Defecation/Dumbinion CANCELLED!

[Joelist]

The thing is no marathon is really needed. Because they have not explained the backstory properly there is really nothing to catch up on.

If what you caught was the season premiere then I can save you time. Someone in the show's braintrust decided they needed to make the show more focused. So in the course of this premiere and the finale last season they engaged in wholesale slaughter of characters. As a result, the main characters have been whittled down to:

Nolan
Irisa
The Mayor
Datak Tarr
Stahma Tarr

And we're down to two running stories:

1) Preventing the Votnais Collective from overrunning Defiance
2) Getting the rare mineral mined by the Omec without also letting them power up their ship and turn Earth into their personal cattle herd.

Everything else is peripheral. Ironically if they had a properly developed show universe to give context to what you see on the screen they actually have the pieces in place for a decent show.

 

[Overmind One]

The thing is no marathon is really needed. Because they have not explained the backstory properly there is really nothing to catch up on.

If what you caught was the season premiere then I can save you time. Someone in the show's braintrust decided they needed to make the show more focused. So in the course of this premiere and the finale last season they engaged in wholesale slaughter of characters. As a result, the main characters have been whittled down to:

Nolan
Irisa
The Mayor
Datak Tarr
Stahma Tarrr

And we're down to two running stories:

1) Preventing the Votnais Collective from overrunning Defiance
2) Getting the rare mineral mined by the Omec without also letting them power up their ship and turn Earth into their personal cattle herd.

Everything else is peripheral. Ironically if they had a properly developed show universe to give context to what you see on the screen they actually have the pieces in place for a decent show.

No more whorehouse? What happened to the young cast members like the DJ dude? What about the mining dude (Native American)?. I hate this dumb show.

 

[shavedape]

I was thinking of having a Defecation marathon (OMG that sounds so wrong) to catch up so I can join the critique but the ep I happened to catch at this moment is too uninspiring.

Edit:

They just introduced Linda Hamilton and had her do the "Come with me if you want to live" cliche.

Yes, the show is uninspiring, even in terms of raising one's ire. The only thing that the current SyFy Friday night line-up "inspires" is indifference. Kinda makes you miss the good old days of SGU. At least that show made you feel something. Granted the feeling it generated was nausea, but at least it was something.

And yeah, I just caught Linda Hamilton's "Come with me if you want to watch me smoke an entire pack of cigarettes and quaff a fifth of brandy in under and hour" cliche. Good to know she's still finding work.

 

[Joelist]

No more whorehouse? What happened to the young cast members like the DJ dude? What about the mining dude (Native American)?. I hate this dumb show.

Whorehouse very much in the background. DJ dude (son of the Tarrs) is a prisoner of the Votanis Collective. The mining family are all dead. I told you they engaged in a wholesale cleanout.

 

[Overmind One]

I was thinking of having a Defecation marathon (OMG that sounds so wrong) to catch up so I can join the critique but the ep I happened to catch at this moment is too uninspiring.

Edit:

They just introduced Linda Hamilton and had her do the "Come with me if you want to live" cliche.

Really? They actually went there? Linda is there for name recognition. She must be desperate. She is 58 years old but looks 65. My face is still wrinkle free and I am 55.

 

[Joelist]

We should note that Nolan killed her later on. Her character was Rafe's psycho ex wife. So another character bites the dust.

Now the Tarr's are back in town as VC spies (because the VC has their son). It was a watchable episode but raised questions about the basic intelligence of some of the characters. For example:

a) Why don't Datak and Stahma tell Nolan (especially after he rescues their grandchild) about the VC holding their son and such? After the covert op we see them pull to raid the VC encampment I think they could execute a rescue operation.

b ) Related question: why would Datak and Stahma cooperate? Do they REALLY think the sadistic VC commander won't just kill their son once they are of no further use? And them as well once he has Defiance?

c) Why deal with the Omec at all? Every Votan in town is warning about them. So just kill them. They don't really need them to mine the ore because the tunnel to the ore is already present.

 

[shavedape]

We should note that Nolan killed her later on. Her character was Rafe's psycho ex wife. So another character bites the dust.

Now the Tarr's are back in town as VC spies (because the VC has their son). It was a watchable episode but raised questions about the basic intelligence of some of the characters. For example:

a) Why don't Datak and Stahma tell Nolan (especially after he rescues their grandchild) about the VC holding their son and such? After the covert op we see them pull to raid the VC encampment I think they could execute a rescue operation.

b ) Related question: why would Datak and Stahma cooperate? Do they REALLY think the sadistic VC commander won't just kill their son once they are of no further use? And them as well once he has Defiance?

c) Why deal with the Omec at all? Every Votan in town is warning about them. So just kill them. They don't really need them to mine the ore because the tunnel to the ore is already present.

RE: Rafe's crazy ex wife, I thought Nolan says at the end of the episode that hopefully she's gone for good, meaning even though he shot her she could still be alive. (I can't remember exactly how he put it but it was something like that.)

Also, the rift between Irisa and Nolan over her refusal to kill is just dumb. It's really bad writing in my opinion. Even if she now finds killing to be repellent she has to know that leaving the VC leader alive will only lead to more death for everyone in the long run. Nolan even said as much even though he really didn't need to point out the obvious to someone with a functioning brain.

 

[Joelist]

Also, the rift between Irisa and Nolan over her refusal to kill is just dumb. It's really bad writing in my opinion. Even if she now finds killing to be repellent she has to know that leaving the VC leader alive will only lead to more death for everyone in the long run. Nolan even said as much even though he really didn't need to point out the obvious to someone with a functioning brain.

Remember who he was talking to. and yes the whole Irisa refusing to kill - especially in this universe - is weird and dumb.

 

[Tripler]

I drove by today . All the stars personal wagons are somewhere else and there stupid over packed tour bus is gone . Guess another shoot in the wilderness ...
I've yet to catch a glimpse of one of the actors ... They must freak when they come to this location . It's a fricken hell hole ... Hells Angels bike repair garage just a 100' away from Defiance's set ...

 

[Joelist]

Last episode got a whopping 880,000 viewers and a .16 demo rating. Fading, fading away.

 

[Overmind One]

Last episode got a whopping 880,000 viewers and a .16 demo rating. Fading, fading away.

The 880,000 wont kill them (right away), but the 0.16 demo will . Helix dropped to less than half that before the cancellation decision was made. 0.16 in the 18-49 demo is a death sentence.

 

[shavedape]

Last episode got a whopping 880,000 viewers and a .16 demo rating. Fading, fading away.

With the production costs verses numbers like these I don't see how the show can last much longer.

 

[shavedape]

The 880,000 wont kill them (right away), but the 0.16 demo will . Helix dropped to less than half that before the cancellation decision was made. 0.16 in the 18-49 demo is a death sentence.

Wasn't SGA pulling over 1M per episode yet it still got the axe? It's an interesting comparison in terms of budgets, productions costs and ratings. Makes one wonder why DEFECATION is still on when it's pulling such lousy numbers verses the production costs for the damn thing.

 

[Jim of WVa]

Wasn't SGA pulling over 1M per episode yet it still got the axe? It's an interesting comparison in terms of budgets, productions costs and ratings. Makes one wonder why DEFECATION is still on when it's pulling such lousy numbers verses the production costs for the damn thing.

SGA was not canceled by Syfy; it was canceled by Brad Wrong.

 

[Overmind One]

Wasn't SGA pulling over 1M per episode yet it still got the axe? It's an interesting comparison in terms of budgets, productions costs and ratings. Makes one wonder why DEFECATION is still on when it's pulling such lousy numbers verses the production costs for the damn thing.

YES on the bolded. This show has the game going and also it is stimulating music sales. It has a revenue stream in the form of contributary fees from Sony (for the PS3), and from Microsoft for the Xbox. The game and the show are treated as a single property. Plus you have Trion to whine to for funding.

But the game has gone to seed. I paid for the game, but now it's free to play now. I give it this season before it bites the dust.

 

[Overmind One]

SGA was not canceled by Syfy; it was canceled by Brad Wrong.

CORRECT. In fact, Syfy wanted more Atlantis. Brad and Cooper wanted to drop SGA for SGU and that is exactly what they did. But the really shitty thing they did was that they created SGU specifically as a net to snare all of the soon-to-be-orphaned NuBSG fans. He and Cooper saw that coming and they wanted to take advantage of an opportunity they thought they had. For Stargate, the dark bluish corridors of Destiny and the tinkling piano and sex in broom closets was something "new and different". But for those who had watched Battlestar Galactica (NuBSG), it was all "dumb and familiar".

Brad Wrong is the reason Atlantis was cancelled, and after the shameful sinking of SGU he disappeared. Word has it he escaped into an alternate timeline.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Ummmmmmmmmmmm

Syfy left the decision to MGM/Brad Wright/Robert Cooper, it was happy to support either, but it could not support both. It is a bit of a misnomer to say that Syfy wanted more SGA. It just wanted a show that would get the numbers.

EDIT:
Syfy did offer to support both, but both would have to pull their own weight. Had to add that for accuracy.

 

[shavedape]

I just don't see how 880,000 can be enough to legitimately keep this one on the air. It has to be done after this season. It would be beyond hokey if it wasn't axed with these kinds of numbers. As it is it's hokey enough that it even got a third season.

 

[Joelist]

Don't forget it averaged around 1.5 million and a .4 demo last season. That was how it got renewed.

 

[Tripler]