Nadia — She had quite the odd hallucinations, didn’t she? Who was that man she kept seeing, and why did he look so much like Nadia? As Parriott revealed to me, some fans of the show got it right in their guess that she was, in fact, a hermaphrodite when she was born. The choice was made for her when she was 11, by her parents, which sex she’d ultimately become. So that man we’re seeing is actually what Nadia would have been, had they chosen to raise her — or him — as a man.
Now, here’s the wild kicker. All those DNA changes that are happening with the crew, caused by Beta and the other artifacts? Well, they would eventually wind up causing Nadia to gradually turn into a man.
Parrriott also said that it was planned for Nadia to really have a more significant presence in season two. “If you see the way we wrote her, she sort of had that male sexuality about her, that ‘fuck ‘em and forget ‘em’ mentality. So we wanted to write her sort of as a male character in a female body.”
Donner & Zoe – Probably already guessed or assumed by many, but Donner’s reversed vasectomy was part of the DNA change brought upon by Beta. Eventually, toward the very end of the series, the true reason for that happening would be revealed, when Zoe becomes pregnant again on the trip. So yes, even Zoe’s hysterectomy would be “reversed” in order for that to happen.
“They were all going to be tested. The idea was that they all had points in their lives that, if they could do them all again, then they would have chosen a different path. Beta — the ‘fractal objects’ — were going to put them up against those same situations and stand them up to themselves again, give them a chance to make another decision.”
Wass — I asked what the Wassenfelder character’s significance was going to turn out to be, since, for the most part, he only seemed to serve as the comic relief for the show. “Dylan [Taylor] sort of has that different gear that we had to exploit, which is sort of that funny gear. And he had a relationship with Paula Garcés the first time we put them together, and we just though that was a relationship we have to mine. That wasn’t the initial plan, but Wass was going to have something like Pervasive Developmental Disorder [similar to Autism] and have a great fear of people touching him and having contact with other people. He was going to become a weirder guy. One reason I didn’t have hallucinations for him was because I didn’t have any for him worked out yet!”
Arnel Poe — “Yeah, people guessed pretty early on that it’s Arnel’s leg loss that gets Zoe back into the program. At the beginning of the second season, she’s going to be at home, has a job teaching college, she’s going to have another romance, she’s going to have washed her hands of the whole thing. Donner’s going to be going nuts. They’re going to be doing the survival training for the mission and Arnel was going to lose a leg, and Zoe would be called back.”
Jen — Was she mistakenly put on the mission? Why can’t she see the fractal objects? “No, she was correctly put on the mission. And she can’t see [the objects] because, if you look back at when she was in the isolation tanks, she has a fear of abandonment. Jen seems to always need a man, and she’s very needy that way because she was abandoned as a child. And what the fractal objects were doing was she was going to become extraordinarily lonely in season two, and the bunny was going to fuck up the ship and she was going to have to kill that bunny. That’s her thing she was going to have to overcome, that incredible loneliness.”
Eve — “In season two and season three, and leading into Mars, Eve was going to discover that the flashback she has of Mars, where Ted is yelling ‘go go go’, she’s going to realize that on top of his helmet there it says ‘Antares’ — so she was actually seeing the future. And she’s going to realize she has to go to Mars.”
Rollie — “Rollie was going to be in jail for his [driving incident] and have to be pulled out and take Eve [to Mars]. And they were going to go up in one of the resupply vessels to Mars.”
Goss — “Goss would not be the bad guy in the end. Goss would find out that he’s been being duped a little bit, and that it’s bigger than all of them.”
Beta and the other “fractal objects” — “I was never going to define what they were. I think that’s one of the themes about the whole show, is the theology of it. Is it God? Is it not God? Is it alien? What is the Universe? I do believe in a greater being, a greater thing, and this fractal thing is really an amazing thing. I was reading in The New Yorker how stock market swings follow Pi, the fractal equation. And that’s sort of a scary thing, that it just moves. You can plot the right dips and curves [of the market] that it does indeed move fractally, and that just blows me away. There’s just tons of stuff we don’t know.”
Other reveals:
Well, there you have it. As for the remaining episodes not shown yet in the U.S., Parriott tells me not to expect them on network television, though you will see them appear on Hulu and/or iTunes. The full set of episodes should arrive on Blu-ray next January.
I really want to thank Mr. Parriott for taking the time to talking to me and revealing so much of what many fans were wondering about this show. If only we’d get that sort of resolution with every other killed series. See me again next spring when I try to pry the show bible from Parriott’s hands to find out the rest of the details yet to be revealed.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Oct 29, 2009 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
I loved the show. I didn’t get to see it when it was on originally (didn’t really know about it) and was able to grab all 13 episodes off the net. The quality of the production was awesome. I liked the characters and even though the show moved slowly the first 3-4 episodes, I was able to follow it and get more interested with each episode.
I absolutely hate the TV networks anymore. Everything for these monster moneygrubbers has to be instant gratification. If a show isn’t popular within the first couple of episodes, they axe it because it doesn’t have viewership. Honestly, I watch 75% of my shows via DVR because there are too many on at the same time. But, the networks don’t account for that so many shows that have huge followings don’t get their fair share in the rankings. What a true pity. I doubt the networks will ever learn. Truly sad. If only DG had been brought out on SciFi channel, I think it would have done great!
SCREW THE NETWORKS!!!
Just watched the 5 un-aired “Defying Gravity” segments via iTunes purchase — what a pity this is gone — Sci Fi at it’s best — IMO the last few years have been wierd with the Sci Fi genre on TV — Starting back with Firefly and ending with this — 2 great shows come and go with great angst — too bad DG was given the short stick — the last few episodes are great — it might have made it despite the lack of support from the network — lets hope a movie can be made that will take us through the story board — Serenity was better than a hanging chad — Hopefully DG won’t get Butchered — at least there will continue to be Butcher books — and then to close this rant on the injustice of Sci Fi programing — how about the grab for money by the people behind the name change at Sy Fy — they said basically it wasn’t for nerds anymore — oh well — Nerd Out !!!!
Looked and looked all winter for the final episodes of season 1, bought the DVD and found the show was really taking off just as it ends. Tell Sifi not to worry. If they were do pick up where ABC dropped the ball we would all follow. Excellent show, lets get on with it!
Knew something was up when two episodes in BBC2 started changeing the times and days this was aired. But I was still devestated to hear it had been cancelled as it’s the best thing thats been on tele for a long time. It shows how good it was as when catching up on the episodes I’d taped I ended up watching all last four episodes off the belt as I couldn’t tear myself away. It’s a shame such an excellent show wasn’t given a fair chance when there’s so much crap on (you all know what I mean) that they drag on and on. Lets just hope that some one can bring it back, or even James Parriot to bring out the rest in the form of a book!! As I’m dieing to know what happens next.
we (my family and i) just finished watching the rest of season 1 on DVD, and i CANNOT thank you enough for publishing this very revealing interview with james parriott.
defying gravity is/was an amazing show. it was fun and exciting on so many levels, and its so depressing to see yet another awesome genre show get the ax because of bad decision making from a lame network. i wish this show would make a come back somehow, there is so much going on and such opportunities for further seasons!
i want to know more about beta and the other artifacts. i want to know what happens between ted and eve, rollie and jen, and donner and zoe. i want to see how donner would react to nadia turning into a man! i love the chemistry between paula and wass…
i could go on and on! what an awesome show, i am sooo sad to see it done. but again, i am so very thankful for this article that has at least answered some major questions.
Loved the show. Never knew it was on ABC.. I found it on the web and started watching it..I ranks up there with Stargate! Screw ABC, take it to SyFy it belongs there anyways. This should have been a number one show. It was awesome! I couldn’t agree more with the poster above me (rad sugar rose), the interview was perfect.
Absolutely loved the show, recorded the series and finished the last 3 episodes yesterday. Watched the entire thing with my girlfriend who is seriously not into sci fi on any level but absolutley loved the show to the extent that she not me searched for any reference to a second series only to find out to our great disappointment that it had been cancelled. Just shows what could have been with better promotion. The wide audience could have been reached easily. Actually gutted that the ideas listed above will never be followed through.
Any chance Pariott will release the screen plays for the remaining plot as a book. I would buy it in a second.
Really liked this show – and I very much appreciate your sharing some wrap up with us. I hope there is another way to fund shows in the future as the networks are too painful to deal with. I found myself doing that same as commenter H Mercer above, got the last 5 episodes on DVD and couldn’t stop until I finished all of them. Also agree that if no one else will pick this up as a series, I would greatly enjoy reading the rest of the story.
I loved this show from the very opening sequence and am still so mad that it was cancelled! Now that I finally got to watch the last few episodes of season 1 on DVD, I’m even madder because it was an excellent, intriguing show that had just the right mix of mystery, sci-fi, and romance. The actors were well-chosen and did an excellent job with these characters! I would love to see it continued – somewhere, anywhere! I just hate that we don’t get a resolution to this story – I want more Defying Gravity!!
I liked the show very much. I like science fiction and I like Grey’s anatomy (at least the first couple of seasons). I hope we’ll get to see more! Thanks for revealing all that information about future episodes.
I just loved the show, from the first episode on TV…to the final one on DVD. I have never purchased a TV program on DVD before, But I had to have it, I had to know how it finished it’s first season.
If season two ran only on DVD, I would buy that one also.
It was an excellent show, from the cast and crew to the sets and music…..oh and let’s not forget the plot!!
My lady friend love it too! We are both saddened by it’s demise. I wish ABC could feel our pain. Once the series “Lost” is done, I will never watch ABC again. To the Writers, Directors, and Financial Backers of this fine show…please bring it back! If I have to donate money to make it happen, I will!
See you all at Major Toms!
RMN