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alexxkayKestrell and I recently watched the Netflix series Kaos, and I highly recommend it. It was canceled after a single 8-episode season, sadly. While I would happily have watched several more seasons of it, the first season reaches sufficient closure that I didn't feel left in the lurch.
The story is set in what at first glance is the modern day, but as quickly becomes apparent, this is a fascinating AU. The story is largely set in Crete, and the Greek gods are 100% undeniably real and in charge. Some of the familiar myths are history now, and others are happening as we watch. Or at least, *versions* of them are happening, but that doesn't mean you know what's next. The details shift and rhyme intriguingly. [Christianity doesn't appear to have happened, though temples to Hera have a confessional-analogue.]
It's billed as a comedy, and stars Jeff Goldblum as Zeus. And it *is* frequently funny. But it's fundamentally a drama, make no mistake, and almost certainly a tragedy. Goldblum is silly and goofy and endearing -- and fucking *terrifying*. Zeus is egotistical and paranoid, convinced that a dire prophecy is coming true that will topple the gods. And of course, by trying to prevent the prophecy, he is actually making it come to pass. [Sidebar: The Fates make it clear that it's actually quite easy to prevent their prophecies from coming true. Just ignore them, and they have no power. But ignoring them isn't easy...]
Other familiar names in the cast include Lucy Eddie Izzard as Lachesis (again, both funny and scary), Billie Piper as Cassandra, and David Thewlis as Hades (at least his second gig as a Greek god!). And lots of actors who I haven't seen before, but whom I will now be keeping an eye out for.
I counted at least four characters who were trans or non-binary, and for one of them it was a significant plot point. On the negative side, all four of them die. On the positive side, this being a mythological story, none of them *stay* dead! There's also some surprising disability representation of sorts that one rarely sees. And lots of PoC of several varieties.
The writing is extremely good. At one point while watching, it was getting kind of late and Kestrell suggested that maybe we could watch half an episode? I refused, on the grounds that the episodes were so well structured that I didn't want to break that structure.
The story is set in what at first glance is the modern day, but as quickly becomes apparent, this is a fascinating AU. The story is largely set in Crete, and the Greek gods are 100% undeniably real and in charge. Some of the familiar myths are history now, and others are happening as we watch. Or at least, *versions* of them are happening, but that doesn't mean you know what's next. The details shift and rhyme intriguingly. [Christianity doesn't appear to have happened, though temples to Hera have a confessional-analogue.]
It's billed as a comedy, and stars Jeff Goldblum as Zeus. And it *is* frequently funny. But it's fundamentally a drama, make no mistake, and almost certainly a tragedy. Goldblum is silly and goofy and endearing -- and fucking *terrifying*. Zeus is egotistical and paranoid, convinced that a dire prophecy is coming true that will topple the gods. And of course, by trying to prevent the prophecy, he is actually making it come to pass. [Sidebar: The Fates make it clear that it's actually quite easy to prevent their prophecies from coming true. Just ignore them, and they have no power. But ignoring them isn't easy...]
Other familiar names in the cast include Lucy Eddie Izzard as Lachesis (again, both funny and scary), Billie Piper as Cassandra, and David Thewlis as Hades (at least his second gig as a Greek god!). And lots of actors who I haven't seen before, but whom I will now be keeping an eye out for.
I counted at least four characters who were trans or non-binary, and for one of them it was a significant plot point. On the negative side, all four of them die. On the positive side, this being a mythological story, none of them *stay* dead! There's also some surprising disability representation of sorts that one rarely sees. And lots of PoC of several varieties.
The writing is extremely good. At one point while watching, it was getting kind of late and Kestrell suggested that maybe we could watch half an episode? I refused, on the grounds that the episodes were so well structured that I didn't want to break that structure.