The second season of Syfy’s Defiance ramps up the intrigue after the topsy-turvy season one finale. Will this bold trend continue? Hard to say, but what I can say is I’ve been really impressed with season two thus far, so I sat down with the cast at San Diego Comic Con to try to finagle details of what’s to come.
Defiance paints a picture of a very different world in which aliens and humans live together. America as we know it today will be in ruins, with only a few cities trying to regain their footing. It takes place in 2047- so most of us will still be alive when aliens supposedly invade Earth and live here among us. Cool! The show follows quite a large number of characters from different backgrounds and here’s what they have to say.
Jesse Rath hopes Alak will go down a dark path.
Alak has been struggling with his relationship with both parents, as well as his wife, and already has done some bad things. Jesse Rath expressed his hopes that Alak will continue to go down a dark path because it’s quite fun for him to play.
Kenya Returns?
When talking about Stahma’s seemingly stoicism, Jaime Murray revealed a little piece of the future: “I think you never really know how Stahma feels. She always puts on a pretty good front. She does miss Kenya. I think through her relationship with Amanda and through this season you’ll see her regret the mistake of killing Kenya even more. When she is forced to question whether Kenya is alive or dead, you see such a mixture of feelings in Stahma. You see joy mixed with the horror of being discovered with confusion, relief. It’s a lot of very relatable emotions. And that is part of her humanization. She’s learning who she is for the first time.” Oh yeah! Kenya might still be alive. We never saw a body.
“Someone we love a lot might not make it to season three.”
Executive Producer Kevin Murphy made the above statement during his interview and stated that it will be a big emotional deal. Of course, he never gave us a name, but explained more about the purpose of killing off a beloved character: “If I kill a character, it’s because I want it to have a big impact and set up conflict that happens in subsequent seasons. For example- Kenya. That set up Amanda and Stahma’s complicated set of circumstances for season two. If someone were to die this season, it would set up a very complex set of character dynamics for season three. And that’s the goal, if I were to kill someone. Not that I have.” It sounds like killing this character isn’t a done deal, but very likely.
Datak and Stahma will dig a grave.
This may or may not be related to what Kevin Murphy was talking about above but one of Jesse Rath’s (Alak) favorite upcoming moments of season two is one that he has no part in. “There’s a moment of Datak and Stahma in a graveyard. Seeing them digging a grave is so appropriate. It’s very Shakespearean. Whose grave? I don’t know. You can put two and two together.” Hmm, sounds like things are going to get very interesting in the town of Defiance.
The whole planet will be turned upside down.
The end of season one brought a full on invasion of Defiance by the Earth Republic. Murphy tells us, “We might see another attack on the city but not in the same form as before.” He described the season one invasion as flipping over the chess board and knocking all the pieces around, promising it’ll happen again. “We’re knocking over the chess board for planet Earth.” He explained Defiance’s role will change drastically and the threat will be “quite a bit larger.”
Episode 11 has heart breaking potential
Stephanie Leonidas’ (Irisa) favorite scene this season happens in episode 11 because it is one of the most intense scenes between Nolan and Irisa. She explained, “It kind of broke my heart doing it, and his too. It took us days to get over it, but it was a scene that was necessary with those two…We didn’t have lunch a few days after that. I don’t think we could even look each other in the eye for most of the season because Irisa really crushed everything that they had built together.”
Season three’s plot points originated in a bar.
Season three isn’t confirmed, however, Kevin Murphy says he’s “cautiously optimistic” because the show is working well and the numbers are moving in the right direction. He went on to say that he has a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen and already knows “what the last moment for season three will be.” How did this come about? He explained how actors always want to know more about what’s in store for their characters so he’ll sometimes “make shit up.” Then when those things get repeated and reinforced, they become actual plot points. “There were a lot of ideas for next season that sort of got honed when I was in a bar in London with Stephanie and catching her up with what’s going down with Irisa,” Murphy said.
A teaser for season three…
“I’ll tell you this, perhaps there are more than seven races of Votans.” –Kevin Murphy, Executive Producer
It appears that the writers and all involved have found a nice groove with the show, as they’ve been absolutely killing it this season, so here’s hoping that trend continues into season three and onward. Defiance airs Thursdays at 8/7c on the Syfy channel.
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
