Deadly Class (TV series)

Deadly Class is an American action drama television series developed by Rick Remender and Miles Orion Feldsott for Syfy. It is based on the comic book series of the same name created by Remender and Wesley Craig and published by Image Comics. The series stars Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, María Gabriela de Faría, Luke Tennie, Liam James, and Michel Duval. Set in the late 1980s, the series revolves around King's Dominion, an elite private academy where students are trained to become assassins.

Deadly Class
Genre	Action Adventure Black comedy Drama Thriller
Based on	Deadly Class by Rick Remender & Wesley Craig
Developed by	Rick Remender Miles Orion Feldsott
Starring	Benedict Wong Benjamin Wadsworth Lana Condor María Gabriela de Faría Luke Tennie Liam James Michel Duval
Composer	Nathan Matthew David
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Anthony Russo Joe Russo Rick Remender Miles Orion Feldsott Mick Betancourt Lee Toland Krieger Mike Larocca Adam Targum
Producers	John G. Lenic Albert J. Kim
Production locations	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Cinematography	Tim Ives Owen McPolin
Editors	Jeff Groth John Peter Bernardo
Running time	43–54 minutes
Production companies	Gozie AGBO Chipmunk Hill Getaway Productions Giant Generator 2 Miles Entertainment Universal Cable Productions Sony Pictures Television
Original release
Network	Syfy
Release	January 16 (2019-01-16) – March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)

The series was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Universal Cable Productions, in association with Gozie AGBO, Chipmunk Hill, Getaway Productions, Giant Generator and 2 Miles Entertainment. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo served as executive producers alongside Remender, Feldsott, Mick Betancourt, Lee Toland Krieger, Mike Larocca, and Adam Targum. In November 2017, casting began for a pilot ordered by Syfy. In April 2018, the series was picked up for an order of 10 episodes. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The first episode premiered as a special preview online on December 20, 2018 and on Syfy on December 30; the series officially premiered on January 16, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics, with many praising the cast, visuals, and choreography while criticizing the tone and pacing. The series was canceled in June 2019.^[1]

Premise

Set in a dark, heightened world against the backdrop of late 1980s counterculture, Deadly Class follows a homeless, disillusioned teen, Marcus Lopez Arguello, who is recruited into King's Dominion, a storied elite private school chiefly serving the offspring of the world's top crime families. Maintaining his moral code while surviving a ruthless curriculum, vicious social cliques, and his own adolescent uncertainties soon prove vital for the youth.^[2]

Cast and characters

Main

• Benedict Wong as Master Lin,^[3] the ruthless, no-nonsense headmaster of King's Dominion
• Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus Lopez Arguello,^[3] King's Dominion's newest addition and Saya's pledge
• Lana Condor as Saya Kuroki (Japanese: 黒木沙耶, Hepburn: Kuroki Saya),^[3] the leader of the Kuroki Syndicate^[a] and Marcus's sponsor
• María Gabriela de Faría as Maria Salazar,^[3] a member of the Soto Vatos and Chico's former girlfriend
• Luke Tennie as Willie Lewis,^[3] leader of the F.W.O. (Final World Order) and Marcus's best friend at King's Dominion
• Liam James as Billy Bennett,^[3] a punk rocker who is one of Marcus's best friends and the son of a corrupt, drug smuggling cop
• Michel Duval as Chico,^[3] the leader of the Soto Vatos, and Maria's former boyfriend

Recurring

• Taylor Hickson as Petra,^[3] a goth hailing from a death cult
• Siobhan Williams as Brandy Lynn,^[3] a racist Southern belle and the leader of the Dixie Mob
• Sean Depner as Viktor,^[3] notorious as the son of Joseph Stalin's top assassin
• Jack Gillett as Lex Miller,^[3] an easygoing outcast
• Isaiah Lehtinen as Shabnam, son of a wealthy banker who is shunned by his peers
• Juan Grey as Juan, a member of Maria's clique Soto Vatos
• Tom Stevens as Chester "Fuckface" Wilson,^[3] Marcus's psychopathic bunkmate
• Sam Jin Coates as Yukio (Japanese: ゆきお, Hepburn: Yukio), a member of the Kuroki Syndicate and a student at King's Dominion
• Brian Posehn as Dwight Shandy,^[3] an aging stoner
• Olivia Cheng as Madame Gao,^[3] head of that assassins guild and Master Lin's sister
• David Zayas as El Alma Del Diablo,^[3] Chico's father
• Viva Lee as Nahia, Master Lin's daughter
• Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon as Holy Ghost, El Diablo's enforcer

Guest

• Henry Rollins as Jürgen Denke,^[3] former Poison Lab instructor
• Erica Cerra as Miss De Luca,^[3] Hand-to-Hand Combat instructor
• Ryan Robbins as Rory Heemsle,^[3] homeless man who terrorized and preyed on other homeless individuals
• Graeme Meekison as Jaden, an attending student at King's Dominion
• Theresa Wong as Shu, Master Lin's wife
• Kelcey Mawema as Gabrielle, a young woman who befriends and romances Willie
• Christopher Heyerdahl as Master Zane,^[3] combat skills instructor
• French Stewart as Scorpio Slasher,^[3] psychopathy instructor
• Chanelle Peloso as Sue Ann, Chester's ally
• Ice-T as himself^[3]
• Doralynn Mui as Riku (Japanese: リク, Hepburn: Riku), a top lieutenant in the Kuroki Syndicate

Episodes

Episode titles are taken from punk rock songs of the 1980s.

No.	Title [4]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [4]	Prod. code [4]	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Reagan Youth"	Lee Toland Krieger	Teleplay by : Rick Remender & Miles Orion Feldsott	December 30, 2018 (2018-12-30)[b]	100	0.355[6]
In 1987 San Francisco, Marcus, a homeless teenager, fights for survival and unexpectedly finds purpose to his life when he is recruited by Master Lin, the headmaster at an elite academy called King's Dominion. In order to pass his classes, he must learn the deadly arts to be an assassin- while dealing with unwelcoming schoolmates.
2	"Noise, Noise, Noise"	Adam Kane	Rick Remender	January 23, 2019 (2019-01-23)	101	0.438[7]
Feeling remorse for killing Rory, Marcus begins to integrate socially into the school. More situations arise when a party is being held at Shabnam's – with all the school students being invited. Meanwhile, Jürgen Denke tells Master Lin that he intends to resign from the academy.
3	"Snake Pit"	Adam Kane	Krystal Houghton Ziv & Kevin Rodriguez	January 30, 2019 (2019-01-30)	102	0.435[8]
Marcus becomes involved with the pranks and hazings between the two school cliques, the Legacies and Rats. Master Lin realizes that he is struggling with conflicted feelings about Denke's attempt to escape the academy.
4	"Mirror People"	Alexis Ostrander	Miles Orion Feldsott	February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06)	103	0.516[9]
Being caught and punished by Master Lin for the mischief that took place at the dance party, Marcus and the other students are forced to serve detention. After breaking into a locked weapons room out of boredom, Saya refers to her yakuza past when the school suffers a sudden massacre by members of the Kuroki Syndicate.
5	"Saudade"	Adam Kane	Rick Remender	February 13, 2019 (2019-02-13)	104	0.416[10]
Marcus, Saya, Maria, Willie, and Billy make a drug fueled trip to Las Vegas in an old convertible in order to kill Billy's father. All but Billy take acid, but Marcus takes seven times as much as the rest. Billy's father dies in an accident while fighting Marcus and Billy. Marcus encounters Chester in an elevator, but Chester feels he is not prepared to kill Marcus with enough showmanship so lets him go. Chico interrupts Marcus and Maria making out, severely beats up Marcus, and is killed by Maria.
6	"Stigmata Martyr"	Paco Cabezas	Maggie Bandur & Alex Ebel	February 20, 2019 (2019-02-20)	105	0.365[11]
The group's attempts to cover up their involvement in Chico's death are jeopardized by Maria's bipolar behavior. Master Lin and his sister Madame Gao clash over the proper way to run the academy. Chester prepares to make his debut as a serial killer, and sets the stage for a confrontation with Marcus.
7	"Rise Above"	Anthony Leonardi	Dave Anthony & Hilliard Guess	February 27, 2019 (2019-02-27)	106	0.355[12]
Marcus reveals Chester's threat and their shared history to Saya. He, along with Billy, help Marcus track down Chester. Maria is forced by Chico's family to go after a suspect in his disappearance. Willie bonds with his girlfriend. Gao discovers Master Lin's most closely guarded secret.
8	"The Clampdown"	Ami Canaan Mann	Rayna McClendon	March 6, 2019 (2019-03-06)	107	0.372[13]
Lin institutes a lockdown until he can determine who killed Chico and Yukio. Tensions boil over between the Kuroki and Soto Vatos, with Saya and Maria caught in the middle. Meanwhile, some of the students begin exploring an alliance with Gao.
9	"Kids of the Black Hole"	Wayne Yip	Rick Remender & Miles Orion Feldsott	March 13, 2019 (2019-03-13)	108	0.368[14]
Marcus and his friends prepare to take the battle to Chester, and Marcus separately tries to balance his feelings for Saya and Maria. Saya is forced to choose between her duties to Master Lin and her love for Marcus. Willie's loyalty to his friends is tested by his pacifist ideals. Lin implements his plan to deal with Gao, but she proves to be one step ahead of him.
10	"Sink With California"	Adam Kane	Rick Remender	March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)	109	0.340[15]
Marcus and his friends invade Chester's hideout and enter into a pitched battle with his family. Elsewhere, Master Lin works frantically to keep his daughter alive and stay ahead of El Alma Del Diablo's forces.

Production

Promotional poster

Principal casting for the pilot of the series was released by Syfy in November 2017, with Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, María Gabriela de Faría, Luke Tennie, Liam James and Michel Duval announced as the pilot's leads.^[3] It was picked up to series by Syfy on April 18, 2018, for a planned 2019 debut.^[16] The visual effects for the series, including the Las Vegas sequence in Episode 5, were created by FuseFX, CVDVFX, Zoic and One. Six One Eight.^[17]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 64% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 6.23/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite well executed action and smart casting, Deadly Class struggles to meet the mark set by other spooky teen shows."^[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[19]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Deadly Class

No.	Title	Air date	Rating (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Reagan Youth"	December 30, 2018	0.1	0.355[6]	—	—	—	—
2	"Noise, Noise, Noise"	January 23, 2019	0.1	0.438[7]	0.3	0.62	0.4	1.05[20]
3	"Snake Pit"	January 30, 2019	0.2	0.435[8]	0.2	0.69	0.4	1.13[21]
4	"Mirror People"	February 6, 2019	0.2	0.516[9]	0.2	0.55	0.4	1.06[22][c]
5	"Saudade"	February 13, 2019	0.1	0.416[10]	0.3	0.64	0.4	1.06[23]
6	"Stigmata Martyr"	February 20, 2019	0.1	0.365[11]	0.3	0.58	0.4	0.95[24]
7	"Rise Above"	February 27, 2019	0.1	0.355[12]	0.3	0.54	0.4	0.90[25]
8	"The Clampdown"	March 6, 2019	0.1	0.372[13]	0.2	0.49	0.3	0.87[26]
9	"Kids of the Black Hole"	March 13, 2019	0.1	0.368[14]	0.3	0.54	0.4	0.91[27]
10	"Sink With California"	March 20, 2019	0.1	0.340[15]	0.2	0.49	0.3	0.83[28]

Notes

1. Also known as the Kuroki-gumi (黒木組), it is considered Japan's largest Yakuza syndicate in the Deadly Class universe.
2. The timeslot premiere was on January 16, 2019, which received 598k viewers and a 0.2 18–49 rating.^[5]
3. Live +7 ratings were not available, so Live +3 ratings have been used instead.