Defying Gravity

Season 1 Episode 6

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7.8
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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

While getting closer to Venus, some crew members are confronted with memories of past actions and struggle with guilt. When one of them gets into a life-threatening situation, the team unites to save her.

Fan Episode Reviews (8)

SUBMIT REVIEW

  • Storyline is moving too slowly.

    2.0
    By bearcatjb, Jun 22, 2010
    This series is going to have to get much better if it is to retain its audience. It is far too slow with very little happening. In fact after I watched this episode, I realised I had missed one, and it made no difference to my understanding of the overall storyline.



    The too frequent and too many flashbacks are a problem. Flashbacks should only be used to enhance the story in the present, rather than to highlight the melodramatic soap-opera elements, as they are being used here.



    We don't need flashbacks to create the characters, or flesh them out, as we pretty much understand their motives, personalities and attitudes already, so get rid of them altogether if possible.



    As well, the creation of more questions, without answering old ones is just too annoying -a device that turned me off Lost very quickly. As a viewer I feel manipulated (which I wouldn't mind so much if in some way I was rewarded for it, as a good story at it's best will do.)



    Please improve the series. You have a lot of rich material to work with. It just needs to be presented in a matter that keeps the viewer invested in the characters and the story.moreless

  • Nothing up in space except this insult.

    1.0
    By InvasionFanbOy, Jun 22, 2010
    they have now started with the filler episodes, this should ring a bell for everyone, and it is good to see some people are starting to wake up and agree with me. this ridiculous tv show is going down hill fast now. i have said it from the start that this tv show is just tv garbage and have nothing to do with sci-fi at all. they think we are morons or housewifes that love greys atoms in space. but guess what we are intelligent watchers so we are not fooled that easy. i can recommend all users of tv.com to watch "INVASION" and then you will see what a good sci-fi tv show is all about.moreless

  • This week we learn more about Evram and Paula has an accident.

    8.5
    By colettebond_ire, Jan 03, 2010
    The episode begins with Evram taking blood from Donner which is clearly making Donner uncomfortable, he apparently doesn't like the sight of blood and is quite squeamish. Paula comes in to record it for 'medicine in space' which complicates the situation as Evram keeps missing the veins and in the end asks her to leave. In voiceover Donner mentions how Evram doesn't remember the people he saved as there are no lessons to be learned from the ones you save, only the ones you lose.



    In flashback we see Zoe take the tablets to induce the abortion. Then she joins the group on a field trip in a hospital to give them a look at medical emergencies. One of the doctors leading the trip was a colleague of Donner's back in their training days but she made the choice to become a doctor instead of an astronaut. She is also heavily pregnant. Several of Donner's colleagues take bets on when he will pass out at the sight of blood. Zoe unsubtly changes group several times to avoid Donner and ends up in pregnant doc's group. In current time Donner notices something is wrong with Evram as he has the shakes and it took him several goes to get a vein. Evram blames it on a sore back and the medication that he is taking as a result. However the ground control group notice he has a high temperature and Claire is monitoring him. We also see Ajay return to the ground team to everyone's delight except Goss who bluntly tells him that for any media questions he is to answer 'no comment'. Jen is still working on her unofficial baby bunny project and lets Zoe in on her secret. Zoe is shocked as it is forbidden but Jen asks for her help. In flashback Claire has a guy who overdosed on drugs which she leaves with Paula and Wassenfelder. Paula is disappointed as the case isn't interesting but 'W' is fascinated by the possibility of drugs that disappear in your system with no trace. Paula has a sharp side to her which we see when she snaps at 'W' and calls him a poser without a clue and lectures him on the pitfalls of using drugs. Back in real time she snaps again as she tries to do her podcasts and 'W' keeps making jokey comments. Ted, sensing there is about to be a fight sends them both to a storage pod to move some boxes which 'W' calls 'sweat bonding'. Evram is still experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which is triggering hallucinations and sometimes his back appears to be an open wound again. Meanwhile Zoe and Jen are arguing about the rabbit baby. Suddenly in the storage pod a box that Wassenfelder threw to Paula when she wasn't expecting it slams her into a wall. Sirens sound for this week's emergency. Paula's thumb has been severed, she has abdominal injuries and there are literally clumps of blood floating around. All the crew rush to the pod except Jen, who is too busy returning Rufus to his incubator. This is the beginning of a split in her focus, where the rabbit baby is more important than her crew member and may cause friction with Zoe. Donner looks uncomfortable with the blood but gulps and controls himself. Evram on the other hand looks unsteady.



    In flashback Evram tells Donner he can leave if he can't stick it but Donner doesn't want to give the others the satisfaction of seeing him quit. Evram offers him an ankle case when suddenly a gun-shot wound comes in. Evram makes a comment about not seeing many of them anymore, is this a reference to this future where not many guns are used because crime has been reduced or that there is a new better technology than guns available? In real-time as Jen hasn't arrived Donner has to assist Zoe and Evram in Paula's treatment. Evram is taking control but is more concerned with the abdominal bleed. 'W' demands that they fix Paula's thumb first as she can't land the Venus ship without it. Ted tells him to step out and clean up the storage area. Evram tells Donner to suction out the blood but Donner can't so Zoe steps forward to do it. Evram declares the situation will be a bloodbath. In flashback we see Evram arguing with the GSW doc and telling him that a camera isn't sufficient, that the patient needs to be opened up. In space Evram is feeling the pressure. They need to find the bleed to save Paula and they will start running out of blood soon. Donner tells Evram to open her up and use his hands just like he had told someone before. Back in flashback Evram makes the GSW doc stand aside, opens the patient and uses his hands to feel for the bullet using an 'old fashioned' technique. He saves the day, impressing the group. In space he goes to slice open Paula but has a hallucination of the injured woman from his visions and hesitates. He manages to cut her open with the team and Claire urging him on but then cannot spot the bleeder. Both the GSW and Paula involve alot of blood but while Evram saves the day in the GSW case Donner steps forward and rescues the situation, spotting the bleeder and overcoming his phobia by plunging his hand in to stop it.



    In flashback we see Claire congratulating Evram on his save and the beginning of their relationship as she asks him out. Pregnant doc chats to Zoe and tells her that although she wanted to fly she had a choice and has no regrets. However Zoe feels that she may have made the wrong choice. She starts to cramp so the pregnant doc tells her to go home. Outside Donner has had enough of the hospital too and meets her at the bus-stop. She asks if he's following her and he asks if she's avoiding him. She admits she probably is and he reminds her that they have to work together. Zoe says she was sent home with cramps and Donner gets awkward saying he heard they were bad. Same usual male reaction to 'women's problems'. Then they start joking about Donner's blood thing and he explains that its a childhood thing. His uncle had a pig farm where he spent a summer and became friendly with one pig named Thomas, who he had to look after. As Donner blabs on Zoe begins to clutch her stomach and eventually moans as the cramps become really painful. She tries to tell him what's happening but collapses in his arms. It was sweet to see Donner so worried about Zoe and then his reaction to the blood on his hands, after all his toughness inside. Jen spots Zoe being rushed through the hospital and tells pregnant doc that Zoe took an abortion pill and begs her not to tell the programme. Ajay overhears but swears that he would never betray Zoe. Meanwhile the druggie tries to tell Wassenfelder something about the drug and then goes into cardiac arrest. In space see 'W' and Nadia cleaning out the storage and hoovering up the blood. However 'W' is more concerned with finding her thumb despite being told she could grow it back, as this takes about a month and the Venus landing is in 12 days. Nadia tells him that even if they re-attach it that she won't be ready. She also points out that he doesn't even like Paula. 'W' replies that it doesn't matter, if he was on the table she wouldn't give up on him. In flashbacks the pregnant doc declares the druggie is dead but Paula protests and starts doing manual CPR while 'W' looks on in amazement. In space Evram says that they will grow a new thumb for Paula and Zoe mentions she won't be able to pilot the Venus lander. Donner says Paula will understand but Jen disagrees. However Ted points out this is why Evram is also the space shrink and will be able to talk to Paula. Just as they are about to cut away the dead flesh to ensure a new one grows back 'W' appears with Paula's severed thumb, looking very excited. Back on the ground, Claire, Eve and Goss discuss the possibility of Paula still be able to pilot the Venus lander. Goss demands to know what is going on with Evram. Meanwhile in space Donner and Ted argue about what is happening with Evram and how he nearly lost Paula. Jen reveals his secret, that he has been suffering flashbacks related to his time in the war and Ted berates her for not telling him, saying their lives depend on each other. He demands that she tell him everything that could affect the mission or the crew. This would have been a good moment for her to confess about Rufus but Jen stays quiet which I believe will become an issue later on. Back in her lab Zoe lectures Jen on Rufus, saying the fur could clog a filter, cause a reaction or create an airborne infection. However Jen disagrees and Zoe reminds her that each choice has consequences. Jen admits that she has 6 years to keep her mind on Rollie and off Ted. Zoe counters that HALO is for that but Jen replies that HALOs kill libido and don't do anything if you're lonely.



    In flashback Ajay comes to tell Donner that Zoe will be alright. Ajay tries to tell Donner he wasn't to blame but Donner is more concerned that he didn't notice Zoe was in pain. He then finishes his story about Thomas the pig, and how his execution and all the blood created his current phobia. Then we see Claire and Evram on their date, chatting about the exhilaration of Evram's save in the GSW case. Evram admits he will have forgotten after his next drink. Claire asks how could he and Evram's lists all the places Claire has worked and how many patients she saw a day. Then he says he saw 3,550 patients in 90 days in his first war tour. He remembers procedures, not patients. Then he says the one he remembers is a school-girl in a bombed out building. When Claire asks if he saved her he replies that he was the one who called in the strike. This is the girl in his hallucinations and his guilt at her death is haunting him and probably led to his alcoholism. In space Evram tells Ted and Donner the rest of the story, how he thought there was gunfire coming from the school-house and as a soldier first ordered it to be hit. When they advanced he saw the girl trapped and tried to save her but another shell exploded and she was buried. A beam collapsed on top of him and caused the scars on his back. Evram also says that when he saw the girl on the table instead of Paula it wasn't because of medication or alcohol withdrawals but a full-blown hallucination, presumably caused by 'Beta'. Wassenfelder goes to see how Nadia is doing with the clean-up. He apologises for putting the whole crew through the accident and Nadia replies that he needs to stop blaming himself. He says that she wasn't ready to catch the box and admits he can be a complete idiot and Nadia agrees. She says she constantly questions (as do I) why 'W' was chosen for this mission, he's clumsy, eats too much and behaves like a 12 year old boy. However she acknowledges that every once in a while he finds a thumb.



    In flashback Zoe wakes up to find Eve by her bed. Eve tells her that she had an emergency hysterectomy. However when Zoe asks if she is out of the programme Eve says no and tells her that she had a burst cyst and that is the 'official' cause, covering for Zoe. Eve also tells her that she should have come to her and she would have done something. When she leaves Zoe looks upset at the consequences of her choice. As the dead druggie is taken away Wassenfelder puts his arm around Paula. In space he is by her bedside, holding her hand. Zoe is at her computer looking at pictures of pregnant doc from their training days and her little girl who is now around 5. Meanwhile pregnant doc looks at pictures of Zoe and Jen. We see Donner by Zoe's bedside while Donner's voiceover says there isn't a person alive who doesn't have regrets and that it's our failures make us who we are.moreless

  • ER is space

    8.3
    By Parricida, Sep 05, 2009
    I am not sure what happened but after this episode I felt need to cry.. Ok, I am not too emotional and it needs something deep and thoughtful to move me.. and for sure, I do not expect that kind of thing of this serie.. but somehow it did. I think it was Zoe's storyline - the choice she made and the connection she find with that other doctor.. who was in similar choice but choose other way. I think the ending just showed so well - people are different and even if they are in same crossing and choose differently - it can be right one still for them.



    I also enjoyed the storyline of that doctor aboard. He has been little left behind by other members of the team.. I mean, they have more focus than him but this episode was opening for him.. to learn who he is, what he has done.



    I think, most of all, I enjoyed that ER feeling on this episode. I love medical dramas and sci.fi.. that one was both elements together.moreless

  • Paula has an accident and almost loses a thumb. Will she recover for the Venus landing'?

    9.0
    By ptkitty, Sep 05, 2009
    I don;t agree with people who say the show is slow. It's just the way it's supposed to be. It has a story-telling taste to it and makes me sink into it more and more each time I watch a new episode. I really haven't been waiting for the next episode of show with such an anticipation for quite some time (maybe except for True Blood, Psych and Eureka but this show is just different).

    The secrets, the under-the-surface life of the characters, and the mystery behind the entire programme's goals/reasons/etc make the show not slow but give it a lot of suspense. You just want to know what happens next.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

Dylan Taylor

Dylan Taylor

Steve Wassenfelder
Laura Harris

Laura Harris

Zoe Barnes
Florentine Lahme

Florentine Lahme

Nadia Schilling
Malik Yoba

Malik Yoba

Ted Shaw
Eyal Podell

Eyal Podell

Evram Mintz
Karen LeBlanc

Karen LeBlanc

Eve Shaw
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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

Chelah Horsdal

Chelah Horsdal

Dr. Tina Winkler

Guest Star

Brendan Fletcher

Brendan Fletcher

Russell Zachary

Guest Star

Adrian Formosa

Adrian Formosa

Mr. Gurwitz

Guest Star

Leanne Adachi

Leanne Adachi

Suki Cho/FDO

Recurring Role

Nicole Muñoz

Nicole Muñoz

Palestinian Girl

Recurring Role

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