Recently the Syfy network concluded a massive marketing campaign with the simultaneous release of their new series, Defiance and the companion multi-platform game. If you look at the show from a pure story/plot perspective, Defiance isn’t very good. However, modern television and movies are not about the purity of the tale, or else The Big Lebowski would be the best film of the last few decades. No, Defiance makes its fans the way everyone else does, through the smoke and mirrors of CG, a modicum of powerful acting, and a relationship that demands the viewer’s attention.
Defiance looks good. This is not the Saturday afternoon computer graphics of Earthquake! or any number of other made for Syfy films. The digital effects are precise and largely believable, belying a budget dedicated to such things. This should come as no surprise from the network that dedicated an hour-long series to creature effects. Less inventive is the lore behind the effects. Defiance tells the tale of a future Earth that is invaded by a multitude of races in what appears to be a Noah’s ark-esque tale. Through yet undivulged means, the humans fought back as one (or more) of these races was in the process of terraforming the planet. The space ships crashed to the planet and the races are now forced to live in harmony. This all took place in the time it took for a pre-teen to grow into middle age. This thin plot device leaves the audience flat and largely uninspired. Still, when you look at the individual races, the cool factor keeps you glued to the screen.
Thus far the best acting and best relationships stem from a small cadre of actors central to the storyline. There is a madame, vaguely reminiscent of the ‘companion’ role from firefly, a bounty hunter/tracker/ex-soldier turned Sheriff, also vaguely reminiscent of the lead from firefly. Finally, there is his adopted daughter, a girl from a violent and outcast race—a girl who suffered as a child and was rescued by this soldier made sheriff. Therein lies the story. The rest of the plot feels silly and put on, but the one genuine thing about this series is the emerging father-daughter relationship, and the struggle these two have to survive in this crazy, mixed up world.
Watch Defiance. Enjoy the CG. Stay for the father-daughter conflict. Don’t expect the story to last terribly long, because there isn’t much of a story being told. However, watching this relationship play out just might be worth the time.