Killjoys 2x02 – “Wild, Wild Westerley” mostly moves a lot of pieces into place

There is a lot of setup in this episode that has to be walked through, causing this episode to feel a bit overstuffed, but also slightly unfulfilling by the end of it. A lot of material simply flies past during the course of the episode and there isn’t a lot of substance behind whatever movements the show wishes to make by the end of the hour. 

A lot of this season likely hinges on the team chasing around whatever Khylen and Black Root left behind on Arkyn, although we’re told that whatever was there is long gone and destroyed. The fate of Old Town is revealed, but leaves a lot in the air as it pits Pawter and Jelko (Jelqo? I can never understand how names are spelled in Killjoys) at odds which does plays to Killjoys’ strengths but mostly leaves the aftermath of the rebellion in the background, leaving it to probably be explored later, even as the team's mission brings them deeper into it by interacting with certain figures of the uprising.

Old Town, I would argue, is probably one of the series’ stronger places so it’s a bit of a shame to leave it relatively untouched. There’s not much time for exploration in this episode as the trio jump back and forth with leads and chasing a canister of deadly gas. The Company’s stance on the scarbacks sounds interesting when spoken but we only ever really follow Alvis as he helps the trio to their next lead more than anything. The episode seemed to imply a closer relationship between Alvis and Tarren Tighmon than I expected, but ultimately it seemed less that and more a man (Tighmon) who had become disillusioned by meeting his hero (Alvis).

Despite that I did not feel like there was enough to justify Alvis’ lapse in judgment leading to him releasing the gas in a fit of rage. In fact most of the time following the attack, it never really shows the collateral damage the Company was willing to commit to in order to kill Tighmon (besides killing him and no one else really dying on-screen) and Alvis looking distraught that he witnessed it (but it was really Dutch that was really the one who led the Company to Tighmon). It’s a weird step back from the previous week where a character like Clara existed with her history and emotional depth mostly as exposition but intersected well with the show’s strengths and worked for me. But it’s probably because that the politics of the Old Town storyline are a much larger and readily identifiable and visible part of the show that has been explored in season one, I expected more substance to it. Though again, it’s likely there will be more whenever the hunt for Khylen/Black Root/Level Sixes dies down.

But of course that doesn’t seem likely given the stinger at the end of the episode, because the season seems to also imply that many of the upcoming stories will be from Turin’s unsanctioned bag of warrants that will take the trio around the Quad as both parties search for the truth. As long as part of that search takes them back to Westerley once in a while.

 

Miscellaneous observations:

• Pree is still as fun as ever, which is mostly why I’m hoping the show returns to Old Town more often than not.
• “On what planet were you a warlord?”
• Poor Gared, getting the crap kicked out of him and nearly each of his limbs broken and stabbed. Actually nevermind, it’s pretty funny.
• Not much to add about Pawter. Sad to see Hills go though, but I think the introduction of a new company officer made his fate inevitable. Pawter basically acting as a liaison (or courtier in some way) in Spring Hill could be interesting if the power dynamics and politics of the upper class come into play in an interesting way (or intersect with whatever Dutch, John and D’avin are chasing after).