Defiance, S2 Ep 12 – All Things Must Pass

It’s not always a good sign when a network premieres the final four episodes of a season within a span of two weeks. While last week’s episodes of Defiance felt like they should’ve been split into their normal scheduled release dates, however, this week’s two episodes translated very well as a two-part season finale. “All Things Must Pass” is also a fitting title for the first part of Defiance‘s season finale for more reasons than just one.

Pottinger has a gift for Amanda

The episode opens with a lot of worries still hanging over our heads, left there from “Bottom of the World” and “Doll Parts”. Irisa is still under the control of the alien tech inside her. Rafe’s possibly crazy ex-wife (Linda Hamilton) is lurking about in Defiance. Tommy is still suffering from a stab wound while Nolan attempts to drag him back to safety. Right from the start “All Things Must Pass” adds even more danger in the lives of these characters, as both Stahma and Datak are abducted by an unknown assailant.

Stahma and Datak’s plight ties in directly to that of Pottinger and Amanda’s, as it turns out Pottinger kidnapped the two of them so Amanda would be able to reap her revenge on her now-revealed sister’s murderers. A proper gift for the woman you’ve been crushing on according to Pottinger. Provided with a gun and this new knowledge, Amanda has the opportunity and every reason to take out the Tarrs once and for all, but ultimately chooses not to. She feels remorseful for even considering the option, and is in no way appreciative of Pottinger’s “gift”. I feel like I say this in every review, but Stahma and Datak are the most interesting characters on Defiance. It would be unfortunate if they were to be killed off so early in the show’s hopefully long-lasting run. Also, to murder two helpless, tied up villains in cold blood wouldn’t be very heroic of Amanda, a character who aspires to be more. Still, the tension and suspense was very apparent as Amanda laid her finger on the trigger.

While this whole debacle took place, Nolan was struggling to drag Tommy’s wounded body back to Defiance for treatment. These scenes were heavily aided with never-before-seen flashbacks in Tommy’s life. We are treated to seeing the early, rocky days of Tommy and Nolan’s relationship up until the the E-Rep occupation of Defiance, where Tommy lends Nolan money to travel and find Nolan’s missing daughter. We even find out that at one point Tommy proposed to Irisa, which makes his current fate a bit more troubling, being that Irisa is the one who stabbed him. These scenes were effectively used in the sense that they just show how much the show’s characters have changed since Nolan first became lawkeeper in Defiance. It was a fitting way to end Tommy’s story in Defiance, and the cries we hear from Nolan once he discovers Tommy has expired are downright heartbreaking.

The title “All Things Must Pass” can easily tie in to the passing of Tommy, but this episode also sees Stahma and Datak’s resentment towards each other pass as well. I’m not sure how I feel about Stahma and Datak getting back together and Datak being allowed to move back in to his former home. On the one hand I like seeing that their situation with Pottinger and Amanda essentially saved their marriage, but I was also really enjoying seeing Stahma have power over her husband. That being said, I am interested in seeing where their equal partnership takes them, their family, and the town of Defiance.

Altogether, “All Things Must Pass” was a good, but very somber episode which served as a much needed breather before the second part of Defiance‘s season finale. The episode concludes with Irisa, who is too far gone at this point, using floating stones to control the broken down spaceships in Earth’s orbits, thus initialization the terraforming of the planet. More on that in my review of “I Almost Prayed”, part two of Defiance‘s season finale.