One of the most common myths presented to children is that high school is the best year. The unhappy souls who peaked in high school are the only ones who say this or have fond memories of those horrible years.
That is made very evident in Syfy’s upcoming teen drama Deadly Class. There is no denying that high school is a fantastic period. To emphasize how terrifying high school and adolescence can be, the show incorporates genuine murder (not the “romantic” kind of Riverdale murder that brings everyone closer together), poison, hazing, Ronald Reagan, a dystopian portrayal of San Francisco in 1987, and the consumption of rat parts.
Based on a 2014 comic by Rick Remender and Wes Craig (Remender is also the showrunner and executive producer of the new series), Deadly Class plays with the well-worn and extremely popular trope of a talented school. The X-Men, Harry Potter, and The Magicians, the show’s companion Syfy series, have all ventured into that zone.
But what distinguishes Deadly Class is that its institution for talented children, King’s Dominion, is a finishing school for the children of the world’s most brutal murders, warlords, crime syndicates, mafia members, and gangsters.
These youngsters learn evil techniques: how to utilize poison, physical warfare, and psychology to their advantage. Like in Harry Potter, students learn about spells, and the X-Men test themselves in the Danger Room. There are no magic or mutant talents; it is simply a group of kids studying how to maximize their potential misbehavior.
The show follows Marcus, a new student, as he strives to endure high school’s dark trauma and survive at a school full of killers.
The individuals you’ll be rooting for on this show, including Marcus, may not make it out alive. And, for those that do survive, you might not like who they’ve become.
Still, about halfway through Deadly Class’s first episode (Syfy sent out the first four episodes for review), I began to fantasize about my chances of survival in the show’s grim world (an honest assessment of my potential for fraud and middling physical prowess has convinced me that I’d last around 18 minutes — 12 of which would probably be spent complaining).
The show isn’t without flaws. A gruesome piece of writing will occasionally rear its head. And, remarkably, a program so obsessed with irreverence and hipness isn’t more self-aware of its nihilistic protagonist’s self-importance and self-seriousness.
But Deadly Class’s underlying dark enchantment is that it indulges in a power fantasy of being powerful, evil, and unpunished. The show serves as a reassuring reminder that good people like you and me, right, you more than me, might not flourish in a society like King’s Dominion because we are unwilling to sell our souls.
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But it also asks, “If the actual world is full of corporate monsters and criminal masterminds, why not get even?” Why don’t you join them? Why not define justice and goodness according to your standards?
It’s an enticing fantasy aided by Remender and his team’s gorgeous world-building and a superb young cast led by the endearing Lana Condor, star of Netflix’s breakout summer smash To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.
Deadly Class employs a shock factor. Today, few teen television shows are willing to fantasize about Ronald Reagan’s assassination. The same can be said for the show’s B-tier character Brandy, a neo-Nazi Southern Belle who also serves as the head cheerleader for King’s Dominion. Some reviewers have already criticized the show’s politics, claiming that it glorifies Nazis and uses racial tropes to portray non-white people.
But the show’s letdown for me has less to do with morally terrible persons of color attending a morally horrific institution and more to do with the inclusion of neo-Nazis in its tale (the real world has taught us that neo-Nazis do, indeed exist). Rather, I’m dissatisfied with its occasional lack of awareness and thinking after that initial impression.
Brandy is a one-note, capital-R racist who tells nasty jokes about Latinos and throws the odd insult.
Despite her heinous actions, isn’t there something more ominous about Brandy, or any contentious character, if there was more opportunity for the unexpected? (The first episode of Deadly Class mentions Brandy perhaps sleeping with nonwhite males; thus, perhaps Brandy’s psychology will be explored in the future?)
Or maybe the program could be as brutal and terrible as it wants to be if it focused on how popular and charismatic a character like Brandy could be, despite her heinous beliefs?
It’s also an odd trip to see Master Lin sell the school to Marcus. He waxes poetic about Marcus’s malevolence’s capacity to transform the world, going on and on about how evil is just as capable of positively affecting the world.
However, King’s Dominion emphasizes the value of discipline and rule-following without truly realizing how stringent evil’s requirements might be. The show might benefit from being more ruthless in depicting how readily we teach our children to do anything we want and how youngsters are trained to please their parents.
The show’s propensity for shock is also evident in extended, narrated monologues.
One of the most compelling aspects of Deadly Class is its cast. Though Wadsworth is the focal point of the performance, he is supported by an outstanding ensemble that dazzles despite the story’s darkness. Condor is the most well-known young actress in the group, thanks to her role as Lara Jean in All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. She’s currently playing Saya, the austere and airless assassin who is the polar opposite of Lara.
Saya is King’s Dominion’s top student. She is emotionless and rides a motorcycle. She shields Marcus from harm and dresses in black. She reminds Marcus of how tough he needs to survive this institution and follow its regulations.
If Deadly Class were a regular teen television show, Saya would be the bad-boy boyfriend who can’t be tamed. Condor appears to be having a good time showing off her incredible range.
De Faria, James, and Tennie all play their parts with a lot of passion. De Faria’s Maria is astute, leaving you wondering which side she’s genuinely on (hint: in most cases, she’s looking out for herself). In an early episode, James’ Billy has a shiver-inducing moment that poses serious issues about mental illness, abuse, and violence, which James pulls off with elegance. Tennie hasn’t yet got the same opportunity as his fellow cast members, but he still shows great competence in the episodes I’ve seen.
It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that the best sections of Deadly Class allow this great cast to lean into the show’s soapy, sudsy components, reminding us that these are teenagers dealing with adolescent problems.
The drama contains a natural romance between Marcus and Saya (and potentially others who may get in the way later on) and a natural operatic tension in these lovebirds choosing to live criminal lives. It’s easy to believe that their internal turmoil, or possibly a love triangle with Maria, will strain their relationship.
The terrors of high school dances, the foreboding sense of arriving into the cafeteria at lunchtime and finding no place to sit, the thrill of discovering companionship in what appears to be a hopeless situation.
As snarky and irreverent as it aspires to be, I like that Deadly Class never minimizes the worry and worries of adolescence, and the ensemble nails their portrayals of those experiences. It occasionally results in long narration that I could do without. However, it also pays off with stories like Billy’s or the undeniable chemistry between Marcus and Saya.
Of course, high school isn’t the most enjoyable time in your life. But the wonderful stuff in Deadly Class happens when it recognizes that it’s still vital.
For a drama whose title references the student body’s murders and their mortality rate, it cares about its characters. And there’s plenty here to keep an eye on to see who makes it.
