So you have seen the 2-hour television series premiere of the transmedia project from Syfy, called Defiance. As you saw, there’s a breadth of material and characters they had to introduce. The stories had to be introduced.
And coming from Farscape’s creator, Rockne S. O’Bannon, you can see his signature style all over the scenario. With O’Bannon contributing to the scripts of the first season, I think more parallels will be noted by Farscape fans.
And if I might predict, it will be a series with a subdued tone & rich character backgrounds that will pull fans right into the world of Defiance. That is, if there’s enough action to keep viewers hooked. (I mean the general viewers who might be slowly converted to the series and the work of O’Bannon.)
And from what I’ve seen on the “street,” many weren’t horrified by the premiere, but rather, they seem to also see its potential. And that’s a good start, despite the obvious on how it set some new TV ratings records for Syfy.
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In recent episodes, we saw what is really left of St. Louis and after that, we learn a little bit more about Irisa’s past or potential. Both, good episodes that start to explore the characters we’re about to become more familiar with this season.
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But Can Defiance Be Improved Upon?
There are some small or subtle issues with the series and I thought I’d share what I think could have helped with the premiere.
1)
The mythology of how Earth got the way it is, is in all the press releases and coverage.
But I still think they should have touched on this important past during the pilot episode in greater detail. At least the general TV fan would be apprised of why things are like they are. I’d like to see more details presented in upcoming episodes, or in one solid flashback episode.
2)
Some scenes, to the general TV viewer, don’t appear to mesh with the quality of the rest of the show. These scenes seem to come straight from the game.
That’s awesome, to see the game is actually integrated into the show, for the gamers watching. But I think those moments or scenes need to be polished up for the TV presentation.
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