Killjoys

How does this show have a relatively low rating (of 7.2), along with some terrible reviews, while much trashier shows, with much worse scripts and acting have such great ratings?

I mean Killjoys does not pretend to be a high-production quality sci-fi like say TNG, but it has its own more carefree, free-spirited sci-fi drama vibe - which is so rare to get right. I think this show is underrated.

In our times when everything has to be great, excellent, the best of the best, this show celebrates the virtue of being "good". It has its own charm - of not over-indulging, not going too crazy on storytelling or visual effects. Instead just enjoy 45 minutes of good, classic, free-spirited adventure and drama that has character, charm, a great cast, and have a great time watching good science fiction. That's what KillJoys delivers in spades.

I'm in the middle of the fourth season. Is this really a scifi show? It's hard to tell aside from the shiny gadgets. Certainly not the space opera it wants to be. The only clues that this is a show that takes place in a space-age era are the occasional blips of space and spaceships. Otherwise, it feels like it all takes place in a pretty small world.

If you want to believe regardless that this a space show, all that goes out the window when you see things like a slow and drifting space capsule somehow find a planet in some far-off system in mere days, somehow not burn up in the atmosphere, and crash land safely. Distant stars are mere hours away while closer ships are days away??? It just depends on the laziness of the writers in resolving plot stuff.

Speaking of lazy writers, I'm tired of ultra-super-human geek characters that are at least 100 times more unrealistic than your average action hero that survives an impossible number of fights. Got a sticky plot situation? Don't worry, just put a computer hacker on it and all your problems will go away in just a few minutes. Such laziness in writing is boring to the point of offensive.

I find myself not caring about the characters or the story arc. They could live or dies, succeed or fail. Who cares? Thus the character development is obviously weak, as is the plot. I do, however, find the banter to be really well written and well delivered by the main characters. I would just like to see that banter and those characters in a more interesting show. The banter makes this show tolerable and a decent watch when I'm stumped for something better.

This is a very fun, campy space western. It pulls off quite a bit for a low budget, the sets each week do feel genuine- unlike some other shows, every episode doesn't seem to take place in a warehouse or mall. The world building can, at times, seem to take over the character building, although seven episodes in they seem to have struck a happy balance. It's nice to see a variety of female characters who feel dynamic and have power, which is all too often something reserved only for the male characters.

I'm not sold on the background music, at times it can be overpowering and distracting. The intro looks like it came straight out of a late 90s syndicated show. These are largely cosmetic complaints, though. I'm hoping it will stick around, although I'm not sure Syfy understands the potential the show has.

Season 4 totally went away from what I liked about the series. Way to much time spent on the green and "the lady". I was bored with it. They need to get back to apprehending warrants, shorter storylines and settling disputes in the quad that don't take up more than 2-4 episodes tops.

It's such a relief to see Brit playing the lead character rather than the clichéd "bad guy". I, for one, was never convinced by the idea that the universe would somehow be exclusively populated by Californians.

Okay... so it's not "deep" or hardcore sci-fi, and some of the characters are a little 2-dimensional; but it seems to have potential to improve here, and it's just plain enjoyable nonetheless. Thankfully they haven't made the cardinal sin of just ignoring the laws of physics for the sake of a storyline (yes Fringe, I'm looking at *you*), and the level of comedy seems well balanced.

Definite overtones of Firefly, also maybe a bit of SG1 and possibly even shades of Farscape (without the aliens). I'm curious to see where it goes.