After a solid first season, Killjoys came out in season 2 ready to kick ass, take names, and up the ante. Eight episodes in, the show has not only achieved those goals but has surpassed them; turning in storylines that balance heavy action, light banter, and deep emotions without tilting too far in any one direction.
That's not to say that things haven't changed. They definitely have. In season one, Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) was the focused one and John Jacobis (Aaron Ashmoore) was her partner and grounding force. Whatever came at them, she kept her cool. Even as D'avin Jacobis (Luke MacFarlane) was dealing with everything from mind control to being taken to Arkyn and Red-17. Dutch was John's support as much as he was hers.
Season two has flipped that dynamic almost completely. Once he's rescued from Red-17, D'avin starts finding his center as John realizes he wants something more than just “the next job” and Dutch is rocked by the idea that there are things about Khlyen (Rob Stewart) and her that she knew nothing about.
John Jacobis has always been one to act first and think later, but where Dutch and D'avin would have chalked it up to John being John previously, they both have a very different reaction when John goes Rogue to help Pawter (Sarah Power) save Oldtown.
Speaking to both Aaron Ashmore and Luke MacFarlane recently, I asked them about that shift in the group dynamic. MacFarlane offered up his theory. “It's about our relationship to this incredibly intriguing woman…she surrounds herself with these two guys who are able to go through the spectrum.” Referencing Sabine's statement that Dutch needs the Jacobis brothers in her life because they “feel so damn much”, he went on to say that Dutch “needs those polarities in her life”. If John's going to be the wild card, then D'avin has to become the steady one to maintain the balance.
Ashmore went on to elaborate, saying that, while most television shows have women being the more emotionally accessible, it's the men in Killjoys who express their feelings. “I think he was very even-keeled in the first season. He was the voice of reason…he was thinking with his head a lot of the time.” He went on to say that this season, John's acting with his heart. “He's fallen in love.” While he assured me that Pawter doesn't make John do anything he doesn't want to do, he made sure to note that John's all in when it comes to Eleanor Pawter Seyah Simms.
Having seen the next episode I had to ask him for some insight on what's coming for John in the next two episodes.
“I think by the end of the season…he's sort of falling off the deep end.”
That sounds ominous. I can't wait to see what happens.
Killjoys airs Friday nights at 9/8c on Syfy.