Killjoys - 'Johnny Be Good'

Not a good start.

With Johnny and Pawter's plan to save Oldtown in the crapper, it's time for Dutch and D'av to step up.

We cold open with Dutch being held in the Royale and tortured for information on Jelco's whereabouts, and through flashbacks we learn that, after extracting Johnny and Pawter, the team went into Springhill to take down the Wall. Jelco ran, and without his codes Pawter opted to destroy the Wall by overloading it, switching its mood-control function to generate extreme rage and so inciting the citizenry to charge en masse until it couldn't cope, which is some dark shit right there. Pawter also transmits a message across the Quad to reveal what has been happening in Oldtown and what is planned for the other Westerly settlements, but it gets worse.

"Scratch that off the bucket list."

Dutch and D'av pursue Jelco to a basement facility which turns out to be set up to turn the survivors of Oldtown into an army of Sixes. He offers information, which leads to Dutch getting captured buying time for D'av to get Jelco clear of a lynch mob. Dutch holds out until D'av can destroy Springhill, which is clearly a bit of a moment for him.

With the Quad in uproar, Delle Sayer shows up to negotiate for Westerly independence, in exchange for Pawter standing down from the Nine. At the signing, however, Delle Sayer stabs Pawter and sicks a group of Sixed Scarbacks on our heroes, forcing them to retreat while she swaps the treaty for another document and announces Pawter's tragic death and her intention to replace her as the bridge between Westerly and Qresh.

Back at Lucy, the crew find Fancy Lee and an absence of Jelco, and are invited to come and talk to Khlyen.

In all honesty, Killjoys may be another reason that I've lost interest in Dark Matter, since it is just... better. Well, they're about equal on their good days, but Killjoys has a lot more good days. It's consistently on its game and manages to keep its focus on the core dynamic even while servicing a larger plot. This week the episode is all about the political horror show, but the emotional core is Johnny and Dutch repairing their relationship after Johnny's well-meaning betrayal. For that to be resolved only for Pawter to be murdered is a pretty harsh twist. I'd say I never saw it coming, but fucking Wikis man. I really need to remember to look up actors on IMDb.