom Reynold would have done.

    He would have shot the guy being tortured.

    Saving the victim shouldn't have been the issue, and only an idiot wouldn't have expected consequences down the line for crossing a mob.

    The bitch of the situation was all the civilians getting off on this guys pain.

    Fuck them.

    Although would Nolan have saved Jesus form his own crucifixion against his protestation?

    "No, stop it I don't want to be saved, I'm supposed to die for every one sins, don't untie me, put that knife away, let me die up here it's part of the plan I need to die on this cross or you'll ruin everything if you get in the way of my timely death."
     
  6. CaptJimboJones

    CaptJimboJones Vice Admiral Admiral

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    As a St. Louis native I enjoyed the little nods to the city - the mention of toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake, and the fact that the Old St. Louis skyline showed the Eagleton federal building and Met Square (where I used to work!)

    Overall I'm enjoying both the show and the game (although to be fair I got the game for free so my expectations are very low ... )
     
  7. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    I bought the game, haven't played it yet though.
     
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Okay, "toasted ravioli" is something I'd like to hear more about. How does that work?
     
  9. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    You take some raviloi and dip them in breadcrumbs and then deep fry them.
     
  10. shivkala

    shivkala Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I think if it wasn't for the fact that some of my shows have ended for the season (The Walking Dead) and others are wrapping up in a few weeks, I would have given up on Defiance. However, when these shows are done for the season and my DVR is light on shows, I'll at least have Defiance. Though, I'll have to re-evaluate it after this season. It reminds me of how I felt about Caprica and Stargate: Universe in that I didn't dislike them, I just didn't find anything to love about them, either.

    Part of what frustrates me is that I don't know what I want out of the show. It's missing the wit and Whedonism of firefly, the corny/meta humor of Eureka, the nail-biting tension/desperation/post-apocalyptic feel of shows like The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica, etc.

    I want more fleshing out of this world. The pilot hinted at trade agreements with other settlements, but so far we haven't seen any indication of what the town has versus what it lacks. For that matter, what are they eating? With what we've seen of the terraforming, I wouldn't be surprised if our staples were gone/mutated. For instance, salad, can they still grow lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, etc., or is it all alien vegetables? Or, even better, something not quite Earthen, but not quite alien, to reflect the effect of alien terraforming on our land. What about meat? Are they eating hamburgers, pork, etc. or something else?
     
  11. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^^^Yes, these are interesting questions. A solid fictional background, made with solid science and stylish fictional stylish, would make the series stronger. Insofar as the show is maybe about disparate cultures uniting in a fraternal or democratic society, attention to the nuts and bolts would help them take the theme seriously.

    But it's already so intensely faux-Western that it really doesn't seem like these people are handicapped by the idiot idea that SF is a subgenre of fantasy, meaning anything goes. Hanging a lantern, as in the dialogue about the duster, doesn't change anything. The game tie-in, in particular, suggests they are committed to other goals than a good SF style.

    PS Does anybody know what they're mining? You would think it would be St. Louis, but that's not the way it sounded or looked in the last episode.
     
  12. ATimson

    ATimson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In the video game farms (at least in the San Francisco Bay area) are raising pows - pig/cow hybrids.
     
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Eww. That sounds a lot less appealing. That's not even toasted ravioli -- it's deep-fried, breaded ravioli.


    We've seen meals being served at the McCawley household in both episodes so far. According to the "Inside Defiance" feature on the website (image 8), they're eating green-yolked eggs in one scene (not sure if they had ham, though). The text reads, "The genetic mutations brought on by terraforming killed much of the world's livestock and introduced some bizarre new species."

    Given how much thought the creators have clearly put into the worldbuilding for the multimedia stuff, I'm sure it'll be explored on the show as well. I think that so far they've done a good job hinting at the larger world without being too stilted in the exposition and without getting in the way of the focus on character and story.
     
  14. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Do you put any kind of sauce on the result?

    You know what bugs me, the miner guy's house. It's big and normal and full of matching plates and stuff. And the mayor's office does not look anything like the ramshackle town.. did they find the nice chairs and things in old St. Louis? Because they sure aren't going to be wasting resources making nice leather couches or whatever.

    Deserter guy's family is living in a shed drinking out of old jam jars.
     
  15. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    How many stomachs do pows have?
     
  16. cylkoth

    cylkoth Commodore Commodore

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    Alternate recipes (originating outside St Louis), they can be baked instead of fried. :)
     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^Which still isn't toasted. I'm just getting more confused.
     
  18. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    While a popular dish, after hours of trying to get raviolis out of the toaster, they found alernate cooking methods.
     
  19. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    Boy, wait til you learn about hamburgers.:lol:
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Yeah... they don't even make them out of people from Hamburg. :p