Killjoys “Reckoning Ball” was written by Adam Barken and was directed by Peter Stebbings. This was another fast-paced episode as we race towards the inevitable showdown between Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) and Aneela (also John-Kamen). It’s always hard to double an actor believably, so kudos to the writers for keeping them apart up til this point. I liked how the theme of the Reckoning Knives weaves throughout the episode, beginning and ending with Alvis (Morgan Kelly) and the story about using the knives to find the Devil inside. I think the show never made nearly enough use of his character and Kelly’s talent, so I was really sorry to see Aneela – pretty clearly – kill him. And of course, that was a heck of a twist to the ending too!
The episode begins with Alvis telling the story of the knives being used to reveal the Devil inside – meaning the green, but there are other Devils that characters have to reveal/release so that they can do into battle with a clear conscience. Alvis cuts himself and gives Dutch a blade. Alvis apologizes to Fancy (Sean Beak) and gives him a knife, and Fancy, in turn, gives the knife – and freedom – to Turin (Patrick Garrow).
Meanwhile, D’avin (Luke Macfarlane) won’t accept that Dutch has to sacrifice herself, but she insists that Aneela is “a psychotic bitch with Daddy issues.” Dutch doesn’t want D’avin to tell John (Aaron Ashmore) because she’s convinced he wouldn’t be able to take it. Zeph (Kelly McCormack) and D’avin come up with a plan to lure Aneela into the cube with a false memory. Dutch can come and go from the cubes, but Aneela would be trapped.
D’avin goes off and kidnaps Pip (Atticus Mitchell) again to help secure a memory transfer device. I did enjoy Mitchell’s performance as the somewhat cowardly and clever thief. I really, really liked Pip acting as director while Dutch and D’avin acted out the memory – it must have been fun for John-Kamen and Macfarlane to act their worst!
They plan to implant the memory in Kitaan (Tara Spencer-Nairn) and have her transfer it to the green’s collective memory. The first part goes well, but Dutch and D’avin begin celebrating too early, leaving Pip with Kitaan, who naturally breaks free and forces him to take control of the ship. Luckily – or unluckily? – Pip is not a pilot and crashes Lucy.
We get a great fight scene between Kitaan and Dutch, as Dutch uses the green as bait. Unfortunately, Kitaan gets into the green to spoil the memory before D’avin can stop her. D’avin’s had more than enough of her and jettisons her into space – where she’ll basically be able to live forever – or at least a long time. Is this a good idea? Why do I think we’ll see her again…
Meanwhile, John has been left to deal with their surprise visitor Kendry (Mayko Nguyen) who’s come to parle – but will only do it with John. She also drops the bomb that her baby’s father is D’avin! He is sure that he’d remember knocking up the most evil bitch in the universe… but it ultimately ends up being his baby! Kendry’s offer to John is that in exchange for giving Dutch to Aneela and letting them conquer the Quad, they’ll spare John and D’avin… as if.
Kendry is desperate for John to scan her – she’s terrified that she’s not carrying a real baby, but she is. John uses sound waves to freak the baby out, and Zeph quiets it the same way, but John points out to Zeph that they have to keep Kendry there because if the Hullen can actually reproduce, they’ll no longer need humans. Of course, if they need D’avin to do that it also explains why they were willing to spare him. Ultimately, John puts Kendry in the brig – they have her and the Hullen heir as hostages now.
We get a really fun sequence in the bar as Pree (Thom Allen) is preparing to join the others going to war, leaving a disgruntled Gared (Gavin Fox) in charge of the bar. Pree finally confronts him and Gared asks if Pree doesn’t have a reckoning of his own. Pree tells him – very sensibly, of course! – that it doesn’t matter what you say when you think you’re going to die – who can trust that! – it matters that you come back to the ones you love. And then, hilariously, it turns out that the drunk woman Pree has been dealing with all night is Gared’s mom (Lorna Wilson)! And she gives her blessing to the two…
One of the real highlights of the episode is getting to see Thom Allen sing. We see the others preparing for the battle to come. Dutch tells D’avin they are out of options and he has to tell John. This was inevitable, but also begs the question, if she was ultimately going to tell him anyway, why all the “he can’t take it” angst? Naturally, John isn’t letting her go in alone – and he and D’avin make a pact to try to get her out of it whether she wants them to or not.
The episode ends with Aneela killing Alvis, and I’m not happy about that at all. There was plenty of foreshadowing throughout the episode, of course, that he didn’t think he was getting out of it this time. And we see that Aneela can easily pass for Dutch and has already brought the fight to them. What did you think of the episode? Sad to see Alvis go? Who else do you think we might lose? Anyone you are hoping to see for the finale? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
