| "The Awakening" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air date | August 21st, 2015 |
| Writers | Todd Slavkin; Darren Swimmer |
| Director | Michael Nankin |
| Producers | Kevin Murphy; Michael D. Gibson; Bryan Q. Miller; Paula Yoo; Paul Leonard; Anupam Nigam; Michael Nankin; Mark Winemaker; Todd Slavkin; Darren Swimmer; Amanda Alpert Muscat; Michael Freeman |
| Starring | Grant Bowler; Julie Benz; Stephanie Leonidas; Tony Curran; Jaime Murray; Jesse Rath; Anna Hopkins; Nichole Galicia |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Of a Demon in My View" |
Next "Upon the March We Fittest Die" |
"The Awakening" is the twelfth episode season three of the science fiction television series Defiance and the thirty-eighth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Michael Nankin with a script written by Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer. The episode first aired on Syfy on Friday, August 21st, 2015 at 9:00 pm. In this episode, Kindzi begins unleashing her newly-awakened Omec upon her captured prisoners. All efforts to stop her seem to fail as Kindzi now harnesses the power of a mature Omec. As if the bitch ain't crazy enough, she even sets her sights on eating a baby. A goddamn baby for Christ's sake!
Synopsis
Act One
"This crap's about to get real!"
Lambert visits Doc Yewll's office. She examines him and the two argue about the definition of "piggies". Yewll then gives him an injection, which renders him unconscious. She loads Lambert into a truck and brings him to an enclosed box car where he is placed inside of a cage, along with several other prisoners. Datak Tarr takes note of her and tries to talk sense to her. Samir Pandey, who is in the cage right next to him, tells Datak that Doc Yewll is being controlled by the Omec.
Forced to obey Kindzi's commands, Doc Yewll brings a scared Irath woman outside and chains her to a stake. Three Omec transport pods descend to the area and the Omec converge upon her. The sobbing woman pleads for mercy, citing that she has children. Kindzi says "So do I, and they are hungry". The Omec pile upon her and begin eating. Doc Yewll turns away.
Back in Defiance, Joshua Nolan, Amanda Rosewater and Irisa Nyira gather weapons to hunt down Kindzi. Stahma Tarr enters the Lawkeeper station and tells them that her husband is missing. Also, she cannot find T'evgin. Nolan tells her that T'evgin is dead.
"Aww, yeah. There's a bunch'a purple bitches down there."
A sonic boom erupts overhead, and they all go outside to see what is happening. They see the trails of a dozen Omec transport pods sailing across the sky. Stahma tells them that Kindzi is now launching the Omec for an invasion. She reveals that she saw thousands of stasis pods aboard the Tsuroz. Amanda yells at her, admonishing Stahma for failing to tell them about this. Stahma tries to deflect the blame by saying if Amanda had not invited the Omec with open arms, then none of this would have happened.
Nolan and Irisa go out and find the Omec camp. They sit on a ridge and watch as the Omecs sit about the remains of the Irath woman. Nolan says that he's taking Kindzi out right now and uses his sniper rifle to fire a shot into her head. Kindzi is more powerful now however, and pulls the bullet out of her skull. Nolan keeps firing, but the random body shots don't even slow her down. As Kindzi advances towards them, Nolan and Irisa retreat in their roller.
Act Two
"Who you callin' a bitch? Bitch!"
Datak Tarr and Samir Pandey sit restlessly in their cages awaiting their inevitable doom. Samir tries to keep his spirits up, and tells Datak about how he once spent six months locked up in a cage, which was a worse situation than this as he was all alone. Samir say that it was Joshua Nolan who rescued him, and is confident that Nolan will save him again. He continues to talk about faith, which irritates Datak to the point of saying, "Will faith prevent me from pissing into your cage?", to which Samir meekly responds, "Please don't do that".
In Defiance, Irisa and Berlin sweep the streets looking for Omec. Berlin reminds the quasi-pacifistic Irisa that Nolan's orders are "shoot to kill". Irisa thinks that these other Omec might be able to be reasoned with and that they should try talking to them first. Berlin scoffs and asks her if she can teach her how to say, "Please don't eat me" in Omec.
Kindzi, Uno and Dos go into the cargo car to inspect their prisoners. Datak throws several sharp remarks in Kindzi's direction, stating that the poepl of Earth will not go down without a fight. He then asks how many Omec can she afford to loose before they can no longer sustain themselves. Kindzi answers Datak's insults by threatening to after Stahma.
"I'm sure we can all get along. They seem reasonable."
Amanda and Nolan go to Doc's office in search of evidence as to why she is working with the Omec. Amanda breaks down from all of the pressure, and blames herself for everything that has happened. She is ready to give up. Nolan leans down and offers words of encouragement, saying that the only thing he prayed for when he returned to Defiance was that she would still be mayor. Amanda leans in and the two share a kiss.
Back at the Omec feeding ground, the male Omecs are still hungry and are demanding more food. One of them commands Doc Yewll to bring them a native of Earth. Doc selects a redhead prisoner, who argues that Lambert should go instead. Datak offers himself in place of the "ginger" and begins taunting Doc Yewll, calling her a soulless empty being and a golem. "Wow...", she says, "You really want out of this cage, don't you?" Datak calms himself and pleads with her to select him. He cannot take the torture of waiting to die.
Act Three
"This is not my 'happy' face."
Stahma has Andina take her to the McCawley residence to see Alak. Alak is furious when he sees his mother walk through the door and gestures for her to leave. Stahma tells him that Datak is missing. She believes that Kindzi may have taken him as a means of striking at her through her family. This blows Alak's mind. If Kindzi is attacking members of the Tarr family just to torment Stahma, then she has as good as led the Omec right to his front door; to Luke's front door, he punctuates the statement with. Stahma realizes that her stress has made her act foolishly and she tells Alak and Andina to pack their things.
Back at the Omec camp, Doc Yewll leads Datak Tarr out to be eaten. Datak removes his own bindings and unsheathes a concealed blade housed within his bionic arm. He lunges at one of the circling Omec and manages to stab one in the head. As the others pause in shock, a cheer rises up from the cages, "Datak got one!" Datak then runs for his life. Doc Yewll loads the injured Omec, Tres, into a roller and begins heading back to her office. She says that a little bit of protoform will fix him right up.
"Looks like Mama got her groove back"
Amanda Rosewater and Joshua Nolan intercept Yewll's roller and stop her. Nolan pins her to the side of the vehicle and they ask her why she is working with the Omec. Yewll dodges the question, as she clearly cannot verbally betray Kindzi. She grabs an Omec stun baton and zaps Nolan, but Amanda manages to get a grip on her. Amanda notices the black stud on the back of Yewll's neck, which the Indogene claims is merely a mole that she has been meaning to have looked at. Amanda doesn't believe her, and rips the control stem out, causing Doc a tremendous amount of pain. After the stem is removed, Yewll mutters, "Thank God".
Once she convinces Nolan and Amanda that she is herself again and no longer being controlled by the Omec, she asks for Joshua's gun. She takes the weapon, opens up the back of her roller and shoots the injured Omec repeatedly in the face until he is dead. With no small measure of satisfaction she says, "Looks like Mama got her groove back".
Act Four
"I think I just pooed a little, but I'm alive!"
Stahma and Alak continue to argue. He doesn't cut her any slack for her past behavior, but she insists that it was never her intent to put her family in danger. Alak wants to believe her, but he cannot bring himself to trust anything she says. He is reminded of a childhood friend name Petek Keev of Yuke Liro whom Stahma forced him to beat up when he was only seven-years-old. Stahma begins crying. She kisses him goodbye and the leaves.
The Omec select Samir Pandey to be their next meal. They drag him out of the cargo car and throw him to the ground. He begins scrambling about praying aloud to God. Just as the slavering Omec prepare to descend upon him, Nolan, Amanda, Doc Yewll, Irisa and Berlin appear on the ridge and open fire. They succeed in killing all of the Omec present and save Samir's life. The frantic Samir is extremely grateful, and his prediction that Nolan would be the one to save him proves to be true.
Act Five
Baby: The other white meat.
Alak asks Andina if he should go after Stahma, but Andina tells him to forget out his mother. She comes in close, and the two share an uncomfortable kiss. Alak pulls away and tells her that he is not yet ready to get into a relationship. It is too soon after Christie. She tells him that she is willing to wait, and Alak asks her to call him by his actual name rather than Favi.
Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. Andina answers it and finds a beaten and collapsing Stahma. Stahma hoarsely shouts to her, "Run!", just as Kindzi enters the house right behind her. Alak immediately retreats to the bedroom to protect Luke. Stahma scrambles away and Andina comes in close to protect her loved ones. Kindzi grabs her by the throat and snaps her neck. She then catches up to the scrambling Stahma, who hides a toy doll so as to not reveal that there is a baby in the house. The effort is all for naught however, as Kindzi hears Luke suddenly start crying. She goes into the bedroom where Alak is holding Luke in one hand a gun in another. The bullets are ineffective and Kindzi grabs at the baby, backhanding Alak across the room. She stares down at the screaming infant with hunger in her eyes.
Cast
Principal Cast
Guest Stars
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Trenna Keating | Doc Yewll |
| Rainbow Sun Francks | Uno |
| Demore Barnes | Dos |
Co-Stars
Crew
Notes
- Defiance was created by Rockne S. O'Bannon, Kevin Murphy and Michael Taylor.
- This episode is rated TV-14 (LSV). It contains language, sexual situations and violence.
- This episode is included on the Defiance: Season Three Blu-ray home video collection.
- This episode had a viewership of 1.31 million people.
- The "previously on Defiance" recap is spoken by actress Jaime Murray.
- The title card score for this episode is an alternative piece of music than that used in previous episodes.
- There are at least thirteen people held prisoner by the Omec; all of whom were patients of Doc Yewll who went to see her for appointments.
Credits
- Co-executive producer Paul M. Leonard is credited as Paul Leonard in this episode.
- Actor Rainbow Francks is credited as Rainbow Sun Francks in this episode.
- Actor Raymond Ablack is credited as Ray Ablack in this episode.
Allusions
- Joshua Nolan makes a reference about eating spinach to regain strength while talking about Kindzi. This is an allusion to the character of Popeye, who was a cartoon figure featured in strips and animated projects by King Features Syndicate. One of the trademarks of the character was that he would eat a can of spinach in order to gain superhuman strength.
- Doc Yewll makes a reference to Charles de Gaulle in this episode. De Gaulle was a French politician who served as the President of France from 1958 to 1969.
- Joshua Nolan makes reference to T'evgin in this episode. Kindzi and Dos also refer to him. He is called the All-Father by the Omec.
- Samir Pandey makes reference to the last time he was held prisoner in a cell, and that it was Joshua Nolan who had rescued him. This took place in "History Rhymes".
- The photograph that Alak Tarr holds towards the end of the episode is of Rafe McCawley and Christie McCawley. Christie was Alak's wife and the mother of Luke Tarr. Rafe was Alak's father-in-law. Rafe was gunned down by Rahm Tak's men in "The Last Unicorns" and Christie had her throat slit by Stahma Tarr in that same episode.
- Alak Tarr makes reference to Pilar McCawley in this episode. Pilar was the mother of Christie McCawley, and apparently accused Stahma of being a classic narcissist. Pilar was shot and killed by Joshua Nolan in "The Broken Bough".
- Alak Tarr makes reference to Petek Keev in this episode. Petek Keev was a sickly Castithan boy with Asthma from Yuke Liro and a childhood friend of Alak Tarr. Alak's mother however, felt that Petek was nothing more than a miserable little runt, whose presence only served to make Alak look bad. At Stahma's urging, Alak was forced to beat up Petek Keev and then laughed at him for being upset by his own actions.
- Repeated references are made to T'evgin in this episode. T'evgin was the former leader of the Omec people and the father of Kindzi. Kindzi killed him in episode 3x11, "Of a Demon in My View" (although she blames his death on Stahma in this episode). The death of T'evgin is shown in the episode recap.
- Samir Pandey refers to Joshua Nolan as "The Butcher" in this episode. Nolan earned himself the nickname "The Butcher of Yosemite" due to this actions during the Pale Wars. For a brief period, a piece of ArkTech in his brain caused hallucinations wherein he found himself speaking to the "Butcher" side of himself.
- Joshua Nolan refers to Rahm Tak in this episode. Rahm Tak was the rogue Castithan leader of a Votanis Collective contingent bent on taking control of Defiance, and slaughtering its human population. Rahm Tak died in an explosion set off by Datak Tarr in the aptly titled eighth episode from this season, "My Name is Datak Tarr and I Have Come to Kill You".
Trivia
- Lambert and Doc Yewll are the first characters to appear in this episode. Lambert is the first character with speaking lines.
- Other than Kindzi, all of the Omec characters in this episode are named by numbers 1-5 in Spanish: Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro, Cinco.
Inconsistencies
- While arguing with Alak Tarr, Stahma Tarr says, "Oh for God's sake". Although all of the Tarrs are well-versed in American culture and its language, it is highly unlikely that Stahma would invoke the Christian God. Instead, she would have invoked the Casti deity, Rayetso.
Index
Characters
- This is the tenth appearance of Kindzi. She appeared last in "Of a Demon in My View".
- This is the eleventh appearance of Lambert. He appeared last in "Where the Apples Fell".
- This is the second appearance of Uno. He appeared last in "Of a Demon in My View".
- This is the second appearance of Dos. He appeared last in "Of a Demon in My View".
- This is the second and final appearance of Tres. He appeared last in "Of a Demon in My View".
- This is the first and only appearance of Quatro. She is killed in this episode.
- This is the first and only appearance of Cinco. He is shot and killed in this episode.
- This is the ninth and final appearance of Andina; killed by Kindzi in this episode. She appeared last in "Of a Demon in My View".
- This is the first and only appearance of the scared Irath woman. She is brutally killed in this episode.
- This is the first, and to date, only known appearance of the redhead prisoner.
- This is the first and only appearance of Jormir, who is the Liberata that is forcibly fed to the Omec.
- This is the seventh appearance of Luke Tarr. He appeared last in "The Beauty of Our Weapons".
Races
- There are seven members of the Castithan race who appear in this episode, not counting unnamed background extras in Darby Square. Four of them are named characters: Datak Tarr, Stahma Tarr, Alak Tarr and Andina. There are also three unnamed Castithans, along with Datak, who are prisoners of the Omec: 2 female and 1 male.
- There are two Liberata seen in this episode. Their gender is unknown. One is a prisoner of Kindzi to be fed to the Omec, whose name is Jormir. The other is a Defiance resident watching the sleep-pods descending from the sky (Note: It is believed that Jormir might be male). Doc Yewll makes reference to a man named Freddy the Liberata, who was a patient she was on her way to treat before being stopped by Nolan and Amanda.
- Kindzi, Uno and Dos are the first Omec seen in this episode. There are six Omec seen in this episode in total, not including T'evgin from the episode recap. Kindzi and Quatro are both female, while the other four are male.
- There are three Irathient characters featured in this episode, not including background people seen at Darby Square. The only named Irathient is Irisa Nyira. The other two are both prisoners of the Omec, and are both female. One survives, but the other is the first prisoner eaten by Kindzi, Uno and Dos.
- Mixed heritage: There is only one character of mixed heritage seen in this episode of Defiance and that is Luke Tarr. Luke is half-human and half-Castithan. He is the son the Castithan Alak Tarr and the late human Christie McCawley.
- There are six human characters featured in this episode, five of which are named characters, and three of which are main characters. They are Joshua Nolan, Amanda Rosewater, Jessica Rainer, and the Omec prisoners, Lambert, Samir Pandey and the unnamed redhead prisoner.
Glossary
- Aleeas: Aleeas is an Omec word. It seems to refer to the highest female authoritative figure in a colony. Translated to English, it means All-Mother. Members of the Omec race, particularly Uno and Dos have referred to Kindzi as both Aleeas and All-Mother.
- Favi: Favi is an honorific used in the Castithan culture. It is a gender-neutral term of respect used when addressing members of a Liro. The term is applied as a prefix to an individual's surname. Andina refers to both Stahma Tarr and Alak Tarr as Favi. Alak encourages her to call him by his proper name.
- Gapoliraaz ritual: This is a funeral tradition in the Omec culture, which translates as "The Taking of Power". When an Omec commander dies, his children eat his vital organs and gain his strength.
- Rayetso: Rayetso is a Castithan deity, honored within the religious tradition of Shirivanawo. Castithans often invoke Rayetso's name in prayer, or during ritual service. Datak Tarr says "Rayetso" while in captivity.
- Waho: Waho is a Casti word which means "love". It is used as a term of endearment. While trying to mend the relationship between herself and her son, Stahma Tarr referred to Alak Tarr as "My Waho".
Quotes
- Amanda Rosewater: Thousands of Omec, and you didn't tell us.
- Stahma Tarr: T'evgin threatened me. I had no choice.
- Amanda Rosewater: Bullshit! You could've come to me. We might have had a chance to stop them before it became a full-blown invasion.
....
- Kindzi: We need more food. Bring out another one.
- Doc Yewll: You might want to keep your voice down. The key to effective mass murdering is to keep your victims in the dark as long as possible.
....
- Joshua Nolan: We can beat 'em.
- Amanda Rosewater: Can we?
- Joshua Nolan: Of course we can. Hell, wouldn't feel like home if we weren't on the verge of annihilation.
....
- Joshua Nolan: Maybe she's been eating her spinach.
....
- Joshua Nolan: You weren't in control of your actions.
- Doc Yewll: So what? People died because of me.
- Joshua Nolan: Know the feeling. Now get over it and move on. We got a war to fight.
....
- Datak Tarr: Yewll, answer me, you shyster!
- Doc Yewll: A shyster is a disreputable lawyer. I'm a disreputable doctor.
....
- Doc Yewll: Okay, then, wiggle your piggies.
- Lambert: Piggies are what you call toes, not fingers.
- Doc Yewll: Is English your first language?
- Lambert: No.
- Doc Yewll: Then don't correct me.
- Lambert: Isn't English your first language?
- Doc Yewll: If you have to keep track, you can't call yourself fluent.
- Lambert: Wait, you know I don't like needles.
- Doc Yewll: Then hold your ankles and think of Charles de Gaulle.
....
- Samir Pandey: I know that because of faith. Faith is a very important quality for a long-term prisoner. Faith gets you through the rough patches, and--and faith keeps despair far, far away.
- Datak Tarr: Do you suppose faith will prevent me from pissing into your cage?
- Samir Pandey: Please don't do that.
....
- Kindzi: You're Stahma's mate.
- Datak Tarr: I'm also the last person you'll see before you die.
....
....
- Samir Pandey: Samir: Dear -- dear God, if you are real, sorry that I didn't believe in you. I swear I believe in you right now.
....
- Meh Yewll: Looks like Mama got her groove back.