'Defiance' recap: 'Brothers in Arms'

Nolan gets a grip on Eddie's plan. Courtesy Syfy
BY MELISSA HARKNESS


After last week's snakes, guns and jailhouse sex it looks like we are getting treated to some pyrotechnics, massive rejection and a large green enema this week.

Eddie Braddock comes to town. He's an old war buddy of Nolan's who shows up looking for a Castithan named Pol Madis. He was a weapons designer during the Pale Wars. Here's where we get some pyrotechnics. Madis blows up some townsfolk trying to escape Eddie, but Nolan nabs him and throws him in jail. Curiously, when Doc Yewll comes to patch him up, he recognizes her as a compatriot of the war. She claims he is wrong, but we are left to wonder.

Nolan tries to explain to his old pal that Madis has to stand trial in Defiance for the people he hurt. Eddie argues, but ultimately appears to give in and therefore needs a drink and a prostitute. Luckily for him, Nolan knows just the place. It doesn't take long for Eddie to spot Kenya and proposition her. He notices that she and Nolan look like they have a thing, but Nolan insists that he would never get in the way of her work. And here's the rejection! So, Kenya being a businesswoman takes Eddie upstairs. Nolan is left to stare morosely at his drink. Little does he know that Kenya almost immediately claims to be double-booked and instead gives Eddie two other girls. She suggests they show him the six-legged monkey crawl. I really don't want to know.

Nolan isn't the only poor sod to feel the lash of rejection though. Tommy gets his share from Irisa. They are at the jail watching over Madis when Tommy suggests she come over to his place.

“What's at your place?” she asks.
“Me and a bed.” he replies.
Her response? “No.”

Ouch! She goes home to find Nolan sleeping on her floor. Her staring apparently wakes him up. Sounds like he usually spends the night at Kenya's, so this is unusual. He tells her that she was with Eddie instead. Irisa is not a fan of Eddie. She is informing Nolan of this when they hear an explosion in the distance. Looks like the weapons dealer is loose again. Nolan decides to give Eddie a gun so he can help recover the fugitive. They commence a door to door search. Madis is meanwhile in the market retrieving his briefcase full of goodies. He only leaves one body behind, so it could have been worse.

Connor Lange, a politician from Earth Republic pays Amanda a visit. One gets the feeling there's a history there. When flirting doesn't quite get him what he wants, he informs Amanda that soldiers are on the way to tear Defiance apart looking for Madis. Our pale fugitive moves fast though; he is currently paying Datak a visit. He arrives home to Madis whipping up a little home cooking in his kitchen. Datak gladly eats it and proclaims it delicious. Despite this affable gesture, he refuses to help Madis get to Brazil where the Votanis Collective is based. Disappointed, old Madis fiddles with a ring on his finger and Datak immediately doubles over in pain. Looks like he laced the food with one of his charming weapons.

As the search continues, Eddie finally lets Nolan know that Kenya didn't service him. He claims that he can tell she's really into Nolan. Happily for all of us, this conversation is cut short by their arrival at Datak's house. Datak does a very good job of being overly friendly and helpful and sending Nolan away. That wasn't suspicious at all! With the Lawkeeper gone, he and Madis head off down the dusty road to freedom. They chat along the way, and Datak worriedly learns that the weapons maker doesn't care about helping the Votanis Collective. He just likes to kill people.

Just as complete panic sets in, Nolan and Eddie come tearing up and force them off the road. Tommy and Irisa aren't far behind. With the bad guy caught and cuffed, Nolan sends a worried Irisa away to take Datak home. Nolan is actually going to let Eddie take Madis back to the Earth Republic for the reward. Only Madis himself lets the cat out of the bag. He informs Nolan that they don't want him for execution. They want him to build weapons for them.

Of course, Eddie knew this all along. At this alarming news, Nolan pulls out some awesome and shoots Madis in the head. As Eddie gapes at him, he says “It felt right.” Well, Eddie has had enough. He decides that if he can't get the bounty on Madis, he'll get the one on Nolan. Apparently Nolan has been a bad boy and is worth about 250,000 scrip. Alarmingly, Nolan agrees on one condition; Eddie has to tell them that Irisa is dead. As long as she's safe, it's okay. Looks like Eddie did some jail time for helping Nolan and Irisa escape before and now Nolan feels guilty. But the Earth Republic soldiers show up and have a fit that the fugitive is dead and want somebody to pay. Eddie steps in and claims he did it before Nolan can confess. They haul him off to the transport, where he pulls one of those charming little explosive packets out of his boot. I don't think he's going to be a prisoner for long.

So it's been a while since we've seen Nicky and learned anything about what conspiracy she's plotting. She happens upon Quentin sitting in the diner studying some geology books with those strange symbols from the mine. She now guesses he has the all important Artifact and quickly informs Mr Burch, aka Blue Spectacles Man. Quentin is the smart one in the family though, and knows she's fishing for something. He tells Rafe, who wants him to destroy the thing by throwing it into the pretty blue lava that's in the mine. Quentin does go down there, but his dead brother's ghost talks him out of doing it. There's nothing weird about that is there? Anyway, we do learn that in 1811, there was an earthquake in St. Louis. (There really was!) Quentin figures this is when the Artifact and those symbols were buried. Curious, that is well before the Votans appeared. Quentin interrupts Mr. Burch searching his house and with more urging from his dead brother, he chokes him to death. That's a shame. I really liked his glasses.

And there's one more piece of rejection to get through. Nolan heads over to the NeedWant and asks Kenya when she'll be available. She tells him that she won't be and that he's not her type. Nolan decides that he needs to go drink heavily and tell Irisa good old war buddy stories about Uncle Eddie.

Oh, and I promised you a fluorescent green enema didn't I? Well, that comes courtesy of Doc Yewll. Looks like that's the treatment for eating neurological weapons made by crazy Castithans. Frankly, I think Datak deserved it and more.

In case you've missed any episodes of Defiance, Syfy is airing a marathon on Saturday May 25 starting at 4 p.m. ET.

The next episode of Defiance, “Goodbye Blue Sky”, airs Monday June 3 at 9PM ET on Syfy.