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| Courtesy Syfy |
I know this "Defiance" recap is late but I was on vacation with some of the crappiest wifi ever and you know what? That's not important. I'm back so let's do this.
After a hard night at the club, one of Stahma's handmaidens, Jalien, sees Christie in the remnants of the white Castithan make-up. She'd be more interested but she's got a hot date with Datak who is getting off on her chanting 'Stahma'. That's apparently a bad omen as he awakes from his drunken stupor to find the girl dead on his doorstep missing her eyes. And good morning to you sir! You know how that old saying is that a best friend will help you hide the bodies? Yeah, Doc Yewll isn't that friend but she'll give you a drink and an 'atta boy; I have faith in you.' She is still my spirit animal.
Irisa is drawing a man in her journal and sharpening her knife...to slice her wrist. As we know, Izru isn't done with her so it's clearly not a suicide attempt. It is however, a gateway to visions to complete her drawing. In the midst of this, Rynn appears and asks for help in finding Sukar when she notices Irisa's drawing and wonders why Irisa's drawing her companion, Cai. Cai is less than thrilled to be left alone with Irisa and her creepy stare but that's not important; what is important is that Stahma can't find her handmaiden and asks Nolan for help. Nolan suspects Irisa after the Bertie incident and we've got ourselves a great big pot of shtako now.
Up in the Arch, Treasure Doll is broadcsting with Alak when Christie brings lunch and he sees her with the Casithan courtship gem she received from the undercover Mercado in the club. He's pissed, she's guilty and Treasure Doll is enjoying the hell out of this. Then we learn how Treasure Doll ran away at 13 and reinvented herself as DJ Whore so you should totally continue to go to the club as it makes you feel strong and sexy and powerful. Alas, Christie is too innocent and naive to see that taking advice from Treasure Doll is a very bad idea.
Datak did find a friend to help him bury Jalien's body and it's Rafe who was selected. Oh goody. As one does with any good employee, Datak eulogizes her but as they're really out in the open, Rafe is very nervous. They didn't bring any tools so how will they bury her? Ah, internment by Hellbug. Well, that's one way of getting rid of a body I suppose.
In the mayor's office, Viceroy Mercado is visited by Amanda who wants to know why he sent Pottinger on a clerk's errand. Pottinger is a good front so what's the threat? He mumbles something I can't hear so I'll just assume it's because Pottinger's a douche. He offers her the role of acting mayor but only if she marches to the beat of the Earth Republic. That ain't happening so she's dismissed but hey, loved the private club by the way.
Datak tells Stahma about Jalien who looks about ready to collapse. They can't go to the lawkeeper as Datak would end up back in prison (oh darn) so they'll handle it internally as a family. Sure, this will go well. Nolan loves folks interfering with investigations.
Up in the Arch, Treasure Doll throws Christie under the bus, telling Alak where she got the gem. This is a very dangerous game she's playing and I kind of want Alak to throw her off the Arch.
Irisa finds Cai again and he's worried because Rynn is missing. They get Nolan involved and using his legendary tracking powers, finds boot scuff marks and drugs. Irisa continues to creep Cai out by now telling him that they are connected. Cai, you're not wrong.
Stahma and Datak bond over Jalien's death. The muscle though, is still behind Stahma and they are there for Jalien. Stahma decrees that for this, a truce is in effect but where is Alak? He's at the private club looking for his wife and sees her dancing with the cross-dressing Mercado. She came here for him, to show him she wanted to be more like a Castithan. She's tired of being belittled as 'just a human' and wants to show that she's as strong as Stahma which enrages Alak even more as that's not what he wants her to be at all. These two really could have benefited from some pre-marital counseling. Her coming here has shamed him but when she refuses to leave, he basically says to hell with you. Well, dinner shall certainly be awkward tomorrow night..
Back at Doc's clinic, a customer comes in for eyedrops. He's human but has pink irises, like Castithan eyes. Uh, what? Well, another doctor harvested the corneas from corpses. Man, fetishes get weird in the future. Giving him the drops, he leaves and she calls Datak. No worries, the dynamic duo is on the case. They track him down and expose him as a Votan crossdresser. The man is useless though, all he can say is that the doctor gets his eyes from cadavers. Or does he as in a shady back alley clinic, Rynn's up next to have her eyes harvested.
Nolan has Doc analyze the drugs which is a strong paralytic. He's suspicious of her as she's acting squirrelly but Indogenes are squirrelly by nature. She gives them a list of other surgeons in town with a one-armed 'raise the roof' and no charge for her services. Mercado is giving Christie advice - Castithans have great pride while humans are creatures of unending curiosity and want what we can't have. She can call him Favi and Favi when he calls her, he can call her 'Stahma'. (Bonus points if you started singing along there.)
Rynn's eyes are being harvested; one down, one to go when Nolan et al bust in; Irisa gets a knife in him but takes scissors to the heart in return. The doctor runs away but gets trapped by Datak and Rafe. He did it for the money of course! Remembering Stahmas' request, Datak makes the not-so-good surgeon die exquisitely by taking his eyes. And eye for an eye and all that. Nolan was tending to Irisa so he arrives at the end and realizes that Irisa has nary a scratch on her. If she's going to keep her secret, she's gonna have to do a lot better than that.
Alak is drinking despondently in the Need/Want and being served by Treasure Doll. Playing on his feelings, she purrs that Christie is the bad person for doing what she is and they should retire to her boudoir. No money though; all she wants is to be his everything.
While Rynn is being tended to by Doc Yewll, Cai runs out and is followed by Irisa. He just wants to get the hell outta Defiance but she grabs and kisses him. Awkward but a less messy way to jump-start a vision. She and Cai are together saying that it's time to seize the ship. The energy beings running the ship are sliced down they are surrounded by the energy which of course means that snogging is required. Jolted back to the present, Cai runs away and jumps on the first train out. They watch each other through the windows though as it leaves.
Back in the private club, Mercado is singing and Stahma and Datak perform funeral rites for Jalien while Rafe observes silently. Irisa and Nolan are fighting and Treasure Doll entertains Alak who is still looking like someone wrecked his favorite toy. Nolan finally sees what Irisa is hiding and she breaks down. The fate of the world is riding on the shoulders of a mentally unstable teenager so, no worries.
Tune in to to Syfy on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET for "Painted From Memory."