Killjoys: Meet the Parents – Family, Redefined!

Hello Killjoys fans.

I hope you are enjoying this season as much as I am. The previous week’s episode I am reviewing is Meet the Parents.

Just like it always is, meeting ones parents is never an easy task and this episode proves it. We not only get to see Pawter and her family interact, but we get to see D’avin and Johnny’s father as well. We get to see where they both got their attitude from.

Plus we find out a little bit more about the mysterious Red 17 experiment and what it had done to D’avin (Luke Macfarlane).

I always love watching these episodes and seeing the latest cool gadgets that are featured in each episode. This one in particular, where D’avin and Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) are persuading a couple of black market dealing brothers to hand over a certain device they are bargaining for.

Both brothers possess voice boxes and various other “attachments” that make them part “tin men” in a way. I also suspect that there may be some S&M references there as well.

Meet The Parents:

I find it interesting that Dutch almost seems a bit jealous that Johnny is paying attention more to Pawter (Sarah Power) than he is to the missions or to her. D’avin of course understands this because, well, he’s a guy, he gets it.

Even though D’avin and Dutch have had a relationship that was physical it seems like she is acting a lot like a jealous girlfriend.

I may be reading a bit into it, but I can’t help but think of Hamlet and the phrase “me thinks the lady doth protest too much”.

On the flip side, she makes no bones about the beautiful barmaid that D’avin has had an eye on.

So much so that she manages to mangle her name a few times before he finally, albeit sarcastically, corrects her and tells her it’s Sabine (Tori Anderson)!

This relatively new romance between D’avin and Sabine will undoubtedly blossom in the future episodes of Killjoys in season two!

When Johnny (Aaron Ashmore) and Pawter are at the Simms compound private island, he cannot help but be impressed by the wealth that he has never seen before. I can understand why Pawter would want to get away from this kind of wealth. Even though she is close to her sister and her father, Pawter is at odds with her mother. The introduction of Johnny to Hank (Marco Grazzini) was a bit awkward to say the least when without saying it you knew that there was a past between Pawter and Hank. Nothing like keeping it in the family, right? Plus all that wealth would be hard to resist even for the most humble of souls…or slimy scoundrels.

Khlyen (Rob Stewart) (who we see in a flashback seen) is still a bit of a conundrum to me. I think the jury is still out on whether he is a good guy or a bad guy. Those kind of characters are the best kind, because you don’t know if you are supposed to hate them or love them. With the scene of D’avin passing out in the bar after hearing a specific tune is exactly what I am talking about. The green plasma that was injected to him during the Red 17 experiment is a mind control substance, a crystal ball if you will.

 

The familial conflict in this is handled well. The clash between mother and daughter over life style, birthright, duty, love, family is downright Shakespearean. Pawter’s father Weyner (Andrew Gillies) is stuck in the middle of the love he has for his daughter and the love he has for his wife. Both strong women and both stubborn as all hell. Those types of families tread on a delicate balance, there is conflict and resentment and power struggles, but underneath it all love is always there.

Khlyen will always have a hold over Dutch, as seen when she pulls a gun on D’avin for humming the tune he heard in his head before he passed out. I find it intriguing the more we know about Khlyen the more the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

The ritual of the Simms family dinner is hilarious! Of course those types of family always have some form or tradition around the dinner table or special events. Johnny is clearly out of his element, but adapts nicely.

It is a far cry from his upbringing which I assume was the polar opposite from anything even remotely close to this. It makes sense that he and Pawter get along, they are very similar in the sense that neither one belong in that world.

Adaline Simms is definitely a force to be reckoned with, her entrance into the dining room speaks volumes. That kind of power and arrogance is hard to ignore, but the great thing about Adaline (Jayne Lewis) is that façade she has, that tough as nails exterior has a few chinks in it and we will soon see why.

The Fog , aside from it being an old horror/fantasy film, it can be a killer. Being born and raised in San Francisco, fog has been a part of my life since I can remember. The difference being Karl the fog (as it is affectionately called here in the City) isn’t a deadly killer.

When Kaster (Damon Redfern) comes back into the Simms house from fetching the boats, it looks as if he covered in frost bite (the original title of this episode was A Killing Frost). Little did everyone know that it was a lot more deadly and sinister than that.

The mother/daughter tension in this episode is palpable, one of them is cold and unfeeling (or so we think) and the other is compassionate and fearless. Opposites in every way, or are they more alike than they choose to admit? Only time will tell. I really love how Adaline shows us one side of herself, but slowly her true nature is revealed in the end.

Matriarchal themes are very rampant in this episode, I am almost getting the feeling that the writer of this particular episode (Adam Barken) had some mother issues to work out (let’s be honest don’t we all).

In dire situations sometimes thinking on your feet is the ONLY way that you survive the situation. Quick thinking on Patwer’s part helped save her sister from an uncertain death. Luckily she knew what she was doing and thankfully she is a doctor, so her efforts to save her are better served because of her profession.

D’avin and Khlyen trading brains almost reminds me of Freaky Friday and the notion of living someone else life. What would it be like to have your conscious mind in someone else’s body living their life? The saying “walk a mile in their shoes” would certainly apply here. Both Rob Stewart and Luke Macfarlane are great as the other. They have the mannerisms down, the inflection and tone of voice, the snarkiness or sliminess of the other. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and by gosh these men have flattered each other. They must have had a ball “living “as each other even if it was for a brief moment. We all would like to live vicariously through someone else even for a day, who would you choose?

I like that you get to see a bit more into the life of who Adaline was in her past. When Weymer is regaling to Johnny how they meet when his family built her family’s home, Johnny remarked “I didn’t think Qreshy princesses married down”. Weymer soon told Johnny that her family threatened to disown her, but she fought against them and “won that fight, like she always does”. Then when Johnny confronts him with the fact that he let Pawter get kicked out of her house Weymer once again gives him pearls of wisdom. “When you love two people equally, you have to make a choice, you chose the one that makes you a better man”, I have a feeling those words will eventually make sense to Johnny when he faces the same thing Weymer did. It’s almost a foreshadowing to Johnny for future episodes and the possible choices he will have to make one day.

Once Pawter realizes that her mother is the one who created the fog pathogen she of course asks why? For Qresh is Adaline’s answer. She was trying to restore peace within the bickering 9.

Trying to make the place uninhabitable so they can leave it and start anew. She is sacrificing herself so others can learn from it. Isn’t that what mother’s do? Isn’t that what leaders do? Make sacrifices so those they love can live a better life? “To protect what you love you must become something you hate”. Powerful words that resonate deeply.

Getting back to D’avin and Dutch, arguing about the green plasma that D’avin has so successfully seemed to survive. Khlyen needs to know how and why, why it is not affecting him the way it should. Why is he almost immune to it? He needs to find the answers, but Dutch won’t let him because it means that D’avin’s body would be sacrificed and she is not about to let that happen.

I am glad that D’avin warned his dad and told him to leave and his dad asked “why are you saving me now?” he answered “Because I am not you” and that makes him a better man. Kinda reminds me of Fringe (everything always comes back to Fringe) when Peter’s (Joshua Jackson) mother told him in Greek “Einai Kalytero Anthropo Apo Ton Patera Toy” which translates to “be a better man than your father”.

Pawter figured out that the pathogen can be destroyed by extreme heat, can you say fireball? Only a huge explosion would do the trick and who better to set that explosion off than Johnny Jaqobis!

Why am I not surprised that Hank wass behind that? Greed? Of course, money power, I mean what more could you ask for?

When Weymer senses that something might be going awry with the plans, he volunteers himself to go and find Johnny. Both daughters protest vehemently (no surprise) but as he pointed out earlier you have to choose the thing that makes you a better man.

As Dutch is trying to bring D’avin back into his own body a bit more of her puzzle is revealed. She now knows that D’avin holds some sort of key to her past, all she has to do is find it. Easier said than done.

Dutch may have been given a sliver of info when she asks why she was on Arken as a girl and Khlyen answers, “It wasn’t you”. Interesting…I am very curious about that statement. Plus when he finds out that the army took liberties with D’avin he plans on replicating it and using that as a secret weapon.

Pawter takes her mother’s place on the council of 9 and will work to fight for Qresh and all its citizens. She will use her birthright to fight corruption and be the woman her mother would be proud of. Johnny attends the coronation as he called it and the relationship between them grows deeper.

It is also great that Pawter has rubbed off a bit on Johnny as he puts it “I want to give a shit, like you do”. He has become a better man indeed. The only problem with being a better man is the conflict he will now face. His loyalty and heart are now torn in two, he will be definitely conflicted when it comes to those he loves, his faith will be tested and his heart…well, we will just have to see what side he eventually chooses.

“You’re my gravity Johnny Jaqobis” Dutch tells him with a big hug…that is a powerful statement and one that has many meanings. I am curious what will happen now that Johnny has his heart torn and Pawter has a big chunk of it. Dutch makes him promise that if anything changes between them that he will tell her, he promises, but his eyes give him away. I hope that in the end he makes the right decision for everyone.

Well, another great Killjoys episode down. I hope you are excited about next week’s episode. I am also looking forward to the season finale that will be upon us soon! Thanks to Kenn for adding the pictures to this post! Until next time…

Thank you for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency. And thanks to Kenn for video embedding and adding images for my report. I hope you have enjoyed my adventures at San Diego Comic-Con? See you at there at the San Diego Convention Center and surrounding venues!!

Please feel free to leave a comment here or If you prefer, you may also click the social media icons below to share this news article or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit the WHR on Facebook or me on Twitter by clicking the links or images avatars in this news story.

See You on The Other Side!

Until next time,

Regards,

Lori