'Netflix's Kaos is messy and queer in the best way possible'
No one is messier and more dramatic than the Greek gods. Between the cheating and the fighting and the endless banging, it's essentially Brat Summer all year long on Mt. Olympus. It's no wonder then that the gays love Greek mythology so much. And by gays, I mean me. Have you seen Disney's Hercules? I'd sure like to Go The Distance with him.
So it was with both excitement and trepidation that I approached Charlie Covell's new Netflix series, KAOS, which stars Jeff Goldblum as Zeus in a world where the Greek gods reign over modern day society.
The story revolves around a prophecy tied to three mortals that could bring Olympus crashing to its knees and end the world as they know it. Kaos is at turns funny and dark and epic and all kinds of messed up, which means the story struggles to find its footing at first with all these different tones. But one thing KAOS does nail from the get-go is chaos of a very queer nature.
The first episode starts with a bang, quite literally, when we meet Dionysus at a queer club orgy. It's a fitting introduction for the god of fertility and hedonism (who we also see with a guy in the toilets one episode later), and the fact he looks a bit bored by it all is reminiscent of many gays who spent way too long on the party circuit.
Watch a trailer for Kaos
There are many more queer moments scattered throughout these first few episodes, including a problematic turn of events when Hera disguises herself as Zeus to have sex with one of his mortal consorts. On the plus side, two queer icons show up early on in the cast as well — Eddie Izzard, who plays one of the Fates named Lachesis, and Billie Piper, the musical genius behind Girlfriend, Day and Night, and of course, Honey to the Bee (not to mention her roles in Doctor Who and other bangers too).
Each of these threads, and every part of the story in fact, is connected through Prometheus, the narrator who Zeus condemned to imprisonment on a cliff where a bird pecks his guts out each day. However, it's not until episode four that we discover he too is queer, just as pretty much everyone connected to Olympus is, it seems
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This is where we discover via flashback that a character we've already met named Cal used to be together with Prometheus. The scene in question starts off quite loving, although Prometheus ends up stabbing Cal in the neck so he can help fulfil an important prophecy in the underworld. Again, consent is noticeably absent here, although it tracks that immortal beings would f**k around with even the people they love if they're not immortal too.
What's notable about this flashback though — murder aside — is how loving the pair are to each other before said murder. KAOS doesn't shy away from the physical affection these two older men share, and their naked bodies too for that matter as well. In a world where people over a certain age are often dismissed as sexual beings, watching Cal and Prometheus be intimate with each other feels special and unique.
That's also true of the moment Hera decides to "f***" Perseus — who "might bring the horse" — but for very different reasons, of course. Yet in the grand scheme of KAOS, the most special and unique storyline doesn't actually involve the gods at all.
Early on, we discover that a man living in the underworld named Caeneus (Misia Butler) will be one of the chosen three responsible for Zeus's downfall. When another one of the chosen named Riddy dies, he quickly becomes friends with her, but it's not until Caeneus opens up fully that the pair suddenly get caught up in a romance of their own.
In episode six, Caeneus reveals that he once "dishonoured" the gods because he was actually born an Amazon before he later transitioned into becoming a man. His mother's prophecy foretold her child would be male, but she didn't realise the truth of it until Caeneus, once named Caenis, realised the truth for himself.
As his back story unfolds, we learn that the Amazons force the boys they raise to leave their compound forever once they reach a certain age. That means Caeneus has to leave too once he reveals his true gender identity. It's a heartbreaking decision, but the strength he draws from being himself makes it all worth it.
What's especially remarkable about this storyline though is the way Caeneus's mother treats him through all this. Because she knew he was trans even before he did, and that did nothing to diminish the love she held for her son.
"You're my flesh. My blood. My bones. I know you," Caeneus's mother tells him. And when he asks if she hates him for being trans, she immediately says, "The opposite" without hesitation,
Watching a mother so readily accept her trans son, especially in a matriarchal society that actively resents men, is just gorgeous and heartfelt to watch, as is the relationship Caeneus then strikes up with Riddy. Seeing them lying shirtless in bed together with his chest scars visible feels incredibly organic and matter-of-fact in the best way possible.
Aside from Elliot Page's arc in Umbrella Academy, trans male storytelling of any kind is practically nonexistent on screen, and especially when it comes to genre fare like this. So seeing a trans male actor — the brilliant Misia Butler — play a trans male character who finds love and accepts love in this current climate especially is nothing short of monumental.
In the original Greek myths, Caeneus was born a woman too, but when she had sex with the sea-god Poseidon, she didn't want to bear his child. And so Poseidon used his divine powers to transform Caeneus, first called Caene, into an invulnerable man, stronger than any other. Because apparently condoms weren't a thing?
Kaos takes a very different route with the Netflix version of Caeneus, but he's no less powerful. In fact, this modern interpretation is even stronger because of how integral he is to the story and how impactful his role is in real life too.
As messy and dramatic as Kaos is overall, the story of Caeneus is anything but. Because even with all the cheating and fighting and endless banging that takes place on Mt. Olympus, the show still takes time to incorporate queerness more organically too with the likes of Caeneus. Let's just hope this show can go the distance and return for a second season soon on Netflix.
KAOS is out now on Netflix.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/netflix-kaos-messy-queer-best-way-possible-154910180.html
