‘Defiance’ 2.05 Episode Recap and Review: Put the Damage On

Yes, kids. It’s time for a Very Special Episode of Defiance, in which Amanda learns why street drugs are Very Bad. Amanda’s taking some much-needed “me time” in a bubble bath and sniffing (snorting? huffing? Whatever they call it nowadays) adreno, as is her wont, when a masked man with a bright, white light breaks into her rooms and attacks her. Savvy viewers (or those who watched the “last time on Defiance” recap at the beginning of the episode) will recognize the attacker’s description from Amanda’s New York attack. She manages to heave him out the window and call the local lawkeepers.

The very next day, Amanda is doing her shopping in the marketplace when she gets the feeling that she’s being stalked again. She flees straight into Nolan, who is inexplicably cruel to her, saying that neither of them is capable of love. He physically attacks her, but she escapes him, only to run into the real Nolan out on patrol with Tommy and Irisa. Whatever grabbed Amanda in the alley couldn’t possibly have been him.

She goes to Pottinger, assuming that her hallucinations must have something to do with the adreno. He assures her that the drugs is as pure as it can be, but sets her up in the McCauley house, just to keep her safe. Nolan comes to give her the results of his investigation. There’s no evidence that anyone was ever in her rooms, but he did find her adreno pipe. He says he’s not judging, but he kind of is. At the very least, he’s highly brassed off at Pottinger for turning her into a junkie.

Later that night, Tommy and Irisa are keeping an eye on Amanda over at the McCauley house. Amanda thinks she sees something moving outside, so the pair go out to investigate. While they’re outside, two masked attackers break in to grab Amanda. She gets her hands on a gun and shoots them both, only it isn’t some random attackers – it’s Tommy and Irisa. They’re both okay, but Amanda flips right out and runs into the night. She heads to the Need/Want, then collapses, foaming at the mouth.

Nolan realizes that it isn’t the adreno that’s killing Amanda, it’s an ego implant in the back of her neck. Ego implants are old military tech from the war. As it turns out, Amanda isn’t the only person who has one. Both Pottinger and Doc Yewll have been hallucinating, as well, though not nearly as badly. Pottinger’s been seeing an old grade-school crush/bully, while the Doc has been seeing her dead lover. Yewll recovers from a brief bout of hallucination-induced suicidal thoughts just in time to help Nolan extract the ego implant and save Amanda’s life. We find out later that Pottinger and Yewll were behind the implant, and they’ve downloaded the last three weeks of Amanda’s memories for some unknown purpose. They were hallucinating because the defective implant accidentally infected them, as well.

The Tarrs and McCauleys had their own separate B-plot going this time around. Since he was evicted from his own home, Rafe is now living in the Tarr household with his daughter and her in-laws. Stahma assures him that Alak is merely the figurehead of the “family business,” so having him beaten is unnecessary. (This whole scene happens in the family bath, which is both awkward and kind of hilarious.)

Datak comes to the Tarr house and performs a penance ritual that, by Castithan law, allows him “visitation rights” to the family. Stahma’s not necessarily happy about it, but Christie is downright enraged. Hours later, she goes to the radio station, looking for Alak, but only finds the prozzie deejay from a couple of episodes ago (herewith to be known as “Ho-jay” until Defiance sees fit to mention her name more than once). Christie and Ho-jay bond over Christie’s inability to understand her new Castithan family. Ho-jay cryptically tells her that she needs to learn to “live in their skin.”

Meanwhile, Datak asks Rafe to come to his place. He wants Rafe to put in a good word with the family, especially Christie. As recompense, he brings the miner in on his plans to take back Defiance from the E-reps. Datak’s been scheming with the Votanis Collective, which is willing to provide weaponry for the upcoming coup. We’ll see how that goes.

First off, apologies for the super-late update, guys. We’ve been prepping for the fantastic Defiance panels at San Diego Comic Con. You’ll be seeing the fruits of that preparation up on the site relatively shortly.

It looks like Amanda is finally going to start coming off the adreno, which I can’t wait to see. The women of Defiance are all wonderfully strong characters, and I’m glad that Amanda will be pulling out of her Broken Bird syndrome soon. Julie Benz has done a great job portraying a woman in a downward spiral, but I’ve always enjoyed Amanda more when she’s being snarky and in control.

On a similar “strong women” note, props to Christie for standing up to Datak this episode! She’s pretty much wilted into the corners when it comes to the Tarr family. I’m glad to see her voicing her opinion, even (or especially) when it’s against Casti customs. More power to you, Christie!

Things to Ponder:

  • Is Datak going to be able to get his family back?
  • Why did Pottinger and Yewll need three weeks of Amanda’s memories? Will the ego implant have lasting consequences?

Photo Credit: Syfy

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