Welcome back Killjoys fans!
Can you believe we are finished with one season already? Where did this time go? How did ten weeks pass SO incredibly quickly? And there we certainly no signs of letting up in this season finalé either! No sirree!
After a brief recap of previous events, we see Pree (Thom Allison) explaining to the trio of Killjoys Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), Johnny (Aaron Ashmore), and D’avin (Luke Macfarlane) that Scarback leader Alvis Akari (Morgan Kelly) is being held responsible for the attack on the Leith Bazaar
Escape Velocity:
Both Johnny and Dutch are taken aback by this news; Dutch quickly backs Alvis’ character while Johnny sees the Company side in all of using Alvis as a scapegoat. And then there is D’avin, ever the pessimist, he quickly points out that Alvis IS a revolutionary; maybe he actually might be responsible.
Next we see Johnny, Dutch, and D’avin sharing a drink and trying to process just what is going on. With Dutch recalling that Khlyen (Rob Stewart) had said to her, that she will need her team, “that something was coming, I think he meant to the Quad” she says.
It is at this point that D’avin suggests that Dutch and Johnny take Lucy (their faithful ship, voiced by the talented Tamsen McDonough), in an effort to “be a moving target” – they took something from Khlyen and he will be looking for them. D’avin also chooses to make mention that Turin (Patrick Garrow) had brought up that Dutch was marked for Red 17, that she is on some kind of list. With a raising of the glasses in toast, they decide to act. Dutch asks Johnny to have Carleen (Danka Scepanovic) decrypt and decipher the files that were taken, looking specifically for vulnerability in Level 6.
Johnny feels the need for a map of some kind – to draw everything out and make the necessary connections, to get the big picture, “one last play”.
Just as the glasses are lowered, a “priority broadcast” comes across the PA system, our heroes ditch their glasses and their seats and head outside to see what is going on. There is a broadcast of Alvis confessing to the bazaar attack, he also says that his punishment is death and that he accepts this.
Dutch on the other hand, does not readily accept his fate. She feels that this is all related – Khlyen, Alvis, and the Company – saying that “Khlyen said trouble was coming to the Quad; D’avin, take a look around tell that it isn’t.” With a curfew in place, D’avin implores all to go inside, ESPECIALLY after Dutch suggests that they get Alvis out of Westhole.
The team has now split up, and we see Johnny and D’avin have gone to Leith to both check things out and to visit with Bellus (Nora McLellan). She says that it was all over before she could get her gun out, that they were yelling about Alvis and the 7th Gen Accord.
Johnny and D’avin let Bellus express herself a minute about the Scarbacks and then Johnny lays on her, “what would you day if we told you Level 6 was real?”
This is followed by one of the best lines of the episode, Bellus retorts with, “yes please, I’ll have some of what you’re smoking.”
After realizing that the boys are serious, Bellus tells them that for all the time she has “been in the game” Level 6 has been nothing more than rumor, there has never been anything to substantiate the rumors – that an agent here and there goes missing, been told that he got transferred or died on active duty; that these agents were forced into Level 6, it was never voluntary.
Their conversation concludes with Bellus telling them that they must have “a million angels in their asses” because the “official word” regarding their foray into RAC was that it was a “surprise system security check.”
From Leith to Westhole, we see Dutch has wormed her way past Hills, having pleaded with him to let her see Alvis, for one final goodbye. Dutch has now grown ever more suspicious of circumstances after learning from Hills that they went on the word of a dying Scarback monk (to a Leith Security Agent) that Alvis put them up to it – this is too loose and end to go on, there has to be more.
Once inside with Alvis, she hands him a string of prayer beads. As we have often seen, Dutch can hope beyond hope when it comes to people she thinks are good, and she is hoping that the chain she gave him is more than just beads, explosives or cyanide caplets, but is rather dejected when Alvis swears that they are just that. He tells Dutch that his confession is derived from a direct threat to the rest of his order. He advises Dutch to forget about him, to worry instead about Westerly.
When Dutch hesitates on that request, he tells her that they – Alvis and Westerly – are a package deal, and that she “really can’t deny the last request of a dying sexy man” so he asks her for a favor. Alvis explains about a past terraforming failure and how that led to the underground network created on Westerly (in the case of another failure, a place for survival).
Alvis asks Dutch and the boys to contact the Tunnel Rats and to attain the entry codes to these bunkers, for the survival of his people and the people of Westerly, foreseeing an imminent Company attack. He cinches the deal by telling her that the Tunnel Rats only trust Scarbacks, and that right now, he only trusts Dutch.
Back at his room, Johnny catches a “call” from Carleen. After making it crystal clear that she needs to be on a secure network, and Carleen declares that she is, Johnny tells her what he needs and what he doesn’t – namely that he does not want to know where she is, and that she needs to flag the keywords Khlyen, Dutch, and Level 6 in her searches and procedures.
We see Johnny remove the green liquid from his person and cover it with a metal glass as the scene cuts to Carleen’ perspective.
We see Carleen talking to her computer, telling it “you heard the man” that she needs it to find all known dialects with a “subroutine of crypto-pattern recognition”.
The computer acknowledges, and then comes back with the comment that it does not have a time frame for completion. Carleen understands and then tells the computer that she is about to get hammered, to pass the time. She turns and instead of getting hammered, she gets slashed! Khlyen!!! How the heck did you get there? How did you know?
As Carleen falls to the floor, Khlyen tells her that he can make her end painless or he can make her suffer; that he only wants what was taken from him. Khlyen surveys her systems and what is going on, and then returns his attentions to Carleen.
A dying Carleen points to her computer and desks and tells him to take the files, but he doesn’t want the files, he wants the liquid – when he realizes that she can’t help, she must die…Khlyen is ruthless and unforgiving, cold and calculating.
Shifting gears, our threesome is back together and have gone underground…having disguised themselves as Scarbacks, they go to see the Rat King (Noah Danby).
While waiting for his majesty to see them, we are treated to D’avin’s complaint about his attire and Johnny’s complaint about freezing his monk junk – to the disdain of Dutch! D’avin continues his lack of tact, talking about the Rat People in front of them, it’s no wonder they are mistrusting. Johnny is left to explain to him (and us) their plight and circumstances, defending them in a backhanded way.
Due to the nature of their community and past, the Rat people are of course skeptical, and the Rat king questions their authenticity. When he says that they are not Alvis and asks why he should trust them, Dutch is quick to say “because Alvis does”; and ever quick to complete a mission, D’avin jumps in and states their purpose, that they need the codes and are willing to trade for it.
This prompts the Rat King to demand a blessing from our monks, thereby proving themselves and their faith. The Rat King commands they execute a blood blessing in the hopes of healing his feverish sister. As they all draw blank and Dutch begins to draw a weapon, Johnny stops her and offers a prayer – a blessing that seems to stop all and they fall in line with the pseudo-responsorial line to the blessing.
Afterward, the Rat King leads them out of his shelter.
Stating that he keeps his word, he hands over to Dutch the key/codes for the bunkers, as requested of her by Alvis. Remorsefully the Rat Kings declares that he is ashamed of his doubt, and to help their safe passage along he hands over a couple of miner’s id tags. The Rat King tells of how some Scarbacks were beaten on a previous visit, he wants to assure their safety.
Now Dutch goes off on a tangent explaining how Alvis would never use imposters, how they need to head back and plant a seed of doubt – so the roots can grow, get it? Bah, I’m lightening things up here! As they are leaving, Johnny owns up to not being a true monk, telling the Rat King that he is not a true believer. Astonishingly, Johnny is met with bright eyes and a smile, and the Rat King telling him that that is not usually something man gets to decide.
Back at the Quad, our brothers are back as their jovial and contemptuous selves, D’avin picking on Johnny and his “Scarback fetish” afraid of a possible conversion. As they round the corner, Dutch raises their awareness about the formed crowds, questioning whether the curfew has been lifted. Running in to Pawter (Sarah Power), they are informed of MAJOR happenings.
Apparently the Nine have declared a vote; going back on the law the 7th Gen Westerlyns can immigrate to Leith. Adding to the turmoil and unrest, Dutch gets a call from Delle Seyah Kendry (Mayko Nguyen). An immediate tone of disdain from Dutch is met with equal condescension and contempt from Delle Seyah as she demands Dutch visit the Ancestral Hall on Qresh or else!
A hastily laid plan split the team up again – Dutch has tasked D’avin with getting the codes to Alvis’ people while at the same time making Hills listen to other possibilities. Looks like Dutch and Johnny are headed to Qresh. When Pawter hears this, she steals off momentarily; she comes back with a note for Johnny to giver to her mother, Seyah Simms (Jayne Lewis).
Johnny looks at Pawter with confusion as if he cannot believe what he has heard. Pawter sees this and says to him, “yes I am a pretty, pretty princess” – her mother is a member of the Nine, those that own Company – not anyone to mess with and make angry as Johnny mentions to Dutch.
Pawter further explains to Johnny that she and her mother do not see eye to eye, but Seyah Simms DOES need to get and read that note, in an effort to understand the situation at the Quad. Likewise, Dutch implores D’avin to follow through with Hills – telling D’avin that despite Hills’ shortcomings he does do what he can to” keep the peace.”
Asking Johnny to tell her mother that she loves her, Pawter is hesitant and almost retracts that statement. Obviously past events have strained their relationship, but in a time of crisis and need, family should stand up and be there for one another. One need not forget to forgive. We see this longing in the face of D’avin as the team splits again. And with one final look back from Dutch, they’re off.
Meeting up with Delle Seyah, it is explained that Dutch is there as her security detail, that the vote today is “beyond contentious”, the Nine have all received death threats. Dutch and Johnny are then taken on a tour to and around the Ancestral Hall. They apparently are more like Delle Seyah’s trophy detail as she is keen to show them off just as much as showing them around.
At one point Delle Seyah takes to telling Dutch and Johnny off a peer on the Nine, simply because Delle Seyah does not like her. Johnny coyly retorts to Dutch, “is she drunk?” referring to Delle Seyah. After pointing out two other of the Nine, one of which is Seyah Simms, Johnny is abruptly told to “go patrol”.
From being drunk with power and bright warmth of Qresh to the cold concrete of the Quad, D’avin finds Hills (Frank Moore) at a table in the hangar “keeping warm”. Hills asks “Jaqobis the Elder” how he can help him, but it is D’avin who is there to help Hills instead. He pulls out the two miners’ id tags and tosses them on the table.
Explaining to Hills that the Lethian massacre was carried out by imposters, and that those involved are not even true Scarbacks. Immediately met with resistance and sarcasm, D’avin begins to lecture Hills on the current path of Alvis, as well as a certain demeanor of the population on the Quad.Being put back in his place by Hills, D’avin attempts to grab the id tags, however is made to leave them where they lie – the bargaining chip is lost.
We next see Johnny catching up with Seyah Simms; all warm and fuzzy, he sends his regards from Pawter, and after a second or two of fumbling to get the note out, Seyah Simms effectively storms off after saying “I have no daughter”.
Johnny is left with his arm extended, the note in his hand; the temperature on Qresh might as well rival the Quad at this very moment – can you hear Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” playing as she saunters off? I can.
The song continues as Delle Seyah asks Dutch’s opinion on her vote, and when a dig at her character from Dutch – by calling her not accountable – hits home, Delle Seyah too saunters off, but not before slamming her empty glass in Johnny’s chest. “So rich, so bitch”…thank you Johnny for that line.
As a matter of fact, thank you to Michelle Lovretta for masterfully crafting a show the like of Killjoys; superb writing and story week in and week out, and the cast so artfully putting to film what was once on paper. THANK YOU, Michelle!
Now here is where the episode goes off the rails! We first see D’avin rounding a corner having left Hills, and he catches sight of Khlyen in their room at the Royal. Khlyen is tearing the place apart, looking for – ah, found it! The Green “stuff” taken from him by Johnny. D’avin radios to Dutch, as Johnny is getting a message from Carleen; a disturbing message that show Khlyen killing Carleen.
D’avin is explicitly instructed to not engage Khlyen, and as Johnny tells Dutch his news, she shares hers with him. Time to get out of Dodge; Dutch and Johnny ditch the bitch and make a break for the door.
Tracking, tracking, and more tracking – D’avin going after Khlyen and Delle Seyah following after Johnny and Dutch. Suddenly the past catches up with Dutch – she recognizes the genetic bomb “used on Leith” she tells Johnny as she directs him to secure and cover Delle Seyah while she goes after the box.
The foursome of Dutch and the Box and Delle Seyah and Johnny all end up in the same hallway – imagine that. After a brief fight, the genetic bomb ends up under foot of Delle Seyah.
With a haste warning from Dutch, Delle Seyah engages the bomb to everyone’s surprise – cue “Cold As Ice” again. This distraction allows Dutch’s sparring partner to escape.
As mass confusion ensues, Dutch keeps her head bout her and orders Johnny to stay with Delle Seyah as she goes after “bomb boy”. Johnny catches up to Delle Seyah and is greeted with a slap to the face as he grabs her arm.
Delle Seyah explains to Johnny that this is a coup, that Khlyen had set this up, insisting that Dutch knows something – that there is something “coming to Old Town tonight” and that Khlyen did not want Dutch to be around when it arrived. As Johnny questions what is coming to Old Town, the scene cuts to Dutch.
We’re getting to the nitty gritty of this episode now, and not only is the episode starting to tie up its loose ends, this season is coming all together now as well. With Delle Seyah’s stern warning about not being in Old Town tonight, it is more imperative that Dutch and Johnny make their way off Qresh and make their way back to D’avin, but first things first. Dutch has scheduled a meeting with “bomb Boy”.
When she catches up to him, she is caught off guard, not once but twice – the second time coming when he calls her “Khlyen’s pet”. Missing or being matched at every swing and punch, she is finding him difficult to defeat.
All seems lost for Dutch when “bomb boy” seemingly has her pinned and his hands around her throat, until she gets a hold of his pin – sticks him right in the eye! To that he defies and resists, responding with one of the next two great lines in this episode, “don’t be ashamed, it’s not like it’s a fair fight; you’re just a girl, I’m Level 6” and then he licks Dutch. Followed immediately with, “I’m Johnny Jaqobis, stop licking my partner!” as he shoots and seemingly kills “bomb boy”.
Now following a rule from the movie Zombieland, Dutch wastes no time as she grabs Johnny’s weapon and fires off four more shots – a quadruple double-tap.
They make their way to Lucy in a frantic attempt to get back to Westerly to warn them and find D’avin. Dutch starts to think out loud, saying that that was a political assassination and that the RAC doesn’t play politics – spitting out the RAC mantra, “take no bribes, take no sides, the warrant is all.”
Dutch also figures out all that just happened , that Delle Seyah is behind everything in a grand effort to thwart the immigration agreement; keeping her hands clean of any mess, as Dutch put it, “two birds, one very bloody stone.” On top of that, an intercepted military message lets Dutch and Johnny in on that there are bombers on the way to Old Town.
Johnny and Dutch have made it back to Old Town and head right for tavern. Busting in, Dutch bypasses everyone in a rush to search their room, Johnny is met by Pawter. He tells her and everyone to grab their things, that they are leaving now, just as the alarms sound.
With no D’avin in sight, either upstairs or by anyone in the bar, they make their way to the tunnels. Chaos ensues before Dutch can proclaim that they have a way off the moon, Lucy. Poor Pree is standing there like he has just lost a parent, and to make matters worse, Dutch tells him that is just a bar.
Does anyone remember Cheers? In the words of Pree, “oh honey, you know that is just not true.” He takes a final glance, says good night and takes two for the road.
Frenetic and frenzied pace in play, we catch up to Khlyen who has caught up to D’avin. He is basically having his arse handed to him, D’avin is no match for Khlyen. D’avin is way out-classed, and as Khlyen breaks his arm, it is apparent that he is just playing with D’avin now.
Spitting in Khlyen’s face just makes things worse, and after an idle threat from D’avin regarding his own demise, Khlyen lets us know that he has a “better plan than death” for D’avin.
With bomb sirens blaring, the next piece to this puzzle is Alvis. Seems he is just sitting “crisscross apple sauce” playing with his prayer beads. A guard confronts him about his sentence, turns out that the guard wants to carry out the sentence himself because he had a sister perish in the massacre and with the impending bombing the sentence may not ever be carried out.
After commanding Alvis to stand up and telling him that the beads won’t help him now, Dutch’s suspicions prove true – they are an aide to getting freed, but not by lethality. He grabs the guards pass key and lets himself out, not before blessing the guard for his help on his way out.
In the tunnels of Old Town, Dutch, Johnny and the gang meet up with Alvis and his followers. Questioning each other about what they are doing down there, it quickly becomes evident that all need to hurry to get to where they are going.
Towing the RAC line, Dutch tells Alvis she is picking her team, not picking a side – dancing around the issue, arguing semantics, but it gets approval from Alvis nonetheless. Pawter decides to stay with those going to the bunker, they’ll need a doctor she says.
Pree is heartbroken, and Johnny tries to tell her that it is not her fault, that she is not responsible for what her family has done. It is a call of duty more than a guilty conscious, I want to believe that anyway.
A final act of resistance occurs when Dutch and Johnny meet Hills and his crew as they try to board Lucy. Dutch and Hills hash it out, and after calling him a coward, she finally picks up on that it was Hills who triggered the bombing sirens, to allow the populous to have a greater chance to seek cover before it really was too late.
After some wrangling, Hills lets them go, barking at his crew and telling the Killjoys to make it count. He tells his crew that they can stay or go, up to them, but that “papa needs a drink” – he has effectively thrown the white flag, he is beaten and has had enough.
Onboard Lucy they look for D’avin and hunker down to make haste to get up and away from the incoming bombers. As they leave the hangar, Lucy narrowly misses a bomber and with such a rough take off, we see Pree leading a prayer chant in the hull of Lucy. As this is all happening, the gates of the bunker are opening too.
The streets of the Quad are in shambles, the Rat King has left his tunnel with his sister to watch the bombing, and there is confusion and disorder everywhere. Hills has made his way to the bar for his final drink, and the world begins to crash around them.
Johnny and Dutch are watching from above, Dutch utters that Khlyen has him. Johnny tries to quell her fears, but before he can, they are interrupted by Lucy telling him that he has an automated message coming in from Carleen. Knowing that she is hours dead, he takes it in his room in case there is another video attachment.
Whatever he sees in that message is damning, not good; it relates to Level 6 and it relates to it on a genetic level. In the meantime, Dutch makes a message to play indefinitely for D’avin, in the event that he is out there and may eventually get to a communications locale.
In closing we see D’avin, broken, and in a bed next to a strapped in, sedated, non-responsive Fancy Lee (Sean Baek). Fancy’s eyes are solid black and there is a device on the side of his face with a tube in nose and his forehead pierced with a needle or a stiletto of some kind; rather disturbing if you ask me.
There are screams coming from the other side of the glass in another room. D’avin makes his way off the bed and out of the room. He sees Qresh, Leith, and Westerly – he’s not in Kansas anymore, but where is he? He does not know where he is, but it is revealed to us where he is. D’avin is overcome with emotion and exhaustion, he is just drained; and when the orderlies come to get him, he just falls into their arms, no energy to even put up a fight.
So this is the end, of season one. I don’t know about you, but I LOVED this breakout season! We need more! We started with a Bangarang and we have just achieved an Escape Velocity; not to mention all that happened in between. There is an overall purpose to each episode, an independent story, yet each intricately weaved a greater story throughout.
A greater story that we only caught a glimpse of in the finalé. We need to go back to Arkyn, to Red 17 and rescue D’avin, and try to rescue Fancy. We need to get back to Lucy with Dutch and Johnny, Pree and the survivors. We need to get back to Westerly and Alvis and Pawter and their new crew.
I suppose they might never inhabit the same space again, not for the foreseeable future; it seems as if when all are together they inevitably scatter to the four winds.
Perhaps that is what is in store for us as we head to a season two and (hopefully) beyond! I would be remiss if I failed to mention how involved and interactive this cast has been; you have all been so gracious and generous with your time and comments.
Thank you all for being so “available” to us, to your fan base, we greatly appreciate this; it adds a new level of accessibility that brings you closer to your viewers , further enhancing our viewing experience.
And lastly, THANK YOU to Michelle Lovretta for creating this masterpiece and THANK YOU to Space Channel and to Syfy for making my Friday nights enjoyable as hell!! Now I sit here wondering what’s next and where did my summer go!
Thanks to Kenn for final audio, video embedding , and additional image staging, and many thanks to you for reading and visiting WormholeRiders News Agency.
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Thank you!
Karina (FidgetTBC)