Defiance
So, I gotta know:
Did anyone else watch Defiance last week?
I ended up watching the pilot on Hulu and so far the jury's out - I don't dislike it enough to stop watching (yet), but I don't know that I really enjoyed it, either. I think it has a few really solid ideas happening, but I also think that it has the potential to get bloated and overwrought quickly, and that worries me.
I mean, we got something like...three plots set up this episode? Four? Maybe even more...There was the initial Nolan/Irisa plot (which included the Deus Ex Machina device), the Romeo and Juliet plot, the related Machinations to Take Over Defiance plot, the Murder/Mystery plot which then gave way to the OH GOD THE VULGE ARE ATTACKING WHAT DO plot which then gave way itself to the Something Is In That Mine and I Want It (Hi, I'm Your Evil Former Mayor!) plot/reveal.
While, to be fair, a lot of these plotlines are really tightly interrelated - the mines are obviously a central Thing here, since the Romeo and Juliet/Machinations to Take Over Defiance plot are tied to the mines, just like the Murder-Mystery/Vulge/Evil Former Mayor plots are, that's still a lot of stuff to drag out in a single hour and a half time frame, and unless the show really starts slowing down and giving each plot its due...well, I'm not optimistic either way. Not that all of these plots can't work/aren't interesting, I just wouldn't have pulled out all of them in the pilot. Romeo and Juliet/Machinations to Take Over Defiance could have been pushed to later episodes, to give Romeo and Juliet some time to grow on the audience and to raise the stakes as well.
There's also a slew of characters through here. Not as many as plots, but good god.
Irisa is interesting; Nolan is okay but frustratingly predictable. Amanda has potential under the surface but didn't strike me as being too incredibly deep at first blush, and I have an inkling feeling that she exists in part to be Love Interest (or Love Interest Number 2, depending on how the writers roll with Nolan's relationship with Kenya.)
I also liked Kenya, but to talk about her I have to go into a whole rant about my feelings vis a vis prostitution in science fiction (and while I get that they miiiight be going for a sex-positive vibe [which is good, don't get me wrong], the fact remains that a bunch of dudes are writing and directing this show, and that makes me uncomfortable. Sex work isn't wrong. But it can be portrayed wrong, and I worry that's what's going to happen here, especially since the only major vibe I've gotten off the NeedWant so far is that it exists for sex's sake, and won't have much [if any] bearing on the plot.)
I also didn't much care for any of the townspeople, tbh, alien or otherwise. (Hell, I was ready to kick the show off my playlist the second the stupid Romeo and Juliet plot started playing out, because I HAVE NO REASON TO CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR FORBIDDEN LOVE YET ALSO YOU ARE BOTH PROBABLY IN HIGH SCHOOL. While High School romances CAN and DO sometimes work out, I've got no reason to believe these two will). Datak bored the shit out of me, though his wife has potential to be a game-changer and SHE was interesting. (Maybe she should team up with the mayor! MAYBE SHE AND THE FORMER MAYOR HAVE ALREADY BEEN FIGHTING OVER THE THING IN THE MINE, because THAT would make this show interesting. LADIES ONLY POWER PLAYS FUCK YEAH)
I like Sheriff's deputy, Tommy, though, and I will continue to watch this show till it ends if he and Irisa continue to have moments together. IDGAF if they're a couple or not, they had a dynamic and a chemistry I would stick around to see play out. I am not optimistic, though, as the overarching story seems to be about Lovable Scoundrel Nolan and his Issues, with Irisa playing some part when it's convenient for the plot.
...Which makes me sad, because I was really hoping for a super awesome father/adopted daughter dynamic with them and haven't quite gotten it in the way I was expecting.
I also feel like maybe there are too many aliens here in this town. One or two different species - yeah, I can see that. Eight? Unless there was some massive coalition thing happening beyond our borders and all eight species thought it'd be awesome to camp out on "unoccupied" earth, it's getting too big too fast. Maybe that's part of the plot. Maybe it's getting explained in the companion game. IDK. I just know that it's a lot to process.
This entry was originally posted at dreamwidth.org. You can comment on either site.
Did anyone else watch Defiance last week?
I ended up watching the pilot on Hulu and so far the jury's out - I don't dislike it enough to stop watching (yet), but I don't know that I really enjoyed it, either. I think it has a few really solid ideas happening, but I also think that it has the potential to get bloated and overwrought quickly, and that worries me.
I mean, we got something like...three plots set up this episode? Four? Maybe even more...There was the initial Nolan/Irisa plot (which included the Deus Ex Machina device), the Romeo and Juliet plot, the related Machinations to Take Over Defiance plot, the Murder/Mystery plot which then gave way to the OH GOD THE VULGE ARE ATTACKING WHAT DO plot which then gave way itself to the Something Is In That Mine and I Want It (Hi, I'm Your Evil Former Mayor!) plot/reveal.
While, to be fair, a lot of these plotlines are really tightly interrelated - the mines are obviously a central Thing here, since the Romeo and Juliet/Machinations to Take Over Defiance plot are tied to the mines, just like the Murder-Mystery/Vulge/Evil Former Mayor plots are, that's still a lot of stuff to drag out in a single hour and a half time frame, and unless the show really starts slowing down and giving each plot its due...well, I'm not optimistic either way. Not that all of these plots can't work/aren't interesting, I just wouldn't have pulled out all of them in the pilot. Romeo and Juliet/Machinations to Take Over Defiance could have been pushed to later episodes, to give Romeo and Juliet some time to grow on the audience and to raise the stakes as well.
There's also a slew of characters through here. Not as many as plots, but good god.
Irisa is interesting; Nolan is okay but frustratingly predictable. Amanda has potential under the surface but didn't strike me as being too incredibly deep at first blush, and I have an inkling feeling that she exists in part to be Love Interest (or Love Interest Number 2, depending on how the writers roll with Nolan's relationship with Kenya.)
I also liked Kenya, but to talk about her I have to go into a whole rant about my feelings vis a vis prostitution in science fiction (and while I get that they miiiight be going for a sex-positive vibe [which is good, don't get me wrong], the fact remains that a bunch of dudes are writing and directing this show, and that makes me uncomfortable. Sex work isn't wrong. But it can be portrayed wrong, and I worry that's what's going to happen here, especially since the only major vibe I've gotten off the NeedWant so far is that it exists for sex's sake, and won't have much [if any] bearing on the plot.)
I also didn't much care for any of the townspeople, tbh, alien or otherwise. (Hell, I was ready to kick the show off my playlist the second the stupid Romeo and Juliet plot started playing out, because I HAVE NO REASON TO CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR FORBIDDEN LOVE YET ALSO YOU ARE BOTH PROBABLY IN HIGH SCHOOL. While High School romances CAN and DO sometimes work out, I've got no reason to believe these two will). Datak bored the shit out of me, though his wife has potential to be a game-changer and SHE was interesting. (Maybe she should team up with the mayor! MAYBE SHE AND THE FORMER MAYOR HAVE ALREADY BEEN FIGHTING OVER THE THING IN THE MINE, because THAT would make this show interesting. LADIES ONLY POWER PLAYS FUCK YEAH)
I like Sheriff's deputy, Tommy, though, and I will continue to watch this show till it ends if he and Irisa continue to have moments together. IDGAF if they're a couple or not, they had a dynamic and a chemistry I would stick around to see play out. I am not optimistic, though, as the overarching story seems to be about Lovable Scoundrel Nolan and his Issues, with Irisa playing some part when it's convenient for the plot.
...Which makes me sad, because I was really hoping for a super awesome father/adopted daughter dynamic with them and haven't quite gotten it in the way I was expecting.
I also feel like maybe there are too many aliens here in this town. One or two different species - yeah, I can see that. Eight? Unless there was some massive coalition thing happening beyond our borders and all eight species thought it'd be awesome to camp out on "unoccupied" earth, it's getting too big too fast. Maybe that's part of the plot. Maybe it's getting explained in the companion game. IDK. I just know that it's a lot to process.
This entry was originally posted at dreamwidth.org. You can comment on either site.