S01.E04: Vessel

[The Crazed Spruce]

The Killjoys protect a group of Surrogates under siege in a badlands fortress, finding their rhythm as a trio in the process.

[ottoDbusdriver]

That was fun.  This show improves every week.

 

We learned more about Dutch's background, and she got to kick some serious ass (those were some pretty cool moves).  John finds himself a potential soulmate, but then she goes and sacrifices herself. D'avin comes clean about the doctor he's trying to find to help fix what's wrong with him.  And we got some world building about the organization of the 9 that owns 'The Company'.

[SimoneS]

Okay episode. I want more Dutch and her secret though. I think that she is the best thing about the show followed by Johnny.

Edited July 11, 2015 by SimoneS

[thuganomics85]

OK, in this show's defense, there were plenty of differences, but between the badlands/desert, the buggie, and the mission being a rescue operation that involved a bunch of beautiful women; including a pregnant one; I was really getting a Mad Max: Fury Road feel to this one.  Not that I'm complaining, really...

 

It was good seeing the three Killjoys actually on the mission together and interacting with each other.  I also like that D'avin isn't an automatic Super Killjoy, and his first "collar", pretty much blew up in his face (and all over the floor, ew.)  It was still annoying that he kept trying to hide the doctor from John, so I'm hoping he'll quick dicking around like that and open up to his little, more awesome bro.

 

I'm guessing that lady that put out the contract and Dutch outplayed, is going to come into play later down the line; especially since she was apparently asking someone to get more info on Dutch.  And with Dutch's background, that could bring out a lot of skeletons.

[Mars477]

Poor Johnny.  He actually had some pretty good chemistry with that surrogate (Jenny?) before she blew herself up as a sacrifice.

 

I know people aren't a fan of D'avin, but I thought him scolding the panicking girls was pretty funny, especially considering how little attention Dutch and Johnny had been paying to them.  "He knows their names?"  "He knows their names."

 

I'm enjoying the worldbuilding, especially the quasi-feudal terminology being thrown around regarding inhabitants of Qresh.  The action took a step back this episode, but Dutch got a great fight in.  It sucks that this show is apparently garnering a lower audience than Dark Matter, because it is so much better.

 

This was Killjoys Fury Road if the Brides were more badass (and weren't repeatedly raped by a deranged, disfigured monster, but who's counting).

Edited July 11, 2015 by Mars477

[MissLucas]

Does this show really have lower ratings than Dark Matter? Odd - I like them both but so far this looks superior. Excellent episode I really like all the world-building they're doing. And they're pretty smooth at evading exposition dumps instead delivering the necessary bits of info in passing.

I loved how the surrogates where not shown as brainless incubators but as real persons with their own agenda even if that meant contradicting Dutch who brought her own baggage to the situation.

Had a good giggle at Dutch and Johnny's reaction to D'Avin knowing the girls names and decided that John's 'bag and tag'-line must be a shout-out to Ashmore's Warehouse 13 days (where that line was frequently used).

[sjohnson]

Trying to figure out why this is so dull for me. Maybe I can't quite grasp the characters as real. I can believe a man and a woman as partners, with others for romantic relationships. But Johnny doesn't seem to do relationships. I'm sorry but the instant love for Jenny, just because she's mechanical too, screams more of lonelieness born from too many one night stands. And Dutch's sex life seems to  be limited to faking it for work. If they've not got any significant others, then yes, they're each others significant other, except kind of dysfunctional, unless they simply aren't into the sex thing. I can't imagine how they live. I suppose it's possible they live on the ship, but it's a pretty hellish version of home. 

 

Davin's still transitional and closed off, so it's too soon to tell for him. 

[Chaos Theory]

Does this show really have lower ratings than Dark Matter? Odd - I like them both but so far this looks superior.

 

 

This show is boring.   The concept was great but it is three uninteresting characters.  I love Dark Matter and i am already finding most of the characters fascinating.  The only reason I watch this show at all is because it between Defiance and Dark Matter otherwise I would have stopped by now.

 

I did find the episode  premise interesting but again it had an obvious ending.  (of course the only one to survive would be pregnant chick).  I still don't like D'avin at all.   Dutch and Johnny are mildly interesting but only for moments at a time.  

Edited July 11, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[Uncle Benzene]

Gotta say, even though I probably shouldn't be, I'm surprised to see that the comments are still so mixed, because I was coming here all set to propose that "We" declare this show officially awesome. I'm pretty much loving everything about it, and I have to agree with ottoD that it's improving every week. I've been way more than pleasantly surprised.

 

Still, being that snark is its own reward, I can't resist pointing out...

 

Constance: "Why didn't he kill me???"

Dutch: "Maybe he needs you alive."

 

That's some goooood deduction there, Dutch. Heh.

 

Gold robe guy... that wasn't Shawn Ashmore, was it? Because I don't think he was, but I spent just about the entire scene thinking he might have been.

[Mars477]

Constance wasn't the only woman to survive.  The ending of the episode was "predictable" in the sense that the team scraped together a win through clever politicking, which not only was pretty awesome but also introduced a new associate/enemy who will undoubtedly reappear in the future, and also has more personality on her own than the entire cast of Dark Matter combined.

Trying to figure out why this is so dull for me. Maybe I can't quite grasp the characters as real. I can believe a man and a woman as partners, with others for romantic relationships. But Johnny doesn't seem to do relationships. I'm sorry but the instant love for Jenny, just because she's mechanical too, screams more of lonelieness born from too many one night stands. And Dutch's sex life seems to  be limited to faking it for work. If they've not got any significant others, then yes, they're each others significant other, except kind of dysfunctional, unless they simply aren't into the sex thing. I can't imagine how they live. I suppose it's possible they live on the ship, but it's a pretty hellish version of home.

Davin's still transitional and closed off, so it's too soon to tell for him.

 

This show is dull because people aren't banging?  It's brought up in this episode that Johnny thinks of his relationship with Dutch as a sibling relationship.  Maybe he propositioned her a few times in the beginning and she shut him down, and then they settled into their current dynamic over the next few years.  Maybe Dutch's gay, or asexual, or has a regular hookup location she goes to whenever she wants to get that itch scratched that's not Pree's bar.  Maybe it is Pree's bar, and she's just had too much on her mind to care about sex lately (what with the sociopathic assassin dude who tracked her down and wants to bring her back into the fold).  Is Dutch's sexuality (or lack thereof) really the most important thing about her?

Edited July 11, 2015 by Mars477

[MissLucas]

Trying to figure out why this is so dull for me. Maybe I can't quite grasp the characters as real. I can believe a man and a woman as partners, with others for romantic relationships. But Johnny doesn't seem to do relationships. I'm sorry but the instant love for Jenny, just because she's mechanical too, screams more of lonelieness born from too many one night stands. And Dutch's sex life seems to  be limited to faking it for work. If they've not got any significant others, then yes, they're each others significant other, except kind of dysfunctional, unless they simply aren't into the sex thing. I can't imagine how they live. I suppose it's possible they live on the ship, but it's a pretty hellish version of home. 

They're still pretty young and plenty of people live without a relationship at that age (hell even older people do). Not that hard to imagine that they both think that a) their lifestyle isn't really made for a stable relationship and b) hooking up with your business partner is a bad idea.

I'm actually glad that the show takes its time to develop characters instead of trying generate drama by instant romance. I guess sooner or later it will deal with romance but for the time being I like things the way they are.

[xfuse]

 

This show is boring.   The concept was great but it is three uninteresting characters.

Pretty much this except I do find Johnny more interesting than the rest. Maybe because he seems charismatic or maybe I just like the 'underdog' characters the best. I have watched each ep and with the exception of the first one they all felt like filler eps.

[Raja]

This show is boring.   The concept was great but it is three uninteresting characters.  I love Dark Matter and i am already finding most of the characters fascinating.  The only reason I watch this show at all is because it between Defiance and Dark Matter otherwise I would have stopped by now.

 

I did find the episode  premise interesting but again it had an obvious ending.  (of course the only one to survive would be pregnant chick).  I still don't like D'avin at all.   Dutch and Johnny are mildly interesting but only for moments at a time.  

I got hung up on the original premise that politically this world can exist where "Kill" and "joy" are put together and these bounty hunters are not public pariahs and from there everything else about the societies doesn't ring true. What Killjoys had on the initial episode compared to its network mate was better fight choreography but after the premiere over on Dark Matter Two and Four up'ed the game so that is a wash. Having seven characters interact rather than three and fewer world introductions so far leaves more room to grow, especially when everything about the guest stars of the week and their planet/society isn't connecting with me.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Raja

[xfuse]

 

Having seven characters interact rather than three and fewer world introductions so far leaves more room to grow, especially when everything about the guest stars of the week and their planet/society isn't connecting with me.

Dark Matters makes me want to know more about the characters while Killjoys don't mainly because it feels like I can guess what I don't know about them. 

 

I didn't care about the guest stars or their planet/society. Maybe if there was more of a set up before or if they mentioned what their universe was like. For me it kinda seemed like even the writers don't really know yet.

[call me ishmael]

Dark Matters makes me want to know more about the characters while Killjoys don't mainly because it feels like I can guess what I don't know about them. 

 

I didn't care about the guest stars or their planet/society. Maybe if there was more of a set up before or if they mentioned what their universe was like. For me it kinda seemed like even the writers don't really know yet.

I actually feel the opposite partly because the killjoys characters actually seem interesting to me already. Dark Matter is more paint by numbers and does it with so little sense of humor. If you add that the world building is less complex...

What to people make of the lyre that Dutch has? Are we too assume that she was high-born in some way?

[Snarkette]

Another good week. It's SyFy schlock, sure, but it entertains, the characters engage, and I'm really liking it.

 

 

What to people make of the lyre that Dutch has? Are we too assume that she was high-born in some way?

What do you do with highborn children who cannot inherit? You train them as soldiers, assassins, clerics, and other tools of the crown or you trade them to form political alliances.

[Mars477]

And also children of royal concubines by Qreshi nobles. Considering the other eccentricities of highborn life a Qreshi death cult of assassins really isn't that far fetched.

[Ariah]

I don't understand how is this show boring or worse than Dark Matter - but that's a topic for another thead.

 

Now for this episode!

 

No surprise, I liked it. True, the grande finale shooting lacked good direction, and I bet all would turn out better if all the Vessel girls stuffed their dresses and pretended to be pregnant... But nobody's perfect. I like te use of setting in this series - you know, deep down, that the crew is careful to show you just this angle of the room, because otherwise too much f/x would have been used... I admire their creativity in picking locations.

 

Other things I liked:

- how D'avin knew all the girls' names and Dutch and John's reactions to that fact,

- the complexity of this world and its people,

- bread-crumbs about Dutch's past,

- Johnny's overprotectiveness of Dutch's honor.

 

 

Things that I liked less:

- Jenny and her express connection with Johnny (of course she had to die, that's a tv trope!)

- the atmosphere of badlands is so bad, the ships can blow, but a human being can breathe it for quite some time? At least wear a mask!

- some dialogue felt clunky.

 

I'm looking forward to next week's episode with a ghost ship, because:

1. Cowboy Bebop did it once at it was crazy fun,

2. Dark Matter did it this week and we would have gotten these two episodes juxtaposed if Killjoys started the same week as DM, so i'm waiting to watch this weel's Dark Matter oposite next week's Killjoys to judge the production values.

3. Firefly did this once and it was awesome.

 

Not to mention a number of movies that did this trope with various results.

 

(And again - boring?)

[Hanahope]

John's 'bag and tag'-line must be a shout-out to Ashmore's Warehouse 13 days (where that line was frequently used).

 

So I wasn't the only one that got a good laugh at that line.

 

The world-building went by a bit fast for me, I still didn't quite get who the woman was that arranged the warrant, was she part of the 9?  I guess there are 9 families that own the company - and they don't procreate themselves, but hire surrogates and the last line of one of the families died, but had arranged for a surrogate to birth an heir before hand.  But weren't the 9 all women?  So who was that man with the disgusted look on his face when the one woman took guardianship of the baby?

 

 But even not knowing these details I like the show.

[Mars477]

So I wasn't the only one that got a good laugh at that line.

The world-building went by a bit fast for me, I still didn't quite get who the woman was that arranged the warrant, was she part of the 9? I guess there are 9 families that own the company - and they don't procreate themselves, but hire surrogates and the last line of one of the families died, but had arranged for a surrogate to birth an heir before hand. But weren't the 9 all women? So who was that man with the disgusted look on his face when the one woman took guardianship of the baby?

But even not knowing these details I like the show.

I think the Nine are essentially noble families who together make up the majority shareholders in the Company. Either they were already rich and formed the Company, or bought in long enough ago for them to have styled themselves as nobility. This particular heir is a male.

Not all of Delle's guests may have been members of the Nine, but they probably still are shareholders. It's an interesting combination of feudal airs and modern corporate politics.

[call me ishmael]

So I wasn't the only one that got a good laugh at that line.

 

The world-building went by a bit fast for me, I still didn't quite get who the woman was that arranged the warrant, was she part of the 9?  I guess there are 9 families that own the company - and they don't procreate themselves, but hire surrogates and the last line of one of the families died, but had arranged for a surrogate to birth an heir before hand.  But weren't the 9 all women?  So who was that man with the disgusted look on his face when the one woman took guardianship of the baby?

 

 But even not knowing these details I like the show.

I think that the Nine are clearly families and that some of the younger children are sent to Leith. I took the disgusted guy to be part of whatever group it was that wanted to seize Constance in order to seize that heir's holdings.

[Mars477]

I got hung up on the original premise that politically this world can exist where "Kill" and "joy" are put together and these bounty hunters are not public pariahs and from there everything else about the societies doesn't ring true. What Killjoys had on the initial episode compared to its network mate was better fight choreography but after the premiere over on Dark Matter Two and Four up'ed the game so that is a wash. Having seven characters interact rather than three and fewer world introductions so far leaves more room to grow, especially when everything about the guest stars of the week and their planet/society isn't connecting with me.

Yes, having a greater number of horribly developed characters and zero worldbuilding does technically leave a show "more room to grow".  That's because it's a terrible barebones sketch of a show, not because it has anything good going for it.

[The Crazed Spruce]

There's an actual thread for the comparisons between Dark Matter and Killjoys. Let's move this conversation over there, and confine the discussion in this thread to the matter of the episode at hand, okay?

[Hanahope]

Gold robe guy... that wasn't Shawn Ashmore, was it? Because I don't think he was, but I spent just about the entire scene thinking he might have been.

 

I thought so too at first, but it is a different person.  They do look very similar, which makes me wonder if an impersonation will be used at some point for an episode.

 

 

John's 'bag and tag'-line must be a shout-out to Ashmore's Warehouse 13 days

 

What I would give for a guest-appearance by Claudia.

[Mars477]

What I would give for a guest-appearance by Claudia.

Isn't she currently slumming it on Stichers?  Maybe this show can rescue her.

[sluggish neko]

Claudia and Myka dressed up as Killjoys in the style of Dutch would be something to see... I'm sure someone's already working on a Killjoys/Warehouse 13 crossover fanfic.

 

Please show, listen to John and keep all three in a sibling-like relationship. They're starting to work pretty well as a three person team. The only part where it felt contrived was when they tried to manufacture closeness between Dutch and Davin during that scene where she orders him to watch the girls and he argues with her about it and then suddenly she's telling him about her backstory growing up in some royal concubine orphanage. It doesn't ring true. She's the boss and he's the rookie. I'd expect her to emphasize that. It makes more sense for them to relate to each other because of their shared skill of killing people (something John can't easily do).

 

Also liked how their mission of the week tied into Dutch's past and the politics of the world.

[tennisgurl]

So glad we finally got to see the team working together on the ground!

 

The pregnancy harem reminded me a little bit of Mad Max Fury Road. Must be something about harems, guns, and pregnant badass chicks. 

 

I knew Johns new girlfriend was dead meat, but I was disappointed. I liked her. 

 

Please listen to John, D'avin! I like the groups chemistry as it is, let's not screw it up by sexing. 

 

There are a ton of factions here, I'll need to read sci fi's website or something, get everything straightened out. 

 

Another solid episode.

Edited July 13, 2015 by The Crazed Spruce
fixed apostrophies

[FurryFury]

It actually reminded me of that Firefly episode with Melinda Clarke and the brothel more than of Fury Road (although that comparison also came up). 

 

Still, I liked this episode quite a bit. Killjoy's so much better than Dark Matter right now it's amazing. And I actually liked DM's pilot better.

 

I don't really dislike the idea of Dutch/D'avin romance but it all hinges on D'avin's whole shtick because he's kinda uninteresting thus far. I think his little moment with the nuns was the best he's been so far. 

 

I think Dutch had some unexpected chemistry with the cult guy at the beginning, and also with Della. The actress playing her (can't remember her name yet) seems to be pretty good.

 

Overall, not an ambitious show by any means, but so far it's been mostly succeeding in achieveing what it set out to achieve.

[Jordan27]

I like Dutch, but the two male leads are rather boring.  Plus, for a space opera, the plots are not really engaging..

 

Still watching, but just average for me.

[Tigris Tv]

I like the potential for Dutch/D'avin romance.  I don't mind a slow burn, and the tension of resisting temptation.  Or maybe something with Dutch and that guy in the robe. 

 

This was a fun episode.

[miracole]

 

I was coming here all set to propose that "We" declare this show officially awesome.

I'm down for that.  This episode was fun.  Everyone showed off their skill set and you can see them gelling as a team.  

 

I love how even though there is a particular task the group has to complete each episode, that the plot doesn't take over. Each outcome is still character driven.  

 

I also like the little bit of world building we get each episode.  The information about the nine was just enough to flesh out the story but not overwhelm you.

 

I really liked D'avin learning the girls' names. It gives you a glimpse of another side of him. Dutch and Johnny were great as always. However I still think Jenny should have thrown the grenade.  My only reasoning behind her not doing that is maybe she felt if she threw it and ran she'd still be close enough to get injured and then they'd have to worry about getting an injured person to safety.

 

Great episode!