Killjoys Review [2×06] “I Love Lucy”

What. An. Episode. ‘Killjoys’ cleverly mix some heady character and plot development in a superb, thematic hour of television.

Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) is determined to find the origin of the mysterious green plasma that had D’Avin (Luke MacFarlane) and Khlyen (Rob Stewart) neuro-linked. In typical ‘Killjoys’ fashion, their experiment with ‘Mossy’, as Johnny (Aaron Ashmore) named it, goes horribly wrong when D’Avin neuro-links with the mossipede.

Ughhh—I had teeth in my mouth. I need to throw up in my whole mouth. – D’Avin

With Pree (Thom Allison) always the helpful hand in dodging legality directing them towards trader San Ronwell (Keon Alexander, ‘Tyrant‘), the gang head straight there. Meanwhile, Johnny’s keeping his relationship with Pawter (Sarah Power) under-wraps. He hasn’t told anyone of their plans to take down the Westerley walls. In conclusion: Johnny’s keeping this to himself.

Back to Romwell, they discover his ship is lodged within an asteroid and it’s a fun back-and-forth between androids, trades and stories as the gang attempt to attain the plasma. The most enlightening moment was seeing Romwell and Dutch’s connection via the harp story, as Romwell envisions a future he could never have. In an explosive sequence, Dutch buys the boys some time by killing Romwell, stating:

He stole my freedom, and no-one will ever steal that back from me again. – Dutch

Romwell’s back (it seems he’s a level six of sorts too) and so are the androids. Eventually, Romwell gifts Dutch with the plasma and all three Killjoys take Romwell’s “happy endings” talk to heart. Dutch seeks Alvis (Morgan Kelly) out, and they figure they must be looking for the same thing. Johnny and non-holophone Pawter have theirs, and so does D’Avin and Sabine (Tori Anderson)—until he somehow kills her, green goo leaking everywhere. Just what on earth is this plasma?!

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Freedom—and stolen freedom—is something heavily implicated in this episode.

Nobody is truly free. Romwell isn’t, locked in loneliness for 432 years. Though she’s fighting for it, Dutch isn’t, anchored by Khlyen. D’Avin most certainly isn’t. Perhaps the freest of all would’ve been Johnny, but he almost gives himself up to the lack of it via his secrets with Pawter.

Most powerful was Hannah John-Kamen’s performance as Dutch. As ever, Dutch remains focused and determined the entire episode. But as things start to unravel we glimpse further into Dutch’s mysterious history. The harp story was particularly harrowing. A beautiful instrument accompanied by John-Kamen’s beautiful voice, it wasn’t meant to be alluring in that way. It was supposed to be an “instrument of murder”.

Clearly, you can feel Dutch clambering to free herself (and by extension, D’Avin) from this ‘green-goo’ mystery. From Khlyen. And it’s what she tries to do this episode. She determinedly visits Alvis in an attempt to free herself from the pent-up aggression haunting her all season about the plasma. Also, she frees herself from Romwell’s level six turn in a fun, kickass Dutch fight-sequence. Finally, she’s gifted with answers and clues. Dutch’s relentless search for them has been guiding every episode quietly in the background but we’d been waiting for John-Kamen to explode on-screen. And maybe this wasn’t all about trading for freedom. Maybe, as Romwell showed, this was about gifting too.

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Lucy as one of the androids was brilliantly played and a clever way to embody Tamsen McDonough’s voice.

If there was one dream every ‘Killjoys’ fan wanted rabidly, it would be the embodiment of Lucy (Tamsen McDonough). And boy, did this episode deliver! With Lucy’s app jammed into one of San’s bots, not only did she truly save the day, but delivered some excellent comedic relief too. Particularly, with her blunt request to kiss Johnny with this:

This may be your only chance to kiss a robot. – Lucy

It’s hilarious and it’s joyous and it’s what ‘Killjoys’ is all about. Yet it also shows us what it’s like to lose what we love. For a moment, we thought we’d lost Lucy altogether as her app sacrificed her bot-body to save everyone from the exploding asteroid. The flicker of horror on Johnny’s face was ingeniously done by Ashmore as he watched the embodiment of his beloved ship die. And McDonough’s voice-acting was a treat this episode—especially with a face!—as it gave us a human (almost) side to Lucy. It gave us a face we didn’t want to lose. And it gave us a hilariously voiced “yay!”

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Johnny’s on a secret mission he’ll hide from his brother and effective sister…how far will he make it until it all implodes?

Usually handling his burdens with ease, Johnny’s in a real pickle this time. So far, he’s kept his relationship with Pawter a secret. Furthermore, he’s keeping their plans to tackle the Company’s oppressive wall plans around Westerley a complete secret. It’s just him and Pawter on this. How badly will this backfire? Because from where we’re looking, it most certainly will. And what will happen to Johnny as his internal quarrel of whether he’s suited to the ‘Killjoy’ mantra builds?

However, this didn’t interfere with his usual brotherly banter with D’Avin. It certainly built things with Pawter, who charmingly let this slip via holophone:

I love you. For…what you’re doing. Er, helping people. – Pawter

You’re very helpful too. – Johnny

Therefore, you can feel Johnny’s silent turmoil as he tries to tackle everything that’s going on. From being a ‘Killjoy’ to be a secret rogue in the dark. It’s perfectly done by Ashmore, and his fiery chemistry with Power is something that’s been sensitively done. Johnny and Pawter: what a team they make. And whilst Johnny may feel free with Pawter and their clear affection, he’s not a free man. Not when he’s oppressing himself with this impossible mission, even with the claim of “it’ll be worth it”.

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Final Verdict: Did I say last week’s episode was the best? This surely tops it—or at least gives it close competition—as all my doubts for ‘Killjoys’ are erased. ‘I Love Lucy’ was perfectly balanced in every way—oh, and we all love Lucy.

This was an absolute bundle of joy. The dialogue was on-point with Derek Robertson’s exciting script, bringing out one-liners such as Johnny’s love for ‘Mossy’ and all things tech. And asteroid fields. But most noticeable was the beautiful cinematography, gorgeously directed by Grant Harvey. A standout scene was the story Dutch told of the harp, with Romwell. The lighting and intimate angles sucked us deep into that scene—and it was so, so lovely to witness.

There must be praise heaped onto Keon Alexander too. Between him and Steph Leonidas’ Clara, they certainly make up for the best guest-stars so far—of all two seasons. Alexander was genuinely touching in the way he played a potentially two-dimensional villain. But he wasn’t. He was just lonely, and with such a youthful, handsome face—Alexander caught that perfectly.

‘I Love Lucy’ is the meshwork of brilliance we’ve all been waiting for, with ‘Killjoys’. It must be the kick-start of something huge, and we cannot wait to see it.

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Questions and Comments:

• Johnny’s excitement over a spaceship in an asteroid and Sam’s tech was hilarious.
  • “Lucy, take us in before Johnny wets his pants.”
• “Stop talking. Be naked.”
• Of all this talk of “happy endings”, all three Killjoys are definitely getting some!
• With D’Avin neuro-linking with the ‘Mossy’ via its plasma, will they have to retrieve Khylen’s? Or is Romwell’s perfectly pure?
• Will we ever find out why D’Avin was immune to level six conversion…or is that something Fancy (Sean Baek) and Khylen will discover?