Tonight Defiance returns for the premiere of its second season. Last week Syfy held a press Q&A with executive producer/showrunner Kevin Murphy. Here’s what he had to say about what’s in store and what we can expect for the new season.
Could you talk about how the game and the show will crossover this season?
Kevin Murphy: Okay, so to start with that, what we discovered first season was that just a television show and a video game have very different needs, and there was a real challenge for Trion putting three different platforms up live for an MMO at once.
And a lot of their elbow grease the first season was set making everything work.
So what we ended up doing was we discovered that the way that this worked best; this crossover, because the way the television show worked is we are wrapped long before we air.
We wrapped back in December and we’re doing post production. So there’s a limit to how much we can change. And during the time when we’re in post that’s when Trion is making a lot of their big decisions about what they’re going to be doing in the game for the upcoming season.
So what we did this year, because we had to jettison a couple – a few ideas that we were really into last year because of timing and schedule. For example like the astronaut who came into Episode 8, Brian Smith who just got a Tony nomination for Glass Menagerie, he was supposed to be part of a larger integrated story line, and it was just something that Trion couldn’t accomplish technically with the time that they had.
So what we did this year is every – the second page of every script after the title page has a list of proposed crossovers that were generated in a big meeting that we had with Trion and the writers.
And then when we actually got the scripts written and we go through our process, we put which – and it’s like a Chinese menu of ten options that Trion can access. And they can use it or not use it if they wish to.
And then as they go on the process of figuring out what they’re going to be doing in the game and what their crossovers are, they decide okay, we like number two and we like number four. Those are the ones that we’re going to pursue.
Can you give us one of your actors so we can bring them digitally? We’re going to bring this character in; can we have her voice. We’re going to do a clue that’s going to put in this thing that you suggested back in Episode 7.
So it becomes sort of like a game of improvisation where the TV show makes a whole bunch of suggestions to Trion, and then Trion decides the ones that they can implement effectively.
Is there a place you can read these extra story lines, in case you’re not good enough at the game to get there?
Kevin Murphy: You know I don’t know – there might be a more specific answer. What I would do is I would go to the Trion Web site because any time they’re doing a crossover with a TV show, like a significant one, they promote the hell out of it.
And I would look on our Facebook page and I would look on the Trion Web site. And I know last year they did a little video podcast that talked about that stuff. But I’m afraid I’m at a loss. I don’t specifically where the catch-up site is but, I suspect there is one.
To me the new season feels a lot more dark and edgy. Is that just my personal view or was there a conscious move towards that for the second season?
Kevin Murphy: Well there’s a certain darkness in the premise because last year Defiance was a very sunny, optimistic place. The first time we saw – like entered this world, you know, if you remember the first act of the pilot was Nolan and Irisa in the badlands getting attacked by Spirit Riders and getting stabbed and shot and, you know, almost devoured by saber wolves in freezing rain.
And then they showed up at Defiance and the sun was shining and everything was marvelous.
And Season 1 was about this idyllic little Oz like happy world went through the wringer. And by the end of the season, Datak, through a very good move on his part, he let his vanity get the best of him and the poor, sad bastard, he got his goal of being mayor—and he got to keep it for about 15 minutes before they let him stab the Colonel. And that gave the Earth Republic the pretext that they were waiting for to swoop in and take over.
So now we’re looking at an occupied territory, and it becomes a very different show. And it becomes, how did the members of our cast deal with the fact that everything has been taken away from them?
And if you remember the end of Season 1 the last episode was called, ‘Everything was Broken,’ which is the name for the Bob Dylan song. And that’s where we come in. Nobody is where we left them.
Nolan is no longer lockkeeper. Irisa is no longer completely in control of her own mind. Rafe McCawley no longer has a mine and he’s going to lose more as the season goes on.
Datak is no longer charged. Doc Yewll is no longer the town doctor. Amanda is no longer Mayor.
Stahma is the one person who is no longer a housewife, but she kind of likes that, and she no longer has her husband.
Alak no longer has the luxury of being a spoiled rich kid and he’s actually called upon to be the—at least the symbolic—head of the crime family.
Everybody is at a place of crisis and change and trying to figure out how they’re going to put their lives back together. And that’s basically the story of Season 2, you know, watching who succeeds and who falls.
It also looks literally darker. Is that just because of my screen or does it actually have a kind of a darker look to it?
Kevin Murphy: I think – we didn’t go for a – we have our same DT, and largely we have our same slate of directors that did first season. There’s a couple of changes. Pretty much it’s the same team doing everything.
I think it was more of a – it was more, once you put the Earth Republic visuals into the town, I think there’s a psychological clinch factor that you get. Because if you look carefully at your screen, you’ll be seeing propaganda posters are in the background where once you didn’t see them.
And you’re seeing Earth Republic flags. You’re seeing – where you saw the fist in the symbol of Defiance in Season 1, how you’re seeing Earth Republic logo.
And there’s something just creepy about those uniforms. They just feel dystonic and disturbing. And they – you know, they evoke the Third Reich without actually being…
And I mean that darkens anything.
Will Trion be porting the game to the next generation consoles, the PS4 and the Xbox One?
Kevin Murphy: I think that’s a question for Trion. I don’t really know. I would imaging.
In another interview that you seemed very, very confident that we could be seeing a third season. Am I right in getting that vibe?
Kevin Murphy: I’m confident that if there is a third season, I know exactly what’s going to happen in it, and I’m very excited to do it.
That doesn’t mean that the – you know Syfy will agree with me, but I’m very confident that we’ll do a great job. And I think, based on the reaction of the show, I remain cautiously optimistic.
But to answer your – I think the question behind your question, is what’s happening this season is setting up the situation that’s the last month. Because we’ve just put to bed the finale and its setting up the stage for what next season is going to be about, much like this season, you know, and occupied.
Like Season 1 was about a wild and wooly, rural free sheriff driven frontier town, Season 2 was about a town that is under occupation dealing with what does it mean to be free and what does it mean to work within a larger context of society as we look at the rest of the world or the rest of North America.
Season 3 is going to be more about global, and it’s going to be more about dealing with the role of theology and government is going to be Season 3.
Yes. And Season 4 is when we go back into space.
You had mentioned the uniforms harken back to a Third Reich. I thought the uniforms were kind of a combination of Nazi uniforms and Roman uniforms, and both were conquering armies. Was that what you were going for?
Kevin Murphy: God bless you. That was a very deliberate thing on our part, our costume designer.
Yes, that was – I think she was really trying to get the sense of how do you distill occupation, and I think sort of like the litmus that she applied when she was explaining it to me was that it’s not weird that people would choose those looks because those – you know, if you want to send a signal to a world that’s like the world of the video game where you have the equivalent of, you know, Mongol Hordes and stuff, you’ve got – you know you want to convey strength to the raiders and the various gangs out there in the badlands.
And there’s a real sense of power to the lines in the form of Roman uniforms and as well as German uniforms. They’re terrible because of the cultural context that come to us, but they are rather terrifying and beautiful to look at in a kind of creepy way.
Who is your favorite character to write for?
Kevin Murphy: Probably Datak and Stahma are probably my favorite. And I think probably they get – like we’re a wonderful team and one of the things that I really love about the show is that all of the writing staff is extremely involved and they’re really invested, and it is a very gung ho bunch of writers who love the show and are very into what they’re doing.
But for me, when I’m sitting down and doing a scene or doing a rewrite on a script, I sort of get happy when I get to Stahma and Datak. And this year I really enjoyed Datak and Yewll and they’ve become my two favorite couples.
And so I guess I would have to – if you put a gun to my head I would have to say Datak because he’s in both of those pairings.
But there’s some great stuff coming down the road from Datak and Yewll because Yewll is so utterly unafraid of Datak, and Datak is so driven by vanity and how he’s perceived the fact that Yewll is the only person in his life that gives him the straight scoop. It’s like even his wife doesn’t really speak directly. She handles him and he hates to be handled.
So in a certain way, even though Datak likes to be respected, he doesn’t like it when Stahma outsmarts him. And Doc Yewll, at least you know where you stand with her.
They have a lot of screen time this year and it’s all really fun.
Are we going to see any other parts of the country this year?
Kevin Murphy: Yes, we’re going to get a real good look at New York before the season is over.
Yes, and that’s about the only other city that we’re going to be visiting. We also going to – what we’re also going to hear a bit about New York and we’re going to learn a bit more about Amanda’s time in New York. And we’re going to learn – you know what, that’s actually not true. There’s one other city that we’re going to get a little glimpse of before the season is over.
We’re going to – one of our characters who I will not name, is going to be visiting San Francisco, which is where the game is.
A little taste of that.
Alak is in a tough spot with his two domineering parents. Is he going to be able to carve out his own niche?
Kevin Murphy: I know, poor Alak. One of the things that – two characters who are very close to my heart in the show are Alak and Tommy because they’re the only two characters in the entire show who behave and think the way the audience does.
Everyone else is somewhat different and alien, but Alak looks at the horrible things that his parents do and he’s rightfully appalled by it.
Like last year when he – when it dawned on him that his parents had set him up to betray his own buddy to achieve their means and to smear Nolan and ultimately knock Amanda out of office, he was just appalled and just a disappointment. And the horror in his eyes were terrible. And that was exactly the way the audience feels.
And so when we kick around Alak, one of the things that I love about him is that we’re kind of kicking around the audience’s perspective. It’s like how would the audience feel if they were in this world? And to deal with all these strange things, and they didn’t have the great big gun that Nolan had. And they didn’t have the knives that Irisa has. How would you deal with it because, Alak doesn’t have a lot to go on?
And all he wants to do is, do what the rest of us want to do. He wants to kind of sit home and play video games, play some cool tunes, smoke a little weed and maybe get it on with his girlfriend. And that’s not in the cards for him and that’s kind of the tragedy for him is he is a guy who has such a low bar for happiness, and it will forever be denied to him just because of the family he happened to be born into.
And for his parents, unlike Stahma, Datak seems more reactionary than kind of a long-term strategizer. Is that going to change at all for him?
Kevin Murphy: Well he’s going to learn – it’s funny, you’re actually paraphrasing a dialogue that appears later in Season 2, so you’re barking up the right tree. Because there’s actually a specific scene with them in Episode 11 I believe the deals with exactly that.
But you’re right, Stahma is a chess player. She thinks many, many moves in advance. Datak is a checkers player. He thinks about just who he’s going to jump next.
And both strategians can be effective, but it makes it difficult to be married to a person who doesn’t think the same way you do because they keep getting in each other’s way.
And the only way that they’re going to succeed and the family is going to avoid being fractured is if they learn to accept what’s – you know, their differences and move forward.
And one of the big spines this season is the family story. It’s the utter destruction and the war between the two factions of the Tarr family, and which also ropes in the McCawley family and how they come out of it or don’t come out of it at the end. And that’s the question that gets answered in Episode 13.
Are we going to see Kenya again?
Kevin Murphy: It depends on how much people want to see her. We’ll see.
Is it possible that some of the people that are on opposing sides during the season may start to work together in a the enemy and my enemy is my friend type of thing?
Kevin Murphy: That is entirely possible. I might even cross over to say it is likely.
Can you talk about how the changes with the Tarr family are going to affect the other characters like Nolan?
Kevin Murphy: Well the Tarr – you know the problem with the Tarr family wanting something is that when the Tarr wants something, people get hurt. When the Tarr family wants other people in the Tarr family destroyed, people get hurt. There’s inevitably collateral damage.
It’s like if the Sopranos go up against each other, you know it will be the innocent New Jersey civilian who gets in the way.
And I think that trying to put a lid on that is – you know, becomes Amanda’s problem and it becomes Nolan’s problem. Because by the – you know, if you’ve seen the screeners,
