“Kaos” is the name of the new series from Netflix. It takes place in an alternate reality in which the gods of Olympus guide the fate of humanity, but Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is a punishing god. The series started on August 29th. MeinMMO author Schuhmann has seen the first season with all 8 episodes and gives his assessment.
This is the world of Kaos: In Kaos, people live in the certainty that there are gods and that they want to be worshipped. People know that life on earth is just a phase that will pass. The underworld, the river Styx and reincarnation await. Every mortal receives a “prophecy” at birth that determines their life. Instead of “Amen”, people in Kaos say Vero.
Most of the story takes place in a modern Crete, the New York City of this world. It is run by King Minos – the one with the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Troy has long since fallen, the once great people are subjugated and live in “Troytown”, the city’s ghetto. Even in a world with gods, there are the privileged and the subjugated.
The biggest pop star in the world is Orpheus, who is completely in love with his Eurydice – but the once great love has become an addiction, in his latest hit Orpheus describes how he drinks every breath from her lungs. For “Riddy” this is all a bit much.
Kaos is the new Netflix series with a Zeus in adidas
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This is how Chaos begins: The narrator of Kaos is Prometheus, chained to a rock, with an eagle feeding on his kidney. Prometheus speaks across the fourth wall to the viewer and says that he is planning the downfall of Zeus. Because he is slowly becoming like his father, Chronicles, a mad tyrant who suspects malice and betrayal everywhere.
Meanwhile, Eurydice is increasingly unhappy with one of the most legendary loves in human history, because Orpheus feels, as she later says, enough for two.
Meanwhile, Minos wants to honor the gods in a political ritual, but someone has defaced the monument of the gods with excrement. Poseidon finds this quite funny, but Zeus is furious – you can hear it in the rumble of thunder. He wants the mortals to finally get back on track and obey.
A terribly nice family
These are the gods: Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is the boss, but slightly paranoid. He distributes the all-important water of the Meander, which grants the gods eternal life, and dreams of teaching disobedient mortals to behave again with floods, fires and virus outbreaks.
His wife Hera feasts on the sins of mortals; she has a room with thousands of compartments in which loose tongues reveal their secrets.
Poseidon, Zeus’ brother, lives on a magnificent yacht and feeds exclusively on fish. In the eyes of the god, he is little more than a thug who is always running around with his shirt off.
Hades, the god of the underworld, only appears in black and white and has a problem with a surplus of souls. The “gate” that is supposed to ensure people’s rebirth was never designed to accommodate so many deaths. Luckily, Persephone helps him. The “unloved sister-in-law” is not really welcome on Olympus.
Dionysus seems half human, but his mother, who had a relationship with Zeus, was long ago turned into a bee by Hera. Dionysus is fed up of being the idiot on duty and longs for something higher or at least a kind word from his father.
The human cast of Kaos consists mainly of Orpheus, his Eurydice, the royal family of Crete around Minos and his stubborn daughter Ariadne, who has a bit of a crush on bodyguard Theseus. And then there is the underworld and the poor souls who were buried without their gold coins and are doing their drudgery.
Who are the characters in the mythical world and who plays them in KAOS? Orpheus (Killian Scott) is a musician who descends into the underworld to save his lover Eurydice.
Prometheus (Stephen Dillane) brings fire to humanity and is chained to a rock by Zeus for this.
Hera (Jant McTeer) is the wife and sister of Zeus – and is always on his trail when he cheats on her with a mortal.
Hades (David Hewlis in the series) is the god of the underworld and a pretty sinister guy who kidnaps the beautiful Persephone.
Caeneus (Misia Butler) plays Caenus. In the legend, this is a woman who was raped by Poseidon and turned into an invulnerable man.
Kaos is a feast for lovers of mythology, but too over the top to take seriously
Who is Kaos suitable for? It’s a quirky series aimed primarily at fans of mythology and has lots of little references to classic legends. The series doesn’t take itself too seriously, but is more of an over-the-top satire.
Jeff Goldblum in particular, as Zeus, is such a crazy and eccentric character that it’s hard to be mad at him, even if he wipes out half the world. Hugh Grant was originally supposed to play the role, but Goldblum has so much fun with his omnipotence that it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role.
Kaos is a wild mix and allows for some artistic freedom:
Despite such silliness, the series builds up tension and wants you to take its characters seriously on an emotional level, especially when it comes to Orpheus’ hero’s journey and emotional transformation. I had a bit of trouble with that.
Ultimately, Kaos seems to want to tell a big story that goes beyond the first season, so it ends with a cliffhanger just when things are starting to get exciting. The first season now mainly serves to open up and introduce this clever parallel world, and ends where it could start to take twists that you don’t see coming three hours beforehand.
Kaos revels a little too much in its own ideas and cheekiness to be truly engaging. But the many references will surely be fun for fans of mythology.
The series are often the best quality on Netflix, which justifies a subscription. But there are also exciting films on offer: A new horror film for over-18s is running on Netflix – It starts off so exciting that you can hardly stand it until the guy from Die Hard 4 messes everything up