Hello my fellow Killjoys!
With the title of this episode being named after a famous Chuck Berry song, I will do my best to do that great, iconic song justice. I am happy that Aaron Ashmore was able to flex his acting chops a bit more in this episode than in previous ones. I enjoyed watching this episode as it also got us closer to answering many questions that have been brought up in the last few episodes.
As we last left Johnny and Pawter (Sarah Power) we find out that they acted on an impulse and got married. I am sure that there is a Qreshy version of Las Vegas, which is no doubt where they tied the knot. I found it a bit weird that Johnny wouldn’t have his family (both Dutch and his brother D’avin) at his side when he did marry. Granted he was “under the influence” of the wall in Old Town, but still it was a bit out of character, even for him, a “Cowboy”.
Johnny Be Good:
When we first see Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) in nerve cuffs, there are definite questions raised. One being “how can someone like her get herself into that situation?” She would be the last person to be captured and thrown in a room for questioning. Dutch is usually the one doing the capturing and questioning, so it is never a good sign when the opposite happens.
As Dutch is being questioned where Jelco (Pascal Langdale) is, D’avin (Luke Macfarlane) is being his charming self and telling Jelco that if one hair on her head is harmed, he will suffer the same fate.
It’s a bit amusing to see Jelco become this coward almost instantly. He always projected an arrogance and maniacal egotism that would make even the most narcissistic person look amateur. I guess when you have a gun pointed at your head and the threat of a semi-unstable man you tend to change your tune.
Pascal as Jelco is so wonderful to watch. He is one of those characters that you love to hate and hate to love. We have all encountered those kinds of megalomaniacs before, maybe not to that extreme.
I find it fascinating when people of that nature are faced with their own mortality how quickly they become docile and repentant.
Pascal plays Jelco with perfection, he has a knack for being a bastard. Of course the fact that Pascal is British adds to it, as most Brits play villains very well.
Maybe it’s the accent or maybe because they are (in my opinion) for the most part better actors than most (not all) American actors.
Next we see that Dutch has found Johnny and Pawter and they are celebrating their recent nuptials as noted by the rings on their fingers. Well, needless to say that Dutch is a bit surprised about this. When we next see the newlyweds they are waking up from a massive stun gun hangover. Once out of the “hangover” Johnny learns that the reason for his mood was the wall around Old Town.
It was emitting some sort frequency that effected the citizens in a number of different ways, which explains why he and Pawter may have taken the plunge and got married. The reactions that the person is feeling are unfortunately false, so the blissful happiness that both of them feel was false, despite what they may have thought they felt and thought was real.
The dynamic has definitely changed between Dutch and Johnny as I suspected it would. Once Johnny led with his heart, he put everyone in jeopardy.
Dutch may be a bit jealous (although I doubt she would even admit that), because there is a new woman in Johnny’s life who he may love more than he loves her.
That is a little unsettling to Dutch since she and Johnny have this bond that is tarnished a bit and now may be fractured beyond repair. Only time will tell what will happen to the team now that things have changed.
Once they enter Spring Hill Compound, Johnny and D’avin have their usual brotherly banter. That is one of the things I really love about this show is the funny, snarky comments or jabs that they make to each other. The dialogue that those of us growing up with siblings know all too well. That little teasing that only a younger sibling endures from their older sibling.
I have had my fair share of it in my life and even now in my 40s, my older sister still teases me and vice versa. They also happen upon the main computer that is responsible for the wall in Old Town.
Being the gadget geek that Johnny is, he cannot help but be impressed with it. His wide-eyed look is sweet, almost like a kid with the latest toy at Christmas. Once Johnny works his techie magic, the computer informs him that he doesn’t have the correct codes “which you would know if you belonged here”. Ouch, that is one snippy computer. Looks like Johnny may have met his match…or did he?
The more that Dutch is finding out about Johnny’s impromptu decision to marry Pawter the less she is liking him at the moment. When Pawter informs Dutch that Johnny may want to be something other than a Killjoy, she is shocked, but doesn’t show it to Pawter, but her eyes betray her.
She is angry at Johnny for making such a rash decision without discussing it with her or D’avin. As Pawter pointed out “sometimes we have choices and sometimes we don’t” which means that Johnny left both Dutch and D’avin with no choice but to accept his decision, regardless of the overall consequences.
Once things get set in motion, problems arise with bringing down the wall. Pawter enlists the help of Delle Seyah Kendry (Mayko Nguyen) hoping that she will be sympathetic and help her. Clearly their history comes into play when Kendry informs Pawter that it is beyond her control in a sense and that the plan was put in motion before they were born.
What Kendry says next almost mirrors exactly what is happening in the current political race in this country. “Individuals are clever, but masses are stupid. They would much rather close their eyes and hear the lie, then open them and see the knife”. A harsh reality for any rational human being to comprehend, but no less truthful.
Pawter is a smart woman, but as Delle Seya Kendry points out “I grew up”, she was the one who had to make the harsh choices. Pawter having had a silver spoon upbringing never had to face those choices as was detailed in the “Meet the Parents” episode where we caught a glimpse into what it was like growing up as a Simms. I can only liken it to the Kennedy kids and what it might have been like to have all that power and almost no responsibility.
“Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” As stated by Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan that makes me think of the next events that unfold in a horrific manner. When Pawter tells the people of Old Town to fight the wall, fight the anger, the hatred, the pain it has inflicted in them, they do fight, and the consequences are dire. But as Spock pointed out sometimes that needs to happen, you have to sacrifice for the greater good.
A lesson that was learned through our history as humans as well. One by one citizens launch themselves at the wall, breaking it down slowly until all but a few remain. It becomes this graveyard of bodies that will be a symbol of Qresh and the fate other towns will befall if they don’t fight back against Jelco and his evil plan. Again, a mirror to our political conundrum now, what will happen in the upcoming election and are we truly prepared for the ramifications of that said election.
Once Dutch finally catches up with Jelco, she forces him to start talking (a gun in the face tends to do that). She finally figures out that the motive for the wall is quite different than the team had originally thought. It’s graver than first thought, they are making assassins, not slaves.
Jelco of course tries to paint himself as one of the middle men, not the mastermind. Maybe he isn’t the diabolical genius everyone thinks he is, but a puppet for a much more fiendish entity.
Dutch and Johnny having a heart to heart is a great scene. It not only shows their relationship strengths, but what has now become a chink in their friendship armor. She sheds light on how much she needs him, by taking Pawter’s side in the decision about Old Town. Their relationship has always tread a fine line.
There have been times when you think that they may cross over that platonic threshold into new and more intimate territory as it did with D’avin. It’s an interesting relationship the trio has, a puzzle of feelings, loyalty, friendship, love, companionship, partnership, the list goes on and on.
On one end you have the brothers who for all intents and purposes love each other and would die for one another, but there is also the resentment that still is there (albeit buried no doubt) about the missing time the brothers had away from each other. Plus the fact that D’avin slept with Dutch and I am sure that Johnny is a mix of mad and jealous about that. It is a bond that D’avin has with Dutch that almost brings them closer than it does to her and Johnny. It seems the brothers are always vying for her affection and loyalty. I fear the day when Dutch will have to choose between them, I hope that never happens.
Once Spring Hill is destroyed things are supposed to go back to normal, right? One would think that is all it takes. Poof, one evil compound destroyed all is well again, if it were only that easy.
With Pawter and Kendry sitting down to discuss Old Town’s independence, Delle Seyah Kendry is impressed with the way that Pawter handled herself. She brings up Pawter’s deceased mother and how cold hearted and tyrannical she always was. Pawter warns her to keep quiet and not bring up her mother, especially after Pawter found out what her mother was really like in a previous episode.
Being the good husband that he is, Johnny helps Pawter realize that she made the right choice and convinces her to be the doctor on the ship. Even though she will be without title and lands and everything her family built, Pawter is okay with it. She did what she ultimately wanted to do, it’s one of the reasons she abandoned her family and titles to begin with. With the treaty signed and a blood oath as part of the agreement, things take an unfortunate turn.
Watching Pawter die after being check mated by Delle Seyah Kendry is sad, especially after all she has gone through these last few episodes and ever since her character was introduced. I liked Sarah Power in this role, she brought an innocence and intelligence to her character.
At times she was a bit naïve in the ways of how the underbelly of the world works, but she managed to help even a little bit. She also loved Johnny and her family fiercely, even her mother despite the estranged and complicated relationship they had.
It will be interesting to see how Johnny will handle this loss.
Even though they were married for a short period of time, I feel his loss will be great, but not as great as it would be if it were Dutch. As much as he loved Pawter, his connection with Dutch goes deeper and always will. No woman can ever compete with Dutch, and that may prove to be a problem in the future for both Jaqobis boys.
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When first we practice to deceive!” in the poem Marmion by Walter Scott, fits perfectly in this last bit of the episode. When Kendry changes the signed agreement with another one, she has effectively deceived the masses.
Delle Seyah Kendry tells the people of Old Town that Pawter signed a treaty that will give them the “freedom” they longed for, or so they think. It will be a matter of time before the real motive is revealed. Once a bully, always a bully, seems that Kendry hasn’t changed much and probably never will.
Once the trio gets back to Lucy, they are greeted by an old frenemy, Fancy Lee (Sean Baek). He let Jelco go much to the dismay of Dutch and the boys. Apparently Fancy was under orders from Khlyen (Rob Stewart) to bring the Killjoys to him and he would explain what will be happening in the future. Again this begs the question, is Khlyen really a bad guy or a good guy? Only time will tell.
Well Killjoys fans that is my summation of the latest episode. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I am also happy to hear that Killjoys is renewed for a third season! Until then!
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.
Until next time,
Regards,
Good morning Lori,
As always, an in depth review of Killjoys with references to related to relevant Pop Culture. I also was impressed with “Johnny Be Good” as the Killjoys dealt with their challenges in Old Town.
The death of Pawter Simms was a real heartbreak! I enjoyed the character played by Sarah Power and am saddened to see her murdered by Delle Seyah Kendry.
Thanks for getting us caught up after your loss of Internet and computer glitches. I will be back this week with my analysis of the season two finale when Johnny will extract retribution for Pawters death.
Best Regards,
Kenn of Team WHR
The part that made less sense to me was that in taking down the wall, why did the Oldtowner’s have to use their own bodies and die. Couldn’t they just have attacked with the wall with tools? Was it necessary for them to all die on order to inspire the other cities with walls? I would have just had them throw anything they could at the wall.
Thanks for the comment, Dave. I feel that tools may not have done any damage to the wall. It also makes a statement that they were willing to try anything to save the rest that were still alive and to set an example. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense the choices of people, but they felt that they needed to do something, especially after they found out that they were poisoned. It makes the situation a bit more dire when the other towns see what occurred in Old Town. I bet they were hoping that by seeing this, others will follow and if more and more rise up, things can change. It’s like Pawter’s father said about choices in the Meet the Parents episode. Of what her mother did as well in that episode.
I hope that answers your question. Thanks for the comment and keep watching Killjoys!