Will the real Kenya Rosewater please stand up?

“Painted From Memory” deals almost exclusively with Kenya’s return to Defiance, but what starts out as a joyous reunion quickly takes a darker turn as more and more questions pop up surrounding her sudden reappearance. Kenya has odd gaps in her memory, and what she does remember is ominous: A laboratory where she is the test subject.

Nolan attempts to find the truth, while Doc Yewll and the returned Mayor Pottinger are a bit less eager to solve the mystery. Stahma is a panic, desperate to keep her attempt to murder Kenya secret, and Amanda willfully ignores any signs that things aren’t fine, choosing only to enjoy her sister’s return.

But the Rosewaters aren’t the only ones having a family reunion. Quentin McCawley finally reappears in Defiance, a much changed man.

I’m a little unsure how to rate this episode. It feels like a bit of a tangent to the main story, and considering how Defiance generally splits its attention between many different arcs, it feels very strange to have virtually the entire episode focused on Kenya. It feels a little thin — a snack, not a meal.

It came close to a lot of big reveals — things that could radically change the relationships between the characters and the ongoing arc of the show. But it managed to avoid all of them. All secrets remain secret — to the characters, if not to the viewers. Feels a bit like wasted potential.

On the other hand, it was a fairly entertaining episode. The hour flew by in no time at all.

Stahma, and her desperation to keep Kenya’s murder a secret, was probably the highlight. She’s such an ice queen most of the time. It was quite fun to see all that flawless Castithan poise ripped away and her completely losing her shtako.

I’m also quite enjoying how her relationship with Datak has evolved now that they’re on more equal footing. I reckon if those two could ever overcome their differences and actually work together well, as equals, they could probably rule the world.

Although I’m not the biggest fan of Kenya’s character, I also quite liked how they showed off her relationship with Amanda. You could see their closeness, and their love for each other, as well as a certain friction and good-natured squabbling one would expect from siblings. I may not be an expert, being an only child myself, but to me, it seemed very authentic.

It occurs to me that, given the ending, Kenya is likely to show up in Defiance the game soon. Perhaps I’ll dust off my account to see what her missions are like, assuming I’m right. Let’s hope she doesn’t have too much of a negative association with Castithan women… (:P)

All in all, “Painted From Memory” was a well-executed and enjoyable episode, but I don’t expect it’s one that will prove very memorable in the long run — no pun intended. It doesn’t really mean enough to the long-term story, and it was too narrow in focus.

Overall rating: 7.4/10

Things seem to be getting rather intense on this show all of a sudden.

“Slouching Towards Bethlehem” has several big reveals, all tied in with a race against the clock to stop a devastating terrorist attack.

The Earth Republic learns the Votanis Collective plans to activate a dirty bomb in New York, potentially killing thousands of civilians. Their only potential source of information on the attack is an Irathient prostitute from the Need/Want, who doubles as a Collective spy. The race is on to get the information from him before the attack can take place.

But of course, it’s not that simple. Amanda receives a call informing her that — perhaps not surprisingly — Kenya is alive after all, and the Collective is holding her hostage in an attempt to coerce Amanda into releasing the Irathient spy before he breaks.

The spy’s capture also has dire ramifications for Datak Tarr, who had been meeting with him in order to smuggle weapons from the Votanis Collective in the hopes of overthrowing the E-Rep.

At Nolan’s direction, Irisa ventures into the wilderness to search for Kenya and her captors, but she is once again overtaken by visions. They drive her deeper into the wilds, and closer to her mysterious destiny.

I never really formed a strong opinion of Kenya, so just as her “death” provoked no strong reaction from me, neither does her return. I guess it will make Stahma squirm? That could be interesting.

There’s a lot more to “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” than Kenya’s return, though.

This represents the most aggressive action — really the only significant action — we have seen from the Votanis Collective to date. We knew the Collective and the Earth Republic weren’t exactly chums, and I always suspected the Collective wasn’t any more pleasant than the Republic, but planning to nuke New York… that’s ballsy, to put it mildly.

This could constitute an act of war. Even if it doesn’t lead to immediate aggression between the two sides, it certainly makes clear the Collective’s intentions going forward. They have clearly shown that the world is not big enough for both humans and Votans — at least in their opinion.

Frankly, it doesn’t seem entirely wise of the Collective. By making the first move, they invite attack by the Earth Republic. They potentially give the E-Rep an excuse to exercise their full military might against them, and it gives the E-Rep cause a lot more legitimacy.

I almost wonder if this was the action of the Collective leadership, or some rogue element within their ranks. It would hardly be the first time something like that has happened.

Speaking of which, it did strike me during the episode that Kenya’s captor sounded an awful lot like Nim Shondu.

Of course, it’s probably not him. For a lot of good reasons, not the least of which being the fact that he did die a while ago.

Then again, this would hardly be the first time Nim turned out to be less dead than was widely believed, and setting off a dirty bomb in the middle of a crowded human city is exactly the sort of plan he would concoct.

I am most likely barking up the wrong tree. But it’s an intriguing thought, and imagining the possibilities is the fun of tinfoil hat theories. In the end, it hardly matters if you’re right or not.

All musings on the identity of Kenya’s captor aside, though, I think Irisa’s story might just have been the most interesting part of the episode. Whatever plan “Irzu” has for her seems to be coming to fruition.

And finally we have gotten a hint as to what the true purpose behind her actions is. It may only be one word, but it’s a word with some pretty powerful implications.

Something big is coming. This much is clear.

It’s also interesting to note that it seems as though none of Irisa’s victims have been human. I’ve seen Irathients, Castithans, Indogenes, Liberata, and I think I even saw a Sensoth, but no humans.

Hmm…

Taken all in all, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” does a great job of advancing several plots at once without feeling scattered, and I don’t think I can muster any complaints.

Overall rating: 8.1/10