Killjoys 4x10 "Sporemageddon" Review
âHello, boys,â says the woman on the floor, but not in Dutchâs voice. Dâavin and Johnny exchange glances and realize as she continues to speak that itâs Aneela whoâs picking herself up off the floor. Pree approaches, asking if Dutch is alright, and Aneela brushes a hand along his cheek, excited to finally meet the bartender. Dâavin and Johnny claim that sheâs just drunk, and hustle her out of the Royale before anyone else realizes something strange is going on. They bring her to Lucy, where she reveals that she and Dutch have switched bodies, much as Dâavin and Khlyen did, and Aneela needs the green pool they stole from the Lady to go back into the green with them and get Dutch out. Dâavin and Johnny arenât so sure, though, and ask her what the green really is, if itâs a real place. Aneela grabs a beaker off a table, asks them if itâs real, and then smashes it against the wall. She tells them that itâs gone now, but points out that they can still picture it whole, as it was, and broken, as it is now. âThat is where weâre going. The green is a living repository of universal memory; a trans-dimensional space that records everything, where nothing is forgotten.â She also reveals that the green itself isnât what Hullenizes people â itâs the Lady who does that. Aneela and Dutch needed to switch places because Dutch couldnât get into the green by herself, and Aneela needs Dâavin because of his powers over the green.
âWeâre all made of memories. But memories arenât just where youâve been. Theyâre who you are. And if I own that, I own you. And when Iâm out of here, little flea, I will own everyone.â In the green, Dutch (still wearing Aneelaâs signature outfit and braid) is running from the Lady, who is morphing between appearances â first Khlyen, then Johnny, then Dâavin, and Delle Seyah. As she crests a hill, she spots a red box, like Khlyen used to leave for her. Itâs empty, but she tucks it under her arm nonetheless and keeps moving.
On the Armada, Turin isnât so sure about âDutchâsâ plan to go into the green. He wants some more details about the plan, reminding the trio that it is still his ship. Aneela barely manages to keep her anger in check at hearing him claiming her ship as his own, but when Dâavin and Johnny âremindâ her about how they blew up the RAC to save everyone and stop the Lady, she restrains herself and thanks âTurzinâ for his sacrifice with a creepy smile and a less-than-convincing accent. Aneela strides off toward the lab with the Jaqobis brothers at her heels, as Turin furrows his brow. Zeph is in the lab running tests on the green, and orders the three out when they walk through the door. Aneela asks Johnny and Dâavin why they let their âunderlingâ talk to them like that (sheâs seriously bad at this whole acting thing). When Zeph asks why Dutch is talking like that, Turin walks through the door with several Killjoys and says that sheâs not Dutch, sheâs Aneela Kin Ritt. After all sheâs done â murdering Alvis, destroying 3 RAC stations, and attempting to wipe out the people of Westerly â heâs about ready to execute her himself.
Dâavin and Johnny pull their guns on Turin, knowing that Dutchâs survival depends on Aneelaâs, but Aneela and Zeph ignore the standoff thatâs happening and talk logistics. If the woman is Aneela in Dutchâs body, how can she bring anyone into the green? Aneela explains that the plasma operates on a sub-atomic frequency, similar to radio waves, and she can manipulate it mentally despite Dutch not being Hullen. And not only has she accounted for Dâavinâs anti-plasma properties, sheâs banking her plan on it. Turin is still not about to let Aneela escape into the green after what sheâs done, so Dâavin gives him the anti-plasma spore to use in case Aneela is playing them after all. He doesnât trust Aneela, but he does trust Turin. Turin reluctantly agrees, and Aneela gets to work. She creates a temporary antidote to Dâavinâs plasma-repulsion properties, surprising him with a needle in the brain stem, and tells him that once theyâre in the green and the Lady attacks, heâll need to be ready to utilize his powers to counter her. He just has to keep her occupied long enough for them to get to Dutch and get out. Johnnyâs still not happy about the idea of being left behind, but Aneela tells him heâs not needed â in the green, the Lady can use everything you care about against you, so itâs not a good idea to have both of the brothers in there together. Dâavin assures her that they know that the Lady can use family against you, which is why they all had removed Jaqâs location from their memories. Aneela blinks and asks, âwhoâs Jaq?â and the Jaqobis brothers realize that she doesnât know about her son. Johnny starts to fill her in, but she cuts him off â if she doesnât know anything about him, the Lady canât use him against her. Dâavin leans over the pool of plasma, asking how theyâre going to do this, and Aneela shoves him in.
As Dâavin comes to consciousness in the green, the world shakes around him, and his eyes darken. Heâs on Lucy, and Dutch walks through the door in just a shirt, holding a bottle of hokk. Just as he did the first time this happened, Dâavin attacks Dutch. As we watch the fight that has already happened, we hear Aneela saying, âThe Lady will use everything against us; our greatest fears, our worst moments.â We then switch perspective to Johnny, who didnât take Aneelaâs no for an answer, and is back in the Royale, watching Delle Seyah and Pawter sign the agreement, just before Delle Seyah stabs Pawter. Johnny runs to her side, pressing against the wound, then fights off the fake Scarbacks so that he isnât forced from her side like he was when this really happened. Dâavin snaps back to himself as âDutchâ snickers evilly, and he runs away down Lucyâs hall. We then see Aneela lying on the floor of the forest, Dutch gently waking her. It seems theyâve swapped bodies back, and as Dutch helps Aneela up, Aneela tells her that they have to find the boys. She then spots the red box, and when Dutch tells her it was empty when she found it, she opens it anyway â it seems the box was intended for her, as it now contains an apple. Aneela tells Dutch she can hold the Lady off until Dutch finds the boys, stroking her cheek and saying âbe brave.â Dutch echoes the rest of the line from the Season 3 finale, saying to Aneela, âbe brutal.â As Dutch runs off, the Lady appears behind Aneela, in Delle Seyahâs skin.
The Lady takes Aneela into the ruins, asking her if she isnât tired of all the running and fighting. She has a proposition for them, and is using Delle Seyahâs face to get Aneela to listen to her. She has a way for everyone to get what they want â no winners, no losers. She takes Aneela down under the ruins, to a spring that gurgles with plasma. She explains that her race was driven to all corners of the universe, to dominate and rule, but now she is the last. But then she found the green, a place where nothing is lost. She herself is just a memory, and only exists in the green. She gave Aneela immortality, and now she wants something in return.
Dâavin runs through the forest in the green, shouting for Dutch, who is also running in search of him. When they meet, they embrace, but then Dâavin pushes her away, not certain itâs really Dutch. She kisses him, which puts to rest his worries, and they set off to find Johnny. Dâavin has realized that space doesnât behave like youâd think it would, and that heâs been travelling from memory to memory. They realize that Johnny must be reliving his worst experience, and focus on Oldtown. In Oldtown, Johnny is trying to keep a still-living Pawter out of sight, because he doesnât trust that sheâs really there and alive. Pawter protests that he saved her, and that they can be happy together forever now. Suddenly realization dawns on Johnny: thatâs not really Pawter. âDoes it really matter?â the Lady asks through Pawter. âArenât you tired of being lonely? Wouldnât this be easier?â âYes,â Johnny whispers. âBut itâs not real.â He then asks the Lady what she wants from them, and she tells him that sheâs after memory â something her race never had.
âIâm not talking about the animal instincts that drove us, but something deeper. Something that allows you to remember connections to your past; to imagine your future. Itâs what makes you so unique, but also so vulnerable. Even now, youâre looking at me, and you know â you know what I really am, but all you can see is a memory of what you lost. And if you stay here, Johnny, Iâll never die, and you can love me forever.â
Johnny almost falls for it, leaning in to kiss Pawter/the Lady, when a hand lands on his shoulder. Dâavin and Dutch are there, and he allows himself to be pulled away from the woman he loved. As the three walk down the street, âPawterâsâ cries ringing in their ears, Johnny asks Dâavin to keep him from turning and looking back.
In the Royale, Gared notices that Pree seems feverish. Later, as Gared walks down a street in Oldtown, one of the children who was kidnapped runs up to him, dragging him to where her mother, Ginny, has collapsed against a wall. Ginny seems disoriented, not even realizing that sheâs on the ground. She coughs and wheezes a bit, and Gared brings her to the Royale, where Zeph is checking on Pree. Zeph runs Preeâs customers out by talking about his mucus-covered tonsils, and while Ginny shivers in the corner, Gared leads Zeph to a small crowd of people outside the Royaleâs doors, all exhibiting the same symptoms. She realizes that everyone who has come into contact with the kids has developed the symptoms, and Turin tells her from the Armada that heâs getting similar reports from all over Westerly. Suddenly, Ginny starts seizing, and falls into a coma. At this rate, the whole moon will be infected in a matter of days, and this seems like a biological weapon, not a natural virus. Turin places the whole of Westerly under quarantine, and while Gared fusses over Pree, Zeph gets to work on a cure, despite starting to succumb to the symptoms herself.
The Nine families of Qresh send a representative to help Turin, having noticed things going poorly. But when Turin asks for more medical supplies to send to Zeph, the man says that that will be unnecessary â they already have a solution. Qresh has enough nuclear missiles to wipe any disease off the face of Westerly and keep the rest of the Quad safe. Once the sickness is gone, Westerly will eventually be useable again. Zeph finishes formulating her cure, but Pree stops her from injecting herself with the experimental concoction. Westerly needs a doctor, he tells her, not a bartender. He can take the risk that itâll make him worse or not work. Zeph insists that since sheâs the one who took the risk, she should pay the price, but Pree tells her that thatâs stupid, shortsighted, and cowardly, not honorable. Making the hard call is the honorable thing to do, and itâs what Pip did. âHow do I get over this, Pree?â Zeph asks tearfully. âOh, sweetheart, you donât. Life isnât about getting over or letting go, just moving ahead. Because thereâs nothing behind you but shadows.â Zeph nods, and injects Pree with the cure.
Back in the woods in the green space, Team Awesome Force runs in search of Aneela, but are stopped by a troop of Ferrin soldiers shooting at them. Regretting taking Aneelaâs advice not to bring guns, they turn to a memory aboard the RAC, when they were attempting to take it back from the undercover Hullen. They load up on all the heavy artillery, and head back out. Back under the ruins, the Lady tries to persuade Aneela to join her, saying that the Hullen were just a means to an end. What she has planned for when she gets out goes far beyond. But the two hear explosions drawing near â Johnnyâs trying out his new rocket launcher. But the Lady keeps sending men at them, until Dâavin drops his gun, walks out from behind the trees, shoves his arms forward, and shouts, âEnough!â and all the men vanish. The Lady looks shaken, and the trio continue to advance on the ruins. The Lady pulls out one last offer to tempt Aneela â she can give her her family back. Aneela rebuffs her â her father is already dead. But thatâs not what the Lady is talking about.
Dutch, Johnny, and Dâavin enter the ruins, but canât find Aneela. While Johnny and Dutch discuss what to do next, Dâavin starts hearing Jaqâs voice calling to him, and he finds the stairs and heads down in search of his son. Dutch and Johnny notice his disappearance, and charge down the stairs after him. They find the Lady, now in appearance like Aneelaâs mother, holding him by the throat, interrogating him about his sonâs whereabouts. When Dutch and Johnny burst into the room, the Lady drops Dâavin. Dutch tells her off for wearing Yalenaâs face, but the Lady says that itâs for Aneela. Aneela confesses that sheâs taken the Ladyâs offer to be with her family â not her parents; Delle Seyah and Jaq. If they let the Lady out, sheâll let them go. Dutch tries to convince Aneela not to believe the Lady, but Aneela walks away after the Lady, stopping to whisper to Dutch, âRemember what you said to me once: you were here; you mattered.â The door seals behind Aneela and the Lady, leaving Dutch and Johnny in shock. (Dâavin would be in shock too, but heâs a little unconscious at the moment.) Outside, Aneela tells the Lady she needs to concentrate to be able to bring them out of the green. âTake your time,â the Lady responds, âthey should be ready for me when we get out.â
Just as the Qreshi representative is ready to order the missiles be fired at Westerly, Zeph radios in: the antidote worked, and Preeâs viral load is dropping rapidly. She tells Pree heâll be up and dancing with Gared in no time, to which Pree looks bemused, and asks, âWhoâs Gared?â Ginnyâs daughter runs up to Ginny, excited that her mom is better, but Ginny is also confused, asking for someone to find the girlâs mother. Zeph tries to work out how the virus could have caused this memory loss, but her train of thought slips away and she looks around the bar, confused.
In the underground grotto, Johnny tries to wake Dâavin, while Dutch tries to understand why Aneela would have betrayed them â after everything the Lady has put Aneela through, it doesnât make any sense. Johnny comments that the Lady is probably going to kill the green with the spore and kill them out of spite, and something clicks in Dutchâs mind. She realizes that the cave-like room theyâre in is actually the room on the hidden planet where Yalena is â the room where she hid the spore. Aneela was giving her a message: sheâd been there before, and it mattered. Dutch jumps into the memory of Yalena giving her the spore, and when she opens her eyes, the vial is in her hands. She thinks â she hopes â that Aneela is stalling for time while she waits for Dutch to poison the green from the inside. Dutch takes a deep breath and tosses the vial into the spring of green, and the ruins almost immediately start to crumble. Outside, storm clouds gather, and the Lady realizes sheâs been betrayed. She and Aneela fight, and when the trio make it outside, they see Aneela bent over on the ground. She tells them that they canât wait, that the Lady is coming back, and all three run from the toppling stone walls. But as they run, we see another Aneela â the real Aneela â unconscious, slumped against a wall. She wakes in time to see the stones of the ruins flying away in the storm, Khlyen standing behind her. On the Armada, Dutch and Dâavin haul Johnny out of the green, then wait for Aneela to surface. The green turns clear like water, and all the vials and beakers in the lab that contain plasma shatter. Just when it seems Aneela and the Lady are lost forever, a hand breaks the surface of the liquid, and the screen smashes to black.
Warm, soft light begins to come into focus, and we see Dutch in bed, with her head on a manâs bare chest. The frame widens and we see that the man is⌠Johnny?! He tells her they have to get up, with a kiss on the top of the head, calling her Yala. As Johnny gets dressed, we see that theyâre in one of the rooms at the Royale, and Dutch is getting the bar ready to open. Johnny comes out wearing a jumpsuit, telling her that heâs got a heavy shift at the plant, and she reminds him to get hops on his way home. Johnny kisses her on the cheek, and says âhappy wife, happy life,â on his way out the door. As he walks down the Oldtown streets, he tosses a coin into a beggarâs can, and we see that despite the long, matted hair, the beggar is none other than Turin. Gared jogs to catch up to Johnny and they make a plan to drink together after âthe fight.â Johnny bumps into Dâavin, who turns around and tells him off for bumping into him, neither seeming to know the other. Dutch comes out and calls to Johnny, who it seems had forgotten his lunch. Dâavin eyes Dutch up and down, with no recognition in his eyes. The three part ways, and Dâavin, wearing RAC gear, looks at his tablet, displaying a warrant for âJaq Kin Rit.â
Through this scene we hear Dutchâs voice, telling a story: âMy father told me a story once, about a family that got lost in the woods. They left breadcrumbs to mark their path so theyâd never forget their way home. But a monster lived in those woods, and one by one, it ate everything they left behind.â
As the camera pans up, revealing large factory-like chimneys filling the Westerly skyline, the voice switches to that of a little girl, saying, âMemories arenât just where youâve been. Theyâre who you are. And if I own that, I own you. And now that Iâm out, I will own everyone.â We see two young girls playing Catâs Cradle, and at the last sentence, one of them (who looks eerily like a tiny Kelly/Zeph) looks sinisterly down the barrel of the camera.
Thereâs so much to unpack here, so join us for a separate article breaking down the finale, favorite moments about the season, talking about questions we have, and theories and speculation for Season 5!
