It’s only the second Episode of Season 2 and both Ben and Michelle are starting to buy in to the E-Reps propaganda, corruption and all. Join them as they discuss the two stellar new star players in Defiance and what dangers they pose to our existing anti-heroes. Then stick around to hear about the new found dangers in Defiance Game! Video free discussion after the break!
Listen now:
DRAMA IN DEFIANCE
EPISODE 2 “In My Secret Life”
Recap
Nolan and Irisa are back in Defiance and get exactly the sort of welcome you would expect: their weapons are confiscated and Irisa is put in jail. Over the course of the episode Nolan tries to gain his bearings, but is quickly forced back into his role as Lawkeeper in order to track down a terrorist, who has set off a shrill bomb in the middle of the Marketplace. Tommy struggles with Irisa’s presence, as he has already moved on, both professionally and personally. Nolan and Amanda dance around each other for most of the episode and flirting heavily. The bomber, who we eventually learn is Skevur, seeking revenge for being beaten after his adreno fail in the last episode, strikes again and this time Stahma is in danger. Fortunately, Nolan and Berlin manage to stave off disaster, but Stahma lays a guilt trip down on Alak, convincing him that he must restore the family’s honor by killing Skeevur. Alak does the deed, but not without a conscience. Irisa discovers Tommy and Berlin are romantically involved, and Nolan and Amanda finally take their friendship to the next level.
Thoughts and Observations
- Another strong episode with incredibly sharp dialogue by writer Michael Taylor, especially the scenes with Berlin. But, there are a couple of points where the plot comes together too nicely (Nolan down in the mines, where Joseph casually mentions that Bradley ran off with a shrill colony). This was a weakness throughout season one, and hopefully as things heat up, these sorts of wayside plot points will feel more seamless.
- We discussed last week that everyone seems to end up in the same place as they were in season one. Turns out, this is exactly what Kevin Murphy was going for in this episode in particular – it’s meant to be a mirror of the pilot.
http://www.defiance.com/en/series/video/2794305 - E-Reps, and that the priority is to extract as much gulanite as fast as possible in case In the mines, Rafe mentions the Cold War between the Votanis Collective and the the war escalates into battle. Will we see this battle during this season? Or will this season be about building and shifting alliances?
- Bath Scene – A few things working here, besides the obviously bosoming relationship between Stahma and Christi.
- Im not sure if Stahma is trying to make Christi uncomfortable, if she disapproves of her currently due to not being remarkably valuable (no more mines, no more worth), or if she did indeed forget humans like their boundaries and space? I don’t think the latter is likely, but I don’t know why Stahma would go through the trouble in the first place.
- And now is Alak losing his interest in Christi so soon after the wedding as well as his attitude towards being somewhat human?
- What is Pottinger’s motivation in taking the adreno business from Stahma? Does he want someone else to take over? Does he want to punish the Tarrs? Is this simply a way that he can become Amanda’s main supplier. I wasn’t sure about his motivations in rocking the adreno boat here. All I know is that he out-Stahma’d Stahma.
Favorite Scenes and Dislikes
- The scene with Berlin and Nolan. Anna Hopkins’ deadpan line delivery is a perfect match to Nolan’s enthusiastic cynicism. In another life, we could almost picture Nolan adopting Berlin as his own, too. We also get backstory from Berlin in this scene, which is delivered perfectly. We don’t dwell on it, but we immediately understand why she puts her faith in the E-Rep.
- Ben: Did Pottinger out-Stahma Stahma? He announced her departure from the adrino business so suddenly, Stahma’s confusion actually manifested on her face a few times. I don’t recall ever seeing Stahma falter and lose her mask like that other than when we were with her in the voting booth in season 1.
- Michelle: I’m not a Nolanda shipper, but I’m all for superfluous sex, so there are ups and downs to the Nolan and Amanda outcome. The two of them chupping is all but inevitable, and I like the way it plays upon New Earth norms. They care about each other, but not necessarily about having a relationship. There are no boundaries here, and that is a refreshing ‘love story’.
- Love the Casti-Sinatra playing during the shrill-cooking/bomb-making scene. It’s these little artistic touches that really make the world feel real. That, and the mannequins once again littered all over the Marketplace after the explosion. The amount of props on this set is mind-boggling and gives the world such a textured, layered feel. No wonder Stephanie Leonidas thought it was a real place.
- And speaking of Shrill Casti-Sinatra.. that bomb did a nasty number to that Casti Victim.. and the FX dept did a great job with the gruesome gore of grubbing shrill worms.
Speculations and unanswered questions
- Free Doc Yewll! We thought Doc and Datak would be out of prison by now, but things aren’t looking up for them. And Stahma will do everything she can to keep her husband in Camp Reverie for the time being.
- Does Datak know that Pottinger is interested in any information Doc Yewll has on Irisa and the ship? Why didn’t he use that to his advantage with Pottinger during the straight jacket scene? Datak doesn’t really have much to offer now that Stahma is in charge – he’s going to have to figure out where he can be most helpful to the E-Reps or else he’s going to have to find a new alliance.
Predictions
Michelle:
- Berlin becomes a fan favorite, along the likes of Rynn and Yewll. Anna Hopkins wowed everyone in this episode, and her story arc will only get stronger. We predict she becomes disillusioned with the E-Reps and will align with Nolan – we like these two tagteaming.
- Datak will align himself with another faction now that Pottinger has showed no interest in freeing him.
- Doc will get out of Camp Reverie all by her lonesome, without Datak.
Ben:
- This one is easy. Tommy may seem cool and suave when in control, but when the heat gets turned up, he’ll just be another teenage boy having to decide who he likes more.. by dating both and weighing his options. DEFIANCE LOVE TRIANGLE IS BACK!
- Since we’re talking about love, I think its about time we finally get to see Alak mess up.
- Being a little more than just concerned for the family business, once freed, Datak will seek to dethrone his own wife and become the kingpin he once was.
- And finally, Pottinger is going to become so dastardly, he’ll overstep and get VIceroy Mercado’s attention, which will lead to Pottinger getting put in his place. A great shaming will be had and there will be much rejoicing in the streets.
MVP of the Episode
Michelle: Berlin! She was in practically every scene this episode (she just kept popping up over and over again). She’s witty, she’s smart, she’s impulsive, and she can track the bad guys with Nolan and hop over hurdles in the Marketplace. *cue Whitney Houston’s ‘I’m Every Woman’*
Ben: Pottinger! He has proven at every turn this episode that he is more than capable of weaving around the Tarr Empire web and is close enough to get a stranglehold on the neck of it. If Stahma was the snake to keep an eye on in Season 1, then Pottinger is the mongoose out for the kill.
Favorite Tweets
Alak until this season: “Up till now, a path of life Was fair enough, enough was fair, and always right” #Defiance
— Bo-Tan-O-File (@thebotanophile) June 27, 2014
BTW @GrantBowler stunt drove that @Dodge Charger himself. Why? Because he actually is #Nolan playing the role of Grant Bowler. #DEFIANCE
— Douglas Nyback (@dnyback) June 27, 2014
There will be another chance to win a hellbug starting with the airing of episode 203 of #Defiance. Look out for it next week!
— David J. Peterson (@Dedalvs) June 27, 2014
OFF THE SET
Reviews Across the Web
- Defiance Without Empathy
http://www.hellbugs.com/202—in-my-secret-life-.html - Den of Geek
http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/defiance/31095/defiance-season-2-episode-2-review-in-my-secret-life- Viceroy Mercado will be back for a 3-episode arc beginning with episode 6
- The Gate: Set Visit With Jesse Rath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM-gAnZIXSA
NEWS FROM THE BAY AREA
Notice: Shrill Grenades found in the Bay Area
http://www.trionworlds.com/defiance/en/2014/06/24/notice-shrill-grenades-now-found-in-bay-area/
Reports are coming in from reliable ark hunters that VBI-manufactured shrill grenades have found their way to certain enterprising vendors in the Bay Area. These relics of the Pale Wars are not your standard munitions: they’re packed with low-yield explosives and resilient shrill larvae. These voracious alien spores burrow into their food (read: exposed flesh), penetrating armor plates and robbing the victim wearing them of their damage-mitigating properties.
Shrill grenades are considered “dirty” biological weapons and the parasite-laden bombs have historically been used for terrorist purposes. Ark hunters who find themselves in possession of these explosives should be keenly aware: shrill larvae do not discriminate who they feed on and will gladly feast on the foolish who clumsily stumble into their own grenade’s area of effect. Consider this a strong warning to those who decide to add them to their arsenals!
TrionWorlds Livestream for Friday, June 27th with Trick, Cole, and Evan
http://www.twitch.tv/trionworlds/b/542405034
- Warmasters Disconnects
There are some leads being followed for those actively experiencing disconnects from Warmaster. They happen when queuing for the instance where you interact with the teleporter and when the Warmaster performs his EMP attack which could be a loop with a poorly written game effect attached. Nothing for sure yet.
However, to handle the social issues with Warmaster, a timer is going to be added to both “open the vents” and “break the locks” periods. Right now its looking like a 60 second timer for the vents and a 3 minute timer for the locks. The timers should be a deterrent to players just jumping into the event and instead plan or get together a PUG beforehand. - New Engineer Hires at Trion
We are having two engineers starting next week, we have a bunch of engineering tasks and features coming in. First priority is server stability, and then the season 2 missions, then new stuff.
“I think the 5th episode of the show we’ll be having a big drop of new missions..” -Trick Dempsey
- The Grid
New enemies, the Grid, appear in game on Monday at noon. These will be the Revenants. They burrow their hands in the grown with these Bionetic tendrils and can perform a big devastating chain attack and if a character has no shield or EGO can be converted to being of the grid faction. This may not sound like much since enemies will pound on you with or without being of the Revenants, but being converted does imbue the convert with a health regen buff. They can’t infect Darkmatter and can’t infect anyone pivotal to an event. And while this is all exciting news, Trick affirms that he has only given us about half of what they can actually do in game. Much to get excited over. - Making the Salvage Matrix more attractive
- Currently it doesn’t do a good job of explaining what it does nor is it very attractive. “What you should be seeing is your hi res version of your gun right there in the middle and actually see mods swap on, and stuff like that.”
- We also want to add more functionality to it to re-roll specific bonuses, synergies and some of the pre-existing weapons from the shop.
- Probably well after the season, with any luck, we will have what is broadly described as crafting, with player manufactured goods out there. “I don’t like how flooded the world is with these long merchant lists with mods.”
Regarding Defiance S2E2 “This week was good and very very strange. Next week is insane!”
- New Landmass
Coming a little over halfway through the season, we’re talking about weeks. You’ll see demos on the livestream and on Alpha beforehand.
As far the game is concerned, this portion of Silicon Valley spans from the San Bruno area all the way down to Redwood City. The preview image is actually Trion’s offices name of the POI is “The Rift”. The landmass is approximately the same square footage of Marin. - Other tidbits worth mentioning
- Working on other grid enemies
- Indogenes are likely the next playable race
- We’ve got an idea for crafting cybertech benefits to multiple characters on an account. Cybertech is in a very very early stage.
- Defiance on Steam – We are working with Steam to address it, we don’t have an ETA.
- New weaponry in season 2 – Camden Pace from the DefianceFew.com promotional game has made a business transaction in Paradise and it brings in three new types of weapons that are weird in comparison to crrent weapons, e.g. types of weapons that can lock on that couldn’t before. They will be available from the Defiance Few faction that will be introduced to the game shortly.
- Weather conditions and environment effects – At the moment it rains in Silicon Valley, if that works across platforms we will have rain as a thing that happens.
- Alcatraz was built in the game twice. There was going to be a big level there and at the Palace of Fine Arts (which is the actual Fort Defiance), but they want to take their time doing it, make it right. Candlestick Park is another place they want to make.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
We at Defiance Reporter feel it is the community that makes the transmedia experience great, so we are constantly on the lookout to find fans and gamers who go above and beyond to create a more immersive experience for the Defiance Community.
This week we want to shine our spotlight on:
Defiance Without Empathy
The site houses Defiance Without Empathy, which is a series of epic recaps for Defiance episodes. It’s loosely based on TV Without Pity, which used to offer amazingly detailed and insightful reviews of Defiance (along with tons of other shows). Michelle (@womenofdefiance) and Jules (@hellbugsinlove) decided to nerd out and give these epic recaps a try now that TVWoP will no longer be producing web content. Log onto hellbugs.com each week to read the latest Defiance Without Empathy recap – we promise snark, at least 5,000 words, and some of the most memorable screencaps of each episode.
Remember, if you want us to feature your clan or community site on Defiance Reporter, tweet us, leave a voicemail, or send us an email at defiance@mmoreporter.com.
LAST MINUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS
- THIS WEEKS ARKHUNTER CODE IS: Shrill
Make sure to enter it at Defiance.com/Ego to get this weeks reward of Shrill Grenades! Remember, this code expires Saturday, July 5th! -
Join our PC clan IGNI FERROQUE! <defiancereporter.guildlaunch.com> No registration required, just look for me in-game, Corso Vanlocke, to get an invite!
CONTACT US!
Email: defiance@mmoreporter.com
Website: defiancereporter.com
Voicemail: 616-666-6778 (and our new widget on the ride hand side of the page)
Facebook: facebook.com/defiancereporter
Youtube: youtube.com/user/mmoreporternetwork
Twitter: twitter.com/defiancepodcast or @defiancepodcast
Michelle: twitter.com/womenofdefiance
