Killjoys - S1E5 - A Glitch in the System
Previously on Killjoys, ‘Vessel’
This week episode opens with the familiar banter we’ve become used to between Dutch and Johnny as they discover an abandoned ship, and decide to take a closer look. But soon enough we see that boarding the ship, grabbing anything of value, and blowing up the ship will not go according to plan. While the Jaqobis brothers line the ship’s corridors with explosives, while Dutch goes exploring. Soon enough, we see Dutch being followed by a man.
And it becomes apparent to Dutch that something might be off with this ship. The music starts to cut in an out and the communication devices pick up static. Dutch spots the man following her and she gives chase, only to see the man has locked himself on the bridge and warns him to not attempt to board Lucy. Obviously, he and Dutch are having two different conversations as he starts biting off his finger, writes the number 17 on the glass, presses the airlock and is vacuumed into space and ultimately death. I am sure that the viewer and Dutch were both wearing the same expression of what in the world is going on. D’Avin has also been following a trail of blood that leads him to a man holding a knife while Lucy has gone into quarantine mode in order to ward of an infection of her programming. So the gang is without a ship, limited communications, and stuck on a ship with no idea of what is going on. Some would call that a trap.
The man D’Avin finds identifies himself as an infantry soldier turned ship picker named Hogan and explains how he came to be on the ship. While Dutch is a bit leery of the man, the fact that he’s an infantry man warms him up to D’Avin. D’Avin then offers to take him to get patched up in the infirmary while Dutch retrieves deep suits they need in order to get off the ship. Dutch goes off in search of the suits and soon realizes they’ve been lied to by Hogan. She finds the infirmary on another floor, and discovers a wall of crazy and a bunch of dead bodies. At the same time Johnny discovers video footage of Hogan being part of the original ship’s crew which blows apart the lies he’s told them. But unfortunately as they piece this together D’Avin is alone with Hogan in the elevator. And when he tries to help Hogan bandage his leg he sees that the wound has completely healed. Hogan sucker punches D’Avin, but he gives as good as he gets until he sees Hogan’s face regenerate in front of him. He wakes up in a cell with Hogan on the outside creepily telling him everything will be alright.
Lucy, with her sarcastic remarks, has started to feel homey, but the ship where the crew spend the majority of their time this episode shifts from intense brightness at times to a gritty and bloody view between the ship’s interrogation room and the remainder of the ship itself. From this point on, we see one of the themes play out: revelations. Hogan has now become Hogan the robot and acts as a point of view to the ship’s programming, which has been corrupted and is stuck on a loop of torture and he’s trying to find the answer to a question no one knows.
While Johnny and Dutch try to find a way to get D’Avin out, he is tortured into confessing his sins to Hogan the robot. He killed his entire squad and has no idea why. The acting by Luke MacFarlane (D’Avin) is really great in this scene - the way his face falls with the weight of what he has done. Not only has he been physically broken, he is now also emotionally broken as well. Which is why Hogan the robot is such a horrible torture device. He continues to break down the victim until death, there is no solace from confessing your sins. But this secret rocks not just D’Avin’s world, but Johnny and Dutch who have just witnessed it on screen.
Dutch eventually comes to the rescue by getting herself captured by Hogan. She lets D’Avin know what they saw and that they are here for him. She quickly whittles Hogan down; belittling his sense of worth and comparing him to a glitch in the system. (See what they did there, guys?) She sets off an explosive device that knocks Hogan out and runs off with D’Avin. They meet up with Johnny, but unfortunately the machine is still after them and the only solution Dutch sees is to shoot herself out of the bridge towards Lucy, sudden death for anyone else, but Johnny explains that since the nanites are in her, she can survive until she reaches Lucy. (Did I mention I love Johnny’s complete faith in Dutch in every situation?)
Dutch arrives at the ship, but Lucy refuses to let her board as she is still in quarantine mode - that is until Dutch drops that John is in trouble and Lucy immediately opens up. (Is this the episode we admit Lucy is the 4th member of the group?) Hogan approaches the Jaqobis brothers once more and this time, Johnny stops the mind filth he spouts at D’Avin with a bullet to the head. The Jaqobis brothers board the bridge, and as Dutch is able to connect it to Lucy, they lift off and detonate the explosions just in the nick of time.
Once everyone’s back on board Lucy, and on the way to being decontaminated, John and D’Avin have a heart-to-heart. Space rats guys, space rats. D’Avin goes over to the Pawters clinic for an examination and we discover that a neuro-blocker has been implanted in his head and that’s why his memories are lost. Not because of trauma, but because someone doesn’t want him remembering. And sensing that D’Avin is somehow different, they start on a hotter session of rest and relaxation.
Unfortunately for Dutch, there will be no such thing. She enters her room and discovers a red scarf on her bed and inside it the hand of the guy she had been ordered to kill in episode 3. She turns around to see Khylen there and orders him to leave, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of man who takes orders. He tells her he needs her and threatens Johnny if she doesn’t come with him. Johnny is her weakness, and with that she knows she has no choice.
Overall it was a pretty good episode, and I enjoy how they continue to build the team and the use of Lucy as comedic relief. I can’t wait for more info on the exact nature of the relationship between Dutch and Khylen, and how that affects the larger world at play.
