S01.E03: The Harvest

[The Crazed Spruce]

Dutch and John take on a warrant for a missing migrant worker on Leith; D'avin needs to pass a psych evaluation, but Pawter's assessment questions his mental fitness.

[Chaos Theory]

I wasn't bored to tears this episode. Improvement!

I actually almost liked the episode. I didn't want to punch D'avin in the face every three seconds. So that's a plus.

Dutch and John make a good team as always and I say the show would have done better as a duo and without the Dutch red box crap.

[thuganomics85]

Holy crap, I think that was Lisa Ryder (Becka from Andromeda), as that lady who questioned D'avin about why he wanted to be a Killjoy in the first scene.  That was pretty cool.  Andromeda was a fun show, until Kevin Sorbo's ego got in the way.

 

Glad we got more focus on the Dutch/John relationship, and John in general.  Even though I find him good comic relief, I actually did feel bad for him that D'avin was automatically signed level four, over him.  I really can't blame him for getting annoyed about that, and wanting to prove himself.  Cutting his own ear off though, was a bit of an overkill.

 

I'm guessing this Pawter character is going to stick around as a love interest for D'avin or something.  Definitely felt like a set-up for a recurring role.  Wished I cared more about D'avin's issues, but I still find that to be kind of dull.

 

Dutch claims she's through with whatever that red box entailed, but I have a feeling that won't be the case.

 

Still really enjoying the show.

[SimoneS]

I like Dutch and Johnny's friendship. i like that she is keeping secrets and lying to protect him. It has the potential for good drama when the truth comes out.

 

D'avin still feels tacked on and his background story is not particularly compelling, but I am interested in what they do with him.

 

The actress who plays the doctor looked familiar, but I don't recall from what show.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Holy crap, I think that was Lisa Ryder (Becka from Andromeda), as that lady who questioned D'avin about why he wanted to be a Killjoy in the first scene.  That was pretty cool.  Andromeda was a fun show, until Kevin Sorbo's ego got in the way.

 

Per IMDB, that was indeed Lisa Ryder.  Who knows, maybe Laura Bertram will show up as a purple alien with a tail ?

[cynic]

I enjoyed this episode. It probably helped that I was totally with Johnny about not wanting to see D'avin usurp him. Having said that, D'avin didn't annoy me nearly as much as he did in the other episodes. Plus, it looks like they are setting up something with the doctor, which alleviates one of the biggest problems I had with him, the flirtation with Dutch. Speaking of Dutch, I love her and Johnny's friendship, so I was happy to see so much focus on it.

My one big issue with the episode was D'avin becoming a Level 4. I get that they wanted to feed Johnny's conflicted feelings, but not only was I annoyed on Johnny's behalf, it also seemed unbelievable. I don't care how well D'avin did on skills tests, I would still think there are some aspects of the job that he would need to learn. For example, how well versed is he with the laws (like what constitutes contact)? Also, considering the enormous power killjoys wield, wouldn't you want to have someone prove themselves a bit in the field first before you give them almost the highest level? D'avin has already been shown to not have the best judgement in conflict situations and appears to not have diplomacy or deescalation skills in his wheelhouse. The RAC either doesn't test for this (and really, a lot of those skills would be built on experience anyway) or they don't care what kind of havoc their agents cause in pursuit of their warrants (which if that is the case, why bother having levels at all). I hope that it's eventually revealed that this is part of a set up to get D' avin close to Dutch because he's investigating her or something. I guess, for now though, I'm going to write it off as some kind of statement on how some police departments provide woefully inadequate training and hire candidates who are unsuitable in many ways.

Edited July 4, 2015 by cynic

[MissLucas]

Yeah, that red box business won't came back *eye-roll* Good episode - I'm surprised they spend so much time on dealing with the team dynamics and how D'Avin joining is causing tensions and problems but it pays off. Adding the Doctor was a smart move in order to prevent a love triangle nobody wants to see. Plus she seems to have her own backstory that may play a part somewhere down the line.

I guess D'Avin's problems go a bit deeper than just PTSD (or whatever they call it). Looks like the Doctor he's looking for was a Doctor Coady type who likes to experiment a bit. Nice touch that he had to ask Lucy what her beeps mean.

I would like to know more about how Dutch and John met. It's not one of the geat mysteries of this show but I do hope we eventually get a flashback episode.

Edited July 4, 2015 by MissLucas

[Uncle Benzene]

That lady doctor is beeauuuuutiful. (I mean, so is Dutch, but that kinda goes without saying at this point.) I hope she sticks around.

 

I'm beginning to think Aaron Ashmore is just incapable of being anything less than awesome. Ever.

 

I think my favorite thing about this show is that it doesn't seem to take itself too seriously. It's very Warehouse 13 with the quips and the snark and such. 

[Mars477]

Sadly we didn't get as much Lucy this episode (although she hardly knows D'avin), but we also got to see more of Dutch and Johnny's relationship, and it was great.  Dutch of course was awesome (although that's to be expected).  I'm also liking D'avin's new doctor, who comes to the table with enough personality and history to exceed the entirety of Dark Matter's cast on her own.

[AlliMo]

I'm enjoying this show for the bounteous eye candy and the nicely choreographed quality violence. That is all.

[DEM]

My one big issue with the episode was D'avin becoming a Level 4.

 

They are laying it on a bit thick with D'avin.  First with the 'skillset' business in 1x02 and now this (including the "highest marks EVAH!").  When the RAC administrator said he was cleared for Level 4, I was flummoxed. Then when she mentioned the psych eval I laughed because I thought she was being cheeky: She knew he wouldn't pass, so his clearance level amounted to a whole lot of nothing. The show got the last laugh, however, when it turned out that the RAC farms out the evals to whomever. Okay.  If one of the perqs of higher levels is that you have more freedom with regard to killing people, shouldn't the levels be tied to some sort of psychosocial criteria?

 

The one positive aspect of that story was the doctor (who is a GP and a psychiatrist??).  I had suspected the medication field trip was doing double-duty as an evaluation, and I appreciated that she stood her ground with D'avin and voiced her concerns clearly, strongly, and unapologetically.

 

Add me to the list of people who enjoys the Dutch/John friendship and partnership.  I like that John got a win.

Edited July 5, 2015 by DEM

[Snarkette]

Still watching, still enjoying. I think half the fun comes from comparing this with Dark Boring -- more or less the same pool of actors and budget, but oh so much better, especially Lucy vs that horrible android.

[sluggish neko]

Suffering through one ep of Dark Matter was enough for me. Compared to the wooden acting I saw there, the human action figure who plays D'avin is turning in an Emmy performance.

 

And speaking of D'avin, he was actually tolerable this ep. He and Johnny had a nice sibling moment when he passed the Killjoy test-- though I'm convinced Aaron Ashmore plays well off anyone. The D'avin and Doctor shrink pairing works better than when he's jammed in between Dutch and John.

 

I really liked that last scene of Dutch and John having an honest talk. Their relationship has such a lived-in, long-term feel. They know how to read each other well and maturely talk things out. And though Dutch didn't reveal anything about her oh-so-mysterious-and-yet-somewhat-generic-assassin-past, you can see John trusts her enough to let her keep her personal matters private.

 

Yay! for another mission where Dutch gets another fantastic hairstyle and dress. Liked how N'oa ditched her assy husband with flair.

[miracole]

I love Dutch and Johnny together. I really buy that they're really good friends who have spent years working together and  having each others back. I like that Dutch went back to talk to Johnny because she knew how upset he was about the game plan she came up with.  I actually don't mind D'avin but after seeing Dutch and Johnny working together I want more of that,  with D'avin off on his own and coming in every once in a while to help.

 

I would have preferred D'avin also being a level three and  maybe he and Johnny having a bit of  a rivalry as to who could become a level 4 first.  I wanted Dutch to be the only one who could legally kill people for a while.

 

I laughed at Johnny complaining about D'avin D'avining, but also liked that he and Dutch talked things out.  It will prolly still be a bit of an issue but  it seems there won't be any passive aggressive moping around.

 

 I previously said that how one feels about this show shouldn't have anything to do with how one feels about Darkmatter but I gotta say DM needs to step it up. This show is way more entertaining.

 

[Hanahope]

I like this show better than the others on this night (Defiance is getting a bit cliche'd), but I too call some BS on Da'Vin getting level 4 right off the bat.  If they wanted him to be higher than John, then John should have been level 2 and Da'Vin level 3.  Or make them the same with the race to 4.

 

Liked the twist end on the warrant.

 

So Dutch just lets the redbox guy go without getting any information as to why she was to kill him?  That makes no sense.

[Jordan27]

Holy crap, I think that was Lisa Ryder (Becka from Andromeda),

 

Her more famous role as a cop on Forever Knight.

[dargosmydaddy]

 

The actress who plays the doctor looked familiar, but I don't recall from what show.

I spent the whole episode thinking that, and then was told by imdb that she was crazy Carl Maher's crazy sister on Republic of Doyle. She does crazy well.

[Wynterwolf]

Yeah, based on Johnny's character bio, I understand what they're doing with John and D'avin's relationship (and why they made D'avin a Level 4), but I think my fanwank is going to be that someone is manipulating D'avin's course (and pulling strings to make him a Level 4, and the Killjoys are just as corrupt as the rest of the institutions, even though they're trying to make it sound like they aren't) until I can't wank that any more.  

[Mars477]

The RAC is absolutely just as corrupt as everything else, despite their claims.

 

I'm totally ok with D'avin getting in as a Level 4 agent.  Mind you, what Level 4 seems to mean is that you can independently take Kill/Capture warrants as well as kill targets and associated hostiles in pursuit of a Warrant.  D'avin comes to the table with a skillset that Johnny doesn't have, and with a colder mindset that Johnny also doesn't have.  We see D'avin shoot a hostile rather than de-escalate a standoff situation, while Dutch, the Level 5 of the group, is willing to torture a possibly innocent man for days on end just to find out why there's a warrant for his death.  Johnny's too nice for that.

 

Plus, being a higher level doesn't necessarily mean he's the better killjoy, as we see in the sneak peek for the next episode.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Mars477

[Wynterwolf]

The RAC is absolutely just as corrupt as everything else, despite their claims.

 

  

Yeah, true.  As with any institution... it's only as ethical as the people running it.  

[Bruinsfan]

I think the show is wasting Luke McFarlane's acting abilities on a character who's written with no warmth or humor, but have my fingers crossed that they'll round D'avin out more in future episodes. Building up a bit more rapport with his estranged brother would be a good start.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Bruinsfan

[Wynterwolf]

I think the show is wasting Luke McFarlane's acting abilities on a character who's written with no warmth or humor, but have my fingers crossed that they'll round D'avin out more in future episodes. Building up a bit more rapport with his estranged brother would be a good start.

 

I'm hoping that's the eventual direction they're planning too, but at the same time I don't want them to get there too fast, so for right now I'm good with D'avin being more self-focused.  It's a growth opportunity for both John and D'avin's characters and I'd like to be able to watch it evolve.  So long as they don't go overboard with Dutch/D'avin bonding (like they did in ep1), and providing D'avin get's called out by someone other than John when he's being a jerk, I think I'll be okay with D'avin long term.  But it's definitely a delicate balance to maintain.  

[FurryFury]

I don't know why but I find the doctor very annoying. Maybe it's her super-righteous holier than thou attitude.

 

I'm also not a fan of this show's go-to tendency to separate the main trio, last episode it was D'avin and Dutch and Johnny with Lucy, and now we got Johnny and Dutch and D'avin and the doctor (ugh). I'd want to see the main three together for longer than a short scene here and there.

 

Seriously, Dutch, are you asexual or something? (not that there's anything wrong with that, but I doubt she is) I mean, that dude was seriously hot, even if was kinda evil. I know I couldn't have resisted.

 

Overall, and OK episode, I'm still enjoying the show for what it is, a shallow but fan adventure in space with attractive and not horrible actors.

[Machiabelly]

Did anyone notice that they name-checked Dark Matter? That was how Johnny described himself 

[tennisgurl]

I`m waiting for that cross over! 

 

I feel like every episode has been an improvement on the last, and I thought it started pretty well. I am really enjoying it. 

[JTMacc99]

I agree, every episode has been improved over the previous one, and I think it has a lot to do with fairly decent character development. As long as our main characters are interesting, and equally important, have believable and interesting relationships with the others, I'll stick around.  So far, so good on that front, with some relationships being better than others.  The addition of the doctor seems like a very good one.

 

Dutch claims she's through with whatever that red box entailed, but I have a feeling that won't be the case.

She's definitely not done. I think the only question is which comes first, another red box or the guy who gave her the box showing up all angry about her not killing the last box guy.

[call me ishmael]

I thought it was clear that not only wasn't she done but she knew it. After all she is trying to track down her former master. She was clearly lying to john and that lie is going to come back at some point.

[wanderingstar]

Quote

Did anyone notice that they name-checked Dark Matter? That was how Johnny described himself.

I'm binge-watching the show now, and I caught that. As someone who loves Dark Matter, I got a kick out of that.

And yes, I want  a Killjoys/Dark Matter crossover too!