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Five Thoughts on Jupiter’s Legacy‘s “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine”

By | May 18th, 2021
Posted in Television | % Comments

1. All About Skyfox

With it’s third episode, “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine,” Jupiter’s Legacy finally starts to shed some light on Skyfox, the former member of The Union who is currently, uh, somewhere and poses some type of a threat to the world. The vagueness of his status quo in the present is matched in vibes (if not in literal lack of presence) by the way his story is written in the flashbacks. The present day focus is given to his son, Hutch, who has more charm and dimension than his father but also feels like an annoying 14 year old’s description of what he’ll be like as a cool adult.

2. Long Walk to Nothing

About 7 years ago, I went on the worst hike I’ve ever experienced. That’s because it wasn’t so much a hike as it was a 3 hour long walk through a valley that somehow lacked any shade on an extremely hot July day. There was no scenery other than a shocking amount of cow poop. At the end of that horrible horrible walk, I was immensely relieved and felt like I’d gained nothing. That feeling was basically all I could think of when watching the flashbacks in “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine.” The issue with the past is twofold: first, there’s no actual insight into George as a character. When it comes to facts about him, the character really knows who George is. He’s rich and particular about things and he’s friends with Sheldon. Oh, and his parents are dead which makes him sad and also he’s not rich anymore apparently. But who is George as a person? It’s much less clear. And Matt Lanter’s performance isn’t good enough to overcome those deficiencies in the writing. Lanter gives him a pep in his step and a bit of an affectation but that’s also insufficient. The second issue is the same one the past has had for 3 episodes now- it’s boring. None of the events that we’re seeing feel relevant to the way that characters are behaving now (other than Walter) nor does it feel insightful. The events themselves suffer from the same sense of irrelevance. Sheldon being crazy because of his visions and seeing his dead dad isn’t compelling, due in no small part to Josh Duhamel doing his absolute worst. The process of Sheldon making a map without realizing it and George putting it together is one of those things that’s actually more interesting in theory than it is to watch. In “Jupiter’s Legacy” the comic, Millar makes the smart choice of jumping straight into an expedition that leads the original superheroes to their powers. Once the actual big question is answered, jumping back and informing us about the minutiae is fine but at the moment it’s more like feet dragging than anything else. On one last note, when Sheldon and George are talking, Sheldon mentions watching his father kill himself- a horrifying experience by any metric. George replies “At least you got to see him” which is maybe the worst response you could possibly give to your friend who literally stood there and saw his father jump off of a skyscraper. So there is actually one thing we know about George other than that he’s rich but not rich- he’s incredibly self-centered.

3. New Perspective

The present day focus on Hutch, played by Ian Quinlan, works better, if only because of the energy that it brings to the series. So far, Jupiter’s Legacy has been weirdly dull for a show about superheroes. “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” is really in perpetual motion when it comes to the present day. The editing is strong and keeps the pace quick, the scenes themselves have a fair bit of action, and even the ons that don’t have enough tension that they feel alive. Quinlan has an easy charm that he plays the character with and quips and swaggers like it’s nobody’s business. The storyline almost has the feeling of a backdoor pilot, delivering a story just small enough to be easy to jump into but big enough to hook us. Those pros are good but ultimately not nearly enough to make up for the thin characterization of any of Hutch’s crew and the actively poor structure of the story overall. The biggest problem is that Hutch’s actions toward the end of the episode negate the need for many of the episode’s events. If the crazy teleportation rod could’ve been sent inside of Big Man’s heart this whole time, why wasn’t it? Energy is great but it doesn’t mean much without strong plotting. Also, why the pan to a picture of Skyfox at the end like it’s a reveal when the literal first line of the episode is about Skyfox being Hutch’s father?

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4. Look Look Something Good!

Given the amount of complaining I do about this show, it only feels fair to single out something I loved about “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine.” The way that Chloe Sampson is brought into the episode is surprisingly effective. It’s jarring, yes, but not in a way that doesn’t feel believable. It also portrays her as a force to be reckoned with, one that seems to be even stronger than her brother. Fans of the source material know there’s a longer game being set up in what makes up a sliver of the episode but it’s easily the most exciting thing that’s happened on Jupiter’s Legacy thus far. Might it point toward greater potential in the future? That would be delightful.

5. Grow Up, Please

So there’s an issue with Jupiter’s Legacy that’s significantly more notable in “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” which is the overwhelming sense that this is not a grown up show. It’s a show that wants to be grown up and tries so hard to prove how grown up it is that it becomes even less grown up. What’s supposed to be snappy dialogue feels extremely try hard and out of place most of the time. Violence seems like it’s calculated to be as cool as it can be and while it’s admittedly fun for a moment when something like a henchman being sent into shark infested waters happens, it’s got a weird aftertaste. The drama is often overly-simplistic or, in more frustrating instances, takes something nuanced and makes it feel stupid to watch. If the show could just grow up a bit, make its characters and conflicts more nuanced, and be a little more self aware, it would be a much better version of itself.


//TAGS | Jupiter's Legacy

Quinn Tassin

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