Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Killjoys - Vessel


Now an official team of three, Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), John (Aaron Ashmore), and D'Avin (Luke Macfarlane) are hired to transport the surrogate mother of an unborn heir of one of the nine families that rule the galaxy (or something like that) in time for the baby to be born on his home soil and claim his birthright. Although there have been small stumbling blocks in the previous episodes, "Vessel" marks the first time the series gets into trouble for not spending more time world building and explaining the basics of this version of the future, the nine families, and the politics involved. The Nine have never been properly explained which leads to some confusion about surrogate cults, wealth, corporations, division of power, and rule of law that the episode skirts mostly around despite the fact that these issues have never been properly dealt with.

Even if you strip away some of that questionable storytelling, such as why Delle Seyah Kendry (Mayko Nguyen) would go to the trouble to seek out the best Killjoys in the quadrant only to turn on them immediately (why not hire average mercs if this was her plan all along?), "Vessel" works as a simple story of our heroes protecting a small group of women being hunted down by mercenaries who have their own plans for the unborn child. Dayle McLeod is the stand-out of the group as the farmer's daughter who catches John's eye. I was sad, but not surprised, by her fate. She would have made a strong addition to the show as a recurring character.

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