Watching: Kaos S1

2024, Netflix

Ended up semi-binging this series about Greek mythology but set in .... modern day Greece? I was hoping it was actually shot in Greece, lending itself to the ideal that countries hurting economically can invite Hollywood over to make shit in their country purely for the money the industry brings in, but alas, it was mostly shot in Spain. Anywayz, at least it wasn't shot in the Hamptons.

My elevator pitch for this series would be, "Think Baz Lurman's 'Romeo + Juliet' but doing for Greek Mythos what he did for Shakespeare."

What 100. Zeus's an ass (Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic Park). His best friend Prometheus (Stephen Dilane, Game of Thrones) is chained to a stone wall but is regularly teleported in for chats, usually about his existential crises. But something is actually awry in Zeus's reign. There is a prophecy that he will fall. And Prometheus is bringing forth said prophecy via other players: Zeus's hedonistic half-god son Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan, Station Eleven), rock-star Orpheus (Killian Scott, Secret Invasion) and his wife Riddy (Aurora Perrineau, Westworld) who dies by accident, Zeus's brother Hades (David Thewlis, Wonder Woman) who is fucking with the life/death cycle at Zeus's request, Hera (sister/wife; Janet McTeer, Ozark) who is also fucking his brother Poseidon (Cliff Curtis, The Meg), and pretty much all the players we read about. 

1 Great. Yeah, its the gimmick that is the best thing about the show, the idea of turning Greek Myths on their head, set in modern times and applying many aspects of current culture & politics to a world where all-power gods control most of life. The defeated city / culture of Troy is represented by a downtrodden, traumatized Trojan people under the jackboots of President Minos (Stanley Townsend, Blackshore) who is dealing badly with his own prophecy while being manipulated directly by the gods. Amazonian Caeneus (Misia Butler, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself) born female, in a mandatory all-female culture, realizes he is male in adolescence, and has to deal with the fallout of that realization, and he is played by an IRL trans actor. The ferry to the afterlife looks like one of those ferries used to bring fleeing refugees from Europe to the US during WWII. They have so much fun just depicting the nuances of Greek Myth culture in the modern environment.

2 Good. The performances. I just liked how present everyone was in their weird roles. Sure, Goldblum is doing his usual schtick, hand gestures and pauses and all, but add in some entirely chilling psychotic behaviour and he is the perfect Zeus. I always thought of Dionysus as an uber-sexy, slick like lube kind of character, but playing him as an annoying millennial-type only interested in his own self-gratification and desperate for daddy's affection was actually perfect. And he's a demi-god, so he's only so affected by the activities of the humans he spends all his time around. Rizwan just embodied all this. We all know the story of Orpheus loving his dead wife so much that he went to Hell to get her back, but playing Riddy (Eurydice) as a lonely, disaffected wife of a rock star, just tired of being his muse, all "did I ask you to come to Hell to get me?!?!" was spot on. Yes, I realize I am merging the performances and the roles they were playing but I enjoyed it that much.

3 Bad. I knew they would have to do it but (SPOILER!) they had to have Zeus kill the kitten didn't they. Also bad, its not likely going to get a second season because Netflix sucks. You know, dudes, not everything is going to be The Witcher or Stranger Things, which is weird saying out loud, because a lot of people have utter hate for The Witcher and yet I guess it hits the numbers Netflix Purple Suits need?