Defiance is often touted as a one-of-a-kind, groundbreaking multimedia franchise, the first time that a video game and a television series have been so closely tied together. But most fans of the show aren’t aware that a TV series tied in to a video game has been done before. And, of course, where better for such an experiment in cross-media storytelling to take place than Japan? Just over a decade ago, the .Hack// franchise emerged, all at once, across every form of popular Japanese media available. And while it probably wasn’t the first, it’s one of the best examples I know of where it began in multiple, connected forms instead of spreading out. Read more

After the revelations about both Pottinger and Amanda’s characters last week, the preview for this episode had me a little concerned. I think the problem was dealt with well, however; at this rate, I may have to start giving Defiance the benefit of the doubt. Look at you, winning back respect with season 2! Instead, we ended up with a great character episode for all three in the spotlight this week, including some long-awaited backstory on Doc Yewll. Big spoilers ahead.

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After the wham episode that was last week, Defiance takes an odd turn, but keeps the intensity going. Alliances and relationships are shifting in a way that could either be excellent or disastrous, and with this show both options are equally likely. Read on for more.

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Watching Star Trek TNG as a kid, one of the things that I always wondered about was why an upstanding, philosophical guy like Picard would ever want to run around in the 1940s noir-style world of Dixon Hill in his free time. It just didn’t seem like the kind of thing that would appeal to him, and yet it’s one of the few moments in the entire series where we see Picard earnestly having fun. But now, having read some of the most famous books of that time, I think I understand why.

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In spite of the minor inconvenience of a hurricane, I was able to catch this week’s Defiance live, and I’m glad I did. We have what might be the best episode of Defiance yet, with some pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place and the reappearance of a fan favorite from season 1. Read on for more.

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With the recent news that Stargate will be rebooting into a new trilogy of films, I thought it might be the right time to take a step back and look at the abundance of reboots and remakes we’re seeing of late. It’s been a problem with the film industry for some time, but the expensive nature of the sci-fi blockbuster means that as a fandom, we’re far more likely to have to deal with this problem than your average cinephile. Stargate just happens to be the perfect lens through which to examine the issue. Read more

     Defiance‘s season 2 premiere last week wasn’t exactly bad. A lot of things happened, as one might expect in a premiere. But they happened too fast; plots that would have been better served by bridging them over a few episodes were wrapped up in only a few minutes. This week’s episode slows things down, and is all the better for it.
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     Defiance is a show that’s been frustrating to watch from the get-go; the initial preview released online for season 1, which was essentially the first 5-10 minutes of the show, looked great. Nolan and Irisa, driving along in their souped-up apocalypse-mobile, singing a song, there was a real sense that these two cared for each other. Then, they get stopped by a band of aliens roaming the woods, which eventually force them into the city of Defiance. It set things up nicely.

Of course, we eventually learned that Nolan is an unnecessarily violent and cruel vet and Irisa is both crazy and rebellious in that “I’m only doing this stupid thing to further the plot” sort of way. If I only had one sentence to sum up the problems with season 1, it would be that the nominal protagonists are among the least interesting and most frustrating characters on the show. Read more

Welcome to RetroPhaseShift! This blog will be centered around science fiction, particularly television series but also films, novels, and perhaps some of my own work down the line. I plan to review Sci-fi TV series as they air, starting with Defiance in a few weeks. I may also muse on the state of the fandom and sci-fi culture in general, but that will be much less frequent. I’m also planning to start with 2-3  updates a week, so stay tuned.

Here’s to new beginnings!