Charlie Covell Brings us into a World of KAOS!

Gods, monsters, tongues being removed, women turned into bees, and is that Billie Piper?!?

Netflix’s KAOS, created by Charlie Covell, is a veritable mezze platter of Greek mythology, contentious issues, and a fantastic soundtrack. Jeff Goldblum was a bold choice for the King of Gods; Zeus, but it works. And the man is treated like a god anyway. 

Goldblum treats us to a fantastic performance of a ‘man’ drunk on power who inevitably devolves into paranoia and cruelty. The rest of the cast is fantastic despite not being as instantly recognizable as Goldblum. I particularly liked Janet McTeer’s portrayal of the Queen of the Gods; Hera. She’s a straight-talking, conniving, and all-around badass bitch (if you forgive the phrasing). Zeus’s son, the demigod Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan) has quite the arc, going from a spoiled child to an emotionally vulnerable master of his own fate. Special mention goes to his sweet, sweet style. 

But how does one take a mishmash of Greek myths and make them palatable for the modern world? 

Well, for starters you have Prometheus (Stephen Dillane) as the story’s narrator, chained to his rock wearing only tight red undies. As some may know Prometheus famously suffered an immortal punishment meted out by Zeus. For giving fire to the humans Prometheus was chained to a mountain where Zeus sent an eagle to eat his replenishing liver for evermore. In KAOS Zeus describes Prometheus as his “best friend” whom he summons magically from Prometheus’s torture spot to have frequent tête-à-tête with the commander and chief. Guess that’s the way Zeus treats his friends. 

My personal knowledge of Greek myths is mostly drawn from the Disney Hercules movie and Eddie Izzard’s sketches. This is fitting as comedienne Eddie Izzard plays one of ‘The Fates’. The Fates in Greek mythology traditionally; spin, measure, and cut human life like a thread. Izzard’s character; Lachesis who cuts the thread, oozes her trademark wit and charisma. In mythology, the entrance of the Underworld is a cave. In KAOS ‘The Cave’ is a dive bar inhabited by the pool playing Fates and instead of a cyclops guarding the entrance, an eyepatch-wearing bartender. 

You don’t have to be Greek Mythology scholar to understand KAOS (though it would maybe help). There is plenty of Easter Eggs hidden for the more eagle-eyed viewer. The prominent placement of a pomegranate in episode one and episode eight (finale). In Greek mythology one of the symbols of a pomegranate is the life and death cycle, which is very fitting for this particular narrative. Some viewers have noticed that Billie Piper’s role as downtrodden prophet Cassandra (she’s looked better) hints at one of the show’s many big twists in episode one. It is clear KAOS will benefit from multiple viewings.

The best thing about KAOS is that it does stand as its own story. As a modern retelling, it fits nicely into current sociopolitical conversations. For example; Zeus and his family want the myths to be maintained in order to provide distraction to what the gods are actually doing. 

When Zeus sees that the human’s fear of him is waning he summons natural disasters (fire, plagues, floods…y’know the usual stuff) to scare the humans into submission and pleading worship. As he explains to Dionysus: “And it can start as something real, real small. Like the rape of one woman, the death of one child. Because if you get it right, it can set families and continents ablaze.” 

Sound familiar at all?

There is also a sad familiarity with the way the refugees of the destroyed city of Troy are marginalized and segregated in Krete. They appear to be ghettoized in ‘Troytown’ and victimized by the local police force.

Covell’s writing also gives the female characters more agency than their mythological counterparts. Eurydice ‘Riddy’ (Aurora Perrineau) is not just Orpheus’s (Killian Scott) doomed wife but a plucky main character with her own desires and failings. Even Hera is elevated from Zeus’s scorned wife to a major player. 

I liked how the figures who traditionally had been screwed over by the gods such as Eurydice; left to languish in the Underworld courtesy of Hades. Medusa was punished for being assaulted by a man in a sacred temple. We already know Prometheus’s story. Daedalus (father of Icarus) was locked in the labyrinth with his son. All these characters are tasked with bringing down the gods in a truly spectacular fashion! Revenge is divine!

The design of the Underworld was initially quite disappointing after it was teased at the end of episode one. I assumed that the Underworld would be some fantastical gothic landscape complete with demons and the shambling, engorged souls of the damned. However, I appreciate Covell’s decision to go in the opposite direction. The Underworld is simply a bureaucratic hub run by a mild-mannered paper-pushing, middle-aged couple; Hades (David Thewlis) and Persephone (Rakie Ayola). This change makes the dark humor all the more poignant. Though still disappointed there was no James Woods. The Cerberus sniffer dogs were particularly cute.

I am excited to see what season two brings. More imaginings of Greek heroes? I’d be intrigued to see how the show would interpret Hercules. Please, bring on more dark humor, mythological remixes, and too much divine intervention. Vero! Three-and-a-half stars