MIDNIGHT REVIEWS Kaos Episode 1 & 2 Review
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
Kaos Episodes 1 & 2
Series created by: Charlie Covell
Featuring: Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTeer, Stephen Dillane
Synopsis: A modern day adaptation of tales from Ancient Greece, including several of the Gods. Zeus (Goldblum), the only God aware of a terrible prophecy, fears his power will be taken from him. Meanwhile Riddy (Aurora Perrineau), a mortal on the God-worshipping Earth, struggles as she falls out of love with Orpheus (Killian Scott).
Review: Kaos, for those viewers who hear the synopsis and assume it will be some crash bang wallop akin to Percy Jackson or Clash of the Titans, might be disappointed. However for those who are after something of a bit more substance, Kaos may very well grow into something with a little more heft. It’s first episode is almost exclusively about set up, while the second slowly pushes the squeaking wheels of plot into motion.
There are moments of Gods showing off their power, but in a modern world. For fans of such things, there are a ton of references to Ancient Greek myths to go alongside the reimagining of these characters. This is a world where people go to the supermarket and pick up a box of Spartan Crunch cereal before making a trip to Hera’s temple. As reimaginings go, Kaos delivers a new version of these characters with creativity and vigour.
Zeus lives in a mansion up on Mount Olympus, flush with power and looking not unlike a TV version of a Miami drug lord. Orpheus, known in myth for being the greatest of all musicians, is a world famous pop star. There’s half a chance Aphrodite is going to turn up with her own dating show before we cut to Ares, God of War, running guns or working at the Pentagon. The series leans, at least a little bit, on viewers being interested or amused with these new versions of what came before.
Leans heavily on its plot.
What certainly works is what has helped Ancient Greek Gods, and by extension the myths, retain a longevity. All the Gods featured so far display their own human qualities. Zeus has an anxiety about losing what he sees as rightfully his; a mixture of nervousness and pride. Hera (McTeer) seems cold and manipulative, driven at least partly by jealousy and a need for control. Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan) has two of the most human qualities, which is a need to be loved and a desire for self-improvement.
The show could’ve leant on this focus on how ancient figures can be easily translated into modern times, delivering amusing vignettes with various famous characters showing up for guest spots. However it leans more heavily on its plot. The entire show lives or dies based on whether viewers find Riddy and Zeus’ stories interesting enough.
The overarching theme doesn’t really have anything to do with Gods, per se. Kaos is actually about the conservation of power amongst the already-powerful, what lengths these powerful figures will go to in order to stay on top and how their stature in popular media can affect how the general public feels about them.
Goldblum is tremendous.
Yes, Zeus watches people venerate him from afar, including with human sacrifice, but his actions and reactions are identical to how a violent, arrogant despot would be. This is not a benevolent God. This is a God that is concerned people have too much happiness and not enough fear.
Goldblum is tremendous. His casting as Zeus, the most powerful of the Gods, seemed a mistake before watching due to his being known for being a relaxed, charming soul. But here he allows anger to quickly bubble up along with a tender uncertainty. His Zeus is twisted and a bit broken, and has been made this way by how his parents treated him as well as living on Mount Olympus for so long as the King of one and all. This gives him a degree of depth without making him a figure to be in any way pitied.
Occasionally he drags Prometheus (Dillane) to Olympus for some humorous conversations, which reveals the Achilles heel of Kaos: Its overreliance on voice over and extraneous shots telling us things we already know. This is not a case of a show lingering in one place because it wants to; certain parts seemed designed because the show doesn’t fully trust its audience to keep up.
Because he is the source of the voiceover, any appearance by Prometheus (Dillane) leads to feelings of apprehension. Is it going to be an amusing, revealing scene between him and Zeus, letting us in on another side that the God of Gods doesn’t show anyone else? Or is Prometheus going to smarmily wink at the camera and explain something we already know?
[Perrineau’s] desperation and hopelessness are laid bare in a simple expression.
When it comes to the people on Earth, the show gives what I would say is a pretty realistic depiction of how people would act if they knew, with hard evidence, that Gods were real. The Earth sections, we are told by one of the many pieces of onscreen text that flash up, are set in Greece. But this story could be set anywhere, such is the mixture of cultures and accents. This both makes the setting seem otherworldly and enables the location to represent anywhere else on this Earth where Gods are not just real but are involved in almost all day-to-day life.
Riddy and Orpheus’ story has an issue of distance, or perhaps a lack of investment. This is not a spoiler, being from a story literally thousands of years old, but Riddy’s death and entrance to the underworld doesn’t hit as hard as perhaps the makers were intending. And while it is tantalising to see what is done with the story of Orpheus travelling through the Underworld for his love, Orpheus himself comes across as too egotistical and narrow-minded to actually root for. His scenes with Dionysus should be thrilling and funny but come a faraway third behind the other two perspectives.
Perrineau’s performance is good enough to yank the quality up though, as she infuses Riddy with a quiet anger that seethes as opposed to exploding like Zeus up above. Her desperation and hopelessness are laid bare in a simple expression, taking what could’ve been melodramatic or boring and finding that sweet spot in the middle.
On the whole, the first two episodes are engaging enough and make a promise of what could be. But in a similar way to Netflix’s other high-budget show, 3 Body Problem, there’s a feeling Kaos may very well both soar and dive in quality.
Kaos is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies and TV shows whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter or listen to the podcast he co-hosts with Leslie Wai.
