Amanda’s adreno addiction has been stewing for awhile now, and I’m glad they didn’t go with the cliche of having her push everyone away or self-destruct. Instead, the audience was led to believe the drug was causing her hallucinations, obscuring its true purpose, which was to provide Pottinger with the means to mine Amanda’s memories: a fabulously underhanded twist! Presumably, the E-Rep is still tasked with finding out about the Votan ship hidden in the gulanite mines, and Pottinger is gathering intel in any way he can. And he’s not the only one being visited by past traumas. Yewll was also infected with whatever corrupt nano-tech was causing Amanda to hallucinate the rapist from her past and imagine Nolan as her abuser. Yewll (or Meh, her given name) remembers a long-dead lover named Lev but is able to avoid the psychological impact visited upon the other two because, you know, programmed Indogene brain – duh! Calling Doc Yewll by her first name and giving her a guilt-ridden past somewhat softens her continuing betrayal of the people she’s supposedly administering to as “penance.” That’s one complex lady! The Tarr family drama continues to unfold alongside the main plot this week as Datak gains the right of visitation by enacting a mystifying (to humans anyway) blood ritual. Defiance hasn’t gone a week without a Castithan bath scene, but including the recently evicted Rafe McCawley in the mix was extremely entertaining. The idea of Datak and Rafe working together by necessity and joining forces with the Votan Collective to overthrow the E-Rep occupation of Defiance is cause for cautious optimism. It remains to be seen, however, how Christie will work through her differences with her in-laws by “playing” with Alak’s seductive, record-spinning “employee.” If you had told me last season that I would be looking forward this much to the next episode of Defiance each week, I wouldn’t have believed you. As the show nears the halfway point of its summer run, it’s exciting to see where things are headed. Share your thoughts on the new direction this season in the comments area below! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
