1. Momentum Ain’t Everything
Jupiter’s Legacy’s first season is nearly over. With its penultimate episode, “Omnes Pro Uno,” there are some major developments in the present and the past which is, y’know, what you want out of a penultimate episode. On the other hand, the episode is yet another step down in quality after last week but this one is less forgivable. The episode isn’t quite boring and its highs are pretty high but the rest of it is a real mess. At times there’s even one aspect of a scene that works and another that feels completely off. There’s also a question of what exactly we’re building to in the present. In the past, the answer is clear what with the heroes being heroes now. When it comes to the present, we know there’s a big debate over the code and that debate is certainly escalated here. What more is there, though, to the actual season arc? It’s kind of absurd that the Blackstar doppelgänger seems to be the only tangible thing that we’re following. It’s not nothing but if it’s all we have to show for a full season of a series (however short that season is), we’re not in an ideal place.
2. Am I watching ABC’s Lost?
At the summer camp I’ve worked at for a number of years, we go on big hikes every so often. On these hikes, there’s ample opportunity for petty arguments and for frustrating patterns to make themselves even worse. It also frequently produces lovely moments and at the end of it, the whole group of kids has (hopefully) bonded. Watching the flashbacks in “Omnes Pro Uno,” those hikes were all I could think of. The whole endeavor of watching our team of explorers prove themselves on this Mysterious Island was honestly exhausting. The tension in the doesn’t really land for the most part because it feels like watching a bunch of upper middle class middle schoolers have silly arguments with one another and it makes up the vast vast majority of the episode arc. The high point is very clearly Walter’s outburst, which is one of the few really resonant moments we’ve seen in the past. Ben Daniels does wonderful work portraying a guy release untold angst into the world. A lifetime of rage (and even more fraught immediate past) come out and it works reasonably well. Less successful is the weird feud between George and Walter which has been far less thoroughly explored and so falls flat. When we get to the resolution, though, it is genuinely thrilling. The actual moment of letting go of the past is strange, making this seems like an incredibly simple process you can go through in a matter of seconds. Once all of the characters’ hands are on the wall, though, and the crazy lights are being crazy, there’s something undeniable happening. When they went through the space portal to powers-land, I couldn’t help but say woah in the cadence of one of the turtles from Finding Nemo. When they get the powers and see their loved ones tell them of their worthiness, it’s moving. Within this episode, we really get a full encapsulation of what the past has been: a mess with the capacity for greatness.
3. Siblings Sidelined in Superhero Story
Chloe and Brandon should definitely be the main characters in this story. Not because they’re so great on this show (the are, in fact, The Worst) but because they’re actually the proper characters through whom we should be experiencing everything. Brandon is in touch with the younger generation of heroes but has a deference to the Code and a reason to feel deeply conflicted. Chloe, as we’ve seen, doesn’t feel that being a super is worth it but clearly has the power to pull it off. For some reason, though, they’ve mostly existed on the sidelines of this series. It’s not like the show has followed the action so that fact that each has seen the bare minimum of exploration a main character can is really a shame. To be fair, Andrew Horton is giving a mediocre performance and Elena Kampouris’s is better but leaves quite a bit to be desired so had this been the case, I would’ve been grousing constantly. On principle, I stand by it though. I do want to give credit where credit’s do. Chloe processing Ghost Beam’s death is actually pretty good! It’s one of the first times there’s been a strong emotional reaction to something we’ve actually seen happen. Also, Brandon and Chloe’s dynamic is interesting (or at least interesting-ish). Seeing more of them together would probably be pretty meaningful but there’s no way we could ever know given how little screen time they got.
Continued below4. Walter Gets Scary
2 episodes ago I lamented the underuse of Grace and boom next episode, she gets the spotlight. Last review, I lament the underuse of Walter and look where we are. While he doesn’t quite get a true spotlight in the episode, he certainly stars in 3 of the 4 most engaging scenes that we get. The name of the game seems to be showing us just how powerful Walter Sampson is as a telepath and as it turns out, he’s absolutely terrifying. In the scene where he intimidates Blackstar, the measured demeanor disappears and a quiet, palpable rage replaces it. It’s a great moment from Ben Daniels and it bodes well for the future of Walter in this show, not morally but narratively. He also gets a very fun scene with his daughter (!!!) a contract killer named Raikou who uses telepathy and awesome swords. When he speaks to her in the weird mind-meeting room, he shows up with a swagger that I’d love to see more of. This also serves as a strong debut for Anna Akana who manages to match the energy of the show in a way that almost nobody else has thus far.
5. A (Sort Of) Riveting Debate
At the center of the present day in Jupiter’s Legacy is the debate over the Code. In one corner, Sheldon Sampson, one of the first superheroes ever who leads all others, who lives by it and wants every other super to as well, lest they become authoritarians. In the other, 3/4 of the United States and every single hero that we’ve seen on this show. Now, the debate is an interesting one- one filled with genuinely difficult questions to answer. The thing is that the show is taking this all or nothing approach when it shows these arguments. Sheldon’s primary argument is that people need to make their own choices and that if heroes went as far as stopping all societal problems, they’d be fascistic. He’s so convinced of this that he refuses to hear Grace out when they fight over him just having a conversation with some younger supers that disagree with him. The scene is strong- it has very basic dialogue but it’s anchored in a good performance by Leslie Bibb. Better yet, it’s grounded in character and not just spewing out themes (there is plenty of that though). Sheldon rejecting Grace’s overture is an “oh shit” moment that I genuinely didn’t see coming. With even a little bit of time to think about it, though, Sheldon seems not only stubborn but insane. Walter is the only person we’ve seen argue that supers should solve all problems. Everyone else is just saying killing super villains who can kill large numbers of people, both super and not, with relative ease should be on the table. That is not very complicated! Much as I would love to see this fight play out, I’m nervous about what the last episode of the season bears. The odds that this is settled in one 35 minute finale are slim and nothing else that’s going on has much potential to really complete a story. Fingers crossed, I guess.
