Kaos Season 1 Review

Kaos (2024-)
Season 1 - 8 episodes (2024)

Watch Kaos on Netflix
Created by: Charlie Covell
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTeer, Stephen Dillane, Aurora Perrineau, Killian Scott, Nabhaan Rizwan, David Thewlis, Cliff Curtis, Debi Mazar
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
A contemporary retelling of Greek mythology set in the present day.

Verdict
It's a neat idea and I like the presentation, especially the underworld. This certainly has some fun with it, but it's ultimately forgettable. This muddles the tone, staying away from being too dark or too camp and never developing the characters past a caricature. It's a story most everyone knows in part, and the only twist here is the setting. I wavered between wanting it to be more comedic and philosophical like The Good Place or darker like The Fall of the House of Usher.
It depends.

Review
This is campy and silly, but that's what makes it fun. It's the Greek gods in the present day. Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is paranoid and erratic, afraid of a prophecy that his power could end. Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan) is the neglected, playboy son that just wants his father's approval. To gain that Dionysus hatches a half baked plan to impress his father by conquering the underworld with Orpheus (Killian Scott). That plan may be orchestrated to be Zeus's downfall. Amidst that we have family strife, a love story, a voyage to the underworld, and plenty of drama.

Nabhaan Rizwan, Janet McTeer, Cliff Curtis, Jeff Goldblum play Dionysus, Hera, Posedien, Zeus

This depicts the gods as spoiled and rich, living opulently with no responsibilities. Zeus in maniacal, worried about his downfall and a prophecy. Prophecies guide many of the characters, though all of them are vague. No one knows the true meaning of the proclamation until the end is near. Zeus consults various siblings/gods, concerned that any number of inconclusive signs could signal his downfall. Goldblum gives an otherwise unlikable character enough eccentricity to be tolerable. This could have been more fun with the interactions between the gods.

Stephen Dillane plays Prometheus

All of the scenes in the underworld are monochromatic. It's a great design choice visually and thematically that always provides a sense of place, but at the same time a fitting sense of despondency. Orpheus wants to find his wife in the underworld, believing his love can overcome the fact that no one has ever escaped the underworld. Then again, no one alive has ever ventured to Hades's (David Thewlis) domain. Orpheus is a pawn in Dionysus's plan and both of them are an object of Prometheus's (Stephen Dillane) plan. The further we get into the season, we discover that Prometheus has been planning something for a very long time.

This comes down to Zeus rooting for a human to defy fate to prove that if a human could do it, surely Zeus can defy his fated downfall. The fate of all these characters intersect at the end. This could be funnier, more philosophical, or darker. This tries to forge a middle ground. I want it to commit to one and go for it.  As is, it feels watered down. I wonder if this didn't go further and held back to appeal to a wider audience.