Everything Is Broken

The Frontier at the Ends of Civilization
When Nolan, the jaded scavenging veteran at the heart of the new Syfy series Defiance, strides from the Lawkeeper's office early in the pilot episode, seasoned viewers will recognize the streetscape. With storefronts built of reclaimed materials and stacked cargo compartments, it distinctly resembles the Eavesdown Docks from Joss Whedon's Firefly. And for good reason, since both shows shows channel the same American frontier mythology.

Frederick Jackson Turner's seminal 1893 essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," identified the idea of frontier as the defining trait of American society. Crossing the invisible line from society to wilderness allows individuals to shrug off confining Euro-American stipulations of hierarchy, subjection, religion, and money. But Turner lamented that the closing of the American frontier, according to the 1890 census, marked the end of American pioneer fervor.

Firefly, like Star Trek before that, rejects that...

Well Written, Well Executed SciFi
My husband and I really enjoyed the pilot episode. It was far better than so many recent entries in the genre. We hope our support will keep it on air if (as we hope) the writing and execution continue to hold up to the high standards set in the opener.

Definite Potential
For some reason the first episode was released early, but for those watching now or watching on the 15th, the show has great potential. Its not perfect, and the first episode has its slow parts, but overall it was enjoyable to watch, especially as you get to the battle near the end. This is the first time a game and tv showed have been tied together like this, and as a player of the game I really want to see Defiance end up successful for everyone involved. We need more companies, and people, willing to try new things and I hope future episodes continue to improve as the story expands and the cast gets used to working together. The cast itself is pretty solid overall with a few well known names involved. Jaime Murray (Spartacus/Warehouse 13) and Julie Benz (Buffy) being two of my favorites. Farscape fans will also notice one of the people behind Defiance is the creator of Farscape, Rockne S. O'Bannon. We need more good sci-fi shows out there and so far Defiance looks like it could be...

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