BACK ON THE HUNT
Canadian science-fiction drama Killjoys returns for a fourth season
Killjoys
Season 4 debuts Friday, Space
Even wonder how Dutch got her name? Or how she and John Jaqobis wound up as agents in the RAC (Reclamation Apprehension Coalition)?
It all gets explained in the season 4 première of the Canadian science-fiction drama Killjoys.
Following the adventures of a trio of RAC bounty hunters in a four-planet-and-moon star system known as the Quad, the series stars Canadians Aaron Ashmore (John Jaqobis), Luke Macfarlane (D’avin Jaqobis) and English actor Hannah John-Kamen (Dutch Yardeen).
Killjoys has steadily gained audience on Space in Canada and Syfy in the U.S., and it succeeded where so many other Canadian-shot series, such as Defiance, haven’t. Why?
“Well, our budget is small in comparison to a lot of others, and that is so often what can lead to a great show being cancelled,” said Ashmore, on a lunch break with Macfarlane while filming the fifth season in Toronto. “But I also think the fact that the show has a really clearly defined sense of humour running through all the drama and action has differentiated it from the start.”
“It differs from other sci-fi shows in that it’s a family drama,” said Macfarlane. “You keep coming back to find out what the people are up to rather than the visual effects, which is tied to the budget, because we have really great writing.”
With John-Kamen (Black Mirror, Game of Thrones) presently appearing on movie screens as the antagonist Ghost in Marvel’s AntMan and the Wasp, Killjoys is in a good position for greater exposure. Both actors promise season 4 is loaded with more of the ongoing battle between humanity, the Hullen alien race and the Green Plasma, which controls them. John-Kamen reprises both her role as Dutch and also Aneela Kin Ritt, the controller of the Hullen and a major antagonist in previous seasons. In the same way that the Borg became an ongoing facet of numerous Star Trek: The Next Generation series, the “Green” is always oozing its way into the character’s lives.
“We always need something to fight against, and the Green has all of these multi-dimensional aspects to it,” said Macfarlane. “It began as the inside of a reptile and then developed and, moving forward, it has become a time/space interface between all things living. We’re going to see what else exists in there and we meet ‘the Lady,’ who might be our biggest force so far.”
Unlike many series that develop storylines at a more gradual pace, Killjoys is the opposite. You are dumped right in and pulled along running.
“We only have 10 episodes, so we don’t waste anything to tell a lot of story in a short time,” said Ashmore. “Typically, we start the season jumping right in, but this time we are doing something different by going back seven years to the origin story of how Dutch and Johnny got together. Watch for big things this season to be Luke being in this position of somehow being a father and — since everyone loves Lucy (the Killjoys’ spaceship’s AI) — I think you might expect a loveletter episode for her too; maybe.”
The two actors flow off one another with ease of experience and riff off one another a lot. So it comes as a surprise that their onscreen character’s signature fast-quipping is all the creation of the writers. Macfarlane praises the writing team and executive producers (David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg ) for having a very clear vision of the Killjoys’ universe from the first episode.
“The scripts are pretty tight and loaded with the style of humour the show is known for,” said Macfarlane. “It’s got a distinctive flow.”
As for work beyond the series, Ashmore is starring in the towtruck action film 22 Chaser, which has recently entered theatres. Its writer was an executive producer and writer on season 1 of Killjoys.
We only have 10 episodes, so we don’t waste anything to tell a lot of story in a short time.