Killjoys (2015)

Best new series that I stubled upon this year. Has “the spritiual successor of Firefly” written all over it but by no means is it a copy of anything. Just has a similar premise with a small team of three travelling back-and-forth in space on a cool little ship working through some quests and always finding some trouble along the way.

For me it started out as a likeable cute sci-fi series at 6/10 rating, then slowly built up to be an exiting sci-fi universe of 7/10, and I left the first season with a rather solid 8/10 feeling and wanting more. The CGI is always cheap and crap, the heroes are just too polished and beautiful people, some scenes are overplayed, etc. But the whole universe and the terrific ideas blew me away always and it just compensates for everything. There are all these politics, technologies, legends, all of which makes this world super interesting. Probably this grasps my attention best: the stories in between, the background painted behind everything. There are some really great storytellers penning this series, that’s for sure, most likely would be a superb read as a book as well.

It is hard not to want to highlight certain moments and ideas, but I suppress the craving and just pin one episode to the top. Episode 7 (Kiss Kiss, Bye Bye) is a fucking masterpiece. It has some real though moments that I would not expect from a casual sci-fi TV series and the whole personal dynamics mature to a point from where all picturing of emotions appear on a totally different level. This year I ditched a few series because I just couldn’t stand how the characters dealt (or couldn’t deal) with personal conflicts, and in this scene Killjoys shows the best possible example.

I just wanted to put one more picture here. Such character.

Wayward Pines (S01E01)

Good atmosphere, the Twin Peaks comparison holds some truths. It is great how it keeps me in the dark whether what is reality and what is just imagined or craziness. Then there’s Matt Dillon, whose character as an actor I cannot unlove since Factotum, plays well in this one, too. And Juliette Lewis, come on, who saw her coming, and I am pretty much fond of that mad woman as well.

So, all good so far, up until the end of the pilot. The cheap CGI and the not-so-mystic solution of the setting let me down somewhat. However will give it a shot with one or two more episodes because there are still some unresolved mysteries to deal with which can prove exciting. Will see.

Mr. Robot (S01E01)

Oh. My. God. Seriously. This pilot was just such an insanely powerful piece that I haven’t seen anything like for years on television. In all aspects there is. Cast, acting, story, non-cliché, characters, music, narrative, sounds, editing. Everything. This is a 10/10 start, and I just can’t wait for the second episode.

Edit: about 15 minutes passed since I watched the show and dug up all content about it online. It blows my mind with thoughts and inspiration. I love this feeling so much.