Syfy's Defiance has started production in Toronto for a 13-episode third season.  The second season produced really good ratings for the cable network, and is noteworthy for having storylines cross over in both TV and online gaming.  Also, the show's last season ended on a big cliffhanger, so fans should look ahead and save the (general) date for a summer return.

New cast members this season include Lee Tergesen (The Americans), Conrad Coates (The Strain), and Nichole Galicia (Django Unchained).  Defiance also stars Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Stephanie Leonidas, Tony Curran, Jaime Murray, Graham Greene and Jesse Rather.

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Here's the full press release for the upcoming season, as well as character bios for the new cast:

NEW YORK – February 2, 2015 – Production has commenced in Toronto, ON for the 13-episode third season of Syfy’s highly-rated Defiance, featuring new cast additions Lee Tergesen (The Americans) as military leader General Rahm Tak, Nichole Galicia (Django Unchained) as Kindzi and Conrad Coates (The Strain) as her father, T’evgin (both part of a new alien race known as the Omec).  Produced by Universal Cable Productions, season two of Defiance delivered an average of 1.2 million viewers 18-49 and 2.7 million total viewers (based on Live +7 data).

 

Following the events of the season two cliffhanger finale, season three of Defiance opens on the eve of an impending military siege upon the town, which has fallen on hard times following the collapse of its lucrative mines.  Their fate uncertain, the townspeople face further threat with the surprise arrival of the mysterious and nearly extinct Omec, an alien race of warriors marked by the decades of subjugation they imposed upon the galaxy in the years preceding the Pale Wars.

 

Lee Tergesen will portray General Rahm Tak, a ruthless, arrogant leader in the Votanis Collective who sees Defiance, now free of Earth Republic oversight, a symbolic target in his unrelenting pursuit of power. A Castithan, Rahm is a well-read, brilliant strategist who imposes his army upon the town with decisive force.

 

Conrad Coates plays T’evgin, the leader of the Omec who reluctantly carries the burden of his species’ survival on his shoulders.

 

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Nichole Galicia is Kindzi, the fierce, beautiful and tough daughter of the Omec leader T’evgin; she is his second in command and a skilled fighter unafraid of danger.

 

Grant Bowler returns as Nolan, along with Julie Benz as Amanda Rosewater, Stephanie Leonidas as Irisa Nolan, Tony Curran as Datak Tarr, Jaime Murray as Stahma Tarr, Graham Greene as Rafe McCawley and Jesse Rath as Alak Tarr.  The cast also features Trenna Keating as Doc Yewll and Anna Hopkins as Berlin.

 

Kevin Murphy (Desperate Housewives, Caprica) resumes his role as executive producer and showrunner. Smallville’s Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin return as executive producers for season two and Anupam Nigam serves as co-executive producer.  Michael Nankin (co-executive producer) is set to direct the season three opener.

 

Season three of Defiance is set to premiere on Syfy in Summer 2015.  The series is an unprecedented partnership between Syfy and Trion Worlds and the first-ever convergence of television and online gaming, featuring an interconnected world and storylines that co-exist on both platforms.

 

About Universal Cable Productions

Universal Cable Productions (UCP) creates innovative and critically acclaimed original scripted and digital content across media platforms for domestic and international distribution.  UCP’s content library spans classics such as Emmy-award winning, “Monk,” and critic and fan favorites “Psych,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and “Warehouse 13.” In the U.S., UCP’s programming can be seen across various networks, including: “Covert Affairs,” “Dig” (March 2015), “Playing House,” “Royal Pains,”  “Satisfaction” and “Suits” on USA Network; “Ascension,” “Defiance,” “Dominion,” and “12 Monkeys” on Syfy; “Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce” on Bravo; “Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome” on Machinima Prime/YouTube, Syfy and DVD/Blu-Ray; and “Side Effects” on Awesomeness TV/YouTube.  Universal Cable Productions is a part of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. Follow us @UCPisTV.

 

About Syfy

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in 96 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.  NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. (Syfy. Imagine Greater.)

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