Posts tagged: Killjoys reviews

Killjoys S01E03 “The Harvest” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on SyFy, Mondays
Writer: Aaron Martin
Director: Michael Robison

Essential Plot Points:

• Dutch lets the target named in the red box go.
• D’Avin becomes a Killjoy.
• D’Avin has “Stress Response Syndrome”.
• Doctor Pawter is to help D’Avin with his issues.

Review:

Killjoys has done a great job in creating its world, especially when it comes to language. Part of the reason the dialogue snaps so well is down to the little phrases and sayings the creators have come up with. This episode sees Dutch straddling a half-dressed man and asking if he’s ever had a “Qreshi two hander”, before proceeding to render him unconscious.

The previous episode of Killjoys ended with a “Will she?/Won’t she?” closer as Dutch confronted the target named in the red box left by Khlyen. It turns out the answer is she won’t, as Dutch lets the target live, albeit after some not-so-gentle questioning. This is undoubtedly not the last we’ll hear of this, but it isn’t brought up again for the rest of the episode.

It’s harvest week in the Quad, which means lots of migrant workers travelling to and from Leith to harvest Hokk plants, used to make the aptly-named drink, Hokk.

One of John’s regular back-room tumbles has a husband who went Hokk harvesting but never came back, so she’s created a warrant for his return. Wanting to help out, John convinces Dutch to take the job, mostly by persuading her she can get dressed up.

The two go undercover on Leith; John as a migrant worker, Dutch as a highborn Hokk distributor. As the Hokk gatherers need to be closely monitored, John has an explosive tracker implanted in his ear.

For the first time this series the members of the team are split up, and follow two pretty separate plot lines: Dutch and John looking for the missing gatherer on Leith; D’Avin also on Leith but with Dr Pawter (pronounced Potter).

To become a fully paid-up Killjoy, D’Avin needs a psychological evaluation, and Dr Pawter (Sarah Power) just happens to be a RAC-credited doctor. She also has her offices above Pree’s bar, which is handy. She agrees to sign off on his psych assessment if she can get a ride to Leith to do some shopping at the bazaar. Handy for D’Avin as he doesn’t seem to be looking forward to a psych eval.

John and Dutch end up discovering, and then disrupting, a Jakk “grow-up”: a collection of Hokk gatherers hidden in the forest producing the illegal and highly addictive drug Jakk. John pretty much singlehandedly brings the Jakk growers to task, although he cuts off his own ear in the process. Given the two previous episodes have been mostly about showing how much ass Dutch and D’Avin can kick, it’s nice for John to get a chance to show he’s just as capable. And it makes him feel better about D’Avin being given a higher Killjoy level than him.

Meanwhile D’Avin and Pawter get to know each other a little better. Dr Pawter diagnoses D’Avin with Stress Response Syndrome, which needs to be treated with pretty strong medication; hence his previous search for a doctor. In the end she agrees to sign off on his psych eval, if he agrees to let her help him with his condition.

This episode lacks some of the coherence and energy of the previous two, possibly because it splits the group up. Whereas before everyone was wise-cracking together and concentrating on a single mission, here things feel a little fragmented. It doesn’t help that the main Hokk/Jakk harvest storyline isn’t particularly interesting, and has more than its fair share of plot holes. There’s still some fun to be had though, the scenes between Dutch and the plantation owner are particularly lively, as she goes from seducing him, to kicking his ass.

Still it’s only the third episode, historically a weak point. One and two need to grab you and pull you in (which they did) so if you’re still around for three, chances are you’ll watch at least one more before deciding if this is the show for you. So let’s hope episode four can inject some of the fun back in and keep people interested.

The Good:

• John gets to take the leading role, and does well with it.
• Dr Pawter is an interesting character.
• Glowing knife is a really nice touch.
• Qreshi two hander – yes that is a euphemism.

The Bad:

• John’s head is mysteriously bigger when he only has one ear.
• The show’s not as coherent with the gang separated, or as much fun.
• Some plot holes in a fairly weak story line.

And The Random:

• The gatherers cut off their ears and bury them to avoid being found. If all the ears had trackers, wasn’t anybody suspicious that everybody appeared to be sat under a tree stump in the forest?
• Hannah John-Kamen’s hair continues to amaze and delight, its myriad shapes and forms are enough to make a Belgian hair model green.

Review by Arthur Scott

• Read our other Killjoys reviews

Killjoys S01E02 “The Sugar Point Run” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on SyFy, Mondays
Writer: Jeremy Boxen
Director: Chris Grismer

Essential Plot Points:

• We learn what’s in a red box: a weapon and a name.
•  …And what happens if that name is still breathing after a week.
• D’Avin is searching for a doctor.
• D’Avin is to become a Killjoy

Review:

It must be tricky to create a new series, develop characters, locations, mythos and then hand the reigns over to another writer to tackle an episode. Especially the second episode, while you’re still trying to hook viewers. But Michelle Lovretta needn’t worry; Killjoys is in safe hands with Jeremy Boxen, and continues in much the same vein as it started, as a wise-cracking space-action show.

Killjoy captain Dutch is forced into accepting a job for The Company – a hostage swap: trade a Company prisoner for the Mayor’s daughter. Straightforward, then. Get in, get the girl, get home in time for tea. Except this job is in Sugar Point, not somewhere anybody would go by choice, it seems, and the swap is with R’yo, a gun-running warlord.

John’s brother D’Avin is still part of the crew. He can’t leave Lucy (Dutch’s ship) as he doesn’t have valid Company papers. The trio run into trouble immediately as Lucy is shot down before they can land safely in R’yo’s territory. The place has been pretty much levelled by a war with The Company and is now mostly inhabited by scavengers, looking to make money on any gear they can get their hands on. John has to stay behind to make repairs, while D’Avin and Dutch kit up and head out to finish the mission.

It looks like the designers were aiming for something out of Mad Max with Sugar Point. Unfortunately it comes across as more like Sunderland town centre on a wet Wednesday. It’s not all bad though; the outside of R’yo’s tower actually has a really good distressed tower block feel to it (although the inside is a little spartan).

What follows is high on action, snappy comebacks, dislocations and body count. At the end of which the Mayor’s errant daughter is rescued and Dutch has a newfound respect for D’Avin’s soldiering skills. She also learns that D’Avin is looking for a doctor who can help him; with what we don’t know. Dutch has another flashback to her training where she refuses to kill the target named in a mysterious red box, and learns the consequences: a fight to the death with the target, on a more even footing.

All cosied up back at the bar Dutch announces she’s sponsoring D’Avin to become a Killjoy, and offers him a position on her crew. Meanwhile John is getting suspicious: he’s seen the red box, and he knows someone broke into Lucy as she tells him she’s upped defensive measures and has ten minutes missing from her memory.

We end with Dutch confronting the target named in the red box she found in her quarters. Seems the mystery mentor played by Rob Stewart is called Khlyen (pronounced Klein), and she wants to know why he wants this particular feller dead, seemingly trying to escape from her calling again.

It’s early days so we’re still getting some exposition, explaining the RAC’s role within the Quad and how they’re outside Company jurisdiction, presumably for any late comers. Although these days there’s really no excuse for missing an episode with all the catch-up services available. Why aren’t you just watching on your holo-toaster?

The dialogue is again the stand-out, with some genuinely funny lines. But that’s not to say the action is lacking. The warehouse fight scene where D’Avin gets to show off his skills is nicely choreographed. We’re building on an overarching story as well – continuing with the red box plotline – but not getting bogged down by it.

The Good:

• Great dialogue.
• Good use of music again.
• Intrigue and mystery, but still plenty of action.
• Big guns and gadgets.

The Bad:

• The limited budget shows through in places.

And The Random:

• Rob Stewart seems to be more or less reprising his role from Nikita, albeit in space: Space Roan!
• There’s a Wilhelm scream when the scavenger hits Lucy’s outer hull and gets electrocuted.

Review by Arthur Scott

• Read our other Killjoys reviews

Killjoys S01E01 “Bangarang” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on SyFy, Mondays
Creator/Writer: Michelle Lovretta
Director: Chris Grismer

Essential Plot Points:

• A Killjoy is a bounty hunter, working for The Recovery and Apprehension Coalition (RAC) – aka, “The Rack”.
• Dutch and John Jaqobis are two such Killjoys.
• They operate within the Quad system, which is owned by The Company, but they operate outside of Company jurisdiction.
• John’s brother, D’Avin Jaqobis, is rescued, and has a kill warrant on him rescinded.
• Dutch has a mysterious past, and a mysterious benefactor.

Review

The dictionary definition of a killjoy is: a person who deliberately spoils the enjoyment of others. The Killjoys of this show are bounty hunters, who kill for money, so they could probably be accused of spoiling other people’s enjoyment. However as far as the viewer is concerned, nothing could be further from the truth: Killjoys is all about our enjoyment.

Killjoys is a new venture from the Canadian channel Space, co produced by Syfy. A much-needed new space action show which doesn’t take itself too seriously.

It features a trio of bounty hunters working for the Recovery and Apprehension Coalition, or RAC (no they’re not fixing broken down spaceships), in the midst of an inter-planetary war, shady mega-corporations and revolutionary monks.

In their universe “Joy” is a slang term for money, and these killjoys are bounty hunters, they kill for money, kill for joy – geddit?

It opens cold with John Jaqobis (Aaron Ashmore) tied up and tortured for allegedly stealing a spaceship. Things are looking grim as his (business) partner Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) is caught snooping around outside. However the pair proceed to turn things around nicely and catch their man.

After handing over their captor to The Company, John goes rogue to rescue his brother (Luke Macfarlane), an indentured fighter on a slaver ship with a kill warrant on his head. He’s only the junior partner, though, and is chasing warrants above his pay grade (he’s level 3; level 5 is a kill warrant).

While on board the slaver ship we meet the wonderfully named rival bounty hunter Fancy Lee (Sean Baek), and a mysterious older man (played by Rob Stewart) who seems to be keeping an eye on Dutch.

Dutch comes to the rescue, but realises she’s in trouble when she can’t make good on the warrant and execute John’s brother. Cue a spot of deal making with The Company and we have another mission: retrieve an artifact stolen by a rogue monk. In return for which, the company will lift the warrant on D’Avin Jaqobis head.

The trio end up retrieving the artifact but along the way Dutch is poisoned by Fancy Lee, and either hallucinates or is actually saved by the mysterious man, who appears in flashback seemingly training a young Dutch in the ways of assassination.

After a very neatly choreographed fight sequence which includes a necklace of exploding miniature mechanical spiders, all is good, the artifact returned, warrant lifted on D’Avin, off to the pub for a drink.

There’s a fair bit of exposition here, but come on it is the first episode and it isn’t particularly heavy-handed. Using a computer scan to put names to our protagonists is a neat gimmick, and apparently D’Avin’s been out of the loop for a while, so he needs some things explaining to him, which is a handy, non-clunky device to disguise the necessary infodumping.

All in all what we end up with is a decent-little set-up. We get to see a few different planets, some space ships, a few fights, and we’re starting to work out the lay of the land. We’re also getting some clues for what looks to be a continuing arc with Dutch’s mystery benefactor.

Dutch is very competently and believably played by Hannah John-Kamen; her two compatriots are a little stiff in comparison, but hopefully they’ll warm up a bit as the series continues.

Creating a new space show these days is a risky business and not many end up going the distance. Killjoys takes a well-known recipe: a mysterious stranger, a character with a murky past (x2), some sexual tension, a smart-mouthed computer, a secret red box and a cute pet robot sidekick (not really, well not yet anyway). Throws in some sidekicks: an extremely camp bartender, a revolutionary monk, a treacherous rival assassin, and an experienced old-hand mentor.

What it adds to this recipe is something which the others tend to forget, fun!

It’s quirky, quippy fun, and it isn’t afraid to swear and shoot people in the head, even though it’s supposed to be rescuing them…

The Good:

• Strong female lead.
• Swearing – and not fracking made-up swearing either!
• Really good use of music, including a couple of bands in the bar.
• Cool gadgets – a necklace of exploding miniature mechanical spiders.
• It has a proper title sequence, with a song!
• The smart-mouthed ship’s computer, Alice: “I only nag because I care.”

The Bad:

• It can look a little low budget in places

And The Random:

• The “Scarback” Monks are so called because they suspend themselves from metal hooks which pierce their skin, a practice which dates back to the 1800’s.
• As this is a Canadian production it’s only right we see a few Canadian TV stalwarts. Patrick Garrow has been seen in both Bitten and Nikita, and Rob Stewart had a recurring role in Nikita as Roan.

Review by Arthur Scott