Killjoys - Cheap but enjoyable

[Joelist]

Friday night after Dark Matter was the season premiere of Killjoys. Some thoughts:

Plotwise, they followed up nicely on the events of the finale last season. Johnny is still on the lam and now Dutch has two new team members. Also the Interstellar RAC has sent in its Inspector General to "fix" the RAC our heroes work for. So they have to step carefully with the bosses in town.

Acting is still pretty good. Aaron Ashmore is doing good playing a Johnny on his own for a while (until the heat over the killing of the member of the Nine wears off), and his interactions with the Cyborg community in this episode are pretty funny.

Visually it does look like they have a little more budget. Unfortunately, the rock music and also the potty language is still there. But overall it was solid.

 

[Overmind One]

Friday night after Dark Matter was the season premiere of Killjoys. Some thoughts:

Plotwise, they followed up nicely on the events of the finale last season. Johnny is still on the lam and now Dutch has two new team members. Also the Interstellar RAC has sent in its Inspector General to "fix" the RAC our heroes work for. So they have to step carefully with the bosses in town.

Acting is still pretty good. Aaron Ashmore is doing good playing a Johnny on his own for a while (until the heat over the killing of the member of the Nine wears off), and his interactions with the Cyborg community in this episode are pretty funny.

Visually it does look like they have a little more budget. Unfortunately, the rock music and also the potty language is still there. But overall it was solid.

The bolded is a big reason I stopped watching this. Besides that, it is just a bit too outside the scifi envelope for me. Even Lexx got a pass from me. I do not dislike this show really, but I just have a hard time wanting to get back into it. As soon as I start looking for it to watch, I see something else I would rather see.

 

[Joelist]

I agree those are drawbacks. If they would just drop the rock music in favor of music appropriate to the scene and clean up the language they have a nice actioner here. We called it Space Xena and basically that is what it is. It even still uses the comic book style credits.

As to Sci-Fi envelope, it does not try to be serious scifi but rather an action show with space sauce.

 

[Joelist]

And this week no potty mouth and no rock music. Hope that lasts.

 

[Joelist]

Nice episode, again it had a lot less potty mouth. Also the rock music was dialed way back and the music they did use actually set mood properly. This one dealt more directly with the threat to the galaxy ( of which the quad is a part) posed by Dutch's identical twin clone and the others like her who were all created by aliens like Kline was.

Hannah John Kamen handled the dual roles well. Dutch is who we know her to be but her twin is a borderline psychopath and very unstable. They've freshened the show while keeping it interesting.

 

[Joelist]

And...caught up on Killjoys.

No rock and very little swearing. Dutch's evil twin is being a bit more psychotic each week and this is no exception. Also, Dutch on a mission gets too amped up and makes a BAD mistake that gets an ally killed - which will have repercussions. Overall entertaining.

 

[PussyGalore]

I've found the previous seasons to be a bit lackluster at times. I dunno what it is, the characters just aren't that interesting despite the story/plot being sporadically engaging. It's not a bad show, just not compelling enough to make it "appointment" viewing on my part. I'm not sure what the problem is but this show just seems to be missing that certain spark that makes one want to tune in each week. I may watch this season at some point in the future but if I miss it I won't freak out. "Take it or leave it TV" more or less, which to me is something of an indictment against it.

 

[Joelist]

I think part of its appeal has been that it is unpretentious. It is "Space Xena" essentially and it knows it and revels in it. It makes no airs of being deep or serious science fiction.

 

[PussyGalore]

I think part of its appeal has been that it is unpretentious. It is "Space Xena" essentially and it knows it and revels in it. It makes no airs of being deep or serious science fiction.

I swear I'm not arguing with you but have to make the point of how much better it could have been done than it has been. The premise of "space bounty hunters" is pretty awesome but from what I've watched they didn't explore that in a cool way. They seemed to quickly get wrapped up in the seasonal story arch of whatever political/conspiracy nonsense they were going on about. This is dumb because it took away from the idea of bad ass bounty hunters. That's what I want to see. I don't want to see story lines about "magical goo" or reconnecting with old girlfriends or any of that overly written whining solipsism.

I don't give two shits about someone's evil clone taking an entire season to conquer the galaxy. I don't give two shits about the personal lives of the characters if it's going to involve whining and melodrama. My shits have all been given I'm sorry to say.

So here's what I want: I want to see the protagonists take down scoundrels every week in an episodic fashion. I want to see episodes week after week that are about the crazy rogues they are sanctioned to take into custody. Shampoo, rinse, episodic-formula repeat. That's it. If I get that I will loyally watch every stinkin' episode ad nauseum. (Sure we can get a little bit of personal backstory on the main characters, but when their romantic/familial drama becomes the meat of the story that's when I "nope" out.)

 

[Joelist]

Are we watching the same show? For its shortcomings Killjoys has been good about not getting soapy. That said I do wish we'd see them pursuing warrants more as those stories are fun.

 

[PussyGalore]

Are we watching the same show? For its shortcomings Killjoys has been good about not getting soapy. That said I do wish we'd see them pursuing warrants more as those stories are fun.

Like I said, I gave up watching the show on a regular basis. It was careening into soapy territory quickly. First the chick falls in love with that dude who ended up getting amnesia and then tried to kill her. Then there was the story line with her "father" who trained her to be this uber assassin but then they were enemies, then allies, then friends, then whatevs, who cares, it's dumb. No matter how you slice it that stuff is soapy shite. There's more of course, like Johnny's (Aaron Ashmore) falling in love with some chick and also running away at the end of a season because his mangina was emotionally bruised, blah blah blah. That stuff is all over-arching soapy bullshit.

There's no reason they can't simply have those characters get in their ship and go chasing bad guys every week. Anything more than that is pure saponification. No denying it.

 

[Joelist]

Not worth arguing over. To each their own

 

[PussyGalore]

Not worth arguing over. To each their own

 

[Overmind One]

I swear I'm not arguing with you but have to make the point of how much better it could have been done than it has been. The premise of "space bounty hunters" is pretty awesome but from what I've watched they didn't explore that in a cool way. They seemed to quickly get wrapped up in the seasonal story arch of whatever political/conspiracy nonsense they were going on about. This is dumb because it took away from the idea of bad ass bounty hunters. That's what I want to see. I don't want to see story lines about "magical goo" or reconnecting with old girlfriends or any of that overly written whining solipsism.

I don't give two shits about someone's evil clone taking an entire season to conquer the galaxy. I don't give two shits about the personal lives of the characters if it's going to involve whining and melodrama. My shits have all been given I'm sorry to say.

So here's what I want: I want to see the protagonists take down scoundrels every week in an episodic fashion. I want to see episodes week after week that are about the crazy rogues they are sanctioned to take into custody. Shampoo, rinse, episodic-formula repeat. That's it. If I get that I will loyally watch every stinkin' episode ad nauseum. (Sure we can get a little bit of personal backstory on the main characters, but when their romantic/familial drama becomes the meat of the story that's when I "nope" out.)

You said that so well, I really have nothing to add! At times, it feels like some spaceborne "Grease" re-imagining. It's just missing a catchy dancing duet and impromptu choreography from the extras.

 

[Joelist]

That was much more early in the first season when the fight choreography felt like a music video because they had it too slow. Once they sped it up it improved a lot.

 

[Overmind One]

Are we watching the same show? For its shortcomings Killjoys has been good about not getting soapy. That said I do wish we'd see them pursuing warrants more as those stories are fun.

Not so much soapy as cheesy. It's hard to say what is off-putting. It has too much "something" sprinkled on. Like this clip...it's in a place so familiar that it could easily have been filmed in one of the trendy retro bars a block away from me.


I need more. This is something I might like to watch if I were bedridden, but not if I also have Lexx and Cleopatra 2525.

 

[Overmind One]

That was much more early in the first season when the fight choreography felt like a music video because they had it too slow. Once they sped it up it improved a lot.

I watched all of first season. Mostly because it was so new and different. But new became familiar (in the RL sense). I was seeing fight clubs, chases, barroom brawls, stuff you see in cop/action shows, only it was supposed to be taking place in the future. I could not suspend belief enough. It kept getting a note from it's parents ordering that I unsuspend it immediately.

 

[Joelist]

Oh I agree it is cheesy. I mean it pretty much advertises that right in the opening credits that look like a comic book. I just like that it does not claim to be deep or insightful but is upfront about what it is.

 

[Overmind One]

Oh I agree it is cheesy. I mean it pretty much advertises that right in the opening credits that look like a comic book. I just like that it does not claim to be deep or insightful but is upfront about what it is.

This is a definite plus. It does not take itself seriously. I like the comparison you made with Space Xena. It feels a lot like that. With this though, no single character is the center of the show. Xena the Warrior Princess tells us right in the title what to expect. I like the show. I have just become less interested in it, but I am certain I will catch up eventually. It's fun to watch.

 

[Joelist]

IIRC somewhere upthread it was you who first called it Space Xena OM. It was a good analogy.