So, the last episode of Killjoys, season one, Escape Velocity, shows us that, if nothing else, Khylen was telling the truth about level six. We also learn that, despite his claims to the contrary, Dutch’s old tutor is not a good guy, no white hat here at all. Before the end of the episode, Dutch meets another level six, D’Avin meets Khlyen and Johnny meets Pawter’s mother.
This last look at Killjoys, while the SyFy jury is still out on whether the show will be renewed or not, brings a lot of threads together. It still manages to leave much unanswered as well as bringing up new information which will hopefully be addressed in the next season. (If there is one.)
Memorable Moments:
Carleen: “Gonna be a long night, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hammered…” Great almost last words from the gal who gets her throat cut by Khlyen. It seems that her last word was actually “please,” as the level six begins to make her final moments on Westerly painful as possible. Khlyen as boogeyman works very well, this guy is more than scary and cold blooded.
Johnny Jacobi: “I’m freezing my monk-junk” (“Eweh!” Is Dutch’s response.) This scene shows a John that is not afraid to step up and stand out. His “And the roots grew” blessing for the “soon to be doomed” sister of the Rat King, was lump inducing. Despite the fact that this mumbo jumbo only exists in the Killjoy verse, Ashmore makes it sound real and moving. Great stuff…Uncle.
Delle Seyah Kendry: Mayko Nguyen was brilliant as the conniving (Lovestruck?) Nine who flirts with Dutch at the voting ceremony while simultaneously staging her “Nine coup.” Nguyen is spot on as the Seyah with a devious not so hidden political agenda. The fact that she also knows, and is working with Khlyen, speaks volumes of the evil undercurrents in this world. Best line? Cooing seductively to Dutch, “My little killjoy…” sees Johnny, “Oh, you came too.”
Dutch: Meeting another level six at the voting ceremony. This steroidal mutant kicks the leader of the killjoys ragged and until John puts a bullet in the guys head, looked ready to send Dutch to Killjoy heaven. This RAC urban myth, is not a rumor, but real. The guy, who obviously missed the memo from fellow level six member Khlyen, tells Dutch as he begins to strangle her to death, that she never stood a chance. Presumably because he has been “upgraded.”
Hills: Frank Moore gives a command performance and has one stand out moment in Pree’s bar. This character was in the periphery throughout the season and after setting up Alvis as scapegoat as well as the excuse the company needed to blow Old Town off the map, had time to let Dutch go and toast his lineage before being blown off his feet.
Alvis: Morgan Kelly rocks it as Alvis. The Uncle tells Dutch that the prayer beads are just that. Apparently, despite the fact that Alvis is one of the “good guys” monks are not afraid to lie. Later the scene where he uses the beads to escape his own “personal” execution and his cell is brilliant. D’Av may not be too keen on the masochistic monk, “Freaky little dude,” he says at one point, but as an Uncle of the faith and revolutionary, Alvis is a great character.
The episode runs two distinct threads. Khlyen searching for, and finding, his stolen property and the Nine plot. As Dutch is put out of harm’s way yet again by her old tutor’s influence, Old Town is doomed. Seyah Kendry uses the DNA weapon to blast most of the Nines out of existence, and their lineage…if any. This was her plan all along.
Standout Moment:
Dutch is fighting the level six. He calls her Khlyen’s pet and says he is disappointed. The two fight and Dutch is losing. The level six is tough, he survives a long pin being shoved in his eye by the killjoy leader. “Don’t be ashamed,” he says as he bends down to lick Dutch’s face, “You’re just a girl. I’m level six.”
A shot rings out and blood spatters onto Dutch’s face.
“I’m Johnny Jacobis. Stop licking my partner,” John says as he approaches the now immobile level six. “You think guns can kill those things,” Johnny asks Dutch. She takes John’s gun and fires four rounds into the level six. “I don’t know,” she says.
Honorable Mention: D’avin has been soundly defeated by Khlyen. As he lays bloody and beaten on the floor, Khlyen leans over and tells him about Dutch, “She needs me back in her life,” he raises D’Av’s head, “to protect her from the mediocrity of you.” D’Avin responds by spitting in the level six’s face. This has to be one of the best insults ever. “The mediocrity of you…” Ouch.
Not only do we learn the significance of red 17 but we find out that Arkyn is not a desolate moon something lives there after all. D’Av wakes up after his fight with Khlyen and the first thing he sees is Fancy Lee on the bed next to his. He stumbles out and sees Westerly and Leith. Men in plastic biohazard suits come out and drag the elder Jacobi back inside the tall building with a giant red 17 on its side situated on the Arkyn moon.
Show creator Michelle Lovretta , who is also the show creator for Lost Girl wrote this episode and it shows. Everything comes together yet leaves much unanswered a clever and brilliant end to a great show.
Before the end credits roll, Pree leaves his beloved bar and boards the ship with Johnny and Dutch. Pawter Simms opts to stay with Alvis and head to the bunkers where, as they enter, Alvis tells her, “Welcome home doctor.” D’Avin wakes up in the big red 17 tower on Arkyn. He is being prepped for something, the implication is that he will be made into a level six and so will Fancy Lee. Kendra has wiped out all her opposition on the Nines and Old Town is being bombed into oblivion.
There is much left to learn. Who was Dutch’s husband, that Khlyen admits to killing, and what did Pree mean in his short exchange with Dutch. As they head into the tunnels beneath the bar, Pree hesitates. “It’s just a bar,” Dutch tells him. “Oh honey, you know that’s not true,” he tells her. While this could be the man mourning his livelihood, it sounds like Pree is much more than the sum of his parts.
Kudos to the cast and the writers, in this case writer, who put together this episode. Until SyFy steps up to obligate to a second season, fans will have to wait anxiously to see if we ever learn the secrets behind Killjoys.
Mikes Film Talk 