Defiance, “My Name Is Datak Tarr and I Have Come to Kill You”:

That’s easily the best episode title of the series to date, and really the only reason I’m not declaring it the best episode title in TV history is because Trailer Park Boys exist.

And for the most part, this episode does live up to the awesomeness of its title.

“My Name Is Datak Tarr and I Have Come to Kill You” sees the people of Defiance at their lowest end, and this season continuing make bleakness and tragedy the order of the day.

Rahm Tak’s men have succeeded in infiltrating Defiance, and they proceed to go on an indiscriminate killing spree. But as terrible as this is, it is but a cover to insert Rahm’s Indogene shapetaker, who plans to cripple Defiance’s defenses from the inside.

This is another moment where I was beginning to feel this season was laying the tragedy on a bit thick, but then things take a very interesting turn as Doc Yewll concocts a last ditch effort plan to save the town.

It’s a suicide mission, but Defiance just so happens to have someone whose life is already forfeit, and who is desperate to redeem themselves.

Datak Tarr.

What follows is the greatest proof yet that Datak is the wiliest, toughest, and craziest son of a bitch you will ever see.

I don’t want to spoil the ending of this episode, but it will blow your mind, and it may just be Defiance’s greatest moment to date.

Something else I enjoyed about this arc is that it gives us our first glimpses (via flashbacks) of the Votanis System, which are spectacular if all too brief.

Even Yuke homes seem surprisingly opulent. I may have to slightly adjust my head canon for my character in the game, who is Yuke.

The one damper on this episode is the continued story surrounding Stahma and the Omec. It’s not even bad, really; it just doesn’t match up the rest of the episode, and the Omec still feel a little random and out of place.

The commander’s change of heart seems out of tune with what’s been established about the Omec so far, and I’m not thrilled by the implication that the Omec will be the focus of the rest of the season.

Still. That ending, though.

Overall rating: 8.7/10

Dark Matter, Episode Seven:

As I predicted, Five has realized she knows the code to access the Raza‘s vault. In addition to a wealth of guns and money, they find two individuals in cold storage.

The first is a terminally ill woman who is part of Three’s past, and the second is another android, an entertainment model with an actual name: Wendy.

So the episode is split between arcs following both of these new characters, and unfortunately, both fail to impress.

This episode serves as the “he’s really not so bad” arc for Three, but in his case, it just doesn’t ring true, despite a strong performance from the actor. The tender, caring man seen in this episode bears no resemblance to the ruthless bastard Three has been throughout the entire series to date.

It’s not even that I don’t believe he could care about someone, but the image of him as a selfless romantic just doesn’t fit.

Meanwhile, Wendy’s arc was mostly a giant monument to every fembot cliche ever. It’s a bit disappointing from a show that has for the most treated its women quite respectfully up until now, and perhaps more importantly, it’s just not that interesting.

Sally’s jealousy of the new android was kind of weird, too. I did like her scene with Five, but I also feel like this was perhaps a missed opportunity to flesh out Sally some more or make her a more meaningful member of the crew, as opposed to simply a source of comedy relief and technobabble. I was kind of expecting her to cannibalize some parts of Wendy’s programming to make her better able to interact with the crew.

Maybe that will come later? Anything’s possible, I guess.

The other major issue with episode seven is that it’s pretty much just filler. Neither new character is likely to play a role going forward, and the main plot has not been advanced in any major way.

Oh, and One and Two’s kind of sort of maybe romance continues. Not fun.

Overall rating: 5.8/10 Probably the weakest episode of the series to date.

Defiance, “The Beauty of Our Weapons”:

Here’s a good, classic example of Defiance at its best: A simple story of flawed characters doing their best, ripe with strong emotion and excellent performances from the show’s cast.

A scion of the Von Bach family, Conrad, has arrived in Defiance. He supplied weapons to Rahm Tak, but VBI does’t take sides, so it’s not surprising he’d also supply wares to Defiance.

What is surprising is that he’s doing so free of charge. He’s an old flame of Berlin’s, and he’s eager to win her back. Somewhat surprisingly, she seems receptive to the idea, putting her on a collision course with Amanda.

I really liked Amanda’s performance in this episode, and I thoroughly agree with her assessment of Berlin’s character.

I also have a strong suspicion Conrad is planning a double cross at some point. They didn’t mention that voice control on the weapons for nothing. And my personal experience with the Von Bachs is that they’re a slimey bunch.

Amanda isn’t the only one having a bad day, though, as there are rough times all around.

The fire in Datak Tarr has finally burnt out. Sentenced to death, he has no more schemes, no more insults, no more bravado. He has made peace with his fate, and he has only one last request: to die on the shaming wrack in the hopes of redeeming himself in Rayetso’s eyes.

This was probably the standout plot of an excellent episode. Tony Curran once again puts on a stellar performance, and Alak’s words at the end have got to be one of the most emotional moments in Defiance to date.

I very highly doubt they’re really going to kill off Datak, but I will admit I have no idea how he’s going to get out of this. But either way we got some excellent story-telling out of it.

Meanwhile, Stahma is little better off than her husband, having gone out of the frying pan and into the fire by seeking the aid of the Omec.

And finally, Nolan is put in an impossible position when his recruits for defending Defiance insist that Irisa join them, despite her issues. The end result is Nolan at his very best.

I’ve always said the greatest strength of Defiance is its characters, and “The Beauty of Our Weapons” is a great illustration of that. Nearly the entire cast puts on stellar performances, and their strength and humanity is a brilliant contrast to the brutality of Rahm Tak.

Berlin and Stahma’s plots are the weak points of the episode, but even those aren’t bad. They just don’t stand up to the awesomeness of the other plots.

Random fun fact: Most of the weapons seen in this episode are taken directly from the game version of Defiance. Though I don’t use any of them myself — I prefer the VOT models myself, if only for the sake of patriotism.

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Dark Matter, Episode Six:

It’s info-dump time!

With the aid of the android I have unilaterally decided is named Sally and a whole lot of hand-wavey technobabble, Five develops a means to dive into her own subconscious and uncover the lost memories of the Raza crew.

It’s dangerous, though. Five risks overloading her nervous system, or becoming lost in memories forever.

This is our first big glimpse into the crew’s lives before they lost their memories. It’s a very incomplete picture, with some characters’ memories not being explored at all, but the overall message seems to be that the crew wasn’t that bad after all.

Except Three. He really is that awful.

We now finally have an identity for Five, and to be honest, I’m a little disappointed. After all her weirdness, I was thinking Five would turn out to be the product of some freaky genetic engineering, or a prodigy, or a mastermind of some sort. The revelation that she’s really quite ordinary is a bit underwhelming.

For all that this is the most Five-heavy episode to date, I think the real hero of episode six is, uh, Six. Won’t spoil the reasons why, but he definitely comes out of this episode looking the best of the Raza gang.

It further cements what I’ve felt for a while: While One is eager to paint himself the white knight at every opportunity, Six is actually the most trustworthy and honourable member of the crew. He just doesn’t need to boast about it.

Something else interesting to come out of this is that Five may have learned how to access the vault without realizing it. How long before something jogs her memory?

Also, I’d like to point out that Two was strongly opposed to Five’s journey into their memories, and Five didn’t uncover any of her memories. I don’t know; still seems suspicious.

I’m a little on the fence with this episode. This kind of insight is something I’ve wanted for a while, but… There are still lots of unanswered questions. Really all of the memories Five unearthed only flesh out character backstories. We still have no answers to the mysteries of the crew’s current state. Which in and of itself might be significant.

At least we finally know who Five is/was, I guess.

Overall rating: 7/10