What’s this? Johnny Jonesing for the green? And skirting the line of good-guy behavior in the process? Well, if you watched EP. 402 of Killjoys, that’s the only conclusion you could come to in an episode titled, “Johnny Dangerously.” And our young Johnny, nerd/geek extraordinaire, is now on the “sauce.”
Gotta tell you, actor Aaron Ashmore put in a yoeman’s performance in this one as a guy who has the Hullen goo introduced into his body and found himself losing the fight for — himself. Wounded on this debtor/prison/hellish planet when the elevator he, Delle Seyah and D’Avin were floating around in crash-landed at last, it would fall to Delle Seyah to come up with a remedy. But perhaps remedy isn’t the right word. Quick fix, maybe?
She’d been using a little vial of the green to try and contact Aneela, but to no avail. So, with Johnny bleeding out from a punctured lung, she used the Green to try and save our resident geek. And she did…with some very interesting and potentially devastating consequences. She warned D’Avin that the side effects were unpredictable, but in the aftermath of Johnny recovering thanks to a touch of the Hullen green now floating inside him, we were treated to some less-than-desirable psychotic turns of event. In short, he was all over the map emotionally.
Turns out, Johnny needs his Green and he also seems to have developed an almost psychotic need to be in charge and/or put his brother in his place. Interesting that a little dose of the “sauce” causes such an interesting and unpredictable reaction. It would seem being only partially Hullen-ized means that the fight for your soul is a true battle. Johnny seems to be losing, though.
KILLJOYS — “Johnny Dangerously” Episode 402 — Pictured: (l-r) Mayko Nguyen as Delle Seyah Kendry, Luke Macfarlane as D’Avin — (Photo by: Ian Watson/Killjoys IV Productions Limited/SYFY)
Unfortunately, Johnny now has a new, Hullen-infused agenda and he’s dragging his unconcious brother along for the ride. The goal? More of the Green, baby. Johnny needs a fix and he’s gonna drag D’Avin along for …. what? My guess is to do a little Hullen infusion with him as well. The question is, who can stop him now?
One of the joys of Killjoys is the way the shows drifts its moments of humor, both big and small, into the mainstream storytelling that’s going on. Johnny, for all his “change” and danger, still delivered moments that made you smile and chuckle. It wasn’t gratuitous, simply a moment here, a quick few words there, that kept the story going while reminding us again why this show does what it does so well.
I have to mention the throwback scenes of everyday life that Delle Seyah, Johnny and D’Avin were “enjoying” as they floated in space awaiting rescue. Those quick story arcs were so well-done and certainly resonated with anyone who has been in confined spaces with people they don’t necessarily like or trust for long periods of time. You learn a lot about each other even if you don’t want to and you have to find ways to pass the time. I thought it was spot-on entertaining.
When Delle Seyah threatened the boys over their farting and other bodily issues, I died a little with joy. That was a golden moment and one we all can relate to. To the writers, director and actors, I can only say this….well done. That was brilliant stuff.
“Well, you know what they say…the pregnant enemy of my enemy is my alien baby mama,” D’Avin.
“Oh yeah, can we get that on a mug,” Delle Seyah.
KILLJOYS — “John Dangerously” Episode 402 — Pictured: (l-r) Aaron Ashmore as John, Mayko Nguyen as Delle Seyah Kendry, Luke Macfarlane as D’Avin — (Photo by: Ian Watson/Killjoys IV Productions Limited/SYFY)
Another little moment that I thought was golden, and I’ve liked these two from the outset, was the adventure that Pree and Gared took on the quest for information about the Scarback temple. Their little trek took them to a former Scarback who’d turned to the noble profession of dominatrix.
Pree (Thom Allison) and Gared (Gavin Fox) have had a unique and fun chemistry from the outset and that was further evidenced by their little adventure to our lovely, dominating lady and her room of delights. Information gleaned, a new teammate on board, our lovable pair decided to stay for a little pre-mission frivolity. I’m hoping Faruza, the resident BDSM practitioner, sticks around as a character.
She’s got layers that would seem to need to be explored. It’s fun to see Gared as the one to suggest a little play before the trip to the temple. His is a character that’s easy to overlook as simply a fun little appetizer to the rest of the show, but there’s a depth there that this soft-spoken character has in abundance. It’s fun when his wild-side past bubbles up.
Episode 402 gave us a peak into that depth in this quick little story, which was fun. Again, it’s an added twinkle that this show continually tosses our way to keep us dialed in. The characters we find on Killjoys have something under the surface and that’s enticing to an audience — at least I find it so. I’m thinking that many of you dial into that as well. It’s what brings us back week after week.
So, Aneela and Dutch are wading around the Green engaged with The Lady in a titanic battle; Johnny, Delle Seyah and D’Avin are having a mighty turn in their relationship; and what of our other favorites?
Well, let me just state for the record that I was thrilled to see that in Pip and Zeph’s burgeoning relationship, Zeph has tapped into her badassery mojo and kind of gonefor it. Given the continued geek mastery she has going on, the combination of weapons and tech wizardry is pretty impressive.
I like that she’s already evolved from the end of last season to this season’s second EP. I’m a massive fan of the Zeph character (and the delightfully awesome Kelly McCormack) and was pleased as the proverbial punch to see that time trapped with Pip has been time well spent.
“Look, team awesome force taught me one thing….” Zeph.
“Tight pants are best pants?” Pip.
“No, Heroes gonna hero,” Zeph.
KILLJOYS — “Johnny Dangerously” Episode 402 — Pictured: (l-r) Aaron Ashmore as John, Luke Macfarlane as D’Avin — (Photo by: Ian Watson/Killjoys IV Productions Limited/SYFY)
Sometimes you’ve just got to throw caution to the wind, grab your blaster and invite the hell. Well, it wasn’t that dramatic, but I got the feeling that Zeph was ready to throw down should the need arise. Pip? Not so much, but he knows who he is and what he is not, so there’s something to be said for that. (Side note: McCormack and Atticus Mitchell, who plays Pip, popped up on a couple episodes of The Expanse this season. Talk about groovy crossover discoveries. Fairly awesome, that).
So, what we have are the Hullen in a state of comatose ambivalence (Let’s call them Dolls) and the good guys trying to figure out what to do with them and how long they’ll remain that way. Zeph wanted to space them but Turin thought better of it.
“Yeah, let me check on that. Fancy says no. I’m on this whole moral redemption arc, so no can do,” Turin. Again, a couple sentences that provided a nice verbal treat in the middle of a tense moment.
What we also have to figure out is just what the hell is going on with those spider things. I find them creepy and insidious, so when that one emerged from a Hullen mouth and attacked Pip, I wasn’t a fan. So that question now becomes…is Pip carrying a spidey thing inside him and if so, is he going to gum up the works?
My feeling is affirmative to both questions. Sadly, this could mean our young romance isn’t likely to last very long. I would find that…unfortunate. So now we’ve got all our players back in the mix and we’ve got full sails toward what should be an incredibly entertaining new season.
Well, here we are. Two episodes in and we’ve touched base with just about everyone we love. The stage is set, the players and in place and the game is afoot. I couldn’t be more delighted. Within the first two episodes I’ve been reminded just how unique and entertaining Killjoys is. The characters are fresh, layered and capable of wonderful surprises on a regular basis. The story moves forward smoothly and we’re happy to move along with it. From writing to direction to acting, Killjoys remains not only a unique work on the sci-fi landscape. What do we have, 18 episodes left in the Killjoys realm? I’m looking forward to each and every one.
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