Krypton ‘The Word of Rao’ Plot Summary:
‘The Word of Rao,’ Krypton’s fourth episode, picks up right after “The Rankless Initiative,” which sees Seg-El trying to find a way to save Lyta-Zod after her arrest under the accusation of treason.
There is simply no other way to put it: this episode was perfection at its finest. It was action-packed, emotional, intense, and mysterious that was well-paced and very well-executed.
This episode played to the strengths of the show and pushed the boundaries in such a creative, anxious, and tension-filled fashion. Right from the start it was evident this would be a different approach to the show and take the show in some new directions, and it certainly delivered. We got to see Rao in a more personal role in this chapter as he also had more screen time than before. Nyssa-Vex had a much more prominent role and, as always, never failed to shine. Lyta-Zod might not have had as much screen time, but was still in a critical role and made the most of every second. Jayna-Zod, Daron-Vex, and Seg-El were all excellent as well.
The biggest difference, however, was the way in which the episode was written. So far there have been multiple sub-plots that have not been the most connective to each other for world-building and story-setup reasons. This particular episode did a masterful job of fusing those subplots together to create one cohesive situation that found every character challenged either mentally or physically to a more advanced level – which also meant certain characters coming into contact with each other to create strong, tension-oozing moments. The stakes were high and imminent death was on the line. Between the physical and verbal altercations were heart, pain, and fear.
My prior critique of Krypton has mostly dealt with weak supporting characters, but that was not the case here. Every character, especially the supporting characters, revealed their inner feelings and beliefs that were previously either subtle or hidden. Dev-Em had a tremendous scene with Seg-El (as did Jayna-Zod) and Kem had a fantastic role in this episode that must have tugged at the heartstrings of viewers. In fact, this episode probably features some of the strongest scenes in the entire show.
Whether it was the amazing use of sequences, building and expanding character development by challenging each character mentally and physically to their core, introducing more mystery elements to the plot, or the strong performances and material for nearly every character, “The Word of Rao” was clearly the best episode of the show to date. I have to give director Keith Boak and writer Luke Kalteux enormous praise for their marvelous and incredibly successful results, as well as the cast and crew for pulling off a thrilling and entertaining episode from start to finish.
Rating: 9.5 / 10
-Daryn Kirscht
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