Posted in: SYFY, Trailer, TV | Tagged: Deadly Class, syfy

'Deadly Class' Review: "Snake Pit" Cuts a Rug, Avoids Cliches [SPOILERS]

Each passing week makes it harder and harder to give an objective review of Deadly Class, SYFY's oh-so-endearing teen murder school drama. It's compelling, entertaining as hell, and effortlessly addictive.

"Snake Pit" continues to excel in what Deadly Class does so well, and somehow manages to turn that formula up a couple of steps. Sure, we get the now-traditional animated origin story – but it's not about one of the students. Teen angst? Sure, there's plenty of that – but King's Dominion is pretty much "Murder High" so you'll get some hallucinogenic drugs thrown in with your angsty posturing.

Marcus (Benjamin Wadsworth), Lex (Jack Gillett), Billy (Liam James), and Petra (Taylor Hickson) dig in to survive the hazing rituals the upper castes of Kings Dominion reserve for the Rat caste each year (students are split up into cliques based on familial legacies, while students without a legacy are delegated to the Rat caste). Marcus is having none of that, and starts lashing out at some of the legacy students.

Poisons teacher Jürgen Denke (Henry Rollins) warns Marcus off of petty retribution, and encourages him to keep his head down and get away from Kings Dominion as soon as possible. Denke has grown disillusioned with the mission at Kings Dominion, believing that kids like the Rats will always be victims while students from legacy families will always have the upper hand. He tries to give notice to Master Lin (Benedict Wong) – and we catch a glimpse of the inner workings of the school.

The rest of the student body is getting ready for a formal dance, with Saya (Lana Condor) and Maria (María Gabriela de Faría) making plans to have a girls night – but Chico (Michel Duval) has plans of his own. Deadly Class likes to play with its tropes, so the dance starts out like every high school dance in an '80s movie – then makes a sharp turn into Carrie territory.

The cast is clearly having the time of their lives, and they all have such extraordinary chemistry that you sometimes forget that they are playing assassins-in-training- and then the violence breaks in and smacks you upside the head for getting caught up in the onslaught of charm.

Once again, the soundtrack is excellent, with tracks from T.S.O.L., Tones on Tail, Minor Threat, the Go-Go's, and – oddly enough – probably the best use of Chris DeBurgh's 'Lady in Red' ever set to film.

Let's go to Spoiler Land, everyone!

French freaking Stewart wins this week's MVP for his turn as Kings Dominion's… uhm… "Fundamentals of Psychopathy" professor…??? He's brought into the classroom chained to his wheelchair, and you're suddenly in for the ride of your life. It takes a minute to realize what class he's teaching – and then he careens around the room, menacing each student in turn. When he finally finds an interest in poor, poor Marcus, it's for all the wrong reasons. Stewart is only in the episode for a scant few minutes – but it's electrically charged and terrifying.

Viktor's (Sean Depner) betrayal of Petra was heartbreaking, and seeing Billy pull his Ducky routine at the end of the episode was so needed. But again, this is "Murder High" – we kept expecting one of them to execute the other during one of the show's only sweet scenes. James and Hickson have adorkable chemistry together, and we really want this to work. It won't.

Then we get to Lin's attempt to serve Denke's notice to "The Powers That Be," with the entire scene feeling like a David Lynch-fueled nightmare: with tiny doors, human furniture, and oozing menace. This leads to an explosive confrontation between Lin and Denke at the end of the episode – and we're left with more questions than answers. Rollins and Wong only exchange a few blows, but there is a lot of regret and anger at play here that's definitely going to blow up later.

Deadly Class returns to SYFY next week with new episode "Mirror People"… and it looks like some Yakuza toughs are coming by for a little "Show-n-Tell":

Deadly Class s01e04 "Mirror People": Saya and Marcus have to survive an attack on the school when Saya's past comes back to haunt her.

From Sony Pictures Television and Universal Cable Productions, Deadly Class was adapted for television by original comic book series writer Rick Remenderand Miles Orion Feldsott, who will serve as executive producers alongside Joe Russo and Anthony Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War), Mike Larocca (Spy) and Mick Betancourt (USA Network's The Purge, Shots Fired). Remender, Feldsott, and Betancourt will also share showrunner duties on the series.

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