Defiance: A Well Respected Man

When last we left the good folks of Defiance, the Hellbugs had been contained and the golden bear claw of Antioch had been found though there was some discussion as to whether it really was a fritter but no matter.

Nolan and Irisa bust a couple of the most hopeless Irathient hoodlums ever for gun running and one would think that the town council would be overjoyed by this but...no. This was actually an approved scheme to get Votan weapons into Defiance to defend against the ever-present attack of the Volge as the stasis field is, well, no more. Any guesses who the middleman is? Go on, take a 'stab' at it. No? Very well, Datak, he of the New Wave band Albino Butthurt, coordinated the purchases which Amanda's pet Lawkeeper put a stop to and the council is quite put out about it. Amanda rightly asks well how was I supposed to know if you don't tell me?! And is roundly scolded by Rafe that it was 'need to know' and she didn't need to know. Um. 'kay.

After a long day of being the hard-charging Lawkeeper, Nolan goes for a little R and R courtesy of Kenya and her duct tape bra of wonder. She's wookin' per nub and so ratchets up their relationship by comping his ride.

Amanda's bad day is about to get worse when a citizen stops her on the street complaining about how her husband as been availing himself of Kenya's charms. When Amanda tells her it's perfectly legal and maybe she ought to check herself, the woman pulls the 'what would your mother think!' line that sends Amanda into a flashback of her and her mother scavenging a burnt out bus during an attack and comforting a very young Kenya with the medal of 'St. Finnegan' (patron saint of brothels and booze). She comes back to the present and completely bitchslaps the bitch. Amanda dear, I know that you are new to this 'mayor' thing but one does not usually strike one's constituents when one will have to ask for their vote. Just a thought.

Now completely wound up, Amanda bursts into Kenya's room and loudly berates her for her choice in careers because let's share the misery people! After ogling a shirtless Nolan first of course because:  priorities. Amanda departs in high dudgeon and Kenya is informed of a theft from a client by one of her workers. Girlfriend takes off into the sketchy part of town with the duct taped wonder close behind. She's looking to score a hit when Kenya arrives to drag her back but they are both interrupted by the arrival Ulysses - the bioman Nolan fought and immobilized when he arrived in town. Apparently Ulysses holds grudges and so takes the ladies captive and throws them into the unmarked van.

As it's not an episode without daddy issues, Quentin and Rafe nearly come to blows in the mine when Quentin wants to explore L7 where Luke had been working. Rafe forbids him and Quentin calls him out that Dad just doesn't trust in him like he did Luke. Quentin leaves, not in anger but in sadness and if Rafe ever wrote a book called, 'Be An Awesome Parent By Always Doing the Exact Opposite of What I Do' he'd make his fortune. Again.

Amanda realizes that Kenya is missing and they track her to Ulysses. Who is employed by Datak so this should go over swimmingly. And indeed, Datak refuses to help find Kenya as he has been insulted - Insulted!- by the complete lack of respect afforded to him after so nobly assisting the town by coordinating weapons purchases. Never mind that he knifed Brave Sir Robin and left him as a doormat for the Lawkeepers.  Stahma catches up with Amanda to help and suggests that as there is an open council seat, maybe she could appoint Datak and soothe the butthurt with a show of respect as no one wants anything bad to happen to Kenya as everyone in town loves her. Stahma is calm and diffident but her eyes, oh her eyes. They are dead eyes, like dolls' eyes.

The next day is opposite day as now Nolan and Datak are buddy buddy cops getting information on Ulysses's operation from various sectors. Amazingly enough, Datak is the rational and thoughtful one with his finger on the pulse of the town; clearly this is someone you want on your side. If only he wasn't such a raging fuckwad the other 95% of the time.

Turns out that when you are hard-pressed for drugs in the apocalyptic future, necessity is the mother of invention. Or at least syringes and Chem 101 gear to harvest adrenaline. The lab rat Miko is understandably apoplectic at the sight of Kenya because the Mayor's missing sister is kind of a big thing but eh, no time to quibble about morals now. Kenya awakes locked in a room and rouses the other girl. They make a break for it, being covert and sneaky to avoid the Volge patrolling the corridors and it totally would have worked except for the whole breathing really really loudly in small confined spaces piece. She has girlie grab hold of her St. Finnegan's medal to realize, that wait, this isn't real because she dropped that outside Not So Good Humor Truck of Terror. She comes to and removes the needle that was extracting the adrenaline from her brain and it is all very Matrix-like. She whacks Miko on the head with a flask and being either extraordinarily lucky (or doomed - depending on your point of view) a piece of glass cuts Miko's jugular which enrages Ulysses 'Oh My God, You Killed Miko!' To the surprise of absolutely no one, Nolan, Irisa, Deputy Tommy and Amanda arrive and rescue Kenya.

Quentin and Rafe mend their relationship over talk and the golden bear claw and Rafe confesses that he already lost Luke and Christie, he can't lose Quentin too. They will explore L7 - and get answers about what Luke was up to - together. What's gonna work? Teamwork.

Kenya, in a fit of generousness, did not fire Thievy McRunaway. No, she's still employed and Kenya calls her over to give her the medal of St. Finnegan - the patron saint of lost children. Thievy takes one look at it and calls it what it is: St. Christopher, the patron saint of lost things explaining that she had been raised by nuns and okay, fine. We'll go with it. Catholic education can send one over the edge. Deducing that Amanda may not have been exactly truthful with her about their mother, she goes for answers. Turns out, all those years ago when Mommy Dearest and Amanda were scavenging, there was an attack. Mom panicked and ran, insisting that Kenya could find them later when Amanda protested leaving her little sister behind. Mom basically said 'peace out' and hightailed it out of there right quick. Amanda took the medallion of St. Christopher and not knowing anything about it, gave it the name of the man wearing it: Finnegan. Rather than being pissed at being lied to for so many years that their mother was dead and wanted Kenya to have the medallion, Kenya's tearfully amazed that Amanda would come back for her. Um, because you're my sister dummy.

Down in the mines, Rafe turns off the safety bars and he and Quentin enter L7. They come upon paintings featuring the golden bear claw and I had no idea that 21st century St. Louis had hieroglyphics but hey! The show is both fun AND educational.

Amanda introduces the newest member of the council and it's none other than our good buddy Unstable Albino Vampire Datak! So she did take Stahma's 'suggestion' proving once again that Stahma is Puppet Master Extraordinaire. And only Nolan seems to have realized this: the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

So: we've had illegal arms shipments, underground drug labs and political intrigue. All we need is a hooker with a heart of gold and....oh. Wait. Never mind. But! Where is Former Mayor Nicki? Why did she resign? Is anyone going to fix that stasis field? And how best to eat that bear claw? Questions for next week I suppose.