Kaos – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

The Cave

Episode 2 of Kaos starts with a guy called Caeneus killed in a bar. Apparently he’s dishonoured the Gods and the Amazonian tribe, and after being shot with an arrow, is left to pass out on the ground.

We then cut to Orpheus, who wakes up and finds Dionysus with him at home. The latter urges him that they need to be quick before Riddy passes through the Frame. And that happens to be where Riddy is; she’s on her way to the Underworld passing through the River Styx. Hades is on the monitor and he explains that their devotion to the Gods will determine their next phase of play.

When they make it to the other side, they’ll need to pass through the Frame, where their atoms will be passed back to Earth again. Now, funnily enough one of the people onboard this ship happens to be the Olympia sacrifice, Agatha, from episode 1. She always wanted to be a tacita and when she finds out Riddy defied the Gods before being killed, she leaves her with an ominous message.

Hades is the King of the Underworld and he’s joined by his wife, Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld. Zeus contacts him and decides they need to send a message to the monument desecrators. He wants them to double-down on the number of divers available for the crossing because there will be more bodies coming their way soon.

When Riddy makes it to Asphodel, she prepares herself as Charon is there to greet the newcomers. There are a number of working dogs here too (all of which three-headed), weeding out individuals from the line. Unfortunately, one of those happens to be Riddy. She’s promised by the handler that everything will be okay. And as Riddy is taken away, we meet our second human – Caeneus.

Caeneus is the handler working for Charon and his death in the bar was ten years back. He has no idea what relevance he’s going to play in this story, and part of that comes from being promoted alongside a woman called Prue to become a Diver. Caeneus refuses the call to action, as it also means he’ll have to let his dog, Fotis, go too. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much of a choice, while Medusa looks over all of this.

Back on Earth, Dionysus drives out recklessly with Orpheus and tries to convince him to have some faith. They drive all the way up to a bar in the middle of nowhere, called The Cave. Here, he’s encouraged to head in and make himself at home. This is The Cave, a dive spot where desperate people try to gain access to The Underworld. Unfortunately, it always ends in failure, and Orpheus is not happy. Dionysus convinced him to get involved and reveals that this is a big quiz.

While this is going on, Zeus phones all his kids but none of them pick the phone up. He’s constantly disappointed by his children and we also see that Hera and Zeus have their own issues too. Hera knows about Zeus heading off to make new children on Earth, and this time Hera poses as Zeus to teach him a lesson. She wants all half-breeds to be killed and as for the Queen Bee, well, Hera literally turns her into a bee to join the other unfortunate humans that have fallen under Zeus’ spell.

Zeus is pissed and knowing that the humans on Earth are content, comes up with a plan to kill a good chunk of the population. Prometheus doesn’t think this is a good idea but his concerns fall on deaf ears. Zeus has a two-phase plan. The first, being natural disasters, and the second a Trojan-War with a big conflict taking place, engulfing the entire world. 

As for Riddy, she ends up at the Center of the Unresolved. Apparently, these individuals are here because they were cremated or buried without their coins. So in fact, they’re going to be working for the next 200 years. Riddy is understandably shocked.

Back on Earth, Dionysus and Orpheus prepare for a big quiz to take place. This is conducted by a collective trio called The Fates. There’s Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho. Honestly though, they look like Chaser rejects from the British game-show, The Chase. But I digress!

There are seven rounds and as this gets underway, back in the Underworld, our new divers happen to cross paths with Riddy. Before she gets here though, it’s worth a little exposition to explain what Divers are. They are essentially the guides that help people across to The Frame. Their role is to support, listen and guide individuals into the water and toward Renewal. If they mess this up, they have to deal with children for Renewal, which doesn’t sound particularly pleasant.

Anyway, as Riddy makes her way into the water, she realizes that she’s trapped. As she breaks down crying, Lachesis, one of the Fates, approaches Orpheus and smashes his hand. It turns out, he took the coin away from Riddy’s mouth before she died. He needed her to stay and this is why he did this, in a bid to get her back. As a result, he automatically loses the game.

While Dionysus tries to explain Orpheus’ actions as an act of love, he speaks to the Fates and tries to pay their way into the Underworld. However, they’ll need to use Zeus’ watch to get there… which Dionysus happens to have.

The Episode Review

Alas, the plot thickens and there’s a really nice style to this show, as we cut back and forth between the Underworld, shot entirely in black and white, and the drama on Earth and Olympus, which are in colour. It’s a small touch but it helps differentiate the two states and builds on the lore established within the series.

The drama involving Orpheus and Riddy is starting to heat up now and seeing more of the Gods and how all of this ties into the way we mortals live is a solid bit of worldbuilding. However, we’ll have to wait and see where this one goes next.