Defiance: Season 1

In a future Earth largely devastated after lengthy war with alien invaders, Jeb Nolan and his adopted daughter Irisa live in the badlands, open areas that have no government. After an encounter with Spirit Riders, a roving motorcycle gang, they find themselves in the city of Defiance, formerly St. Louis. They have been at peace now for 15 years and the new mayor, Amanda Rosewater, wants to keep it that way. There are tensions in the community however particularly between the McCawleys and the Tarrs. When one of the McCawleys is killed, Nolan offers his services, for a fee, to track the killer. It all leads to a plot to invade Defiance.

Having located the traitor who brought down Defiance's force field, the residents must now prepare for the upcoming battle. Nolan retrieves the device he and Irisa recovered from the crashed spacecraft as it will provide the weapon they need to defeat the coming onslaught. It's left to Doc Yewll to get it operational before the attackers arrive. Old arguments and ill-feeling is set aside and everyone in the community bands together.

After the battle, the residents of Defiance count their dead. A Castithan, Elah Bandik, is to be cleansed - tortured to death - after running away from the fight. Nolan steps in to stop them but the mayor intervenes, continuing a policy of allowing all 8 races to follow their cultural traditions with respect to their own people. Amanda's assistant Ben - who blew up the stasis net - escapes. There's been an explosion at the McCrawley mine and it seems Ben is responsible. A team, including Rafe McCawley and Nolan, soon head underground where large tracts of old St. Louis still exists intact. Meanwhile Rafe is still upset at the prospect that his daughter Christie is going to marry Alak Tarr and she is now having second thoughts. Alak's mother Stahma has a chat with her.

Having helped fend off the attack the spirit riders now have access to the city. They do set people's nerves on edge however. Nolan meanwhile has a murder to solve after they find the remains of Dalton Taggart in the nearby woods. There's not much left of him but after a second citizen. Boyd Bowen, is butchered Nolan believes he was attacked by a particularly vicious creature known as hellbugs. After a second attack on Datak Tarr and his family, Nolan concludes that pheromones are being used to target people. He now not only has to find the hellbugs' nest but also the person using them as a weapon. Irisa's special abilities prove to be particularly useful.

After the body of Elah Bandik is left on his doorstep, Nolan goes after Datak Tarr with a vengeance. He starts by arresting two of Tarr's drug and gun dealers and seizing their goods. It turns out however the weapons were destined for the town's defenses with some of the councilors having kept that information from Amanda. Meanwhile, Amanda's sister Kenya is taken by Ulysses, who works for Talak, and is destined to be sold to the highest bidder. Datak denies any knowledge of what may have happened and refuses to help. Datak's wife Stahma has a suggestion for Amanda on how to get her husband's cooperation. Quentin McCawley argues with his father Rafe over whether he can work in shaft L7, which belonged to his dead brother Luke.

Nolan and Amanda head out on the overland express, a form of bus service that runs through Defiance every few weeks. Nolan is there to deliver Rynn to jail so she can serve her two year sentence. He's also there to protect a suitcase full of cash that Amanda is taking to Las Vegas to pay for the rail connection to Defiance. Once the bus is in the middle of nowhere it's hijacked leading to a standoff. Back in Defiance, Irisa takes a traveling salesman into custody who she is convinced is the man who tortured her as a child, She is intent on getting revenge though the evidence she has is slim at best.

Nolan welcomes an old army buddy, Eddie Braddock, who is now working as a bounty hunter. He's tracked Pol Madis, a Castithan weapons developer, to Defiance and now wants to take him to the Earth Republic where Madis will receive his just punishment and he would no doubt get a generous reward. After the Castithan escapes from his jail cell, Nolan and Eddie set out to recapture him. Amanda had already contacted the Earth Republic about Madis and when their representative Connor Lang arrives, he makes it clear that if they cannot find him, his forces will. Amanda for her part wants something in return for Madis also. Nicky Reardon meanwhile is showing a great deal of interest in the wall drawings Rafe McCawley recently showed his son Quentin.

Defiance is bombarded with razor rain, metal object falling from the sky as their orbit around the Earth deteriorates. Irisa has a vision and heads off to the badlands when she sees that Sukar is in danger. They arrive seemingly too late to save him but his funeral ceremony is something of a surprise. A resurrected Sukar is on a mission and takes Irisa with him. If he succeeds, it may be the end of the town. Christie McCawley meanwhile is worried about the Castithan bathing ritual for newlyweds where the entire family bathes together. Alak's mother Stahma calls on Kenya to arrange counseling for her son on women's sexuality. Nicky drops in on the McCawleys on the pretext of needing shelter from the bad weather.

Nolan and Jefferson decide to check out the Voltan ship that crashed just outside of town. They are more than just a bit shocked when they find American astronaut Gordon McClintock in suspended animation. McClintock is a hero of the war with the aliens but was believed to have died 40 years ago. Books have been written and movies have been made about his life. Doc Yewll examines him and he gets a clean bill of health. When McClintock attacks Amanda Rosewater in the middle of the night however, it's clear something is wrong. Irisa is still grieving Sukar's death and feels she no longer fits in. Meanwhile, Amanda gets an interesting job offer from the Earth Republic's Connor Lang. She also learns that her life may be in danger.

Plague come to Defiance in the form of an Irathic virus, a flu-like disease that is deadly to humans. The disease is spread through physical contact and Dov Yewll hopes that a vaccine developed by a colleague in the Bay area will arrive in enough time for them to contain its spread. The Irathians bear the brunt of the community's wrath and Amanda does her best to protect them but the town council votes to segregate all of them in the mines until the danger passes. Soon however, they realize that Earth Republic troops are stationed at the eastern exits to the town. By the time the vaccine arrives, Amanda and Nolan are both sick and the Irathians are prepared to go to war over their treatment. Meanwhile, Quentin visits Nicky to find out what really happened to his mother.

The time for Christie McCawley and Alak Tarr's wedding has arrived but Datak wants to call it off when Rafe tells him Christie has been cut out his will. Alak doesn't take the news very well. A human skeleton is found walled up in Kenya's bar and Tommy LaSalle recognize the dead man's ring as belonging to Hunter Bell, the bar's previous owner. He was also Kenya's husband. Bell had helped Tommy out when he first arrived in Defiance but disappeared about 7 seven years ago. It was also Tommy's first case after becoming a deputy and he was convinced it was murder but didn't have the evidence to prove it. Bell was a nasty character who treated Kenya very badly and Amanda had sworn to do something about it. Neither Kenya or Amanda will admit it however. Nolan is prepared to let sleeping dogs lie but when Jered the bartender is found murdered, he has little choice but to investigate. Many in Defiance had a motive to kill him however. Yewll and Nicky know exactly what is going on.

The residents of Defiance hold a wake for Nicky at Kenya's bar. Datak takes the opportunity to make political hay. Stahma confides in Kenya that losing the election would be a great shame for Datak and as such is he planning to kill Amanda. With the election only a few days away, the candidates hold a debate in the public square. A prank leads to a death and calls for Nolan to be dismissed and arrested. Datak gets his hands on Nolan's military record and publicizes it widely smearing the mayor in the process. Yewll meanwhile activates the golden relic which has a strange effect on Irisa.

Earth Alliance Colonel Galen Marsh reveals that he is after the Voltan weapons system hidden at the bottom of the mines and Yewll is prepared to deal with them. There are two artifacts hidden inside Irisa, the keys that can can trigger the Voltan's secret weapon. Nolan is searching for Irisa and finds her at the Irathian camp. He tells her they are going to head south and along the way find a doctor to remove the Votan keys in her body. Before they can do so however mercenaries hired by the Earth Republic, led by Jonah Keller, arrive at the Irathian camp. Meanwhile, Datak tells Stahma that he knows she betrayed him and she tells Kenya that she is running away - and wants Kenya to join her. The election results are announced but it's a bittersweet victory.