KAOS: episode 3
President Minos doesn't keep his promises
KAOS is a new Netflix series setting all the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology in a vaguely contemporary world. It is part comedy, part drama and part absurdist deconstruction of all of the above.
Homer, Talk To Me: The three Furies, spirits of vengeance as old as the gods who appear as a biker gang, chase a guy to an isolated gas station where he shoots himself in the head in order to escape them. It’s a sequence which establishes the Furies as nothing to be trifled with. They then set off to their next victim, Ariadne, daughter of President Minor. Ariadne was born a twin, but reportedly killed her brother Glaucus as infants by rolling on top of him and smothering him. Her mother blames Ari for his death while President Minos dotes on her and offers her whatever she wishes on her birthday. Stricken with guilt, Ari always refuses her father’s gift offer. Theseus is her hunky bodyguard who she’s hot to sleep with, but doesn’t because it wouldn’t be proper. Following the desecration of the monument to the gods in episode 1, King Minos cracks down on the Trojan refugees in Krete, capturing six of the seven. Zeus, however, is not placated and is intent on indiscriminate punishment against the mortals. He calls upon Poseidon to “release the Kraken” (metaphorically speaking) and inflict destruction upon the city. Poseidon, rolling his eyes at the drama, visits Minos in the confessional as a Tacita, warning the president the Trojans need to killed, because Zeus. Minor agrees to turn the Minotaur loose on them.
Ari, suffering angst and guilt because of her toxic birthday, is taken by Theseus to a gladiatorial match in an attempt to cheer her up. Instead, Ari is horrified by the violence as an Amazon and Spartan kill each other for the amusement of the crowd. Worse, Ari sees the Furies watching her and know they’ve come because of her brother. She tells Theseus (only the Furies’ next victim can see them) and Theseus suggests that she may be able to appease them by saving a life. Theseus heard Minos’ promise of “anything you want” as a birthday gift to Ari earlier, so he leads her deep into the Trojan refugee camp where he introduces her to the seventh Trojan terrorist—Nax, Andromache’s son who was thought dead after being thrown from the walls of Troy as an infant. Nax admits to the desecration of the monument because the gods had abandoned Troy. Where they once numbered in the millions, now only 15,000 remain, living in squalor with no rights. Nobody was supposed to get hurt in their act—it was just a defiant prank that has been blown out of proportion (by Zeus). Ari had already argued in favor of showing the Trojans mercy with her father, and Theseus says she can prove herself by turning Nax in and forcing President Minos to subsequently free them all. Ari, angry and conflicted about being set up and (presumably) the fact her hot bodyguard Theseus is really a Trojan agent, reluctantly agrees to play the birthday card. She turns Nax in but immediately confronts her father and demands clemency for the Trojan 7. Minos resists at first but eventually gives in and releases the Trojans. Zeus, however, catches all of this on the 6 o’clock news and is enraged. He rips Poseidon a new one and Poseidon appears in Minos’ bath, shoving his big toe into the president’s mouth and ordering him to kill the Trojans or face the consequences. Minos sends his military on a midnight raid to round up the Trojan 7. By dawn they’re all dead, strung up graphically on the very monument to the gods they desecrated in the first episode. Ari is horrified at the violence, but also her father’s betrayal. Minos dismisses her accusations, saying the deaths are the will of the gods. Andromache, beside herself with grief, lays all the blame on Ari—if they hadn’t trusted her, Nax, at least, would still be alive and the Trojans would have hope. At that point the Furies arrive for Ari.
The Oracle Says: Dang, folks, this is the best episode thus far! It is easily the most self-contained and the most coherent narrative structure. It has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. It tells a complete story, although there’s clearly more to come. Ari’s an entirely sympathetic character who tries to do good in a callous, indifferent world but continually fails and has her efforts blow up in her face. Theseus is set up as a potential love interest but after Nax’s initial release, he and Theseus are shown to be lovers. Does Theseus go both ways? They are Hellenistic Greeks, after all. Something tells me that Theseus is another failure for Ari.
A lot of the success of this episode is aesthetic. Poseidon and Hera are shown as lovers behind Zeus’ back, treating the king of the gods with deference because of his power but certainly offering no respect. We meet Daedalus as Ari poses for him while he sculpts a likeness of her dead brother Glaucus out of wax, presumably how he’d look had he lived as long as Ari. Later, when Ari visits her mother, we are greeted with the nightmarish scene of 20-something wax figures of Glaucus filling the room, from toddler up to adulthood. Family issues much? And Daedalus! Casting the genius of Greek mythology to be played by Mat Fraser was an inspired choice. Fraser, for those unaware, is a victim of thalidomide with dramatically stunted arms. The symbolism of the man being dependent upon his mind rather than his body may be a bit on-the-nose but would his scenes be as powerful with, say, Hugh Grant in the role? Representation matters, and Fraser delivers a subtle, nuanced performance.
My biggest complaint is that the Minotaur is teased (and not very well teased at that) as a shadow, but never seen. The so-called Labyrinth just looked like a square cell block rather than a bewildering maze. I understand they’re holding back on the reveal for a later episode but the coyness simply felt low-budget cheap. And the showrunners appear to be adhering more-or-less to the broadly accepted myths, which means that the Minotaur is the offspring of Minos’ wife. As Glaucus is actually the god of fishermen in Greek mythology and not associated with Theseus or Minos at all, I’m guessing that Ari didn’t kill him at all and that Glaucus is actually the Minotaur. Which makes one wonder why the Fates are after Ari in the first place. Finally, in this episode’s “WTF?” moment, after speaking with Zeus, Poseidon singles out one of his crew and chains her into a transparent swimming pool on his yacht to watch her drown. Maybe this is to convey that the gods are arbitrary? I have no idea. It made no sense when I first saw it and it makes no sense after having pondered it for a few days.
TL;DR version: Best episode yet. I hope they can keep it up.