S02.E04: Schooled

[The Crazed Spruce]

The team discovers that students have mysteriously disappeared from a school for gifted children on Westerly.

[wanderingstar]

This ep felt like filler to me, but I enjoyed it because I love the dynamic between all the characters.

Nice to see Delle Seyah Kendry again. I like her and her dynamic with Dutch.

My favorite exchange of the night

Dutch: Students? Like small people?
D'Avin: They're called children, Dutch.

Also loved "You Jaqobis and your damsel shit." Love Pawter.

[Emily Thrace]

Love how this show actually had the boys do most of the childcare. 

Pawter is a mess but she and Johnny are an awesome team. I actually think she has better chemistry with him than with Davin.

Also Davin and Dutch are still totally a thing even if they don't admit it and end up screwing other people.

I would totally be down to go on a roadtrip with Fancy and Klein (Yes I know that's not how they spell his name but the way the show spells it is stupid so fuck that noise.)

I'm wondering how long Kendry and Klein go back. Her Daddy likes me better comment to Dutch makes me wonder what exactly is their history.

It was a small thing but I liked the idea the Owen was implied to the be learning disabled (his dad saying he still mixes up his letters) but not to stupid for the genus school. I kept expecting a reveal that the school was screening for dna not intelligence. The show gave me a nice surprise and actually pointed out a learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence. Dyslexics, Disgraphics, etc untie.

[Snarkette]

I like the idea of Pawter, the writing of Pawter, but I just can't get behind the actor's portrayal. She's just so flat emotionally. I am not rooting for her and Johnny.

So this appeared to be another filler ep, but so did last year's ep 5 bottle-esque ep, and it had a ton of mythos that eventually played out. I wonder how much of Dutch's childhood she actually experienced now. Or if the RAC (or the Company) is using school-in-a-jar in other ways to create and mold soldiers. More questions than answers in this one. 

[thuganomics85]

Dutch referring to kids as "small people" just cracked me up.  That so strikes me as something Dutch would say.

Agree it was mainly a filler episode, but I enjoyed the return of Delle Seyah and her hate/rivalry/lust (?) with Dutch, Pawter helping out, D'Avin bonding with the kid, and John being the one to save the day, by talking down the older brother.  As D'Avin put it, John is great at "giving a shit", and I like when it plays a part in helping the team out.  Aaron Ashmore really shines in the role.  He can be both hilarious, but grounded at the same time.

Glad to see Pree and the bar are doing well again!

Cracked up over Lucy saying that if they can't find Pawter's signal, she's likely dead.  Oh, Lucy!

Oh, boy.  Fancy and Khylen on a road-trip. That is a a scary thought.  And yet I kind of want to see it.  Maybe not an actual episode, but I would totally watch a webseries of those two on their nefarious trip, that will no doubt have plenty of bloodshed, witty remarks, and Rob Stewart being his awesome self.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Is it wrong that I want to see Khlyen & Fancy's road trip more than whatever the Killjoys will be doing next week??  Kinda sucks to be experiencing it through someone else's eyes, but will be nice to see a little backstory on the Jacqobi boys - or at least D'avin.

I am not sure I want it to happen, but I've read speculation that it will turn out that D'avin and Johnny won't turn out to be blood-related brothers [since D'avin is 'immune' to the green-space-goo], so we should find out in the upcoming episodes if that's true or not.  I did find it slightly ironic that D'avin made the quip tonight about swearing that Johnny was adopted.  I'm going to refrain from guessing if that was a foreshadow, or not, because I'm unsure how to feel or what to think if it turns out to be exactly that scenario.

As for Schooled, it was (as described above) a filler.  It was more about setting the stage for the latter part of the season, adding bits of info for later on, than actually moving the mytharc along.  This episode focused much more on interpersonal relationships than mytharc-plot, so it felt like a really 'slow' 43 minutes of air time.

Edited July 23, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[sjohnson]

So far as the mytharc goes, I thought this episode was nothing but mytharc, namely, chasing Khlyen's transmission. Having it solved instantly would be preposterously easy, as well as moving the mytharc too fast. But I have no great hopes for the mytharc. Open-ended serials rarely deliver on the mytharcs. Everybody loves Dutch is what the series is increasingly about, even if the lesbian chic is disguised as a ruse. (Badly by the way, "biometrics" are not really transferable by kissing, they are constant parts of the person, which is why they are good identifiers.) The discovery that not only is she the sexiest woman in the universe ever, but some sort of cosmic savior from war or whatever is gilding the lily. So far as the episode goes, I think it was weakened by the focus on setting stuff up for the mytharc. The parts that seemed most interesting, how the crew reacted to the kids, got swallowed up in action, a meaningless physical jeopardy plot, girl on girl. But that's me.

[Izeinwinter]

I quite liked the hate-flirting. It's an established part of how those two characters interact, and it was really good fun to watch.

I do not currently think Dutch is actually the person who was involved in that war - I think someone ran up a clone of that person. That is why she's important to the level six program. If she gets herself killed, that's decades of work down the tubes - possibly more, if they had to do multiple attempts to get a sufficiently close match. Someone has a plan.

[MissLucas]

I feel conflicted - parts of this were very good, mostly everything to do with the Jaqobi brothers and their dynamic and them bonding with the kids. Btw when Johnny and D'Avin agreed that they both know what it feels like to lose a brother I wondered whether that referred to the years they had lost sight of each other or if there ever was a third brother. Since Khlyen and Fancy are heading to their home-world I guess we'll soon know. Speaking of their home-world: it does not belong to the Quad right? So that Nova boyscout organization must have a pretty wide reach.

I was less enamored with Dutch this episode. Lady, I don't remember Johnny throwing a hissy fit when Alvis was on board and I was glad he called her out on that. Don't turn into the cheerleader everybody falls for and who thinks that's exactly how it should be. I can hardly deal with Lucy's snide attitude towards Pawter - I don't need more b****ness from the show's (other) leading lady.

I might be the only person in- and outside the Quad but I like Pawter. She saved Johnny's life and she seems to be a genuinely good person who really cares about Westerley and its people (as we could see back in season one when she conned the lady who did not want to sell her the meds she desperately needed).

A little bit of Delle Seyah Kendry goes a long way for me. I'm getting tired of all her cloak-and-dagger stuff. I did not get what the human seed bank project was about. And do we even know why exactly she master-minded the coup against all those other families. Does nobody suspect her and if so who exactly profited from the coup? And why would word about the human seed project going out be so bad for her? We should really have an episode back on Qresh to finally know a bit more what's going on. This show was great when it came to world-building last season but I find it lacking this season.

So Khlyen does not think D'Avin's immunity to the green goo was caused by the super-soldier chip. Interesting. I'm looking forward to see Tellin or however it's spelled.

And who exactly won't be pleased about Khlyen's field-trip? The Black Mood? That's a weird name for the big bad wolf.

Edited July 23, 2016 by MissLucas

[sjohnson]

Black Root, I think. But I think that's a weird name too.

[Terrafamilia]

Oh, look. Even the children are cussing now. That surely cements this show as serious drama.

This is starting to remind me a a guy I knew in college who had developed the habit of using 'fuck' as his sole, all-purpose interjection and 'fucking' as his sole, all-purpose adjective. It was both unfortunate as well as totally ridiculous. Compare with last week's Dark Matter where I believe 'shit' was used only once but its use was targeted and therefore actually made something of an impact. Here, the writers come off as trying too hard to be one of the cool kids and the result is more juvenile than they intended.

Of course, YMMV. I'll get off my little soapbox now.

[MissLucas]

3 minutes ago, sjohnson said:

Black Root, I think. But I think that's a weird name too.

Ah, yes - now I remember, thanks! They mentioned it before when for some mysterious reason I kept hearing beet-root. They stick with the plant theme it seems.

[tennisgurl]

To me, this was an improvement over the last couple weeks, especially because we got to see so many of our supporting characters, plus lots of D'avin and Johnny bonding. I am really glad we got more on their relationship, and more of Johnny in general. He kicks a lot of ass, but, as D`avin says, his real power is the ability to give a shit. The Power of Heart! 

 Delle Seyah and her massive crush on Dutch was good to see, even as she continues to be shady. She has a lot of style at least. 

I really love how so many background and minor characters were women in this episode. The gang leader/arm wrestler lady, the security woman from the creepy school, plus our usual kickass ladies. 

I also like Pawter. Her and Johnny are a fun pair, and she holds her own in missions, while not taking over the team/story. Actually, I would like to see more of Dutch and Pawter. Dutch was a little snide about her today, while she has normally been ok with her. But, as I thought about it, I really dont remember many scenes where its just the two of them. I would actually be kind of interested in what Dutch thinks about Johnny's new love interest. Has Johnny had other serious girlfriends? Did Dutch like them, or is she an overprotective big sister who thinks no one is good enough for her brother? Is that why she got a little snippy about her? I would like to see them get some time together, if Pawter is going to stick around and her and Johnny become an actual thing. 

[Snarkette]

Quote

I am really glad we got more on their relationship, and more of Johnny in general. He kicks a lot of ass, but, as D`avin says, his real power is the ability to give a shit. The Power of Heart! 

My fave moment of the series so far is when Johnny got the nailgun during the black rain and almost off-handedly nailed several bad guys with perfect accuracy during his "bad day". I love when they remind us that he's a badass killjoy, just like the other two.

And I also like that it is inevitably D'avin who does the babysitting: with the kids and the surrogates, for example.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Snarkette
D'avining

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I would actually be kind of interested in what Dutch thinks about Johnny's new love interest. Has Johnny had other serious girlfriends? Did Dutch like them, or is she an overprotective big sister who thinks no one is good enough for her brother? Is that why she got a little snippy about her? I would like to see them get some time together, if Pawter is going to stick around and her and Johnny become an actual thing. 

I think the base root of Dutch's reactions to Pawter being on-board [complaining to D'avin about it / slight confrontation with Johnny about it] in the last episode is plain old jealousy.  Just exactly why she's jealous of Pawter's presence & its influence on Johnny is left to personal interpretation, but that's my take on it.

[Ariah]

I enjoy the world-building of this series, but what I consider the real strength of Killjoys is the character interactions.

They just play off each other in such a nice manner - brotherly banter, friendly remarks, hate-lust undertones... Yes, it's full of cliches, but it's done much more gracefully than any other sci-fi show I've seen recently. The dynamics are just right.

Also, a healthy dose of Johnny is a win in my books. Pawter is correct - he IS a good man. (And a cinnamon roll that could kill you)

Dutch is really a catnip of the Quad. I don't mind that much - she is awesome. I wouldn't be surprised if her DNA turned out to be altered in such a way that makes her attractive to most hot-blooded beings. I mean, if she's a clone of the Black Root (another tree analogy :)) anything's possible.

[tessaray]

I like Pawter too.  Her story gives us another source of insight into the Nine. And I think she and Johnny make a good team.    

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Question (that I somehow didn't think about until now);  is the blonde bartender/barmaid in The Royale going to be a PLI for D'avin, or was she just a 'one-off' character?  I'm guessing we'll see her again, even if just as cameo(s) like in Schooled, but she seemed like a new fixture in the bar.

[AnnaMayWong]

Could someone summarize THIS episode. For some reason, the sound was muffled for me (also, I may have been a wee distracted.) I dunno, but I'm slightly baffled.

[wayne67]

Personally I'm only sticking out for the Johnny & Lucy interactions. The super special snowflakes/royalty angle bores me as it seems Dutch/Davin/Pawter expect people to do what they want because attractiveness, muscles or lineage. Entitlement is not interesting. IMO YMMV

[zxy556575]

On 7/23/2016 at 0:40 AM, Emily Thrace said:

I would totally be down to go on a roadtrip with Fancy and Klein (Yes I know that's not how they spell his name but the way the show spells it is stupid so fuck that noise.)

Honestly! It seems like the writers originally intended his name to be kī-len but the actors kept mispronouncing it so they just let it go.

[Snarkette]

Khlyen: Klie-yen.* Or if you say it fast: Kline. As in Kevin. see also: "A Fish called Yala".

Roadtrip for the win. I hope they don't go the stupid predictable route of "D'avin isn't really Johnny's brother full or half". If they swap out the mom, D'avin isn't as responsible for leaving Johnny to take care of her as an addict and if they swap out the dad, they don't share the abusive background. Either or both would suck. That's why I'm hoping it's either the nova corps that D'avin joined and Johnny didn't or when he was picked to be modded in the military to be controlled and attack his team that explains the immunity. (And if they picked him because of the relationship to Johnny and therefore to Dutch -- at least 3 or 4 years after Johnny and Dutch got together, then turning on his team was part of the goal, and his attack in Episode 7 makes a lot more sense.)

If Dutch *is* some sort of clone, then the insults about her father in the harem make little sense, as do the decade or so of neglect before Khlyen showed up. ("Your father sent me"). K seems to have his own agenda, and Yalenadutchyala is a big part of that, which apparently is connected to Arkin, previous-Yala, the history of the scarbacks, the religion tree (which in Johnny's rendition is tied to Qresh), the tree's black root (I assume earlier-yalena: by the way, was the blood the "black root" members shed literally black with one splash of red or was that just me having vision problems?), and the planting of the little seedlings.

To wrap up the rambling, I would not be surprised if the 12th scarback that got away was named "Jaqobis", but it takes something to trigger the immunity.

* Mgt is not responsible for errors in fact, pronunciation, or splelling(sic).

[MissLucas]

3 hours ago, Snarkette said:

 I hope they don't go the stupid predictable route of "D'avin isn't really Johnny's brother full or half". If they swap out the mom, D'avin isn't as responsible for leaving Johnny to take care of her as an addict and if they swap out the dad, they don't share the abusive background. Either or both would suck.

Well if one of the two was fostered the emotional ties between them are still the same as between blood-brothers (especially if neither of them knew about it), so I don't see a problem there. But what I was wondering is this: is Johnny immune to green goo or not? I know he put his hands in Khlyen's goo-computer back in season one but I don't think we got any further clues as to how it affected him.

I don't think the military chip is responsible for D'avin's immunity (neither does Khlyen it seems - I'm sure he knows about the whole thing since he kept such close tabs on Dutch). There's something else going on which was probably also responsible for the chip's 'malfunction'. The chip was not designed specifically for D'avin - it was designed as a weapon to use against enemy soldiers. D'avin was just part of a team they used as lab rats for a demonstration that should not have ended in a killing-spree. The attack on Dutch and Johnny was not the result of a long con but Doctor Jaegar trying to cover her tracks and getting rid of D'avin.

But I do like the idea that the Jaqobis are related to the 12th monk!

Edited July 24, 2016 by MissLucas

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

3 hours ago, MissLucas said:

But I do like the idea that the Jaqobis are related to the 12th monk!

I seem to remember quite a bit of speculative talk - in preview articles - just prior to the start of this season about Johnny & the Scarbacks, so maybe there will be a connection there somehow.

[Wynterwolf]

On 7/23/2016 at 0:03 PM, MissLucas said:

Btw when Johnny and D'Avin agreed that they both know what it feels like to lose a brother I wondered whether that referred to the years they had lost sight of each other or if there ever was a third brother.

I wondered the same thing, that might also explain their mother's addiction.

9 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I know he put his hands in Khlyen's goo-computer back in season one but I don't think we got any further clues as to how it affected him.

He didn't repel the green goo critters though, only the special sno... er, D'avin did.  I'm wondering about the hallucinogenic effects though and how that was transmitted... I don't remember seeing a critter touch/bite Dutch before she started hallucinating so I wondered if the effect was airborne somehow, but Johnny was practically fondling the thing and wasn't affected.  So I don't know... still much mystery there.

They're also laying it on pretty thick that Johnny is 'a good man', but I keep remembering the showrunner saying that Johnny was going to a very dark place this season, heh... I'm guessing some highly emotional muck is going to be stirred up on Temmin (or however that's going to be spelled).

On 7/22/2016 at 9:40 PM, Emily Thrace said:

It was a small thing but I liked the idea the [Jake} was implied to the be learning disabled (his dad saying he still mixes up his letters) but not to stupid for the genus school. I kept expecting a reveal that the school was screening for dna not intelligence. The show gave me a nice surprise and actually pointed out a learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence. Dyslexics, Disgraphics, etc untie.

I liked that too, it's (or it was, I haven't checked lately) part of Johnny's bio online was that he is dyslexic, even though they haven't really done much in-show to illustrate that.  But it was a nice touch.  

[call me ishmael]

19 minutes ago, Wynterwolf said:

I wondered the same thing, that might also explain their mother's addiction.

He didn't repel the green goo critters though, only the special sno... er, D'avin did.  I'm wondering about the hallucinogenic effects though and how that was transmitted... I don't remember seeing a critter touch/bite Dutch before she started hallucinating so I wondered if the effect was airborne somehow, but Johnny was practically fondling the thing and wasn't affected.  So I don't know... still much mystery there.

 

If i remember correctly Dutch was bitten.  She was forced into one of the caves and i was pretty sure her leg got bitten.

i wonder if the Green Goo isn't some sort of material that allows for certain forms of transmissions.  After all, the older boy had the information that was being placed into D'avin put into his brain through Kylen's transmission and the priority school was being used to imsert skills and knowledge.  It all seems to be part of some larger plan to create super soldiers or servants of some sort.  But for who is not clear.

i like Pawter.  And i like the fact that her medical knowledge balances out johnnie's technical knowledge.  She can give him a run for his money intellectually.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

2 hours ago, Wynterwolf said:

He didn't repel the green goo critters though, only the special sno... er, D'avin did.  I'm wondering about the hallucinogenic effects though and how that was transmitted... I don't remember seeing a critter touch/bite Dutch before she started hallucinating so I wondered if the effect was airborne somehow, but Johnny was practically fondling the thing and wasn't affected.  So I don't know... still much mystery there.

 

2 hours ago, call me ishmael said:

If i remember correctly Dutch was bitten.  She was forced into one of the caves and i was pretty sure her leg got bitten.

Maybe Dutch was bitten on the leg too, but my recollection of the episode was that a mossipede crawled on her hand (maybe bitten then, or whatever form the hallucinogenic-pathogen transfer takes) when she was crouched down on the ledge of that somewhat shallow crevice that the lady fell into and was 'devoured' by the angry vaginas, err, mossipedes.  It was after that incident that Dutch fell down the shaft and hallucinated Khlyen & herself, while slicing open her stomach.

Edited July 25, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[krimimimi]

On 7/23/2016 at 6:40 AM, Emily Thrace said:

It was a small thing but I liked the idea the Owen was implied to the be learning disabled (his dad saying he still mixes up his letters) but not to stupid for the genus school. I kept expecting a reveal that the school was screening for dna not intelligence. The show gave me a nice surprise and actually pointed out a learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence. Dyslexics, Disgraphics, etc untie.

I think you mean Jake and not Olan, the older brother? I would have liked that, too, but unfortunately, I don't think that was the story they told. Delle Seyah Kendry said that a new group of students wasn't expected yet, which was unusual and concerning enough for her to rush to the station. So I figured Olan had sent out a faked warrant to have his brother brought to him and included the other "little people" as natural cover. Which worked, in as much as the Killjoys and Delle Seyah didn't immediately figure out what was going on.

At the least, if Jake had always been intended as a candidate for the school, I thought it was odd that the other children were shown to solve puzzles and know things (like hearing frequencies), whereas the only apparently "smart" thing Jake did was not hanging around with his BSC brother, but going to seek help. Which was unquestionably useful, but not demonstratively smart as with the others. On the contrary, the writers had him kicking things and dropping stuff (too dumb to hide?).

While it would have been nice to show that intelligence takes many forms, that offered us a clue that something was off, beyond just the narrative focus (we saw Jake being picked up, but not the others, say), which is decent story-telling.

[krimimimi]

On 7/24/2016 at 5:47 AM, BookElitist said:

Could someone summarize THIS episode. For some reason, the sound was muffled for me (also, I may have been a wee distracted.) I dunno, but I'm slightly baffled.

Johnny gave Pawter an assist in rescuing herself from the rapey hill-folk that apparently captured her last week. Pree's (hi, Pree!) got a still and a new waitress for D'avin to flirt with. Turin told Dutch that they traced Khlyen's message transmission to a school for gifted poor kids. Dutch requested a warrant to get them there to investigate further, and (conveniently) received one immediately, how 'bout that, which involved transporting the next batch of kids (henceforth 2.0) there. Synchronicitous babysitting ftw!

On arrival, they find the kids (henceforth 1.0) that are already supposed to be there are MIA, along with their minder. Delle Seyah Kendry pops up out of nowhere, demanding to know what they are doing there so far ahead of schedule. The group smells trouble and tries to do a tactical retreat to Lucy with the kids while Dutch and D.S.K. hate flirt and investigate ... stuff ... further, and Pawter and Johnny examine the children's learning pods (presumably illegal, and apparently unintentionally lethal, as it transpires).

The evil governess is spotted, chasing happens, and Delle Seyah's bodyguard goes the way of all red shirts. The original student group 1.0 is declared toast. Governess McEvil demands D.S.K. surrender herself or "the truth will be revealed." Only then does Dutch twig to the fact that D.S.K.'s program is uber secret and probably illegal, and pressures her into playing bait, but only after shooting her for good measure. (The crowd cheered.)

Dutch tells D.S.K. about Khlyen's transmission, who in turn shares that they've been in regular contact, pay off surely to follow. Lucy & P&J&D'avin, in stages, figure out the transmission probably fried the kids 1.0. Nanny McEvil is revealed to have been a hologram, dead and a hero who tried to save some/one of the kids and was killed for her troubles, now for added pathos! And then the kids 2.0 are used to take D'avin out by luring him into a trap.

At which point the older brother of one of the kids 2.0, a presumably dead member of students 1.0, is revealed as alive and behind the whole thing, in a move surprising to no one but the characters, and tries to hijack Lucy to make their getaway, turning off life support to the others in the station for bad measure. Muwahahaha! Johnny saves the day by wielding guilt + 10 like an adept and talks Olan (the older brother) down. Dutch saves the day by gratuitously snogging D.S.K., or maybe by reinstating life support, whichever, possibly both. Elsewhere, D'avin tells Pawter Johnny snores like a wookie.

Brotherly teasing ensues. Johnny likes Pawter. Or maybe Lucy. Possibly both. And Dutch talks D.S.K. into agreeing to let her take Olan to the Scarbacks (hi, Alvis, in your self-proclaimed 'sexy' robes!), where they're going to try to get the transmission out of his brain and maybe let him chill. Expect to see him again.

Elsewhere, Fancy is a murderous bad-ass who steals a ship with Khlyen to go on a road trip to visit Jaqobis!world, because who wouldn't want to see the source of the pretty? Or maybe they just want to know why the green goo can resist D'avin's winsome smile...

(And at that, snark aside, I should say how much I really like that the actor actually has a few wrinkles and looks like a human. Rare thing indeed. More please. Less plastic, more people.)

Edited July 25, 2016 by krimimimi

[Kuther2000]

What were the 2 reasons for having a seed bank for Qreshi culture?

[MissLucas]

2 minutes ago, Kuther2000 said:

What were the 2 reasons for having a seed bank for Qreshi culture?

"Winter or war." Apparently Khlyen's message will reveal which one. Though I have no idea why the hell this world should all of a sudden fear winter. I swear I'll hurl something at my screen should someone ever dare saying the words "Winter is coming."

The whole Sucky-Hogwarts thing made no sense to me. It did not seem to be a secret project when Turin explained it to Dutch - so did it exist before DSK had the idea to turn into a seed bank and she just high-jacked it? And if so why was no-one ever asking what had happened to the students?

@krimimimi Your recap was a thing of beauty!

[AnnaMayWong]

Thank you, krimimimi❗     That was groovy !

[FurryFury]

"Everybody loves Dutch" is getting really tiresome. I preferred it when it was just hate-flirting with Delle Seyah, it felt like pure fanservice to me.

I really liked D'Avin this episode and overall, he's starting to grow on me this season. Maybe it's him being in an underdog position with his crush on Dutch, his developing bond with Johnny, or just the actor settling into the role, I dunno. But he was very likable this time.

I like the *idea* of Pawter, and Johnny deserves a nice smart girl, but holy shit, the actress annoys me to no end. I'd prefer the girl from the season premiere to be back (Clara, I think?) 

The speculation about the nature of green goo and D'Avin's immunity to it is very interesting. I hope the mythology is at least somewhat thought out and I wouldn't be disappointed with lack of answers.

[SimoneS]

I finally caught up. I am surprised by how much I like Johnny and Pawter. Yeah, it kinda of icky that she slept with D'Avin, but I buy that she and Johnny have unexpected fallen in love with each other. She and Johnny have so much in common. I bet if she had spend time with Johnny sooner, she wouldn't have given D'Avin a second look. 

I like how this mystery is unfolding. I like the Rac guy who is annoyed and frustrated with Dutch, D'Avin, and Johnny, but determined to catch Kylen. I look forward to Fancy and Kylen's great adventure.

[Matt K]

On 7/25/2016 at 9:01 AM, MissLucas said:

"Winter or war." Apparently Khlyen's message will reveal which one. Though I have no idea why the hell this world should all of a sudden fear winter. I swear I'll hurl something at my screen should someone ever dare saying the words "Winter is coming."

The whole Sucky-Hogwarts thing made no sense to me. It did not seem to be a secret project when Turin explained it to Dutch - so did it exist before DSK had the idea to turn into a seed bank and she just high-jacked it? And if so why was no-one ever asking what had happened to the students?

@krimimimi Your recap was a thing of beauty!

My thought was that Gifted was around for a long while and possibly this was only one of the schools, which DSK then hijacked. I imagine that the school is its own thing and a) no one would actually openly question DSK and b) schooling probably takes a while and is pretty secluded so there's no one to really have issues (they probably only allow staff there as well, so no one important sees an issue).  I honestly wouldn't be surprised with the other of the Nine also had their own horrific side projects also involving the Gifted and it's all just understood to be hush-hush unless someone screws up and their project becomes public.

[Wryly]

I don't understand why Khlyen sent the transmission to Prodigy of all places. Why not send it directly to Delle Seyah? Was it Khlyen's intent to use the kids as repositories for his message, or was that just a terrible accident? Because if it was his intent, he screwed up pretty bad here. His data burst fried every student but one, who survived by pure luck, really.

17 hours ago, MissLucas said:

"Winter or war." Apparently Khlyen's message will reveal which one. Though I have no idea why the hell this world should all of a sudden fear winter. I swear I'll hurl something at my screen should someone ever dare saying the words "Winter is coming."

The whole Sucky-Hogwarts thing made no sense to me. It did not seem to be a secret project when Turin explained it to Dutch - so did it exist before DSK had the idea to turn into a seed bank and she just high-jacked it? And if so why was no-one ever asking what had happened to the students?

@krimimimi Your recap was a thing of beauty!

I think "winter" was a metaphor.

Prodigy wasn't a secret, but the seedbank project was. My read was that the place began as advertised: a school for gifted children from non-Qreshi worlds. Delle Seyah's "compressed learning" came later. In my head, I guess I pictured her sweeping into the school one day with several metric tons of stasis pods, and an order that fired all the staff except a skeleton crew under her control.

On 7/23/2016 at 10:15 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

Question (that I somehow didn't think about until now);  is the blonde bartender/barmaid in The Royale going to be a PLI for D'avin, or was she just a 'one-off' character?  I'm guessing we'll see her again, even if just as cameo(s) like in Schooled, but she seemed like a new fixture in the bar.

I'm hoping she sticks around. I wouldn't mind seeing D'avin in a relationship with someone other than Dutch or Pawter. I wasn't really feeling either of those two pairings. But D'avin is still a sarcastic space cowboy who could create some interesting chemistry with the right person.

On 7/23/2016 at 3:03 PM, MissLucas said:

I might be the only person in- and outside the Quad but I like Pawter. She saved Johnny's life and she seems to be a genuinely good person who really cares about Westerley and its people (as we could see back in season one when she conned the lady who did not want to sell her the meds she desperately needed).

I'm really liking Pawter more this season. Last season I vaguely recall being bored with her. Jakk addicted failed doctor who sleeps with her patients. Eh.

Now they're really amping up her badass moments and her commitment to Westerly as a rebel doctor. Installing the ankle bracelet around Jelco's heart was a crowning moment of awesome. Loved the "now you need surgery" scene with Gared. Plenty of selflessness, too. She stays behind during the bombing of Old Town and willingly becomes a prisoner at Spring Hills so she can search the facility for information that could help Westerly.

On 7/23/2016 at 3:08 PM, Terrafamilia said:

Oh, look. Even the children are cussing now. That surely cements this show as serious drama.

This is starting to remind me a a guy I knew in college who had developed the habit of using 'fuck' as his sole, all-purpose interjection and 'fucking' as his sole, all-purpose adjective. It was both unfortunate as well as totally ridiculous. Compare with last week's Dark Matter where I believe 'shit' was used only once but its use was targeted and therefore actually made something of an impact. Here, the writers come off as trying too hard to be one of the cool kids and the result is more juvenile than they intended.

Of course, YMMV. I'll get off my little soapbox now.

I could not be less unperturbed by the swearing, to be honest. I haven't even really noticed it.

[CletusMusashi]

On 7/23/2016 at 0:40 AM, Emily Thrace said:

I would totally be down to go on a roadtrip with Fancy and Klein (Yes I know that's not how they spell his name but the way the show spells it is stupid so fuck that noise.)

Yeah, "Game of Thrones" called. They want their thinly disguised regular names back. I always hear it as "Kline," as in Kevin. Maybe somebody he'll start swinging around and sing the Pirate King song for us. Probably during a nanobot-induced hallucination.

[sjohnson]

It seems there are two things going on with the strange name spelling found in many, many shows, not just this one. One is a variation on the use of an exotic/unusual name as marker for a special character, especially one meant as author surrogate, or ideal love. And the other is minimizing legal annoyances that can be caused by using a real person's name. There is probably at least one Sharon Rader (or Raeder) out there, but likely no Sharon Raydor. 

[Matt K]

I was think more on the "Winter or War" and I think it has to do with what Kline is going against.  I assume "War" means that they might actually have a chance of beating whoever and "Winter" means they have no chance.  So likely both referring to the same thing, whatever Kline's going against.