Josh recaps Season 2 Episode 6 of Defiance, titled This Woman’s Work, where Nolan and Pottinger investigate an ark that crashes outside of town, and Stahma tries to start up a Castithan women’s movement! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts on the episode.
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Episode Recap of Defiance, Season 2 Episode 6: This Woman’s Work
Defiance this week begins with Berlin filming Tommy, and decides to get freaky with him–and decides it would be best to film themselves “getting it on”.
Mayor Pottinger is visited by Viceroy Mercado, and demands that Pottinger and Nolan retrieve an ark. Outside, Nolan sees this ark crashing. It seems to have landed in the middle of an area with some weird rat-spider-like monsters which are killed by some creature inside.
The ship contains a Cerellium core, which apparently has a massive energy source. Tommy and Berlin join the mission, but Nolan “grounds” both Berlin and Tommy, not allowing them to come. Tommy quits law-keeping, to which Nolan seems to oblige. After Nolan leaves, Berlin puts the idea of leaving Defiance out there.
Stahma is confronted by a religious Castithan. Stahma talks with this man, who is annoyed by Stahma’s newfound leadership because of their male dominated culture. Stahma decides to threaten him, but he seems unfazed.
Rafe and Datak talk, and they are visited by Stahma. Stahma accuses Datak of sending the holy man after her, but Datak denies it.
Irisa is intent on following some Castithan man, and Tommy spots her. He follows her, and sees her attack the man. The thing inside Irisa comes out and enters the other man’s mouth. Tommy threatens to shoot her, but Tommy isn’t believable. Irisa says that the man will recover. Irisa decides that they will sit and watch the man recover. Tommy tells Irisa he plans to head to Texas. The man pops awake suddenly, and Irisa tells the man to head home.
Nolan, Pottinger and some E-Rep men head towards their mission destination. They arrive at the downed ship, and begin searching for the core they are after. Nolan realizes that what they are after is not Cerellium cores, but something in containment cells–which have killed some of Pottinger’s men. The creature is a Golani made of “pure Votan energy,” according to Pottinger. The Golani has wreaked havoc through the rest of the E-Rep soldiers. Nolan provides some insight into the Golanis–they appear to be some sort of soldier that fought the humans during the war.
Nolan and Pottinger decide to try to make a weapon to battle the Golani with. Nolan is able to make a weapon to assist, but he needs more time. Pottinger sends his bio-human in to buy some time–knowing it is a death sentence. Nolan’s device is able to stall the Golani, and Pottinger bashes it with a bat.
Mercado pays Amanda a visit, and asks for a place to “step outside his own skin.” Amanda gives him a “card” to a club for him to go to.
Stahma then visits Amanda, and they have a conversation about women power, and tells Stahma and try to change Castithan culture. Stahma doesn’t think it will go well. Stahma decides to hold a meeting with the other Castithan women. Stahma tries to hint that it is time for “cultural adjustment”, but the other Castithan women do not seem interested. Stahma makes them tea–which turns out to be poison, killing the Castithan women.
The holy man is strung up, and Datak talks with Stahma as the holy man is being tortured. He is accused of letting his wife meet for “women’s liberation” which it seems Stahma has successfully framed the man for.
Pottinger returns to Mercado, and Mercado threatens to send Pottinger to the Dakotas to run labor camps.
Pottinger isn’t happy and storms out. Meanwhile, Tommy breaks the news to Berlin that he has to help Irisa, and will not be going to Texas. Berlin isn’t happy and breaks it off with him. Pottinger joins Nolan and Amanda at the bar. Amanda decides to accompany Pottinger, and Berlin decides to show up and occupy Nolan’s time. This time turns into bedding time for the two. Meanwhile Christie decides to “cross-dress” as a Castithan. Mercado also seems to enjoy this cross dressing himself.
Josh’s Thoughts: Defiance, Season 2 Episode 6: This Woman’s Work
I guess my first thought on the episode is how quickly Berlin moved on from Tommy, geez! That very night she is in bed with Nolan!
The Castithan culture is an interesting one. The Woman’s Rights Movement hasn’t hit the Casthithans yet, and what is really weird is that the Castithan women do not seem to care too much about changing anything. It makes me wonder about US culture, and if that was a similar experience that women had well before the civil rights movement became big. It seems odd to me that women would fight to stay subservient.
I am curious to see what this Mercado is all about. We see that he is into weird things, like “cross-dressing” as a Castithan, but what is his angle? Is he simply trying to get reelected? Or does he have a bigger goal in mind? I guess we will see. We will also see if Pottinger ends up in the Dakotas for a while.
From the looks of it, Tommy and Irisa could be on the mend. It seems Tommy is still standoff-ish, but I have a feeling his guard is going to slowly drop over the next few episodes. We will have to see what he continues to think of her weird issues she is having though.
I am a little disappointed with where this season is going so far. The season seemed to be marketed as an underground rebel eventually overthrowing the oppressive E-Rep government, but so far that doesn’t seem to be the case. So far, the E-Rep just seems to be bumbling about, but not really causing intentional harm. We will have to see where the season ends up over the next few episodes.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 6 of Defiance: This Woman’s Work
I applaud Stahma’s efforts to try to get some women’s rights going in the Castithan culture. She has proven more than once that she is perfectly capable of being a leader, and doing what’s typically regarded as a man’s work in the Castithan society. With Datak gone, she has stepped in and filled his shoes, albeit under the guise of Alak being the “Capo.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like change is going to come anytime soon. But was it really necessary for her to kill everyone at the women’s meeting? I thought maybe she would kill the woman who was speaking against her the most, but nope, she killed all of them. And then she frames the Castithan guy that was bothering her. Why not frame Datak? Does she really still love him, as he suggested? Though I suppose it’s more that he’s the main villain in this show that we all love to hate, so they wouldn’t get rid of him that easily!
It also kind of seemed like a cop out that Nolan just happened to forbid Tommy to come to the ark, and all the E-Rep soldiers that did come all ended up dead. Lucky coincidence. But obviously they have to keep Tommy around so that there can be some drama between him and Irisa. And this episode delivered with that aspect. He and Berlin break up because of Irisa. I guess this means that he’s free to go back to Irisa now. Also, what’s he going to do for a job now that he’s quit the force?
We also see another side to Berlin. All this time she’s been portrayed as a stiff, buttoned up kind of girl, but this episode she makes a sex tape with Tommy at the beginning (wonder if that will come up somewhere down the line?), and in bed with Nolan by the end. That seemed oddly out of character for her. Nolan seems like a player, but I felt it was a weird choice for him to hook up with Berlin. But I guess Defiance is a small town, and there’s limited options.
As for Pottinger, looks like he’s out of the picture for awhile. Wonder if he’ll ever come back, or if he’s gone for good?
Scenes from Defiance, Season 2 Episode 7: If You Could See Her Through My Eyes
Here are scenes from the next episode of Defiance, titled If You Could See Her Through My Eyes:
