Aaron Ashmore and Luke Macfarlane Talk Killjoys S3 + “A Skinner, Darkly” Preview 

[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]

Tomorrow night on Killjoys, Johnny gets himself in way, way, way over his head, Dutch and D’avin audition a few nerds, and we get a VIP first-time meeting.

Nothing in that sentence prepares you for the AWESOMENESS that is Viktoria Modesta going full-on Bond villainess as Niko, a Hackmod with a really, really creepy agenda, or the seriously genius twist that Michelle Lovretta crafted into the episode.

As Johnny Basic and Ollie Ollie Anna (still in love with that) keep working on Clara’s disappearance and thwarting Niko’s mwa ha ha-ing, we’re treated to their fun repartee with a side of some extra-squishy gore, but since it’s mostly green, where does that land on the gore-meter? Maybe make your viewing food choices wisely?

The trio of nerds that Dutch and D’avin put through their paces at the behest of a still delightfully crusty Turin are played by Continuum alumn Erik Knudsen (also on The Mist this week), Luc Trottier, and spoiler alert if you’re not on social media, new recurring cast member Kelly McCormack as Zeph.

I talked to Aaron Ashmore about tonight’s episode and he and Luke Macfarlane about the expanding universe of the show. So far, Johnny’s been the only one to dive into the Hackmod world, and Ashmore says it’s been fantastic to add the new faces because they’re fully-realized characters.

“It’s amazing. There’s nothing worse…it doesn’t happen all the time, but [sometimes on a show], the supporting characters and guest actors come in and don’t step up to the plate or the characters aren’t that interesting or engaging, so they feel like their characters are there just for exposition. In our show, I don’t think that’s the case at all,” he shares.

“In Michelle’s ability to write and create characters that obviously serve a function and are incredibly interesting and three-dimensional, and in the casting of these characters, the actors that our casting directors find for the show are incredible. As an actor getting to see this and knowing when these characters are introduced, we’re going to have someone really, really strong to play with and characters that will allow us as characters to showcase different aspects of our personality, that’s really, really nice.”

“I know we’re going to have good stuff to do and they’re going to have good stuff to do. I think when actors go out for Killjoys, they’re super excited because the characters that are created for them are interesting.”

In tomorrow’s episode, Johnny drops deep down into a Hackmod rabbit hole. “He goes in undercover, and as with many Killjoys missions, things go awry and John ends up in some trouble, but [spoiler alert] he makes it through. I must have pissed the writers off last year at some point because I get beat up and tortured many, many times in Season 3, so this is the first of many John Jaqobi beatdowns,” he laughs.

“John’s always up for pushing the limits and getting his hands dirty. He doesn’t always do it when he’s with Dutch and D’av because they usually go in and do more of the butt-kicking and actual legwork. I don’t think that John is at all afraid to get his hands dirty, especially when he feels like somebody’s in trouble or something needs to get done.”

“I think he’s been forced into this caretaker position so many times. That’s what he falls back on. That’s what he knows. That’s what he does. I think that’s a huge part of who he is–taking care of other people and doing the right thing, and he’s always had to do that.”

As we saw in last week’s premiere, Dutch and D’avin are now working closely with former foes and now frenemies Fancy and Turin. Macfarlane says that’s been a ball, and there’s some truth in the way Fancy and D’av relate to each other. “[Their] dynamic is definitely something that Michelle has in mind. It’s funny, because I adore Sean [Baek] and he’s so great, but we are just the most different people, from the way we approach our work to the way we interact with social media,” he says.

“There’s a kernel of truth in, ‘I don’t get you man, but we’re going to work together.’ I don’t want to give too much away, but I ask for Fancy’s help in a very open and earnest way and I come to his defense and it builds to a really lovely reconciliation, I guess you could say. We’ll see how long that lasts.”

While D’av and Fancy find equal footing, things will be bumpier for D’av and Turin. “They come to a pretty serious head. Turin is going down [a dark path] and some of his tactics are, for lack of a better word, a breach of the Geneva Convention and D’avin is a bit of a moral authority and calls him out on that,” he says.

On the lighter side of things, Macfarlane says Patrick Garrow is very accommodating about all the quips about his fabulous hair, including the “Don’t take your haircut out on me” line in the opener that I was sure had an outtake of Garrow breaking character. “He’s very professional on set. I honestly don’t know how he handles all the insults about his hair,” Macfarlane says. “That’s not the first or last insult [this season].”

Check back in the coming weeks for more from my chats with Ashmore and Macfarlane about Season 3. Killjoys airs Fridays at 10/9c on Syfy in the US and Space in Canada. Here’s a sneak peek of “A Skinner, Darkly.” Pay attention to that title.