Most people who have survived high school know a thing or two about being stabbed in the back. But for the students at Kings Dominion in Syfy’s Deadly Class, they have to quite literally worry about a possible dagger to the rear. Or a katana. Or a baseball bat. Essentially whatever else their fellow assassins-in-training classmates might prefer when it comes to getting their dirty work done. Because at Kings Dominion, Master Lin isn’t concerned about raising the next generation of bright minds. He’s focused on grooming his students to be the best killers possible.
Deadly Class centers on Marcus (Benjamin Wadsworth), a homeless teen in ‘87 San Francisco who is recruited by Master Lin (Benedict Wong) to enroll at his assassin academy. And while death is constantly on the minds of students at Kings Dominion, they also experience the same angst and adolescent challenges that any normal high schooler faces. There are still cliques, homework assignments, parties, and the lot. The school is largely divided into different crime groups, including the Yakuza, Los Angeles gangsters, and Cartel Kids. All this is set up with the backdrop of the late ‘80s, with plenty of punk music being played during chase scenes and lots of fly fashion when the characters are out of their school uniforms.
The series, which is an adaptation of the original 2014 comic by Rick Remender and Wes Craig, showcases all these social anxieties through Marcus’s eyes. He’s a newcomer to the school who doesn’t exactly fit in with any of the groups and whose mysterious history about why he was admitted by Master Lin follows him like a dark cloud. But there’s also a number of other students that round out the show’s main cast: Lana Condor is a total 180 from her To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before character, playing the katana-wielding, motorcycle-riding, assassin-in-training Saya. She’s King Dominion’s most prized student, often sent on tasks by Master Lin.
📸: SYFY