Deadly Class season 1, episode 2 review: Noise, Noise, Noise
Deadly Class swings and hits, and also misses.
Fresh out the box is Syfy’s Deadly Class, based on Rick Remender‘s epic comic about murder school for grumpy teenagers. The pilot debuted about a month ago, and the second episode mostly delivered in the same vein, being both gritty, goofy, and gnarly. The main character, Marcus, fresh off the streets and even more freshly a murderer, grapples with having killed a bum, dorky King’s Dominion students, old Hessians, and a slight case of school-approved poisoning. Once again, the tone seems just right, if the acting seems a bit forced. What can you expect from a show’s second episode, though?
DEADLY CLASS — “Reagan Youth” Episode 100 — Pictured: Henry Rollins as Jurgen Denke — (Photo by: Allen Fraser/Syfy)
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Deadly Class hits some high notes, and some stinkers
Returning as a special guest star, Henry Rollins takes up his role as the Poison Arts teacher. He catches Marcus outside, having a smoke, and lets him know that Marcus has, inside himself, that which the school encourages, and that thing is what makes the other students hate him. Shortly after, Marcus and several other students are forced to fight nameless warrior monks while being poison gassed, and then choosing the correct antidote before dying. Intense, and overly dramatic. At lunch, Marcus meets Shabnam, who plays a pivotal role in the comics, and who comes across as exactly the grubby weasel he seems to be in the source material. Shabnam throws a party at his house, and almost everyone shows up, except Maria and Chico, who go to a restaurant and waste screen time being dramatic.
DEADLY CLASS — “Noise, Noise, Noise” Episode 101 — Pictured: Brian Posehn as Dwight Shandy — (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)
Everyone is so lippy in Deadly Class
There’s not enough stuttering. Not enough unsure, feeble responses. Everyone has exactly the right thing to say, without skipping a beat. This goes along with the previous comment about everything seeming a bit forced. However, Brian Posehn has a cameo as the older guy at the teenager’s party with all the weed, forever talking about how cool Judas Priest is. His dialogue, and interactions with Marcus, were particularly entertaining.
After the party, Headmaster Lin takes Marcus to the funeral of the bum he killed, which is not in the comics, and Marcus does some crunch-time feelings dealings. Meh. We find out that Marcus didn’t kill the kids in the boy’s home that burned down, but instead it was some guy getting intimate with a goat. That guy has a burned up face and a weird sense of humor, and we’re clearly going to be seeing more of him in the future.
Next. Scavenging supplies and sneaking around in Isola No. 6. dark
All in all, the episode was pretty good. Not as “oomph-y” as the pilot, but that’s to be expected. Most shows take a season or two to find their legs, but this show has the benefit of a few years of comics already laying out the story. So it’s just a matter of time before the groove is found. It seems like it’s going to follow pretty closely to the written material, but not canonically. Definitely worth watching, this episode garners an 8.5 out of 10. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.