Defiance - SyFy

I swore I wrote about this... 





Maybe as I get older I am becoming less tolerant of television. I have definitely defined for myself stricter parameters on what I watch. I guess it’s been all the years of late with nothing but dreck on the tube. And in certain cases I’m even more critical, especially when it comes to Sci-Fi and horror. Not only have I conditioned myself to skip the mediocre and crap, but also to set my sites higher and expect better.

Last night was the two hour premier of the new SyFy show Defiance. I’ve been psyched to see this in the respect that it might provide something new to count on watching. On the other hand, Defiance is by the SyFy channel, which by my definition has lost most credibility with their offerings’.

A premiere has a lot to do. Set a tone, a pace. Introduce and set up characters, and relationships. Provide an environment where this all takes place. Luckily for the SyFy genre, there is a lot of flexibility on what to suggest in story and structure. Out of the box if you will.

I was sorely disappointed at the premiere. Maybe because my expectations were so high? In my case I’m accustomed to product being put out today as only getting better and better and bringing it’s A game. Defiance did not. Just about everything in the show we have seen time and time again. I couldn’t find one new offering in the show.

Defiance has your stereotypical characters. The rebellious teen, the gruff star with a gold heart, the warring families, the female non-descript authority. Gah, then they throw in a hodgepodge of ideas like characters from Star Wars set in a cowboy/steam punk like surroundings. And don’t even get me going on the subplot of a teen romance. Have the writers not learned anything from the past? They have the central cantina/brothel that all nonsense goes down. Some will say homage, I see it as been there, done that. Maybe they are hoping people are wanting the familiarity? I want innovation… creativity.

I know I was pissed at the lack of originality in the alien characters. Putting prosthetics over the face and head is just lazy and old hat. Defiance is one of the most expensive series to date for SyFy. I’m not seeing it. There is some hit and miss with the CGI. Sometimes it was rather decent, most of the time it looked like cheap SyFy.

As I mentioned, there was a lot to do to kick this off, but ya know what, theatrical movies do just fine of defining that information in a very quick, creative way. There is no reason to spend two hours doing this. Let alone a season of shows.

I’ve read a lot of reviews since Defiance has come on and a majority of those reviews are luke warm. It’s not exactly praising a show by saying it’s the best thing in this genre, when, well it’s the only thing. Some want to keep a positive view about the show and I hope they are right. I highly doubt I’ll continue. I was thinking the whole time, I’m missing Bates Motel for this?

Weird that they pulled them.

Anyway, it advertised like crazy on the SyFy channel. I believe it's doing OK. I think audience and critics are not slamming it like I am. It may have a life