For those who love both the Western and science fiction genres equally, there are few crossover projects that really offer the best of both worlds. If you’re someone who generally enjoys the horse opera-style of storytelling but still adores all the high-strangeness of classic sci-fi, then we have the right show for you.
Back in 2013, SyFy launched a new series titled Defiance, a three-season drama set in an alternate future in the aftermath of an accidental war between humanity and various alien species that have now made their home on Earth, with a single lawman caught in the middle trying to keep the peace in this eponymous town.
‘Defiance’ Blends Western Aesthetics With a Fascinating Take on Sci-Fi in a Post-Alien Earth
If you take a general look at Defiance, which is available to watch on Peacock, the show won’t scream “Western” to you. In fact, back when it was first teased and promoted, the network leaned heavily into the unique science fiction elements of the program rather than elevating any potential connections to the other genre. Not that they weren’t there, of course, but that certainly wasn’t the show’s main focus. So, what is Defiance really about? Well, the series is set in 2046 after a horrible conflict called the Pale Wars, where, after alien refugees arrived on Earth, humanity fought back, resulting in the accidental terraforming of the planet and the arrival of seven new “Votan” species to our world. Having fought in the wars, Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler) wanders this brave new world alongside his adoptive daughter Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas), an Irathient who he rescued and raised from her youth. Arriving in the town of Defiance, built on top of a now subterranean St. Louis, they stick around when Nolan is offered the job of lawkeeper — and it doesn’t take long before things go wrong.
From the first two-part pilot episode, it’s easy to see how much Defiance was directly influenced by the Western genre. For one thing, St. Louis has traditionally been known as the “Gateway to the West” due to it being the starting point for many pioneers and wagon trains who aimed to travel into the western territories throughout the 1800s. This is why the Gateway Arch (the city’s most famous landmark) exists in the first place. In fact, the classic Western TV series Wagon Train often began its adventures in St. Louis before venturing westward throughout the season, and that DNA is infused into Defiance as well. From the get-go, we can see the show’s setting and backstory — which serves as a stand-in to the American Civil War, a foundational period in most Westerns — as an intentional nod to Old West history. And that’s not to mention how the town of Defiance echoes that of old Westerns, just with more alien lifeforms.
Of course, the most obvious connection here is that Nolan is a local lawman who aims to keep the peace and ease racial tensions in Defiance. He’s a character who would fit just as easily on a show like Gunsmoke as he does here, though that doesn’t mean he’s as old-fashioned or traditional as some of TV’s finest Western lawmen. Joining him in the main cast is local mayor Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz), her sister and local brothel owner Kenya (Mia Kirshner), mining tycoon Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene), and Datak (Tony Curran) and Stahma Tarr (Jamie Murray), who run Defiance’s organized crime operation. Again, many of these sorts have counterparts in plenty of Western fare, but Defiance does a great job of grounding these conflicts in the otherworldly political landscape that has super-imposed itself on what was once a hub of transport between the “civilized” east and the mythic west.
‘Defiance’ Was Clearly a Sci-Fi Western, but It Never Went Overboard With Genre Tropes
While the Western elements of Defiance are part of what makes the show feel so familiar despite the alien premise, there’s no denying that this SyFy series goes hard-core on, well, the sci-fi. Between the differing alien and cybernetic world-building elements, how foreign the Earth can sometimes look post-terraforming, and the fact that even many of the animals on our world seem to be overrun by awful mutant-like creatures that hail from the stars, this series does not slack off when it comes to its extraterrestrial flare.
Instead, it leans into its futuristic, alien-infused setting and pulls no punches, slowly immersing the audience in the larger world over the course of its three seasons. Like the network’s greatest drama, Battlestar Galactica, Defiance even deals with issues of spirituality, as Irisa is at times plagued by visions that her fellow Irathients call “the sight.” Though the true nature of these visions is only understood later, they serve as a vehicle for religious exploration in the series. (Also like BSG, this series has a great score composed by none other than Bear McCreary).
What makes Defiance a successful sci-fi Western is that it doesn’t go overboard on the Western part or channel it as much as something like Firefly. Most characters aren’t wearing different colored hats to signify their respective affiliations, nor is there a general Southern twang sprinkled into the dialogue. Defiance takes what works about the genre’s usual material and applies it while drenching the whole thing in an alien skinsuit. It allows the show to find its own identity and audience without having to bow to the typical conventions expected in the Western genre. Instead, the science fiction of it all is able to take the lead, with Nolan’s place as the local law being the most obvious nod to the show’s (albeit, terraformed) Western roots. Well, that and the little Johnny Cash duet that he and Irisa sing in the series premiere, which certainly helps set the tone.
SyFy’s ‘Defiance’ Lasted 3 Seasons (and a Video Game) Before Cancellation
What was especially interesting about Defiance was how the series was promoted. Again, it wasn’t exactly hailed as a “sci-fi Western” by SyFy upon first glance. Instead, Defiance was heavily promoted as a post-alien apocalypse series that offered a video game companion where you could explore the world for yourself. That’s right, in addition to the SyFy series, Trion Worlds released Defiance the video game, which allowed players to create their own character for an online third-person-shooter and explore the world of the television series. Nolan and Irisa appear at the beginning of the game, but the plot largely takes place in San Francisco and overlaps slightly with the series. But none of it was to last.
While Defiance ended its three-season run on SyFy in 2016 with an open-ended series finale that remains largely satisfying, the game continued under the Defiance 2050 rebrand until its servers were shut down in 2021. While the game was relaunched in 2025 by the indie game studio Fawkes, the show itself has not shown any signs of coming back for more. Still, the 39-episode run is not insignificant. Defiance remained an engaging sci-fi drama until the very end, with the argument to be made that the third and final season is the best of its short run. So, if you’re looking for something with Western bones but a distinctly sci-fi appearance that takes precedence, then look no further than this often forgotten SyFy gem. If you fall in love with the show, maybe give the newly refurbished game a try, too.
- Release Date
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2013 – 2015-00-00
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Grant Bowler
Joshua Nolan
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Julie Benz
Amanda Rosewater
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