Review: “Brothers in Arms”

This is another good, not stellar, Defiance episode. It started slow, but the climax had a good twist and a surprising punch of emotion. This show is getting better, albeit very slowly.

“Brothers in Arms” features an old army buddy of Nolan’s, now a bounty hunter, traveling to Defiance in pursuit of an infamous Castithan war criminal. But of course, all is not as it seems, and the situation turns out to be far more complicated and dangerous than Nolan ever expected.

Meanwhile, Quentin McCawley continues to search for answers in the mystery of his brother’s murder, placing his own life in danger in the process.

There were also some fairly weak subplots with the sisters Rosewater I really couldn’t bring myself to care about.

This episode, as is so often the case in Defiance, is carried by the strength of the core cast members. Even with a decent twist near the end, it’s a pretty weak story, but Nolan being awesome makes it worthwhile.

I think I’ve figured out why I like Nolan so much: He’s basically Jim Raynor. They’re both down to earth, good-hearted space cowboys who just want to do right by those they love. Simple men in difficult times just doing the best they can.

Datak Tarr also had yet another moment of being hilariously badass.

I wasn’t feeling Quentin’s plot so much. I like the mystery they’re developing, but this installment wasn’t well-handled. Quentin transitioned too quickly from the meek middle child of the McCawley clan to someone who will ruthlessly protect his secrets at absolutely any cost.

Also, Battlestar Galactica has given me a knee-jerk negative reaction any time someone starts talking to people only they can see. Please not another “head person” storyline…

The hints of a brewing war were interesting, and I like that every episode seems to be offer a hint of some bigger future threat, but I am starting to worry they’re spreading themselves too thin. Between Defiance’s rivalry with the Earth Republic, the brewing war between the Republic and the Votanis Collective, Irisa’s mysterious destiny, and whatever the hell the McCawley’s are mixed up in, the plot is getting crowded.

There’s two ways this can go. One is that it several of these plots come together, creating a truly epic and exciting story. The other is that it devolves into a jumbled mess where none of the plots get the attention they’re due and nothing quite works.

We’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out.

Overall rating: 7.2/10

New article:

My latest article for WhatMMO is 6 Crazy Ideas to Bring Back WoW Subscribers. Blizzard might not be getting desperate yet, but they’re definitely going to have to do something dramatic if they’re to have any hope of halting the subscriber bleeding.

I tried to not make this article a mere wishlist of features I want to see added. I was… not entirely successful.