KAOS – Season One

While some spent their childhood obsessed with dinosaurs, space, or the Roman Empire, others were fascinated by Greek mythology. Charlie Covell (The End of the F***ing World) might have been of the latter group if their newest Netflix series, KAOS, is anything to go by. The show follows the Greek pantheon we all know, in a world where they are no mere legends; they have always been real, and rule humans through a combination of supernatural powers, threats, blackmail, and good old violence. Myth-heads will certainly enjoy the myriad of references the KAOS universe offers, but there is no need to be a mythology enthusiast to appreciate the show. It takes ample time to introduce every important character, whether immortal or human, complete with name and title cards and witty quips from the narrator.

Speaking of the narrator, we’re treated to a fun hybrid of an omniscient, self-aware narrator in the form of Prometheus (Stephen Dillane). For those needing a Mythology 101 refresher, Prometheus is the god of forethought and fire, punished by Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) for giving humans fire and condemned to be bound to a rock and have his liver picked out by an eagle every day. In KAOS, Prometheus is similarly punished, bound to a cliff face from which he seems to be able to survey everything and everyone else. He describes himself as Zeus’s former best friend and constantly breaks the fourth wall as he tells the show’s story. He’s part of a mysterious plot to bring Zeus and the rest of the gods down.

In this world, everyone receives a prophecy from the Fates (more about them later) when they’re born, and prophecies are usually unique to every individual. According to Prometheus, the only way to bring Zeus down hinges on a prophecy that ties the king of gods to three unwitting humans. The prophecy reads: “A line appears, the order wanes, the family falls, and Kaos reigns.” After a monument to honour him is revealed under a pile of faeces on Olympia Day, and he discovers a new wrinkle on his forehead, Zeus becomes paranoid about his prophecy. He’s convinced the wrinkle is the prophesied line and the desecrated monument, the first hint of his waning order.

What about the humans who share his prophecy? The first, Eurydice (Aurora Perrineau), or Riddy for short, is the discontented wife and muse of rock star Orpheus (Killian Scott). She’s slowly but surely falling out of love with him and planning to leave him until a mysterious seer named Cassandra (Billie Piper) foretells her untimely death on Olympia Day. The second human is Caeneus (Misia Bulter), who works in Asphodel, which is part of the Underworld, as a Handler with his own Cerberus dog Fotis after having been brutally murdered 10 years prior. His routine is upended after he is reassigned as a Diver, helping the deceased to swim in the river Lethe to pass through the Frame towards the Renewal of their souls. That’s how he meets Riddy, whose husband took away her coin for safe passage when she was buried, which traps her in Asphodel and forces her to work with Caeneus.

Last but not least is Ariadne, Ari for short (Leila Farzad), the daughter of Minos (Stanley Townsend), who rules as president of Crete and lives under Poseidon’s (Cliff Curtis) thumb. Ari is plagued by old family trauma: she accidentally suffocated her twin brother Glaucus as a baby, and her mother has held her responsible ever since. She assists her father with the investigation to find the terrorist group known as the Trojan 7, who are behind the prank on the shit-covered monument. She starts being disillusioned with her father, and the gods when Minos breaks a promise he made to her to appease Poseidon and Zeus, which leads her to start digging into her family’s past.

Meanwhile, the god of pleasure and festivity, Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan), is bored and wants to be taken seriously by his father Zeus. He becomes invested in Orpheus’s love for Riddy and decides to help him travel to the Underworld to become the first human to bring the dead back. He brings him to the Cave, a dive bar where the aforementioned Fates, known as Lachy (Suzy Eddie Izzard), Clotho (Ché), and Atropos (Sam Buttery), hold a quiz and let the winner through a hidden entrance to the Underworld to give them a chance at bringing their loved ones back. Rabid fans can follow their progress on a scoreboard as they try and inevitably fail to cross the river Styx to reach Asphodel.

Jeff Goldblum’s (Jurassic Park) casting as Zeus, king of the gods, is a stroke of genius—for fans of Goldblum, at least. His off-kilter, eccentric personality shines in this role, where he seems to bring more of himself than anything else (or the self he has been presenting to the public, that is). His and Hera’s palace on Mount Olympus has more of the trappings of Santa Monica than classical Greece, complete with garish décor, pools with flashy floaties, and white-clad ball boys running around to do Zeus’s bidding. Goldblum’s energy perfectly matches Zeus’s tracksuit-wearing, ball-boy-murdering narcissism, and he’s well accompanied by a regal McTeer (The Menu). Her portrayal of Hera is reminiscent of another Netflix leading lady, Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) from House of Cards (2013-18). Apart from sharing the same haircut, both characters project the same confident, imperturbable exterior and complex scheming. Unfortunately, the show spends so much time setting itself up that Hera’s scheming and the tension between her and Zeus lose steam before any payoff between the characters can take place.

The other standouts among the cast are Thewlis (The Sandman), who brings his natural gravitas to the somewhat thankless role of Hades, as well as Misia Butler (The School for Good and Evil), whose sensibility and very effective puppy eyes bring the endearing Caeneus to life. Stephen Dillane is thoroughly enjoyable as the cheeky Prometheus, as is Suzy Eddie Izzard (The High Note) as one of the Fates; the latter supports her two costars with her presence and charisma, while the former nails (pun intended) the tongue-in-cheek deity.

With the inclusion of trans actors Butler, Izzard, and Buttery, who portray an openly trans character for the former and non-binary all-powerful personifications for the latter two (their gender identity was confirmed by Buttery in an interview with The Pink News), Covell delivers a deliberately queer show. Indeed, the creator of the show identifies as non-binary, and they are well accompanied by one of the directors, Runyararo Mapfumo, who worked as a director on another well-known Netflix show with prominent queer storylines, Sex Education (2019-2023).

KAOS manages to integrate its characters’ trans and queer identities seamlessly, making them into a “matter-of-fact” inclusion, both in symbolical and living characters. Historically, trans characters have been portrayed as metaphors or symbols, as side characters and victims rather than as fully embodied characters, and Covell successfully steers clear of those stereotypes. They are in positions of power in the case of the Fates, and Covell even subverts mythology in an interesting twist (no spoilers here). It also features a desirable trans hero in Caeneus, with a romantic arc that does feature its fair share of complications, which are refreshingly unrelated to his transness.

As a whole, KAOS is, almost painfully, almost obviously, a Netflix show, and took inspiration from numerous other recent streaming shows in my opinion. Apart from the aforementioned House of Cards similarity and a Sex Education crew member, KAOS read like the irreverent, self-aware Greek penchant for the equally mythical show The Sandman, and the streamer’s overall slick aesthetics. It also takes a few cards out of Disney’s deck with the set design of the Underworld, which felt oddly reminiscent of the vintage, bureaucratic Time Variance Authority (TVA) in Loki (2021-23), sharing similar brutalist architecture and lo-fi elements that made the TVA feel so unique yet timeless. Mixed with the use of black-and-white to denote the change of setting for Asphodel, the effect ends up being a bit heavy-handed and obvious rather than surprising and original.

Nevertheless, Covell’s choice to leave modern-day technology out of this reimagination works in the show’s favour. The whole world of KAOS was technologically lo-fi and unanchored in time, mixing 1980s and 1990s technology with varied aesthetics borrowed from the 1970s. The result is a slick production design that aligns well with other recent streaming shows’ visuals, along with the mordant humour and exciting soundtracks which have also become part and parcel of film and TV in the last few years. If you’re a fan of what the late-2010s and early-2020s have had to offer in that vein, you’ll probably enjoy KAOS.

As for the story, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the characters and storylines, you’re not alone; KAOS is an ambitious piece of storytelling with many moving parts. It spends more time on setup and exposition than on real action, which would be fine if only it didn’t leave the audience on a cliffhanger at the end of its eight-episode run. I admit I enjoy a slower story when the world-building and characters are interesting, but only if the payoff can match the anticipation built by that kind of storytelling. 

Unfortunately, KAOS leaves us high and dry with the promise of an explosive conclusion, but only if Netflix greenlights more seasons. Covell did hint at two more seasons to complete their story in an interview with Cosmopolitan UK, so let’s hold our collective fingers crossed. Is it worth a watch in the meantime? It depends on your tolerance to hanging off cliffs like our dear narrator Prometheus.

UK | 2024 | 8 EPISODES | 16:9 HD | COLOUR • BLACK & WHITE | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

writers: Charlie Covell & Georgia Christou.
directors: Georgi Banks Davies & Runyararo Mapfumo.
starring: Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTeer, Cliff Curtis, David Thewlis, Killian Scott, Stephen Dillane, Aurora Perrineau, Misia Butler, Leila Farzad, Nabhaan Rizwan, Rakie Ayoka, Stanley Townsend, Debi Mazar, Billie Piper & Eddie Izzard.