With every passing episode, Krypton is becoming more and more similar to another dystopic SyFy production: Dark Matter. Whether or not that’s a bad thing… is up to you.
In Media Res
I’m not a fan of shows utilizing in media res – it’s a gimmick that’s gotten old quick and so few productions are able to utilize it wisely. In The Rankless Initiative, which starts with an intense teaser after Seg and Adam find a Sentry belonging to Brainiac, the writers try to inject more urgency into the proceedings by giving us a very brief backstory on Rhom, the host who finds the Brainiac device and ends up infected with it. There’s not much material to work with, but Alexis Raben does her best to make us sympathize with her character. In addition, Seg destroying the communications center at the very last minute is a highly contrived and basic solution, so I sure hope there’s more to Rhom’s story and that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of her.
Leader-Zod
After taking down Quex last week, you can immediately tell that Georgina Campbell is having much more fun now. The badass new Commander stands up to her mother, Daron-Vex, and a bunch of others this week, making it a lot easier to root for her. Despite the juvenile romantic subplot she and Seg are saddled with, I can’t wait to see more of her badassery in future episodes.
Convenience is Not Key
Sadly, there are still a few minor things to nitpick about, including some of the plot contrivances that are more in line with shows like The Gifted. For example, it’s extremely convenient that Adam was able to find the probe on the black market with barely any effort. In addition, there is a lot of talk of how an evil force is “coming for us” because they’re not alone in the universe, which is very lazy and unacceptable writing. Characters have also been talking about Brainiac’s plans to destroy Krypton for two episodes now, but if the final tease is any indication, we might finally see the villain in action soon.
Bits & Capes
– At least Rhom is not treated like a simple monster of the week. Her super strength causes a lot of chaos between the Rankless and the Saggitarai.
– I’m kind of tired of Daron and Nyssa spitting evil thoughts on screen every now and then like mustache-twirling villains. Can we get them more involved somehow?
-A hilarious blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment: Seg fist-bumping Kem after letting Adam think that’s not a thing on Krypton.
– Kol-Da killing a rankless citizen was predictable, seeing as how the camera lingered a lot more on her during Lyta’s speech earlier in the episode.
Kryptonian Quips
Kem: Do you know how hard it is to ask someone if they’ve found any alien technology without actually asking them, “Hey, have you found any alien technology?”
Jayna: You just couldn’t keep your mouth shut.
Lyta: I killed a man for the right to open it. I deserve to be heard.
Lyta: The ability to divorce oneself from emotion is what separates a successful mission from failure. And we do not fail.
Conclusion
Clunky dialogue and plot contrivances prevent Krypton from standing out from the rest of the superhero shows on the air.