KILLJOYS reminds me of a slightly sexier version of STARHUNTER 2300 crossed with FIREFLY in this new space bounty hunter series from Michelle Lovretta, the creator of LOST GIRL.   This is the type of sci-fi show that would have felt at home during the heyday of syndicated TV about ten to twenty years ago.   The first four episodes of the ten episode season starts to develop the universe of KILLJOYS while leaving breadcrumbs about the past of this trio of bounty hunters (a woman with a dark past and two brothers who haven’t seen each other in years) aka Killjoys (who work for the RAC- Reclamation Apprehension Collation) along with introducing a couple of supporting characters (the handler who gives assignments to the bounty hunters and a female doctor that one of the brothers is attracted to).

 

KILLJOYS is an enjoyable sci-fi action series which feels like it might be a better companion after Thursday wrestling than being part of SyFy Friday, but I want to see where this show will go after watching the first four episodes (even though I wish they didn’t kill off a good guest star that would have made a wonderful recurring character).  Some viewers will blink when they see Aaron Ashmore and confuse him with his identical twin Shawn Ashmore (who played Mike on THE FOLLOWING).  Some of the sets are the standard Canada location sets (various types of factories and Canadian landscapes) that you see in other TV shows filmed in Canada along with the standing sets for the bounty hunter spaceship, the RAC, and the main town of Westerley.

 

I do hope future episodes do delve more into the past of the characters instead of just giving breadcrumbs along with the bounty of the week plots.  Don’t get me wrong that I do enjoy the show, but I don’t love it as much as DEFIANCE or DARK MATTER or CONTINUUM (which is still a long wait for the final episodes and might be a better fit with DEFIANCE and DARK MATTER).  The characters are interesting enough while the main plots are episodic (with a recap of previous episodes at the beginning of each episode).   I will continue to watch to see where KILLJOYS will develop.   It is sci-fi escapist action entertainment for Friday nights, but it is at odds with the more complex shows of DEFIANCE and DARK MATTER.

 

This review is ©6-17-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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