Defiance: Season 1 (2013)

In a future Earth largely devastated after lengthy war with alien invaders, Jeb Nolan and his adopted daughter Irisa live in the badlands, open areas that have no government. After an encounter with Spirit Riders, a roving motorcycle gang, they find themselves in the city of Defiance, formerly St. Louis. They have been at peace now for 15 years and the new mayor, Amanda Rosewater, wants to keep it that way. There are tensions in the community however particularly between the McCawleys and the Tarrs.

After the battle, the residents of Defiance count their dead. A Castithan, Elah Bandik, is to be cleansed - tortured to death - after running away from the fight. Nolan steps in to stop them but the mayor intervenes, continuing a policy of allowing all 8 races to follow their cultural traditions with respect to their own people. Amanda's assistant Ben - who blew up the stasis net - escapes. There's been an explosion at the McCrawley mine and it seems Ben is responsible.

Having helped fend off the attack the spirit riders now have access to the city. They do set people's nerves on edge however. Nolan meanwhile has a murder to solve after they find the remains of Dalton Taggart in the nearby woods. There's not much left of him but after a second citizen. Boyd Bowen, is butchered Nolan believes he was attacked by a particularly vicious creature known as hellbugs. After a second attack on Datak Tarr and his family, Nolan concludes that pheromones are being used to target people.

After the body of Elah Bandik is left on his doorstep, Nolan goes after Datak Tarr with a vengeance. He starts by arresting two of Tarr's drug and gun dealers and seizing their goods. It turns out however the weapons were destined for the town's defenses with some of the councilors having kept that information from Amanda. Meanwhile, Amanda's sister Kenya is taken by Ulysses, who works for Talak, and is destined to be sold to the highest bidder.

Nolan and Amanda head out on the overland express, a form of bus service that runs through Defiance every few weeks. Nolan is there to deliver Rynn to jail so she can serve her two year sentence. He's also there to protect a suitcase full of cash that Amanda is taking to Las Vegas to pay for the rail connection to Defiance. Once the bus is in the middle of nowhere it's hijacked leading to a standoff.

Nolan welcomes an old army buddy, Eddie Braddock, who is now working as a bounty hunter. He's tracked Pol Madis, a Castithan weapons developer, to Defiance and now wants to take him to the Earth Republic where Masis will receive his just punishment and he would no doubt get a generous reward. After the Castilian escapes from his jail cell, Nolan and Eddie set out to recapture him.

Defiance is bombarded with razor rain, metal object falling from the sky as their orbit around the Earth deteriorates. Irisa has a vision and heads off to the badlands when she sees that Sukar is in danger. They arrive seemingly too late to save him but his funeral ceremony is something of a surprise. A resurrected Sukar is on a mission and takes Irisa with him. If he succeeds, it may be the end of the town.

Nolan and Jefferson decide to check out the Voltan ship that crashed just outside of town. They are more than just a bit shocked when they find American astronaut Gordon McClintock in suspended animation. McClintock is a hero of the war with the aliens but was believed to have died 40 years ago. Books have been written and movies have been made about his life. Doc Yewll examines him and he gets a clean bill of health. When McClintock attacks Amanda Rosewater in the middle of the night however, it's clear something is wrong.

The illness infecting Defiance appears to be carried by the Irathient; all Votans appear to be immune. The town council overrules Amanda and imposes a quarantine on the Irathient, holding them in a tunnel at McCawley Mines; one of the Irathient is shot and killed during a scuffle with the miners. Amanda, Nolan and Christie McCawley are all infected. A vaccine for the infection is dropped outside Defiance; Nolan and Connor Lang go to retrieve it, with Lang talking them through the Earth Republic quarantine around Defiance.