Syfy's Forgotten 39-Episode Sci-Fi Series Deserves to Be as Big as 'The Expanse'

2 weeks ago 17

Published Sep 27, 2026, 8:31 AM EDT

Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's tackled a wide variety of articles.

In 2015, Syfy released its biggest series, The Expanse. It immediately grabbed sci-fi fans' attention with its stacked ensemble cast and blend of political intrigue and hard sci-fi, and it found new life on Prime Video after its cancellation. Most Syfy series can't say the same, as they were either cut down in their prime or never got the chance to find an audience. However, one series debuted on the network right before The Expanse, and it deserves just as much attention for making first contact feel fresh while also expanding its narrative beyond the television screen.

That series is Defiance. Created by Rockne S. O'Bannon, Kevin Murphy, and Michael Taylor, Defiance takes place after an alien collective called the Votans arrives on Earth. Because the Votans believed Earth was uninhabited and humanity instinctively feared the unknown, war quickly broke out. In the aftermath, the town of Defiance was built on the ruins of St. Louis, where the last battle in the human-Votan war took place. Here, Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler) and his adoptive daughter, Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas) make their home, with Joshua taking up the mantle of "lawkeeper" to protect humans and Votans alike.

'Defiance' Crafts a Story Full of Secrets and Sci-Fi Staples

The cast of 'Defiance,' including, Tony Curran as Datak Tarr, Jaime Murray as Stahma Tarr, Julie Benz as Amanda Rosewater, Mia Kirshner as Kenya Rosewater, Grant Bowler as Joshua Nolan, Stephanie Leonidas as Irisa Nyira, and Graham Greene as Rafe McCawley.

As Defiance unfolds, it slowly weaves a narrative that grows deeper and darker over time. Joshua's time as lawkeeper is marked by a series of cases connected to Defiance's former governor, and by stopping war from breaking out between a wealthy human family and a group of alien gangsters. Irisa also plays a major part in Defiance's narrative, as it's revealed that Joshua saved her from a cult that tried to shape her into a literal doomsday weapon; the fallout of this has left her unable to express her emotions in a typical way. Some sci-fi fans might feel that Defiance feels familiar, and that's because Rockne S. O'Bannon used many of the same storytelling tricks in Farscape, including a roguish group of main characters and one hero carrying knowledge that could destroy countless lives.

Another similarity between Defiance and Farscape is that both started as some of Syfy's most popular series. How popular? Only four episodes into Season 1, Defiance was renewed for Season 2. It lasted for 3 seasons and 39 episodes until Syfy canceled it in 2015. Ironically, it was cancelled for the same reason as Farscape: production costs apparently rose, leading Syfy to pull the plug rather than pour more money into it. But even though Defiance's TV run was cut short, its story would live on through a unique cross-media experience.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars

Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive.

💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

🌧️Blade Runner

🏜️Dune

🚀Star Wars

TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →

You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.

APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone.

NEXT QUESTION →

In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.

AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.

NEXT QUESTION →

What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of.

AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.

ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.

AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches.

NEXT QUESTION →

Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.

AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of.

AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.

NEXT QUESTION →

What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.

AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot.

REVEAL MY WORLD →

Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

The Matrix

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things.

You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door.

Mad Max

The wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you.

You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.

Blade Runner

You'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either.
In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything.

Dune

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it.

Star Wars

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way.

You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

‘Defiance’ Continued Its Story in a Unique Format

In addition to being a television series, Defiance is also a video game. Trion Worlds, a popular developer that worked on many role-playing games, was tapped to create an online game that tied into the series' narrative. The game let players become a human or one of the alien races that populated Defiance's world, while also expanding the series' lore, particularly the "Pale Wars"between humanity and the Votans. While other sci-fi shows like Lost and Heroes established the idea of a multi-media narrative that stretched beyond a television show, Defiance was the first series to take it to a new level.

The Defiance video game has outlasted its parent show, receiving a PlayStation 4 updatein the form of Defiance 2050. Project lead Carble Cheung discussed the game's longevity with GameSpot, saying that the two projects were meant to complement each other while standing on their own.

"Simply stated, the show had to focus on what was good for the show, the game had to focus on what was good for the game. Not being at complete parity with the show allowed us to keep our focus on what would be most important for the game."

While Defiance may have ended after three seasons, it made an impact thanks to its sci-fi spin on Western tropes. It also paved the way for The Expanse, showcasing that a good television show can earn a second life after cancellation.

Defiance is currently available to stream on Peacock.