Overall, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Krypton’s eighth episode. It was mostly used as character development, but did not even keep you engaged enough with various events we’re expecting in the back-half of the season (Doomsday, The Green Lantern Corps, The Justice League, etc.). I didn’t necessarily expect all of these Easter Eggs to be given to us on a silver platter, but I did expect a little more action as Braniac closes in. Instead, we got a lot of character development while moving the plot forward at a tortoise’s pace.
1. Braniac’s Relationship with Daron-Vex
I enjoy watching Braniac and Daron-Vex interact with one another. Braniac sees right through Daron, of course. It’s a way of almost letting the audience interact with the snake of a politician. Braniac’s remark on Daron-Vex’s addiction to power, even in the face of a “true superior,” hit the nail on the head. If there’s one thing that makes Daron-Vex who he is, it’s his drive to never stop worming his way out of situations in order to gain power. It is his motivation for everything, regardless of who he puts at risk.
2. The Seg-Lyta-Nyssa Triangle
Things are bound to get messy here. Between Seg and Nyssa’s kiss that Lyta is still unaware of, and the constant talk about their alleged child in the regeneration chamber, Lyta is bound to punch Nyssa in the face at some point.
This is a complicated triangle because Nyssa is such an honorable character (more about that below). It would be easy if we could just hate her and wish Seg and Lyta well, but unfortunately that is not the case. It’s easy to see Seg’s growing appreciation of Nyssa as well, and there’s no way that Lyta, being the smart and observant person that she is, hasn’t noticed either. I’m interested to see how they tie up this arc in the final episodes.
3. Respect for Nyssa
As the episodes have progressed, Nyssa is one of the characters I’ve changed my feelings about the most. She has proven to have more honor than her father could ever imagine having. Something I did not expect was for her to make such a quick decision about handing her father, Daron-Vex, over to Black Zero. She is a great character for showing how we are not bound by our family and it’s past. She is clearly forging her own path. I hope they do not kill her off by the end, but it would make sense with the direction they’re taking her in, especially when we consider the Seg-Lyta-Nyssa Triangle.
4. Jayna-Zod is Awesome
The women in this show are really awesome, Jayna being an under-sung one. Given all of the character development they focused on this episode, I was disappointed they didn’t give her more air time. Luckily we did see her continue her streak of making good decisions, such as the one to tell Seg about Zod’s future coup and how he is eventually stopped by an El. Hopefully they will let this play out by the end of the season, but I have a feeling they’ll save it for future ones.
5. Pacing of Krypton
Whoever is responsible for making decisions on how much action there is on this show, what’re you doing? Let’s move it! This show has been very much about character development, when most people tune into the show to see a connection to Superman. All we’ve really gotten is a slow and arduous build-up to see how Superman will inevitably be saved due to the events of the show. What about using characters such as those that I mentioned to help us feel this connection to Superman? I don’t think anyone would complain if we saw some some power rings and Doomsday-fights.
I think the main problem with this is the scope of the show. If you introduce a character as OP as a Green Lantern in an environment where guns and explosives are the main weapons used, there wouldn’t be nearly as much of a struggle. That being said, I’m sure the writers could’ve figured out a better way to integrate these characters. Either way, we still have two more episodes left. Let’s hope they start moving things so that we’re not left bored still by the end of this inaugural season.
