Defiance Season 2 Discussion

[Guy Gardener]

Manhattan isn't that big (All the main land and other islands around Manhattan today are also considered to be New York as well. If New York "was" Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island but is now only one Burrough large then it's a massive demarcation in area down from pre arkfall.).

They called it Manhattan Valley a couple weeks back.

Is that version of New York from the Game?

Well.

If it was, it isn't any more.

I found it amazing how Buck Rogers New York seemed compared to how Gunsmoke Defiance is.

Also, if it takes them 20 minutes, maybe an hour to destroy an island you can walk the width of in less than a day, it's going to take YEARS to voltanaform the planet.

It's almost like they don't know what a massdriver is.

Does Earth have rings now?

"Have you been drinking Captain?"

"Yes sir."

They have had so much fun with Berlin this year.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I'm going to have to look up timelines again, obviously most of those buildings are built since arkfall. I guess they were divided between kind of flashy and utilitarian, there weren't any obviously older ones.

 

[sojourner]

Actually most of those buildings looked like existing landmarks. We saw Freedom Tower and the Empire state (with a new antenna).

 

[Unicron]

I hope it gets renewed personally, as I thought the finale was good. There are several unresolved hooks that would become annoying cliffhangers if there's no S3. Not really sure how I feel about Tommy's character; in some ways I wish he gets brought back somehow, cause I don't think this season was particularly kind to him. A lot of wasted potential that was sort of constantly hinted at but never used.

Also, I want to see more of Dr. Yewll's epic snark.

 

[sojourner]

IDK, I think Berlin was more interesting than Tommy.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Take a shot every time Tommy says "I'm not a kid!"

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Actually most of those buildings looked like existing landmarks. We saw Freedom Tower and the Empire state (with a new antenna).

Oh is that what that big silver thing was, Freedom Tower.

So maybe it's a valley now because all around Manhatten and presumably other bits mountains were terraformed but miraculously Freedom Tower was spared. Wasn't that in the middle in Defiance NY as we saw it while the real FT is on the southern tip?

 

[Pingfah]

Excellent final two episodes. If only the rest of the show had been that sci-fi-y.

They concentrated so much on the daily grind of living in Defiance that it was easy to forget it was a sci-fi show sometimes, as opposed to a western with a bunch of fugly people.

 

[Beagleman]

Also, if it takes them 20 minutes, maybe an hour to destroy an island you can walk the width of in less than a day, it's going to take YEARS to voltanaform the planet.

Make that more like an hour of walking. Seems like something of a long term project.

BTW, mass executions, did I miss or forget something, when has E-Rep gone into full on Nazi-mode (well besides their oppressiveness and fashion sense)?

 

[Guy Gardener]

The soldiers wanted to run.

It would be irresponsible to leave those dirty criminals behind, free to rape and pillage.

And if they didn't escape, starving to death in their cells would have been awful.

Mercy killings.

If the terraformers were going to fuck up the planet, then a swift death was also a mercy killing.

It really didn't make a lot of sense.

 

[Star Wolf]

The soldiers wanted to run.

It would be irresponsible to leave those dirty criminals behind, free to rape and pillage.

And if they didn't escape, starving to death in their cells would have been awful.

Mercy killings.

If the terraformers were going to fuck up the planet, then a swift death was also a mercy killing.

It really didn't make a lot of sense.

So it was the opposite of the Gitmo guards on The Last Ship, maybe they saw the TV show?

 

[Greg Cox]

BTW, mass executions, did I miss or forget something, when has E-Rep gone into full on Nazi-mode (well besides their oppressiveness and fashion sense)?

It seemed pretty clear that the mass executions were not standard procedure or even authorized by higher authorities. That was one group of prison guards freaking out and going overboard when faced with the (apparent) end of the world.

The fact that they turned on and were about to execute a superior officer (Berlin) suggests that the guards were out of control and acting on their own.

 

[The Wormhole]

Excellent final two episodes. If only the rest of the show had been that sci-fi-y.

They concentrated so much on the daily grind of living in Defiance that it was easy to forget it was a sci-fi show sometimes, as opposed to a western with a bunch of fugly people.

I actually prefer when the show focuses on the "daily grind" of Defiance life than when they try to be sci-fi-y. The sci-fi storyline of the show is so dreary and done before that it's hardly compelling at all, an alien doomsday scenario spelling the end of humanity. And pulling the strings is an alien god who isn't actually a god. *yawn*

The character stuff isn't exactly very original either, but we have some interesting characters in the show played by talented actors who manage to carry those storylines into some very entertaining television.

That's what's made season 2 of Defiance such a mystery to me, I've never before seen a show get so many things right while simultaneously getting so many things wrong.

 

[Beagleman]

It seemed pretty clear that the mass executions were not standard procedure or even authorized by higher authorities. That was one group of prison guards freaking out and going overboard when faced with the (apparent) end of the world.

The fact that they turned on and were about to execute a superior officer (Berlin) suggests that the guards were out of control and acting on their own.

True, I just thought it was a bit on the nose given their uniforms (hell, Pottinger's sidearm of choice is a Luger) and overall dickishness. I would actually like the E-Rep to be just a bunch of bureaucratic assholes and not outright evil assholes, much more interesting that way.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Pretty good two-part finale.

The great actors on the show (Greene, Curran, Jaime Murray, etc.) gave some superb performances in the final two and, contrastly, made the weaker actors (I'm looking at you, Grant Bowler) appear amateurish when sharing a scene with them.

The show has really come into its own this season.

 

[Mister Fandango]

Yeah, I still don't know how Bowler got the lead role. He's easily the worst thing about the show, though that seems to be a growing trend. Royal Pains anybody?

 

[Aragorn]

Yeah, I still don't know how Bowler got the lead role. He's easily the worst thing about the show, though that seems to be a growing trend. Royal Pains anybody?

Mike on Graceland is a very dull lead, but I don't know if that's the writing or his limitations or both. Maybe he should start singing on the show.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Royal Pains' problems starts from the writing up.

It should be about Boris taking over the world with a James Bond super weapon.

It's a nice show for boring people.

Which isn't exactly an insult because boring people need dedicated programming too.



Bowler when he's acting with his own accent is fantastically grim & witty.

It's like we're looking at him through a keyhole on Defiance while he is pretending to be a yank.

The lead from Banshee played Grant's twin sons in Outrageous Fortune not long ago, who doesn't exactly have the same problem, but he's certainly still acting left handed.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

It seemed pretty clear that the mass executions were not standard procedure or even authorized by higher authorities. That was one group of prison guards freaking out and going overboard when faced with the (apparent) end of the world.

The fact that they turned on and were about to execute a superior officer (Berlin) suggests that the guards were out of control and acting on their own.

I think it may have started as revenge killing, after all it wasn't the humans bombing the planet.

Excellent final two episodes. If only the rest of the show had been that sci-fi-y.

They concentrated so much on the daily grind of living in Defiance that it was easy to forget it was a sci-fi show sometimes, as opposed to a western with a bunch of fugly people.

I actually prefer when the show focuses on the "daily grind" of Defiance life than when they try to be sci-fi-y. The sci-fi storyline of the show is so dreary and done before that it's hardly compelling at all, an alien doomsday scenario spelling the end of humanity. And pulling the strings is an alien god who isn't actually a god. *yawn*

Yep I was there for the daily grind, the alien/human tensions, the politics and varying characters that suddenly became very very good this season. Goddess ship in hole? meh.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Yeah, I still don't know how Bowler got the lead role. He's easily the worst thing about the show, though that seems to be a growing trend. Royal Pains anybody?

I liked him better this season, but the character needs an overhaul. Is he a rogue? Is he a lawkeeper really into the law? I think they were trying for a tension that just ended up making the character look badly written.

Also if I hear "MY DAUGHTER" one more time I'm gonna puke. It ends up sounding way too much like ownership to constantly emphasize "she is MINE" rather than referring to her by her name.