Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Spare a thought for Zeus, king of the gods. After aeons ruling the universe, he now spends days rattling around his Mount Olympus villa in a garish white tracksuit feeling unloved, and — worse yet — unfeared. With his many (many) children not returning his calls, and his earthly subjects becoming more brazen in their blasphemy, poor Zeus starts to grow both isolated and paranoid about a prophecy foretelling his downfall. Having already chronicled the existential woes of teenagers in The End of the F***ing World and the elderly in Truelove, writer Charlie Covell naturally turns to the anxieties of the immortals with their new Netflix dark comedy Kaos. Mining contemporary resonance from stories almost as old as time, the eight-part series brings ancient Greek mythology into a version of today’s world where sacrifice ceremonies are broadcast on live TV, Achilles Heel cereal is sold in the supermarket, and entry into the Underworld is the prize of a pub quiz.Like Prime Video’s bible-skewering Good Omens, the show trades on the collision between the celestial and the quotidian. Though the plot doesn’t assume any in-depth knowledge of the myths, there are knowing chuckles to be had at the irreverent reimaginings and references. Here Orpheus (Killian Scott) is not an inspired poet but a middling pop star pining after his late lover Eurydice (or “Riddy”, played by Aurora Perrineau), who finds blessed relief from her boyfriend’s schmaltzy lyrics in death. Elsewhere, hedonist god Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan) tries to work through some daddy issues, Poseidon (Cliff Curtis) sails around on his superyacht and while Prometheus (Stephen Dillane) may still be chained to his rock, he has no problem breaking the fourth-wall with audience-addressing jibes about that “transcendent, unmitigated bastard”, Zeus.He’s played by Jeff Goldblum — because, let’s face it, a god would look like Goldblum — who brings his usual zany charisma yet imbues it with a desperate quality as anti-gods protests spring out on Earth and conspiracy brews closer to home. It doesn’t take much to see the allusions to present-day demagogues and their tendency to play out personal insecurities on a global stage.But if Goldblum is effortless, the series itself strains to hold together a story that straddles Olympus, Earth and the Underworld (the latter shot in monochrome) and various narrative strands following everyone from Ariadne to Zeus. Ultimately, Kaos is too plot-driven and diffuse to work as light diversion, too arch and meta to become sincerely invested in. It may be an imaginative take on ancient tales but it’s unlikely to go down as one of the classics.★★★☆☆On Netflix now
