Contains Spoilers!
Following a very strong (but albeit busy!) pilot introducing us to the secret world of Kings Dominion and the school’s elite group of student assassins through the eyes of main protagonist Marcus, does the second episode of SYFY’s Deadly Class continue to build on the intriguing premise? Well I’m glad to say that “Noise, Noise, Noise,” not only delves further into the characters of the ensemble, fleshing out the core cast, but also delivered an impressive action sequence through a class trial (complete with poison of course!). Also fans of the graphic novel will be VERY excited by the tease at the end of the episode…
Although we were treated to a pretty hilarious house party, complete with naked Russians and fights involving a giant sex toy, the episode truly belonged to Marcus (played by the excellent Benjamin Wadsworth) and his journey to come to terms with killing Rory. Plagued by visions of the homeless man, Marcus initially shows no remorse or guilt over his actions, insisting that he doesn’t actually feel anything. It’s only when Willie takes credit for the kill and starts bragging about it in-front of his gang does Marcus actually lash out and admit to his true feelings. The following heart to heart between the two characters is one of the strongest scenes in the episode, I really enjoyed watching the growing bond between them. When Willie opened up about the accidental murder of his father when he was a child, I instantly saw the character in a new light and understood why he took the rap about killing Rory – these kids are genuinely just trying to survive in a hostile environment.
Another highlight of the episode was the deadly AP Black Arts trial set by Master Lin following the disappointing failure of everyone, bar Willie, to complete their murder homework. In a thrilling action sequence Lin poisons the class and gives them a riddle to solve, (alive without breath, cold as death, never thirsty, but always drinking) with the antidote serving as the prize. But there’s another catch; the room housing the antidote is guarded by ninjas wielding staffs. Marcus and Saya eventually work out that cooperation is key to defeating the guards, becoming the first students to progress to the next stage of the test. It was intriguing to see how the students dealt with the test, especially as the stakes were so high. Last weeks pilot was pretty light on action and violence, so I’m glad they featured this impressively choreographed sequence! Interestingly Maria actually gave Chico the antidote and saved him, following her pitting him against Marcus last week.
“Noise, Noise, Noise,” also served as a great introduction to the relationship between Billy and Petra; so far Billy is one of my favourite characters, so as soon as Petra snuck off with Victor following his awkward declaration of affections to her, my heart was broken – I’m rooting for you buddy! Elsewhere Chico’s ‘romantic’ dinner with Maria ended in a shocking act, again reinforcing Maria’s behaviour in the last episode. It leads me to wonder whether she’s ever truly be free of this abusive relationship?!
With the show ending on a surprise meeting between Saya and Master Lin that revealed their secret partnership, it lead me to wonder how safe Marcus really is at Kings Dominion and what Lin’s endgame really is for him? He’s certainly planting seeds in the impressionable young man’s head, slowly manipulating him for some upcoming gain. I mean what kind of teacher takes their pupil to the funeral of the person they killed?! It would be way too obvious that Master Lin would turn out to be a villain this early on, right? Saya reporting the fact that Marcus didn’t really kill all the kids at the boy’s home does definitely worry me though…
Overall I’ve been really impressed by the first two episodes of Deadly Class, in fact it might genuinely be my current favourite show! I even rushed out and bought the first book of the graphic novel last week, which just confirmed that the show is a pretty strong adaptation of the source material. The strength of the show really is in the characters and so far the cast’s performances have been excellent. I know the show has received a lot of criticism for using stereotypes in the school, but it’s so interesting to see the writers slowly reveal how the characters are so much different to their associated ‘group’. The cliffhanger introducing a certain character has me VERY excited for next weeks episode!