Killjoys - The Harvest - Review

Killjoys, “The Harvest,” was written by Aaron Martin and was directed by Michael Robison. Martin’s other credits include Saving Hope and Being Erica, and Robison’s very long list of credits include The Originals, Eureka, Nikita, and Kyle XY. I really felt like the show was hitting its stride with this episode. It’s definitely the strongest performance from both Aaron Ashmore as John and John Macfarlane as D’Avin. Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) continues to kick ass in this episode.

The show continues to expand the universe of the Quad in the episode as we see that life for the average person is difficult at best. We’re introduced to immigrant Harvesters – not exactly a new idea – Grapes of Wrath anyone? – but I liked the modern twist on the really shady side of the industry with Martell (George Tchortov) likely getting a cut of the illegal jack growing op or at least sanctioning it and helping the workers by writing them off as “accidents.”

Closer to home, we get more of a glimpse at Westerly – where the Harvesters come for their time off. It’s very much a frontier-like atmosphere right down to the saloon with “sexers” – or prostitutes. We meet a few more inhabitants of Westerly, which is apparently the last stop for everyone. Clearly, the attitudes towards sex are very different from our own. John has become friends with his sexer, N’oa (Elena Juatco), and she asks him to take the warrant on her husband Vincent (Stefano Dimatteo). Dutch thinks it’s “weird” that he’s friends with everyone he sleeps with. Later, Dutch has no problem having some rough foreplay with Martell in order to get the scan on his eye – though she decides just how far it will go and fools him into thinking it’s gone a lot farther than it has – loved that scene!

The scene between John and N’oa really cements who John is too. He’s more interested in talking about his feelings about D’Avin than having the sex he paid for – and apparently that’s a pretty common thing for him. He describes D’Avin as a comet to her and himself as dark matter – stable and holding things together. And of course, that’s what N’oa asks him to do – bring stability back to her life and talk about her problems rather than his. John is also the only person to go to the old man in the field when he almost collapses.

We get a bit more insight into the R.A.C – and a commenter on the first episode corrected my spelling of Rack to Rac – so kudos to them! R.A.C actually stands for Reclamation Apprehension Coalition – a mouthful but good to know. D’Avin handily passes all the physical challenges and the spot test on why he wants to be a Killjoy – “I don’t fit in anywhere else. I’m not cut out to be a civilian and I’m done with the army.” We meet another member of the RAC – Keera Dean (Lisa Ryder) – who swears D’Avin in even though she says most military types don’t work out because they can’t handle the independent thought. Even the swearing in fills in some of the gaps about the RAC: “You are nobody’s citizen, nobody’s soldier. You renounce all loyalties but those these to the code, your team and the warrant.” D’Avin’s response is “I will take no sides, take no bribes, the warrant is all.” And then all that’s left is for him to pass the psych evaluations – which he knows he’ll have trouble with.

John is both shocked and unhappy when D’Avin is assigned level 4 – one above John himself. John isn’t allowed to kill on his own – only with the supervision of a level 4. I thought only level 5 was allowed to kill though… We also learn that Pree (Thom Allison) allows them to drink for free for acting as bouncers when the rowdy Harvesters are in town. And that’s how D’Avin meets the Doctor – Pawter Simms (Sarah Power) – when she’s thrown on him. I loved D’Avin bashing heads – and John telling Pree D’Avin didn’t need any help, even though the brawl wasn’t getting any better. The best part was easily Dutch simply walking in and shooting at the ceiling, telling everyone, “I have a headache, a badge, and a gun. Behave.” And they do!

Dutch suggests that D’Avin get Pawter to rubber stamp his psych eval, and Pawter agrees for a trade – she wants a lift to Leith to visit the bazaar to get medicine for her clinic. I liked the chemistry between these two. Of course, Pawter uses the trip to assess D’Avin too, diagnosing him with Stress Response Syndrome. Pawter isn’t above pretending to inject a deadly disease into the Herbalist at the bazaar to get the black market medicine she needs. We also see a nasty bit of prejudice on the herbalist’s part when they suggest that the best thing would be for the Westerlings to die.

D’Avin discovers that Pawter – like the rest of them – is on Westerly because she has no choice. She had to leave Kresh or lose her medical license. She tells D’Avin that the meds he wanted are a powerful neurological medication, not a sleeping aide. He tells her that he doesn’t remember what the Doctor he’s looking for was treating him for with it. In the end, she agrees to sign off on his psych evaluation because they’d made a deal, and she keeps her word. He promises to get help and asks her to treat him.

John takes N’oa’s warrant on Vincent because he wants one last job with Dutch before D’Avin joins the team – which he can’t do fully until he passes the psych exam. John knows Dutch likes going undercover, and she gets the more glamorous role while he ends up working in the field. We learn that Dutch has hidden talents – like a very refined palate.

I really liked the scene in which John comes to Dutch and she wants him off her nice bed because he smells – I really like how they are building the dynamic between these two. It’s also building for any romance with D’Avin to be with Pawter, keeping the main three as colleagues, which I much prefer. I also liked Dutch telling John that she’d get the eye they need to hack the tracker system – and then clarifying, “Not literally!”

Once they find Vincent’s ear – and YUCK! – Dutch tells John to stand down. She’ll take D’Avin as back up. And that’s the last thing that John wants to hear. It’s his worst nightmare that D’Avin is going to replace him. Dutch took the mission in the first place because John had been off his game and she was worried about him. She tries to remind him that if he goes out of the zone he will “literally go boom.” John just gets increasingly angry as he interprets Dutch’s concern as her giving him orders.

John recklessly follows his own plan, getting closer to Shyla (Hannah Anderson). I have to admit that I was surprised when he pushed back her hair to reveal that she was missing an ear! John actually goes so far as to cut off his own ear. In the end, even though Vincent tells Shyla to kill John, he manages to round up the entire crew – really proving something more to himself than Dutch.

I was a bit disappointed with the fight scene between Dutch and Martell. It was a great scene, don’t get me wrong, with some really terrific moves, but it was shot too choppily for my tastes. The scene in which Dutch finds John’s ear is really beautifully shot. The edges of the shot aren’t in focus, giving the landscape a more other-worldly appearance – a cheap fix with no expensive effects.

Rather than risk his own neck, Martel sacrifices the jack crop and the workers by calling the authorities himself after discovering that he’d been hacked and thinking Dutch was there with a warrant for him. The deforestation ships are frightening – though the radar on Lucy looked like a very old video game! Naturally when push comes to shove, Vincent bails on the entire operation, choosing to return to his wife instead of risking dying. By the looks of it, it would have been impossible for the others to survive. For once, John seems to have no remorse in leaving Shyla as she seemed prepared to kill him after all.

I liked that in this episode it’s really John and Dutch working the warrant on the ground with D’Avin providing only back up by picking them up with Lucy. I was a little worried that Ashmore was going to be relegated to that position on a regular basis – nice to see a show mix it up a bit!

I liked the final scene on the ship. I was getting a bit pissed off when it looked like N’oa was welcoming Vincent home and believing he’d actually missed her. So I enjoyed her slapping him as much as Dutch did, and really liked that they’d all worked together to ensure that he got the 10 years of hard labor that he was willing to subject N’oa to.

The final scene between Dutch and John was great. It’s pretty rare to see a show in which the characters really do care about each other and try to be honest. Have I mentioned how much I like the dynamic between Dutch and John and how I don’t want them to mess it up with D’Avin and any possible romance? John admits how he feels about D’Avin, and Dutch clarifies that she only did it because she thought that’s what he wanted. She assures him that if he wants D’Avin gone, he’s gone. She tells him, “His level four is nothing compared to the six years we’ve had each other’s backs.” She tells him that he’s irreplaceable to her.

When Dutch tells John that D’Avin will probably leave again once he finds the Doctor he’s looking for, Ashmore’s reaction is perfect – he clearly has no idea what she’s talking about. Dutch doesn’t tell John what she’s been up to or how she got the burn on her arm. The opening sequence proves that Dutch doesn’t want to be a killer – is that the influence of the six years with John? She assures John it’s over and he accepts that as enough. They promise no more secrets, and I really hope they stick to that. There’s nothing worse than a show that purports to have a team that is that close, promises no more secrets and then continues to lie to each other and keep secrets!

What did you think of the episode? Did you like the introduction of the new characters? Power is definitely going to be recurring. Did you like this week’s “case”? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.