TV Talk: Defiance — That’s a wrap! Spoiler free thoughts.

Defiance! One of the two shows this season that won me over after having me adamantly disliking them based on their pilot episodes. The other was Elementary, but more on that another day.

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, Defiance is something of a new breed of TV show. It’s paired with an Massively Multiplayer online game of the same name and, supposedly, events that take place within the game world and the players there have some effect on the television show. It seems like a risky proposition, as if either show or game tanks, you’d think it might very well take the other with it. But the show has been renewed for a second season, so something must be working. Anyway, on to the thoughts on season one and the show in general. What follows is a SPOILER FREE review!

Sci-fi television shows seem to have a certain barrier to entry, for me at least. Confession time: the first time I saw the Firefly, the pilot episode had me ready for a nap. Same with Battlestar Galactica (pilot meaning the mini-series, not 33, which was a fantastic episode.) I was able to appreciate both of these outings later, but at the time it was only the positive buzz that had me push play on the next episode. Defiance was the same way. The start was a little slow, it was hard to get into, and to be honest some of the alien races looked more than a little goofy.

Maybe it’s just that I’ve always been more of a fantasy guy than a sci-fi guy, at least when it comes to novels. But I still appreciate the cinematic take on sci-fi, and I’ve learned not to trust pilot episodes by now.

Anyway, the first season is over now and my opinion has changed pretty drastically since the first episode.

Sure, some of the races still look goofy. I still laugh every time the giant monkey-like things are on screen, to say nothing of the weird machine men. Some of the characters are a little… flaky. Irisa, the lawkeeper’s adopted daughter, for one, who goes for the badass warrior vibe but fails to connect in a few key elements (such as: her lack of apparent empathy for father-figure Nolan for most of the season. The moments where she appears to care for him are few and far between and her aggression towards him can make it hard to sympathize with her.)

But those are really minor quibbles when you consider the scope of the show and the types of stories they’re trying to tell. Because Defiance is doing it “right” — in so far as genres have a right way to do things. From my own particular viewpoint, anyway. I’ve always seen speculative fiction as such: a lens that allows creators to tell intricate stories that, by using an alternate setting (Magic! Spaceships!) allow us the distance to get a closer look at ourselves and our own situations.

Sci-Fi and fantasy give us the distance to step back and look at our own situation from a comfortable distance. It’s like being able to have hindsight without all that pesky waiting. And Defiance takes advantage of it by telling timely stories about political struggles, racism, sexism, and war. I thought the show bit off more than it could chew in the pilot episode, setting up this sprawling, weird town with so many alien creatures, but the thing I thought was going to be its fault ended up being its strength, and I’m super happy about that.

It’s not perfect, but it’s compelling and the risks it’s taking to tell it’s story are paying off.