1. Still Better but this Time, Boring
After the revelation in competent tv-making that was the last episode, “Cover Her Face” is a backslide but only of relatively minor proportions, thank goodness. The pacing, script, and basic exploration of the themes of the show are all still better than any of the first four episodes of Jupiter’s Legacy. It also happens to be an oddly dull episode, given its content. The adventure in the flashback isn’t that adventurous. The confrontations in the present are fine but not particularly engaging. The episode doesn’t quite drag its feet but it also doesn’t quite feel like it’s making progress. The weird emotional limbo that watching this puts you in as a viewer is certainly not ideal but its still a preferable option to the unabashed mess of the season’s first half.
2. GRACE THE GREAT
Well clearly my love for Grace Kennedy-Sampson (played by Leslie Bibb) began to grow at the perfect moment since this episode puts her in the spotlight as Sheldon goes to space to deal with a comet. In the present day, she plays the superhero role model trying to keep the community in check and following the code. For her, it’s a far more interesting to process to watch than Sheldon’s because she’s actually conflicted about how rigid they should be about the code (also because Bibb is better at this than Josh Duhamel). She believes in it, knows that it’s the most morally right, but has real, well founded doubts. When she eventually snaps and comes close to killing a super-criminal that just killed a young hero that’s close to the family, it makes for a good, emotionally resonant scene. The lingering tension from that is clearly going to be big as we go into the season’s final two episodes so hopefully it will be handled well. All of that being said, it also suffers for the lack of proper world building I’ve been complaining about all season long. The idea of a superhero community grappling with its collective ethical code is a great idea. Chip Zdarsky’s “Daredevil” run has been doing it beautifully. There is a pretty major precondition for it to be pulled off well, though- we need to be watching a superhero community that we know and are invested in. This is exactly the type of story that the show should’ve prioritized telling instead of just referencing in dialogue. For episode writer Sang Kyu Kim’s part, the work done in this regard in “Cover Her Face” is stronger than in any other episode thus far. It’s just a bit too little a bit too late.
3. We’re in the Endgame
At this point, the flashbacks are near their end, as our crew has found the island from Sheldon’s visions. In general, this trip to the past is hard to make a simple judgement of. On the one hand, a lot of progress is made. On the other, it makes that progress in the least interesting way possible. The adventure feeling at the beginning it pretty fun! There’s a strong vibe to the seaside tavern and it has similar appeal to the getting the band together story of yester-episode. If “Cover Her Face”had leaned into that more and shown the characters grow together, that would’ve been a blast. Instead, the episode traps them on a boat together. Putting them through the wringer in an enclosed setting is exciting on paper, to be sure. In practice, there aren’t real stakes and we learn relatively little from it. There are two big highlights. First, Grace helping out Sheldon and acting as a grounding and validating force for him is both touching and speaks to a role she still plays in his life today (albeit more contentiously). Second, the excellent chemistry between Leslie Bibb and Matt Lanter that’s put on display early on in the boat trip is wonderful. It’s also a great showcase for George as a caring friend to Sheldon. Three cheers for Skyfox and Lady Liberty.
4. Spare Gripes
As grateful as I am for the focus on Grace and for the progress made in the flashbacks, this episode features some excess faults that I’d like to give some focus to.
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– First of all, Hutch and Chloe are lame. Last episode, they became a couple kind of out of nowhere and there’s no real reason that I’ve seen for it to be the case. What’s this doing for them as characters? What is it doing for us as viewers? There’s not much chemistry, it’s not providing much narrative utility, and it always feels like a detour from what’s actually important. If it were fun, it would at least have that going for it but it’s not. And that’s lame.
– Brandon Sampson is also lame. The decision to make him a superhero instead of a young celebrity with his sister like he is in the comics was smart. The two characters could easily be compared and contrasted in fascinating ways. But instead, Brandon has been grounded since the second episode and barely had a thing to do other than watch other things happen. This is especially dumb because he’s an adult who should just go be a superhero! But he’s not and that’s lame.
– Walter Sampson has been woefully underutilized in the present day. Ben Daniels is easily giving one of the two best performances on this show and there’s clearly a lot to be explored with his character and his stark differences in opinion from Sheldon. Like dear Brandon, though, Walter is nowhere to be seen most of the time. What gives? This, too, is lame.
5. What Might’ve Been
There are a three stories this show wants to tell at once. There’s the family drama, the story of a group of heroes grappling with what their role is in a changing world, and there’s the flashbacks that tell us about how this world came to be. All of those can certainly connect with one another and build a strong larger narrative. On top of that, it has to introduce us to a whole new universe with its unique quirks and characters. The issue with Jupiter’s Legacy is that it just doesn’t have enough time to do all of these things in meaningful ways. When one aspect gets better, another is doomed to slip. Now, that’s not to say that this needs longer episodes or even a longer first season. Rather, it would benefit from a stronger focus than its had, even in its very best moments. What if this was a season of television about a big ethics debate within the superhero community at the forefront and that community’s origins in the background, all through the lens of this one important family? Maybe that’s what the writers are going for but when you throw in a major conspiracy and a couple of extra subplots and you only give yourself 8 episodes to resolve it all, the weight is going to be too much for any narrative to bear. The best version of this show is definitely out there- we got a peek at it just one episode ago- but this just isn’t it.
