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"In My Secret Life" is the second episode of Season Two of Defiance and the 14th episode overall. It aired on June 26th, 2014 on Syfy.

Synopsis[]

Nolan and Irisa return to Defiance, but Irisa is quickly arrested and jailed. Most are happy to see Nolan back, particularly Amanda and Rafe. When a particularly nasty bomb goes off in the marketplace, Amanda convinces the mayor, Niles Pottinger, to hire Nolan to track down the perpetrators. He quickly determines there is a second bomb. Doc Yewll thinks she has a way out of the prison, but Dalak Tarr has his own plan to get released.

Syfy's Fun Facts [2][]

  • The Earth Republic has finally rebuilt Defiance's stasis nets. Stasis nets were originally developed by the Indogenes (you can tell by the signature hexagonal patterns in the energy field). In the first episode, Mayor Nicky's Indogene assistant Ben Daris blew up the statsis nets, allowing an army of Volge to attack the town.
  • Berlin recognized Irisa's throwing knives as "Barth blades." Barth was the bladesmith in AngelArc who alerted Varus to Nolan's presence.
  • These are Shrill, just one of many alien species that were introduced to Earth during the terraforming process. The Shrill were inadvertently brought to Earth along with the Votan fleet. Their spores are extremely resilient, and can even survive in the vacuum of space. At some point during the journey to Earth, the Arms collided with a small, seemingly harmless asteroid belt. Shrill spores launched onto the Arks' hulls and remained there for centuries until the ship entered Earth's orbit. In the wake of Arkfall, these spores were buried deep below the surface and began to germinate.
  • "He tracked Buster Bullwin across the Storm Divide and presented Starren Dahrti with the head of the man who murdered his sister. He'll find our bomber." Amanda used Nolan's exact words from the first episode, when Nolan tried to convince her to allow him to investigate Luke McCawley's murder. None of those claims were true, by the way (but Nolan is an excellent tracker).
  • "You're an idiot," has become a term of endearment between Nolan and Irisa. It's the closest thing Irisa can manage to saying "I love you." To see how this phrase originated, and get a glimpse of the early days of Nolan and Irisa's relationship.
  • "[The Tommy/Berlin kiss] was the first scene with Stephanie Leonidas [Irisa]....Stephanie is by far one of the kindest, sweetest people I have worked with, and at this time I didn't know her very well, but knew how much she was loved, especially by the cast and crew....At this point, the cameras are only on Irisa, and they capturing her reaction to Tommy and I kissing.....at one point, Michael [Nankin, the director] pulls me aside and whispers a direction into my ear so no one hears except for me. He tells me to do exactly the same thing, but at the end of the scene, he wants me to turn directly to Stephanie and start yelling at her as aggressively as I could, with all the hatred I could father. He wanted her reaction to be of pure shock, and he thought this would be the best way to get it. I obviously said sure I'll do it, but I felt so horrible!.....I remember the crew sort of looking at me like 'What the hell is this new girl doing?' but Stephanie and I had a good laugh after that, and shared a big hug." - Anna Hopkins (Jessica "Berlin" Rainer).
  • Nolan earned the nickname "No-Man" (as in "no man left standing") due to the brutality he demonstrated during the pale wars. In 2029, Nolan led his squad into Yosemite Valley, where a group of human and Votan pacifists had established a commune. Believing they were enemy sympathizers, Nolan and his squad killed 98 humans and 112 Votans, earning Nolan another nickname - "The Butcher of Yosemite.
  • The Castithan saying shiro ksa yu re ya (or "seeming is being") encapsulates the vanity of their culture. Their society is governed by a strict caste system, and appearance is everything. Most Castis would rather die than be made to look like a fool, since an individual's embarassment also reflects poorly on their family and caste.
  • "I loved Camp Reverie! But it was August and unbearably hot. Temperature is always a concern for me and I was essentially wearing a sweat suit with not a single inch of my body exposed. I was even locked into prosthetic hands in those episodes so claustrophobia was fully kicking in, but in a way, I guess its added to the feeling of being in hell!"  - Trenna Keating (Doc Yewll).
  • The Earth Republic and the Votanis Collective have been in a state of cold war for over a decade. Though the VC are based in Brazil, they've been expanding northward, establishing colonies through Central America and Mexico. The Earth Republic has moved large numbers of troops down to Texas. They haven't started shooting at each other, though most people believe it's only a matter of time.
  • "One of the aspects of Berlin's character I focused on was her military background, and how that would influence her physical character. I shifted from yoga to weight training and started running longer distances than I usually did.....One of my first days on set, we shot the scene where Nolan and I are trying to prevent a shrill bomb attack and we end up running through the town in a bit of a chase scene. It was like running an obstacle course, over and over and over again. We rose to the challenge, but I'm sure I can speak for Grant (Bowler, Nolan) as well, we were pretty sore the next day." - Anna Hopkins (Jessica "Berlin" Rainer).
  • "When I work with Jaime (Murray, Stahma), I am constantly absorbing what she is doing, her speech, her breathing, etc. It is a very mentor-mentee type relationship on set and that is why I find the scenes between Christie and Stahma work so well. Christie admires Stahma and is constantly absorbing and learning from her. I love with with Jaime...I feel very connected when filming with her." - Nicole Munoz (Christie McCawley).
  • The Earth Republic has the best equipped army in North America. When the Votans first came to Earth, they shared much of their technology with humans (including projectors like the ones Berlin uses). The cultural exchange came to an end when the war broke out. The Earth Republic hordes as much alien tech as they can get their hands on in anticipation of a second war.
  • The character of "Bradley Weddle" was named after two writers who wrote for season one of Defiance - Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, whose other credits include Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
  • The battle of Bloody Kansas was the first decisive human victory of the Pale Wars. After several devastating losses, the Earth Military Coalition finally unleashed their Bioman (similar to the one seen here) troops on a Votan stronghold northeast of Topeka. The biomen made quick work of the aliens' defense, slaughtering every man, woman and child in town. Some Castithan religious elders were outraged and formed the Soldiers of the Way, a radical jihadist movement dedicated to wiping out humanity once and for all.
  • [When asked about working with new cast members - Berlin, Pottinger, Mercado] It feels like they have been there all along. They have just jumped in and stole our hearts." - Trenna Keating (Doc Yewll).

Game Tie Ins[3][]

  • Notice how Pottinger and the Earth Republic are willingly to turn a blind eye towards Stahma's criminal activities? She's been making a lot of savvy deals since Datak's been in prison - and has expanded her influence to San Francisco, where the game takes place.
  • A poster behind Tommy said "A Pow in every pot." Terraforming introduced many new alien species to Earth, but it also played havoc with indigenous animals. Pow are a genetically mutated combination of cows and pigs. They can be found in abudance in the video game.
  • Shrill bombs, as seen in this episode, are the new weapon of choice in the game.
  • The miners in this episode used cold fire guns to paralyze the Shrill spores. Cold fire were developed by the Volge, a brutal race of warriors who attacked Defiance back in the first episode. The Volge - and their coldfire weapons - are frequent enemies in the game.

Deleted Scenes[]

  • Stahma and Raiga get into her car, and the camera reveals a bomb hidden underneath.
  • Datak complains to another prisoner about how they're not allowed to follow their religious practices in prison. He tells the man that they have much in common because they have both sworn vengeance on human virtues. Datak conspires with the man about Niles Pottinger.
  • Before Nolan walks in to meet Amanda, she's explaining to the night porters that they don't want to get the clients too drunk. Bailey adds that they shouldn't skimp on the ice in their drink.
  • The script includes a line of dialog between Nolan and Amanda where she reveals that even though she is working at the NeedWant, she is not working as a night porter. The job does inspire her to be "free to do whatever the hell she pleases." So, as seen in the episode, she tells Nolan she'll thank him properly after he catches the bomber.

Votan Translations[]

David J. Peterson, the creator of the Votan languages, has made translations available on his Archive of Our Own page.

Translations for the Votan spoken in this episode can be found at Conlang Dialogue: Defiance, Episode 202.

Highlighted Quote[]

DATAK (CASTITHAN)
You shit-coward!
TRANSLATION
Shtake pohako!

Trailer[]

Defiance_Season_2_Preview_202

Defiance Season 2 Preview 202

Inside Defiance[]

DEFIANCE_sur_SYFY_-_Inside_the_Episode_202

DEFIANCE sur SYFY - Inside the Episode 202


Season 2
Episodes "The Opposite of Hallelujah" • "In My Secret Life" • "The Cord and the Ax" • "Beasts of Burden" • "Putting the Damage On" • "This Woman's Work" • "If You Could See Her Through My Eyes" • "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" • "Painted From Memory" • "Bottom of the World" • "Doll Parts" • "All Things Must Pass" • "I Almost Prayed"
Stars Grant Bowler as Joshua NolanJulie Benz as Amanda RosewaterTony Curran as Datak TarrJaime Murray as Stahma TarrGraham Greene as Rafe McCawleyJim Murray as Niles Pottinger
Guests Rob Archer as ChurchillLinda Hamilton as Pilar McCawleyMichael Dyson as SkevurKevin Shand as RaigaKatie Douglas as Young Irisa/IrzuMonica Parker as Bailey
Recurring Dewshane Williams as Tommy LasalleJesse Rath as Alak TarrNicole Muñoz as Christie McCawley

References[]

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