Defiance: Of a Demon in My View

"Of a Demon in My View" is the eleventh episode season three of the science fiction television series Defiance and the thirty-seventh episode of the series overall. It was directed by Thomas Burstyn with a script written by Nick Mueller. The episode first aired on Syfy on Friday, August 14th, 2015 at 9:00 pm.

Synopsis
Jessica "Berlin" Rainer is driving along Route 64 through Oklahoma City when she sees the flaming wreckage of a roller blocking the road. She stops and spies three dead raiders surrounding the vehicle. She climbs atop the overturned roller where she finds Irisa pinned down beneath a piece of metal. She helps to pry her free and asks where Nolan is. Irisa isn't sure who or what attacked the roller, but she knows that Nolan is alive. "I can feel him...", she tells Berlin.

Back in Defiance, Datak and Stahma play cards while waiting for T'evgin to arrive. Datak continues to make insulting barbs at Stahma for her relationship with the Omec. She tells him that T'evgin has earned her respect and affection, but her heart belongs only to her husband. This is enough to sooth Datak's ire... for now. At the Omec bunker, Kindzi has her father strapped to a table unconscious. She is slowly draining his blood in order to keep him weak. T'evgin revives long enough to tell Kindzi that she should just kill him. Kindzi kisses him and tells him that she loves him.

On the Oklahoma City highway, Berlin and Irisa survey the scene of the ambush. They inspect the dead raiders, but Irisa recognizes the animal-like wounds on the corpses and deduces that it was the Omec that ambushed the roller and abducted Nolan.

Joshua Nolan has been taken to Kindzi's place where she has Doc Yewll examine him. She wants the ArkTech in his brain removed, but Yewll reminds her that she tried that once already and failed. Kindzi scoffs and says that she'll perform the operation herself. Feeling as if the procedure will fail, Yewll bids Nolan goodbye and turns away. As soon as Kindzi begins the operation, Nolan begins convulsing. Miles away, Irisa can feel his pain due to the bio-link they share. Kindzi succeeds in removing the ArkTech and Irisa instantly recovers. She can no longer feel his connection. The operation however, is a success. With the ArkTech removed, Nolan no longer sees images of himself as the Butcher of Yosemite. Kindzi tells Nolan a false story about how she freed him from the Votanis Collective and that Irisa is safe and back in Defiance. Nolan's mind is too exhausted from the surgery to doubt her, and Kindzi uses her ability as an Enchanter to seduce him. Afterward however, Nolan begins to suspect Kindzi's motives and goes for a knife. Kindzi is faster than him though and incapacitates him with an electrical weapon.

Back at the Tarr residence, Datak Tarr assembles some of his old cronies together. He instructs them to guard the house and if necessary, sacrifice themselves should the Omec attack them. These men scoff at Datak's commands, citing that they know he was the one who killed Raiga Suhon, and that nobody is going to give their lives for a house full of traitors. Datak firmly states that he is confident that they will do the right thing when the time comes.

Berlin and Irisa make their way through the mines until they reach Kindzi and T'evgin's bunker. Kindzi greets them and lies about Nolan not being there. She implies that T'evgin was the one who ambushed the VC roller and extradited Nolan. Irisa and Berlin are skeptical, but Kindzi invites them to look around to see if she is lying. While Kindzi keeps close watch over Irisa and Berlin, Nolan manages to free himself. He makes his way to the Omec operating room and finds T'evgin. The Omec revives and Nolan works to free him from his bonds.

At the Tarr residence, Stahma has a heart-to-heart with Andina. Andina is saddened by the fact that she will never be more than a handmaiden, but Stahma encourages her to think positively and reminds her that one can elevate their station through marriage. This steers the conversation to Alak and the baby. Andina tells Stahma that if she continues to remain close to Alak, she might convince him to forgive her. Berlin returns to Defiance and goes to see Amanda Rosewater. She tells her that Nolan and Irisa never made it to Brazil and that the Omec are responsible for the ambush and are blaming it on Raiders. Amanda gathers materials together in order to properly fake Nolan and Irisa's deaths so that the VC won't come pounding on Defiance's door, looking for them. They go to the sight of the ambush and plant evidence, including Nolan's dog tags and Lawkeeper star.

Elsewhere, Datak Tarr finds Doc Yewll behind the back of a truck. He wants her to use her medical expertise to come up with a means by which they can kill a mature Omec. Yewll, still forced to obey Kindzi's orders, injects Datak with a serum that knocks him out.

Meanwhile, Kindzi returns to her med station to find Nolan freeing T'evgin. She throws him against a wall, but then Irisa appears on a catwalk behind them and opens fire. She comes down the steps, emptying her weapon at Kindz, but fails to hit her. She then throws a pick-axe in her direction, which Kindzi deftly avoids. The pick-axe was not for her however, but for T'evgin, who catches it with one hand and finishes chopping through the chains holding him down. T'evgin and Kindzi start fighting, while Irisa helps Nolan escape. T'evgin is greatly weakened, but is still a strong match for his enraged daughter. Ultimately, he gets the upper hand and holds a knife to her throat. He offers Kindzi mercy, but she uses this to her advantage and wrests the knife from him and plunges it into his throat. Though such an attack would normally be ineffective against T'evgin, he is greatly weakened from blood loss, thus the wound proves fatal. Although she wanted him dead, Kindzi stills howls in grief at seeing her father dead. Kindzi performs a ritual over his body, which involves cutting T'evgin open, pulling out his heart and then eating it. Doing so, gives Kindzi T'evgin's strength and durability as a fully mature Omec.

Kindzi then takes a transport pod back to the Tsuroz. She awakens several of her Omec brethren and declares that it is now time for the Dread Harvest. The ship is filled with human and Votan captives intended as food stock. Among them are Samir Pandey and Datak Tarr.

Credits

 * Gary Hutzel - Visual effects supervisor
 * Simonetta Mariano - Costume designer
 * Bear McCreary - Composer
 * Patrick McMahon - Editor, A.C.E.
 * Stephen Geaghan - Production designer
 * John Tarver, CSC - Director of photography
 * Michael D. Gibson - Producer
 * Bryan Q. Miller - Producer
 * Paula Yoo - Supervising producer


 * Paul Leonard - Co-executive producer
 * Anupam Nigam - Co-executive producer
 * Michael Nankin - Co-executive producer
 * Mark Winemaker - Executive producer
 * Todd Slavkin - Executive producer
 * Darren Swimmer - Executive producer
 * Amanda Alpert Muscat - Associate producer
 * Michael Freeman - Associate producer
 * Kari Drake - Executive story editor

Notes & Trivia

 * Defiance was created by Rockne S. O'Bannon, Kevin Murphy and Michael Taylor.


 * This episode is rated TV-MA.


 * "Of a Demon in My View" redirects to this page.


 * This episode is included on the Defiance: Season Three Blu-ray home video collection.


 * Actor Jesse Rath is not included in the main opening title credits 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.


 * Director of photography John P. Tarver is credited as John Tarver in this episode.


 * This is Thomas Burstyn's first work as a director in episodic television. He is normally a director of photography on Defiance. For this episode, the DP chores falls to John Tarver, CSC.


 * This episode marks the television debut of Nick Mueller, who is the script writer on this episode.


 * Actress Anna Hopkins is now listed in the main credits again. She has been absent since "My Name is Datak Tarr and I Have Come to Kill You".


 * Actor Rainbow Francks is also known in science fiction circles for his portrayal of Lieutenant Aiden Ford on the TV series Stargate Atlantis.


 * This is the third appearance of Samir Pandey. He appeared last in "History Rhymes". He makes a cameo appearance only in this episodes with no speaking lines.


 * This is the final appearance and death of T'evgin. He is stabbed in the throat and then has his heart ripped out and eaten by Kindzi. Friggin' Omecs.


 * This is the second and final appearance of Sturuje, who is the Castithan head of state for the Votanis Collective. He is killed by Kindzi's attack on the roller in the beginning of the episode.


 * This is the first appearance of Uno, Dos, and Tres. Their names are Spanish for One, Two, and Three.


 * This is the final appearance of the Butcher of Yosemite hallucination that Joshua Nolan experiences.


 * The flashback scene with Kindzi and T'evgin takes place in the Gliese 78.3 System in the Earth year 1978.


 * The card game that Datak Tarr and Stahma Tarr are playing is called Ivali, which is a Castithan version of the Earth game Poker.

Allusions

 * Datak Tarr's men make reference to Raiga Suhon in this episode. Raiga Suhon was a Sensoth enforcer who worked for the Tarr family in seasons one and two. He was killed by Datak and Stahma Tarr in "Doll Parts".


 * Stahma Tarr and Andina make reference to Alak Tarr in this episode. Alak is the son of Datak Tarr and Stahma Tarr. He has separated himself from his family and now lives with his son, Luke, at the McCawley residence. He appeared last in "Ostinato in White".


 * Christie McCawley is referenced by Andina in this episode. She is a human and the former wife of Alak Tarr. She was murdered by Stahma Tarr in "The Last Unicorns" when Stahma slit her throat with a charge blade.


 * "Chup" is a Castithan phrase used as an expletive. Sturuje uses it when he says to his driver, "Why the chup have we stopped?"


 * Irisa compares the wounds on the dead raiders to a series of recent animal attacks in Defiance. These attacks were actually committed by Kindzi in "Ostinato in White".


 * Kindzi refers to Joshua Nolan as her hiakem, which is an Omec term referring to an Enchanter's chosen pet, which is how she regards Nolan.


 * Kindzi describes Nolan's hallucination of seeing a shadow of himself as T'ovik nilusii, which means "Warrior echo" in the Omec tongue.


 * In the 1978 flashback, the song that T'evgin and Kindzi pick up over their receivers is "Rockin' Robin", which was recorded by singer Bobby Day in 1958.

Quotes

 * Doc Yewll: May I speak freely?
 * Kindzi: What?
 * Doc Yewll: I think it's you that's broken. I don't know if it's a result of a trauma, or if you're just a born sociopath, but there's a screw loose in that head of yours. And you know I have, uh, a higher tolerance for cruelty than most folks, but... what you did to your father, it's sick. You make me sick, and that's the truth.
 * Kindzi: Get out.

....
 * Jessica Rainer: I heard about Nolan shooting the Vice Chancellor, and I thought Amanda could use my help. Is it true, did he shoot her?
 * Irisa Nyira: He wasn't in his right mind.
 * Jessica Rainer: Oh... runs in the family.

....
 * Kindzi: My father has a soft spot for the lesser races, but I still think you're animals.

....
 * Stahma Tarr: You're trying to upset me.
 * Datak Tarr: Yes, well I'm bored. I have to pass the time somehow.

....
 * Amanda Rosewater: Did Conrad Von Bach kick you to the curb?

....
 * Datak Tarr: I've been looking for you everywhere.
 * Doc Yewll: Well I haven't been everywhere.

....
 * Kindzi: Your strength will become my own. And I swear this world will pay for coming between us.

....
 * Kindzi: I am speaking to you in the language of this new world. It is time to awaken and seize the world we were long ago promised. We must celebrate our divine right over all others. For it is their flesh that sustains ours. It is time for our Dread Harvest. Our moment to rise and conquer!