Diagonaldi Very well executed

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

croetoan I simply can't see what this show added to the science fiction trove. It is basically a Firefly knockoff - only it isn't quirky. The most serious flaws are in pacing and character development. The series introduced relational drama way too early and then proceeded as if we knew or understood the characters' motivations. There was an excessive reliance on backstabbing and betrayal as the major suspense device. The effects and set were also disappointing. The ark-hunter theme held a lot more potential than the wild west theme; I suppose they didn't pursue it because of some budget or technical limitations. I will say that everything came together for the show in season three, episode eight. It is unfortunate that the series didn't exhibit more of the qualities presented in that episode.

Dana H This show is not for everyone. The first season was hit and miss. I often took the first season to be a world building season. It was the second season where the show found itself and began to tell a truly good story. This is not a perfect show and will not appeal to either end of the sci-fi spectrum. The sci-fi purists who want a perfectly accurate science fiction story where the science is accurate and everything makes total and complete sense or the other end where the fx is beautiful and up to date. This is somewhere in the middle. The acting is good because the stars on it are all fantastic. The season 1 story lines are mostly world building like I said but the season 2 story lines are when things really begin to happen. It is when things begin to grow and die. Where alliances are formed and are brokenEvery season gets better then the one before. This starts out a a simple alien immigrant story reminiscent of the underrated Alien Nation. But pretty quickly becomes something more. Its an alien Western where an old fashion law keeper tries to keep the peace even though he is anything but peaceful and a mayor tries to keep hope alive even when hope is lost. This is a show where aliens and humans interact and try to get along even when there is a world of difference and a lifetime of bitterness between them. I would highly recommend this extremely creative show to anyone who loves alien science fiction but also to anyone who loves a good western because this blends both in interesting and creative ways.

caimarles I've read quite a few of the reviews by other viewers and agree with what most who gave the show less that 5 stars have said. I don't know what show the viewers who gave it high marks and rave about it are watching but it's certainly not Defiance.One viewer writes "The opening scene establishes that Earth is visited by aliens, then we see their decimated fleet floating in orbit, now earth is a wasteland and different species of aliens are everywhere. I was still getting comfy in my seat and I had no idea how we'd gone from earth invasion to Mad Max meets Babylon 5 in about one minute. It doesn't get any better"Another Says "Defiance is bad TV and bad story telling. The pilot begins with a few mumbled lines about the Earth being invaded by aliens. A lot of this is unintelligible. It genuinely seemed as if the scriptwriters didn't know how to describe what must have been an apocalyptic event in the ridiculously short time they were given, so they direction given to the actor was "mumble". This had me worried from the start. If you are going to tell a story then tell it. If you are going to put something in the script then make sure you know darn well what it is and why you are putting it there."Yet another "K so we have a father/daughter teem, sound familiar we done that before. We have week characters all over the place. I was hoping for aliens. Yes they have them but the makeup jobs are pathetic. They got so cheep the just pained some of those folks white pasty look. The daughter has this nose job that looks like somebody designed it in 5 minutes. The only really good makeup was actually cgi on the attacking voulge (spelling) aliens."I won't quote any of the people who like this show because I'd be a hypocrite. Bottom line, the story is week, the writing is pathetic, and the characters are not worth caring about. I read another review from viewer about the Romeo/Juliet story line between the (evil)alien leader and the coal miner's daughter, about how pathetic and downright insulting it was and couldn't agree moreI'll end with a quote from this viewer "This show has some great cast and decently credited creators. But the show dragged out almost every stereotype and trope in Sci Fi, and that was just the first hour. It may seem silly, but I was actually offended by being presented with a "terra-formed" Earth. It is a redundancy, and Earth appears to have been Volt-formed instead.. This is simple definition, and the lack of thought behind it bodes ill for what the writers are going to do in the future. Sci Fi fans are intelligent and generally demand intelligent shows. I just don't think this pilot fit the bill. I feel badly for Julie Benz and the rest of what is really an excellent cast. They are being given trite, unworthy material to work with. And the attempts to be edgy and/or sexy were clumsy and poorly integrated. Perhaps the show will improve with the intended storyline, but the pilot gives little indication of it. It makes me sad because I really had hopes for this show."

steefan-92 This show started as every other low budget sci-fi show as of last couple years.It began as average TV show with same old style in different colors, that we had seen few dozen times.However, since sci-fi shows were so rare I kept watching it for just sake of it.Second season though took turn for better and surprised many of us.Show kept pushing limits and outcome was pleasant,decent TV sci-fi show, which kept you wonder what is going to happened next.Ending was in my opinion, very well laid out and it gave this show opportunity for richer, more intense plot and we received that.Third season started slowly but it escalated around 4-5 episode.Last 3 episodes were nothing less short than excellent.I can't wait to see how will this all turn out in the end, since season is not over and I don't want to spoil anything for those who didn't watch it.In the end , my verdict may be affected by rarity of sci-fi shows, however I honestly think that this is one among the best that is currently airing and if you like this genre you shouldn't miss it.Edit: With season 3 over I think this show had gotten a definite ending in big bang way (well I don't know idiom exactly but you will understand if you keep reading, meaning of this).So this TV show had rough time during season 3, because even though from half of season number of viewers increased, it was nothing compare to second season viewers rating.So Sci-fy decided to lead this season to grand ending, so even if they don't renew for season 4 , shows gets what it deserve in very enjoyable and memorable way.What I am saying is this, ending has left me speechless,I am so used to average or terrible season finales or endings that this caught me by surprise and that's common opinion of anyone who watched this show since it start with airing (well not everyone of course but vast majority)My personal wish and opinion is that they should leave at season 3 and move on, besides some loose ends that couldn't be wrapped in one episode, there really isn't anything worth or if you prefer to hold water, I simply have a feeling that 4th season would be sufficient but then again is not up to me to say, so from 8 I will give this show 9 because it simply deserves it.