Deadly Class “Kids of the Black Hole” Review- The Choices We Make

So much of this first season of Deadly Class has been about the choices we make and the consequences they bring. Marcus chose not to debunk his reputation for killing those in the foster care home and it got him recruited into King’s Dominion. Master Lin chose to pretend his family was dead and their discovery jeopardizes everything. The gang chose to leave Chico’s body behind in Vegas and now F-Face has it threatening their futures. Just about every choice that has been made throughout this season has come with a negative ramification, #murderschool and all, and in “Kids of the Black Hole” all those choices come cashing in hard.

As of right now, the most pressing issue for our band of merry would be assassins is the recovery of Chico’s head. F-Face, and his apparent jug band family, are holed up in Shabnam’s family house ready to rat them out to El Diablo and the rest of the cartel. Marcus’s confession to the group last week was a big moment as all cards are now on the table. Everyone is on the same page, goal-wise at least because Chico’s head must be recovered and F-Face must be taken out. The only way to ensure this is for our would be teenage assassins to assemble buuuuuut it’s not that easy. Marcus’s confession wasn’t the only thing to happen to the group last week as there is now a clear divide amongst the friends. Members trying to kill each other tends to do that.

The largest problem centers around the Marcus/Saya/Maria love triangle which hits a boiling point this week. Since Chico’s death, Maria has been falling apart as highlighted by last night’s by drinking a half bottle of tequila by herself. That’s a cry for help people. Marcus like the putz he is decides to ignore that particular cry. I understand his mentality, to a degree. It’s important for the group to secure explosives to penetrate F-Face Manor. Saya’s reconnaissance work showed that F-Face has the house booby-trapped like something out of Indian Jones and the only way in is blowing a hole through the door. This mess is Marcus’s fault, also to a degree, and he should be present during all aspects of the planning. Yes, they are cleaning up Maria’s mess but F-Face exists because of Marcus whether intentionally or not. If Marcus was concerned with being a good boyfriend he would have at the very least told Maria this, but instead, he sees her drinking and crying and chooses to meet up with the pretty assassin with the sword on her back.

After the bomb arrangements are made Marcus again chooses to stay with Saya and rock out at a concert instead of returning to Maria. Now, this is a questionable decision for all parties involved. One would think if you’re going to assault a house full of hillbilly serial killers you’d want to be in the best possible shape and not hungover, but teenagers, am I right? Feeding off the high of the booze and the show Marcus and Saya finally hook up. It happens and nothing is the same after that. With sequences that are brilliantly ripped directly from the comic, Marcus does the worst walk of shame to work at the comic book shop as he replays the events of the night before. The sex, the booze, the confessions of love. Everything comes rushing back as his guilt starts to overwhelm him. Marcus may be a putz but at least he understands his betrayal of Maria. He’s becoming the type of person he hates and that riddles him with guilt thus keeping him likable. There’s nothing worse than a character who does something awful and selfish and blames others for his choices. One would have to believe that karma comes sneaking up on him when he… well, he craps his pants with a fart that never was. Again, this whole sequence is ripped from the comic and I had my doubts that they’d be able to present this but SyFy gave the go ahead and the results are spectacular.

Now the group is about to embark on their most dangerous mission yet and the division within the group is at its highest. Willie chooses to leave King’s Dominion entirely because life is not a comic book and they are not superheroes. Willie chooses to be a pacifist and makes a run for it leaving his friends behind. Maria clearly knows something is up as Petra lets slip that she lost track of Marcus and Saya after the concert they attended. She’s a smart girl and has been heavily suspicious of both Saya and Marcus these last few episodes. Some of that suspicion is warranted while some of it is Maria’s deep spiral into depression and paranoia. I know I’ve kind of blamed Maria for a lot of things lately but this is a character that is clearly in need of help, and at her most desperate moments Marcus chooses someone else. Yeah, that’s going to be a problem. Maria has been unstable since Vegas just putting the thought in her mind that something happened between her boyfriend and Saya could be enough to send her over the edge, and they need her to be on top of her game. They need everyone and Marcus has created a literal crap storm right before they go into action. The choices that are made are coming back to haunt characters at the worst possible times.

Look at Lin, who decides it’s time to play his hand with Gao. He hires Saya to watch his house in case she makes a move against his totally not dead family and goes to the office of human furniture to confront his sister. We’ve discussed before how Gao seems more like the comic version of Lin and I think after the events of this episode we might be using season one as a Master Lin origin story of sorts. Gao is ready for this ambush and has her two kiss ass students, Brandy and Viktor, ready to take down Lin. The thing is Master Lin is always prepared and it seems that Brandy and Viktor have been plants this whole time. This was a bit surprising and a little out of left field but I’m willing to roll with it for now. I know Brandy and Viktor like to back the winning horse but I would like some explanation at some point as to how this came to happen. All that ends up being a moot point as Lin tips his hand, damn smirk, and Gao is able to escape.

Saya who is supposed to be watching Lin’s house even though she doesn’t know she’s watching Lin’s house, leaves after nothing happens to join up with her friends leaving the house vulnerable. Of course, El Diablo shows up and holds Lin’s family hostage. Gao has informed him about everything and now Lin has to backtrack in order to save his family. The other thing about Diablo knowing what really happened it makes the assault on F-Face Manor sort of an unneeded risk. F-Face needs to be removed from the board but no matter what happens the cartel already knows what happened and Maria is screwed. But before that can happen Lin watches his wife die in front of his eyes as he picks up his daughter and makes a run for it… on foot with El Diablo and gang hot on his heels. Saya is so screwed.

Choices, man… choices.

Some other quick thoughts before I leave you-

• Shabnam is sooooo crafty. Don’t sleep on him guys. I wonder if he’s working for Lin too.
• Seriously, that opening was bonkers.
• Lex yelling at the comic book shop kids was my favorite line of the night. Petra explaining the consequences of F-Face was a close second.
• There’s no way Willie stays gone, right? He has to come back and be the hero. The gang is going to need every bit of help they can get.
• Shab’s dad… going to be a different type of Christmas in the Shabnam household.
• I think Lin is going to give up his daughter to Gao to make peace and maintain control of King’s Dominion. Thus resulting in the cold, callous Lin from the comics. I have an idea how he makes it good with El Diablo but it feels like a spoiler so I’ll remain silent.
• I just love how loyal this show is to the comic. I never would have believed to see that comic book shop scene on TV, or the punk show for that matter, and SyFy gives free rein to give the best possible adaptation. It makes me happy. Now we just need that season two pick up.

There you have it Geeklings, only one episode left in season one of Deadly Class and things are heating up. Do you think the gang will be able to survive the assault on F-Face Manor? Does it even matter anymore? What’s Lin’s next move? Does Maria know about Saya? Sound off in the comments with thoughts and theories. If you’d like to talk more Deadly Class, comic or show, with yours truly you can find me on Twitter @iamgeek32. I’m there every Wednesday night Tweeting along with the episode. Come join me, it’s a blast. That’s going to be a wrap for me future disrupters of America, see you all next week with the season finale. We’re not ready.

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