‘Defiance’ 2.02 Episode Recap and Review: In My Secret Life

Irisa and Nolan are on the main drag leading into Defiance just in time for the E-Reps to get the stasis net back up, meaning that there’s a pretty heavy duty checkpoint for them to get through before they’re home. Nolan is all about calling it a day, but Irisa has other ideas. She takes control of the vehicle and more or less storms the gate. That plus a confrontation with an E-Rep officer named Berlin lands her in Tommy’s jail in pretty short order.

Nolan and Amanda have a happy reunion in Mayor Pottinger’s office when Nolan goes to petition for Irisa’s release. He’s interrupted by the sound of an explosion in the marketplace. Someone stashed a “shrill bomb” in a piñata, killing 3 people. Nolan lets Amanda (and incidentally the audience) know that shrill bombs are primarily a terrorist weapon. They’re easy to build and make a statement. Amanda and Pottinger put Nolan in charge of the investigation and agree to release Irisa if the bomber is found in 24 hours.

Shrills are largely found in cold, dark places, so Nolan heads to the mines. Some guy named Bradley Wittle has been gathering the shrills as they appear, and he never showed up for work this morning. Coincidence? Of course not!

Nolan’s still concerned about his ability to be any sort of lawkeeper in Defiance. After all, public opinion is still largely against him after he was set up to shoot that Casti teen last season. He takes a break over at the Need/Want, where Amanda catches him up on what’s been going on in town for the last year. She also strongly implies that she’ll be more than happy to have all the sex with him, once he finds the bomber. Yay, incentive!

Nolan is able to track Bradley over to Skeever’s place. Of course, Skeever is the one behind the first bomb, and he has another one already armed and hidden somewhere in town. Nolan beats the tar out of him until he gives up the location of the second bomb: Stahma’s car. Nolan dashes out, pulls Stahma from the car, then defuses the bomb with less than a second to spare. Thus does he win back the approval of the Castithan population and the rest of Defiance.

Stahma’s been dealing with her own issues. The mayor has shut down her Adreno business and demanded that she turn over the rest of her stock to him. I’m sure the fact that Amanda is an addict has absolutely nothing to do with that decision. Not at all. After the bomb incident, Stahma takes Alak to task for not having handled Skeever properly in the first place. Now Alak’s only recourse is to kill the upstart with his own two hands, which he does.

Since Nolan got Skeever off the streets, Pottinger has Tommy release Irisa. While in the cell, Irisa attempted to tell Tommy about what was going on with Irzu. She changes her mind when she sees that Tommy has moved on with young Captain Berlin. Ah well.

Back at the Need/Want, Pottinger “accidentally” drops a packet of Adreno in front of Amanda, subtly letting her know that he has his own stash and almost certainly wouldn’t judge her for indulging, as well. Smooth. When Nolan comes in, Pottinger offers him the lawkeeper post again. He refuses at first, but Amanda follows and talks him into wearing the badge again. She takes him back upstairs in the Need/Want, where they have happy fun sexy times while Pottinger once again watches via hidden camera. Perv.

For all the time that the episode spent over in Camp Reverie, the Datak and Doc Yewll story was remarkably brief. They recruited a religious fanatic to attempt to kill Pottinger on one of his visits. Before the plan goes through, Pottinger brings Yewll in for an interview. He wants to know about the safe in her office. When she refuses, he takes her finger.

As Pottinger leaves, the fanatic rushes him with a blade, only to be “heroically” killed by Datak. Pottinger sees through Datak’s rather obvious ploy and shoots down his plea for early release. So much for that!

I’m interested to see what’s going to go down when Datak gets released from Camp Reverie. They’re obviously not going to keep him there for the whole season, but Stahma and Alak are doing rather well without him there. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that the excrement will hit the fan once the Tarr patriarch finally makes it home again.

In other news, I’d love a little more information about Adreno. We know it’s made from adrenaline (either synthetic or human), but I’m curious as to the side effects and the withdrawal symptoms. Is Amanda going to be a junkie who HAS to turn to Pottinger for her next fix? If so, how is that going to affect the balance of power in town?

Things to Ponder:

  • Just how much longer IS Datak going to be in prison, and what’s finally going to get him out?
  • What’s going to happen when Amanda finally discovers that Kenya’s been dead since last season?

Photo Credit: Syfy

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