“Kaos” is the new series from Netflix. It takes place in an alternate reality where the gods of Olympus guide the fate of humanity, but Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is a punishing god. The series premiered on August 29. MeinMMO author Schuhmann has watched the first season with all 8 episodes and provides an assessment.
So successful is KAOS: According to the data from the series “FlixPatrol“, the series KAOS was the number 2 worldwide among the most successful series on streaming services across all platforms on September 3. Only the new hospital series Breathless is ahead of KAOS, but the gods series ranks above Worst Ex Ever and Emily in Paris (all Netflix).
In Germany, KAOS is even more successful, ranking KAOS in first place, ahead of Worst Ex Ever, Breathless, and Emily in Paris.
KAOS takes place in a world where gods are real and belief is certainty
This is the world of Kaos: In Kaos, people live with the certainty that there are gods who want to be worshipped. People know: Life on Earth is just a phase that passes. The underworld, the river “Styx”, and rebirth await. Every mortal receives a “prophecy” at birth that determines their life. Instead of “Amen,” in Kaos they say Vero.
The majority of the story takes place in a modern Crete, which is the New York City of this world. It is ruled by King Minos – the one with the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Troy has long fallen, the once-great people are subjugated and live in “Trojatown,” the ghetto of Crete. Even in a world with gods, there are the privileged and the oppressed.
The biggest pop star in this world is Orpheus, who is completely infatuated with his Eurydice – but the once-great love has become an obsession, in his latest hit Orpheus describes how he drinks every breath from her lungs. For “Riddy” this is all a bit much.
This is how Kaos begins: The narrator of Kaos is the Prometheus chained to a rock, along with an eagle that feasts on his body. Prometheus speaks through the 4th wall to the audience, saying he plans to bring down Zeus. Because he is slowly becoming like his father, Chronos, a mad tyrant who suspects treachery and betrayal everywhere.
Meanwhile, Eurydice is increasingly unhappy with one of the legends of love in human history, because Orpheus feels, as she later says, enough for two
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In the meantime, Minos wants to honor the gods in a political ritual, but someone has defaced the monument of the gods with excrement. Poseidon finds it quite amusing, but Zeus is furious – you can hear it in the thunder. He wants mortals to finally obey again.
A wonderfully terrible family
These are the gods: Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is the boss, but slightly paranoid. He distributes the all-important water of the Meander that grants the gods eternal life and dreams of teaching the disobedient mortals a lesson with floods, wildfires, and viral outbreaks.
His wife Hera delights in the sins of mortals; she has a room with thousands of compartments where detached tongues reveal their secrets.
Poseidon, Zeus’s brother, resides on a luxurious yacht and feeds exclusively on fish. In the eyes of the godly prince, he is little more than a lout who constantly walks around with his shirt off.
Hades, the god of the underworld, appears only in black and white and has a problem with an excess of souls. The “Gate” that is supposed to secure humans their rebirth was never designed for so many dead. Fortunately, Persephone helps him. The in-laws are not really welcomed on Olympus.
Dionysus seems like half a person, but his mother, who had a fling with Zeus, was long ago turned into a bee by Hera. Dionysus is fed up with being the fool of the service and longs for something greater or at least a nice word from Papa Zeus.
The human cast of Kaos consists mainly of Orpheus, his Eurydice, the royal family of Crete around Minos, and his stubborn daughter Ariadne, who is in love with the bodyguard Theseus. Then there’s the underworld and the poor souls who were buried without their gold coins and perform their hard labor.
Prometheus (Stephen Dillane) brings fire to humanity and is chained to a rock by Zeus for it.
Hera (Jant McTeer) is the wife and sister of Zeus – always on his tail when he cheats on her with a mortal.
Hades (played by David Thewlis in the series) is the god of the underworld and a quite sinister character who abducts beautiful Persephone.
Misia Butler plays Caenus. In the myth, this is a woman who was raped by Poseidon and transformed 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 is a quirky series aimed mainly at friends of mythology and includes many small allusions to classical myths. The series does not take itself too seriously, but is rather an exaggerated satire.
Especially Jeff Goldblum as Zeus is such a crazy and quirky character that it’s hard to be angry with him, even though he is depopulating half the world. Originally, Hugh Grant was intended for the role, but Goldblum is having so much fun with his omnipotence that it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role.
Kaos is quite a wild mix and indulges a bit too much in its own ideas and audacity to be truly gripping:
- The Furies are the most terrifying and horrific beings in Greek mythology; in Kaos, they are a trio of motorcycle brides
- The Fates are three trans individuals who host quiz shows and play pool
- Cyclops Polyphemus is a normal guy with an eyepatch
- Medea is a frustrated shift manager in middle management of the underworld who always wears a headscarf
- Diabetes is a three-headed dog breed that sniffs the dead to find out who was buried without a coin
Despite such absurdities, the series builds tension and wants its characters to be taken seriously emotionally, especially Orpheus is supposed to be seen as going on a heroic journey and experiencing emotional transformation. I had some trouble with that.
Ultimately, Kaos apparently wants to tell a great story that goes beyond just one season and ends with a cliffhanger when it just begins to become exciting. The first season mainly serves to open up and introduce the clever parallel world and ends where it could start taking turns that you wouldn’t see coming three episodes earlier.
Kaos revels a bit too much in its own ideas and audacity to be truly captivating. But the many allusions will surely amuse fans of mythology.
The series are often the highest quality on Netflix that justifies a subscription. However, there are also exciting movies on offer: A new horror movie rated 18+ is currently running on Netflix – It starts so exciting that you can hardly stand it until the guy from Die Hard 4 messes it all up
