'Defiance' recap: 'A Well Respected Man'

Even in Defiance, pimpin' ain't easy. Courtesy Syfy
BY MELISSA HARKNESS


Last week saw Irisa rediscover her Irathient heritage while introducing some daddy issues between her and Nolan. This week we get to see more family drama in Defiance. This time it's Mayor Amanda and her little sister Kenya, with a little McCawley action on the side.

Well Sheriff Carter, I mean Lawkeeper Nolan, has done it again. He busts some Castithan gun runners pimping it up through town. They were smuggling guns into town for the Votanis Collective due to a secret deal between the town council and Datak. The Council didn't think that Mayor Amanda really needed to know about it; I mean, she's only the mayor right? This lack of knowledge leads to Datak's proclamation that the deal is over and he's keeping their deposit.

While the Council is getting this good news, Nolan has been taking a dinner break ... with Kenya. In fact, they've been getting along so well that Kenya has decided to forgo payment, because Nolan is "fun." Amanda walks in right after the fun is over and seems a bit perturbed by it all. This relationship causes some friction between Amanda and her little sister. You saw this coming, right?

Back on the job, Kenya has to chase down an errant prostitute who stole from a customer and ends up in the wrong side of town. The two are abducted by Datak's Bioman, Ulysses. He's been stealing people off the street to be used to produce a drug called The Blue Devil. The abductees are terrified and then their “adrenal fluid” is drained. A human chemist (played by Robin Dunne of Sanctuary fame) is in charge of this particular little operation. He recognizes Kenya immediately and verbally abuses the Bioman, who seems a little hurt by this harsh treatment. The big blue behemoth was only supposed to pick up junkies and other nobodies, not the Mayor's sister. Oh well, the girls are put in “The Maze” to commence the terrifying part of the procedure before he and Ulysses leave town.

Nolan and Amanda pay Datak a little visit. It is unpleasant as all things involving Datak are. Datak claims to have no idea what has happened to Kenya, and says whatever Ulysses has done, it was not with his permission. Amanda tries to play up Datak's recent elevation in status to gain his assistance, but it backfires and he refuses to help. But sneaky little Stahma has a plan. She follows after Amanda and slyly suggests that if Amanda appoints Datak to an open Council seat, he'll locate Kenya posthaste. She also tells a charming story of how Datak likes to also visit the Need/Want and avail himself of the Night Porters, aka prostitutes.

She finds it touching that whenever Kenya sees Stahma in the street, she hugs her tight and thanks her for sharing her husband with them. Eww, I think there should be less touching, not more. Anyway, Amanda isn't an idiot and agrees. This puts Nolan and Datak hitting The Hollows together to track down the errant Bioman. It doesn't take long to get ugly, but Nolan handles himself well which only disgusts Datak more. An informant quickly tells them where Ulysses is hiding.

Proving she can take care of herself, Kenya wakes from her drugged hallucinations in time to rescue herself and kill the chemist with a broken bottle. Don't worry, Nolan gets to save the damsel too. He and Mayor Amanda show up just in time to shoot Ulysses as he starts to smite little Kenya down. It doesn't take her very long to get back to work after all this excitement. Back at the Need/Want, she tries to pass on her Saint Finnegan (the patron saint of lost children) medal to the young prostitute who started all this trouble; she finds that it's really Saint Christopher and there is no Saint Finnegan! It turns out that their mother abandoned them and Amanda lied about it to spare her feelings. She gave her the necklace and made up the story instead of her telling her the truth about good old mom. Ah, family. This fixes everything and they hug it out.

Not to be left out of the family drama, Rafe and his son have been having some issues as well. Rafe promised Quentin he could have Luke's mineshaft but he shut it down when he found the gold medallion hidden in Luke's room. In typical father fashion, he has neglected to tell Quentin this bit of information. Quentin gets his middle-child psychosis going full steam and accuses his father of not loving him. This has the desired effect, and Rafe proclaims his admiration for poor Quentin and then lets him in on on the secret. They take a trip to the L7 mineshaft and find a pretty cave painting on the wall. It appears to be drawn by one of the Votan races and depicts the gold medallion in the center. Looks like they may have found The Key that Former Mayor Nicky has been searching for all this time.

Keeping to her bargain, Amanda introduces the rest of the Council to their newest member. Some of the council members don't seem very happy to see Datak, though. Stahma sits in the waiting room like a dutiful wife, working on some arts and crafts while she waits. Examining her closely, Nolan finally comes to the conclusion that she is the snake he should be watching. She smiles beatifically as she continues weaving her web-like art with some wicked looking finger needles, and finally comments that he's sweet for thinking so.

You know, I'm not sure Nolan is a match for Stahma Tarr. I'm not sure anyone is.

The next episode of Defiance, "The Serpent's Egg," airs Monday May 13 at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.