2.12 All Things Must Pass & 2.13 I Almost Prayed I’ve had issues with Tommy’s character all season, and here it all came to a head. Because a large amount of All Things Must Pass was occupied with making him seem a more sympathetic character, back-filing unseen events only then to let him die seemed like a waste. It felt like that three week homework project that a child gets up thirty minutes early to complete on the day they’re meant to hand it in, and left this reviewer wondering why they bothered. Not that I didn’t like the shots of Tommy being dragged past important people from his past, which was very Fargo-like at times in the snow, but like Nolan’s best efforts it was all for nothing. In many ways the dead-end that the writers eventually drove Niles into was representative of a bigger one to which they sent the whole Earth Republic threat. In the opening episodes they presented them as the archetypal totalitarian regime and the danger this revealed was layered on thickly. However, by the final episodes it was like it wasn’t even an inconvenience for most living in Defiance, or even a topic of conversation. Niles was declawed in the same process, going from major protagonist to love-sick idiot without passing Go or collecting $200. But thankfully it wasn’t all dire soap-opera moments. They’ve been strong all season, and Jaime Murray and Tony Curran delivered once more as the wonderfully convoluted Tarrs. They got some of the best dialogue chained up, and their possible cessation of hostilities makes them a powerful force. If these two were written out of the future narrative, then without them, Defiance might not be watchable. However, as good as they are, I must mention the horrible continuity problem of how they escaped from being chained up, something that just wasn’t explained. It’s these things that Defiance does well, and the epic science fiction story arc that it fails to deliver convincingly. While I loved the visual symbolism of the rocks circling Irisa being activated spacecraft in orbit, it was hard to care about New York, as none of the main characters lived there. It needed a make-over, I say. Where All Things Must Pass had diversions and weaknesses, I Almost Prayed was a struggle from the outset, and became increasingly rocky the further along this road it went. Part of the problem it created was that very early in the narrative the resolution was outlined (or more than one), and it was merely a matter of getting to that destination. The best parts of this episode were undoubtedly those scenes with Doc Yewll, who was my favourite character in season two. She’s dry and funny, and even when she’s talking to herself her character never seems forced or contrived. Her arrival back in town sets in motion the solution to the terraforming catastrophe that is about to befall Earth, even if the writers want to divert us with Berlin and Pilar subplots. If Berlin thought so much of Tommy, why did she sleep with Nolan? I had no sympathy, and what initially seemed like a really interesting character ended up drunk in the bar. She should run the Need Want, and turn it into a pastiche of the club in Cabaret, for good measure. Wunderbar! The season end didn’t exactly offer resolution, but new story threads that, depending on the intentions of Syfy, could end up being explored or not. Nolan and Irisa, along with a bunch of other minor characters are entombed deep underground. Pilar abducted Christie and Alak for no obvious good reason, and the Tarrs finally combined with Rafe to pursue them. This is all set-up for future stories, should we ever see them. And, Niles eventually gets Amanda into bed, as a demonstration that life is all about perseverance, if nothing else. It wasn’t a very satisfying end, and felt distinctly like a cake baked from ingredients that normally wouldn’t be combined by anyone with the most modest cooking skills. If it does come back I’d prefer that they concentrated on what works, and avoid the big science fiction themes, which generally haven’t. There’s a great show still bubbling away under the surface here, if only it can eventually break surface. Read Billy’s review of the previous double-bill, here.
