Family matters
Another shows that finished on last Friday was Defiance.
The thing I always liked most about Defiance is the moral ambiguity of it's protagonists. Nolan is called butcher of Yosemite and in other shows it would turn out he didn't do it but not here. He did it an doesn't even feel too bad about it. It was a war and they were fighting against an alien invasion so he did what was necessary to win. Doctor Ywell is heavily implied to be a war criminal (doctor Mengele kind) and although some of it might've been under duress and she does try to make up for it by helping others (including humans) she will also make sure no one finds out and make her pay for what she has done. The Tarrs ar criminals who murdered multiple people but also ready to sacrifice everything for their family. And MacCauleys are only a little better (even though they are more honest but also much worse at survival). Even Amanda has a drug abuse in the past and tendency to turn blind eye to mistakes of friends and be prejudiced against those who she doesn't like.
These are not perfect people. They make mistakes and lie and fail. And they don't live in a perfect world were narrative always keeps them right. Sometimes their good intentions just make things worse, sometimes bad decision lead to good results and sometimes you have to cooperate with your enemies so you can all survive.
The other thing I also loved about this show that it always has been about family and that familiar love has always been more important then romantic one (that's very, very rare). There haven't bee a real romance on the show. The closest thing was Tarrs and they fight almost as much with each other than for each other. There is Alak and Christie but the show concentrated more on the politics of their parents than their romance. And Nolan and Amanda are mostly two people who really respect each other and sometimes sleep together. Even the thing with Tommy was more about the missed chances that any One True LoveTM.
This season was even more focused on families then previous ones - the Tarrs, Omecs and of course Nolan and Irisa - a lot of parent - child issues.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
The Tarrs proving once again they'll do anything for family. No matter how awful, no matter what it does to them and they never give up. And somehow they always come on top. I was with Alak this whole way - even though unlike him we see why Stahma kills Christie and that Christie agreed to it. Even though we know all the terrorist attacks they did were to keep him safe. They always put survival of their own above everything else and it kept them alive - got them on the ships and let them survive in this new world - but their son grew up on Earth and absorbed it's values and for him the price is just too high. An he is right Stahma can't stop manipulating even when there is genuine feeling and good intent underneath. It saved her many times but it came to bit her in the ass this time around - both with Amanda and her son. If you always manipulate people you shouldn't be surprised they don't trust you. Datak is more straight forward he uses anger and violence for the same purpose. He can use it to save everyone - killing Rahm Tak and saving Defiance, escaping Omec feeding ground and saving his family from Kendzi - but he can as well turn it against his own. How can you trust a man like that? And somehow, especially when they work together, they always end on top.
Everyone loves the Tarrs but for me the best is the relationship between Nolan and Irisa. They often fight and he often doesn't understand he and her need but when push comes to shove he always picks her side and she always tries to save him. She sold her soul to the evil AI to save his life. And when she was killing people under the control of that evil AI and everyone was set to kill her he was trying to save her. Even after she killed Tommy. Even after she destroyed New York. She could not deal with the guilt of that but to him it was not her fault. Not the slightest bit. He would defend her from everyone who said differently even herself. And take her place on that ship. He might've not understood why she felt guilty and why she couldn't allow them to commit genocide. Not even on the Omec (even though most of them would kill and eat her with out second thought). But he sacrificed himself for this cause instead of her. Even though he did this a always like a jerk - by tricking her, sending her home to live her life and taking her place to finish up her plan. He may not understand why she can't allow them to die - and after Tommy and New York she just can't abide genocide - but he will find a way to make it happen.
I always wondered how Nolan changed from butcher of Yosemite to a man with alien daughter and we finally saw it wasn't an easy process. He didn't instantly became changed man after he saved her and she didn't love him just because he saved her. It took time and wasn't pretty (I was Tak was exactly the man Nolan used to be but Nolan changed for Irisa. Tak sacrificed his family for the hate but Nolan let go of the hate for his family. And he kept doing it again and again to the very end.
And then there are the Omecs. T'evgin and Kendzi are a distorted mirror version of Nolan and Irisa. T'evgin shows the same love and protectiveness. He does everything to protect her and save her even from herself. She shows the same fierceness as Irisa - the need for independence and resourcefulness. But in their relationship everything goes wrong (and I'm not even talking about the incest as that's apparently just something Omec do). T'evgin underestimates Kindzi and she cares more about her needs than long term survival. In the end her tendency to follow her impulses is what dooms her and her race. That and the conviction about her superiority that didn't allow her to see how week they truly were. If it wasn't for Irisa all the Omec would perish.
Amanda saving doctor Ywell from the mind control (after she used her to save Kenzi at the very first episode this was at least some atonement). It was a chilling reminder that Indogenes were engineered organisms and even scarier was learning how they were used by their makers. And this was the last straw. She knew she wasn't coming back from Omec ship but at least she could atone for what she did. All of it. And save everyone. In the end even the Omec.
Few more awesome things:
Amanda and Berlin's friendship.
Amanda killing Pottinger - I long suspected he was the rapist. Good for her.
Amanda saving everyone with a hole in her stomach just after they called her spoiled meat.
Irisa taking over as lawkeeper.
Joshua Nolan - the first human to travel to stars. He really seemed to like that. (I love the design of Omec starship BTW.)
If the series won't get renewed I can live with it ending like that.
The thing I always liked most about Defiance is the moral ambiguity of it's protagonists. Nolan is called butcher of Yosemite and in other shows it would turn out he didn't do it but not here. He did it an doesn't even feel too bad about it. It was a war and they were fighting against an alien invasion so he did what was necessary to win. Doctor Ywell is heavily implied to be a war criminal (doctor Mengele kind) and although some of it might've been under duress and she does try to make up for it by helping others (including humans) she will also make sure no one finds out and make her pay for what she has done. The Tarrs ar criminals who murdered multiple people but also ready to sacrifice everything for their family. And MacCauleys are only a little better (even though they are more honest but also much worse at survival). Even Amanda has a drug abuse in the past and tendency to turn blind eye to mistakes of friends and be prejudiced against those who she doesn't like.
These are not perfect people. They make mistakes and lie and fail. And they don't live in a perfect world were narrative always keeps them right. Sometimes their good intentions just make things worse, sometimes bad decision lead to good results and sometimes you have to cooperate with your enemies so you can all survive.
The other thing I also loved about this show that it always has been about family and that familiar love has always been more important then romantic one (that's very, very rare). There haven't bee a real romance on the show. The closest thing was Tarrs and they fight almost as much with each other than for each other. There is Alak and Christie but the show concentrated more on the politics of their parents than their romance. And Nolan and Amanda are mostly two people who really respect each other and sometimes sleep together. Even the thing with Tommy was more about the missed chances that any One True LoveTM.
This season was even more focused on families then previous ones - the Tarrs, Omecs and of course Nolan and Irisa - a lot of parent - child issues.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
The Tarrs proving once again they'll do anything for family. No matter how awful, no matter what it does to them and they never give up. And somehow they always come on top. I was with Alak this whole way - even though unlike him we see why Stahma kills Christie and that Christie agreed to it. Even though we know all the terrorist attacks they did were to keep him safe. They always put survival of their own above everything else and it kept them alive - got them on the ships and let them survive in this new world - but their son grew up on Earth and absorbed it's values and for him the price is just too high. An he is right Stahma can't stop manipulating even when there is genuine feeling and good intent underneath. It saved her many times but it came to bit her in the ass this time around - both with Amanda and her son. If you always manipulate people you shouldn't be surprised they don't trust you. Datak is more straight forward he uses anger and violence for the same purpose. He can use it to save everyone - killing Rahm Tak and saving Defiance, escaping Omec feeding ground and saving his family from Kendzi - but he can as well turn it against his own. How can you trust a man like that? And somehow, especially when they work together, they always end on top.
Everyone loves the Tarrs but for me the best is the relationship between Nolan and Irisa. They often fight and he often doesn't understand he and her need but when push comes to shove he always picks her side and she always tries to save him. She sold her soul to the evil AI to save his life. And when she was killing people under the control of that evil AI and everyone was set to kill her he was trying to save her. Even after she killed Tommy. Even after she destroyed New York. She could not deal with the guilt of that but to him it was not her fault. Not the slightest bit. He would defend her from everyone who said differently even herself. And take her place on that ship. He might've not understood why she felt guilty and why she couldn't allow them to commit genocide. Not even on the Omec (even though most of them would kill and eat her with out second thought). But he sacrificed himself for this cause instead of her. Even though he did this a always like a jerk - by tricking her, sending her home to live her life and taking her place to finish up her plan. He may not understand why she can't allow them to die - and after Tommy and New York she just can't abide genocide - but he will find a way to make it happen.
I always wondered how Nolan changed from butcher of Yosemite to a man with alien daughter and we finally saw it wasn't an easy process. He didn't instantly became changed man after he saved her and she didn't love him just because he saved her. It took time and wasn't pretty (I was Tak was exactly the man Nolan used to be but Nolan changed for Irisa. Tak sacrificed his family for the hate but Nolan let go of the hate for his family. And he kept doing it again and again to the very end.
And then there are the Omecs. T'evgin and Kendzi are a distorted mirror version of Nolan and Irisa. T'evgin shows the same love and protectiveness. He does everything to protect her and save her even from herself. She shows the same fierceness as Irisa - the need for independence and resourcefulness. But in their relationship everything goes wrong (and I'm not even talking about the incest as that's apparently just something Omec do). T'evgin underestimates Kindzi and she cares more about her needs than long term survival. In the end her tendency to follow her impulses is what dooms her and her race. That and the conviction about her superiority that didn't allow her to see how week they truly were. If it wasn't for Irisa all the Omec would perish.
Amanda saving doctor Ywell from the mind control (after she used her to save Kenzi at the very first episode this was at least some atonement). It was a chilling reminder that Indogenes were engineered organisms and even scarier was learning how they were used by their makers. And this was the last straw. She knew she wasn't coming back from Omec ship but at least she could atone for what she did. All of it. And save everyone. In the end even the Omec.
Few more awesome things:
Amanda and Berlin's friendship.
Amanda killing Pottinger - I long suspected he was the rapist. Good for her.
Amanda saving everyone with a hole in her stomach just after they called her spoiled meat.
Irisa taking over as lawkeeper.
Joshua Nolan - the first human to travel to stars. He really seemed to like that. (I love the design of Omec starship BTW.)
If the series won't get renewed I can live with it ending like that.