Killjoys

Killjoys is a Canadian space adventure drama series that aired on Space (now CTV Sci-Fi) in Canada. Primarily a science fiction series, Killjoys follows a trio of hard-living bounty hunters—Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), Johnny (Aaron Ashmore), and D'avin (Luke Macfarlane).

For other uses, see Killjoy (disambiguation).

Killjoys
Title card since the second season
Genre
Created byMichelle Lovretta
Starring
Opening theme
  • "Westerley Theme" by Finny and Katie McConnell (season 1)
  • "Happy Damage" by Jacuzzi Boys (seasons 2–5)
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes50 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • David Fortier
  • Ivan Schneeberg
Running time42 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original network
Original releaseJune 19, 2015 (2015-06-19) –
September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)

The series ran for five seasons, ending in 2019. It was officially ordered to series on October 7, 2013, with a 10-episode pick-up.[1] In April 2014, it was announced that Syfy would co-produce the series, and the first season premiered June 19, 2015.[2][3] In September 2017, Syfy renewed the series for a fourth and a fifth season, each to consist of 10 episodes.[4] The fifth and final season premiered July 19, 2019, and concluded on September 20, 2019.[5]

Throughout its run, the series received generally positive reviews[6] and was nominated for several accolades, including two Canadian Screen Awards nominations and three Prix Aurora Awards nominations.

Premise
Further information: List of Killjoys episodes

Killjoys follows a trio of hard-living bounty hunters – Dutch, John, and D'avin. Working for the Reclamation Apprehension Coalition (RAC), they work in a four planet-and-moon system known as the Quad.[7] Taking on warrants to apprehend people or property, RAC Agents are given high authority by their agency. As part of their job, they swear to remain neutral in conflicts and owe no allegiance to any system, government, or other organizations. With their pasts coming back to haunt them, the trio will have to work hard to keep themselves, and their friends, alive.

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
110June 19, 2015 (2015-06-19)August 21, 2015 (2015-08-21)
210July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)September 2, 2016 (2016-09-02)
310June 30, 2017 (2017-06-30)September 1, 2017 (2017-09-01)
410July 20, 2018 (2018-07-20)September 21, 2018 (2018-09-21)
510July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)

Cast
The main cast for the series, from left to right: Aaron Ashmore, Hannah John-Kamen and Luke Macfarlane.

Main
  • Hannah John-Kamen as Yalena "Dutch" Yardeen, a level five RAC agent with a secret history who was raised by RAC officer Khlyen.
    • Also as Aneela Kin Rit, Khlyen's daughter, initially seen as a prisoner of the Hullen who mysteriously is physically identical to Dutch, later revealed to have created Dutch from the Green Plasma (which she also uses to control the Hullen) with her own DNA – naming her Yalena after their mother. (seasons 2–5)
  • Aaron Ashmore as John Andras "Johnny" Jaqobis, a level three (later five) RAC agent. Dutch's RAC partner of six years and her best friend, he handles the technical aspects of their missions.
  • Luke Macfarlane as D'avin Jaqobis, Johnny's older brother, a former soldier and indentured fighter who becomes a RAC bounty hunter to join and help his brother and Dutch.

Recurring
  • Thom Allison as Prima "Pree" Dezz, a former warlord who owns the Royale bar
  • Nora McLellan as Bellus Haardy, a former RAC agent who works as a warrant broker (seasons 1–2)
  • Frank Moore as Hillary "Hills" Oonan, a senior Company Security Force Officer in Old Town on Westerly (seasons 1–2, 4)
  • Sean Baek as Fancy Lee, a RAC agent and previously a Hullen who served as Khlyen's right-hand man before he was cleansed
  • Morgan Kelly as Alvis Akari, a rebel organizer and Scarback monk (seasons 1–3)
  • Tamsen McDonough as Lucy, the artificial intelligence that runs Dutch's ship
  • Patrick Garrow as Turin, a high ranking RAC officer who is highly suspicious of Dutch and her team
  • Rob Stewart as Khlyen Kin Rit, RAC agent, Dutch's former mentor, and her and Aneela's father
  • Sarah Power as Illenore Pawter Seyah Simms, also known as Pawter Simms, an heir to one of the nine royal Qreshi families who works as a doctor living in Old Town on Westerley (seasons 1–2, 4)
  • Mayko Nguyen as Delle Seyah Kendry, a member of the Nine Families' aristocracy
  • Tori Anderson as Sabine, a bartender at the Royale bar (season 2)
  • Pascal Langdale as Liam Jelco, a Company Officer (seasons 2–3)
  • Stephanie Leonidas and Tommie-Amber Pirie as Clara/Olli, a human with extensive cybernetic modifications (seasons 2–3)
  • Gavin Fox as Gared, who works in Pree's bar and becomes his lover (seasons 2–5)
  • Ted Atherton as Gander, Aneela's second-in-command (season 3)
  • Kelly McCormack as Zephyr "Zeph" Vos, a highly intelligent RAC technician who often assists the team (seasons 3–5)
  • Atticus Mitchell as Pippin "Pip" Foster, a man with many contacts who assists the Killjoys, for a price (seasons 3–5)
  • Jaeden Noel as Jaq, Aneela's and D'avin's preternaturally aged son, who also possesses special abilities, and who is feared by the Lady (seasons 4–5)
  • Alanna Bale as the Lady, the leader of the Hullen (season 5)
  • Rachael Ancheril as the Warden (Rennika) runs the SuperMax prison ship (season 5)

Production

On September 1, 2015, Syfy announced it would renew Killjoys for a second season of 10 episodes. Bill McGoldrick, Syfy's executive VP of original content was quoted as saying "With exciting space-based action, deep world building, and a standout cast, Killjoys has struck a nerve with viewers and critics alike. We can't wait to see what adventures Michelle Lovretta and Temple Street take Dutch, John and D'avin on in season two." David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, the executive producers of the show, were quoted as saying "We couldn't be more excited to bring back Killjoys and its stellar cast to audiences across the U.S. We look forward to working with the team at Syfy for a thrilling second season."[8]

Starting with the fourth season, Adam Barken became the showrunner of the series, with Michelle Lovretta remaining with the production as an executive producer and writer.[9][10][11]

Broadcast

Killjoys premiered June 19, 2015, in both Canada and the United States, and episodes aired simultaneously on the two channels each Friday.[12] It premiered in UK on January 25, 2016, and in Australia on January 30, 2016.[13] In July 2018, Ellation announced that the first through third seasons would stream exclusively on its VRV subscription service.[14]

Reception

Throughout its run, the series received generally positive reviews.[6] The first episode of the series received 286,000 overnight viewers in Canada.[15] Charlie Jane Anders of io9 gave the show a very positive rating:

If wanting to watch fun, quippy characters get into scrapes and survive by the skin of their teeth, on spaceships and alien planets, is wrong, I don't want to be right. Killjoys has just the right mix of guns, high-tech knives, assassins, cage fights, missions to hostile planets, dark secrets, tiny robot weapons and general space headbutting thrills to be the perfect treat for Friday nights.

Noting others' negative reviews, she went on to state "[w]e don't need every television show to be True Detective or even Battlestar Galactica."[16] Writing for Forbes.com, Merrill Barr reviewed the first four episodes in a review titled "Sci-Fi Fun With Nothing Else To Offer", opining that though enjoyable for sci-fi fans, it featured "sci-fi archetypes that aren't bringing anything new to the table", an "overly complicated" fictional universe, and was "extremely light on depth and character intrigue".[17] Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a score of 82% based on reviews from 17 critics[18] and the series an overall score of 95%.[6] On Metacritic the series has a score of 53% based on reviews from 8 critics.[19]

Awards and nominations
YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2015IGN AwardsBest TV Sci-Fi SeriesKilljoysNominated[20]
2016 Canadian Screen AwardsBest Achievement in MakeupColin Penman, Ryan ReedNominated[21]
Best Visual EffectsKrista Allain, Igor Avdyushin, Jason Gougeon, Ran Long Wen, Ben Mossman, Yuhay-Ray Ng, Chris Ross, Kyle Sim, Somboun Souannhaphanh, Edward J. Taylor IVNominated[21]
Prix Aurora Awards Best Visual Presentation KilljoysNominated [22]
2017 Prix Aurora AwardsBest Visual PresentationMichelle LovrettaNominated[23]
Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Series – Guest Starring Young ActorJack FultonNominated[24]
2018Prix Aurora AwardsBest Visual PresentationMichelle LovrettaNominated[25]

See also

References
  1. Vlessing, Etan (October 7, 2013). "MIPCOM: Canada's Space Orders 'Killjoys' From 'Orphan Black' Producer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  2. Vlessing, Etan (April 30, 2014). "Syfy to Co-Produce 'Killjoys' Drama With Canada's Space". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  3. "Official website". Syfy. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  4. Petski, Denise (September 1, 2017). "'Killjoys' To End Run With Two-Season Final Renewal By Syfy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  5. "Killjoys | Final Season | July 19 at 10/9c". June 4, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  6. "Killjoys". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  7. Liptak, Andrew (June 30, 2017). "Syfy's space opera Killjoys returns tonight — here's why you should watch". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  8. Castleman, Tocarra (September 1, 2015). "Good News! Killjoys Season 2 Will Premiere in 2016". Syfy. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  9. Sechere, Ama (February 1, 2018). "Original Series KILLJOYS Starts Production on Season 4" (Press release). Bell Media. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  10. Heather M (July 13, 2018). "Showrunner Adam Barken Sets the Stage for Killjoys Season 4 [Exclusive]". TV Goodness. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  11. David, Greg (July 19, 2018). "Killjoys: Showrunner Adam Barken discusses Season 4". TV, eh?. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  12. Cox, Jennifer (May 14, 2015). "Space Original Series Killjoys Premieres June 19th". CraveOnline.com. Evolve Media, LLC. Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  13. Purcell, Charles (January 21, 2016). "New This Week (Jan 25): War & Peace, Suits, Black Sails, Bear Grylls and live sport". The Green Room. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  14. Spangler, Todd (July 31, 2018). "First Three Seasons of Syfy's Killjoys Streaming on VRV Under New Pact (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  15. "Space Original Series KILLJOYS Seizes the Day as 286,000 Overnight Viewers Makes it the #1". PR Newswire. June 22, 2015. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  16. Anders, Charlie Jane (June 19, 2015). "Killjoys Really Is A Most Excellent Space Adventure Show". io9. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  17. Barr, Merrill (June 15, 2015). "'Killjoys' Review: Sci-Fi Fun With Nothing Else To Offer". Forbes. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  18. "Killjoys: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes.
  19. "Killjoys". Metacritic.
  20. "Best Sci-Fi Series – IGN's Best of 2015 – IGN". IGN. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  21. "Awards database". academy.ca. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  22. Publications, Locus. "Locus Online News » 2016 Aurora Awards Winners". www.locusmag.com. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  23. "2017 Aurora Award Ballot" (PDF). prixaurorawards.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 21, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  24. Tech, Simon. "Nominees – Young Artist Awards". www.youngartistawards.org. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  25. "2018 Nominee List | Aurora Awards". prixaurorawards.ca. Retrieved July 26, 2018.

Further reading
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