Written by Daryn Kirscht
The new season premiere of Krypton, “Light-Years from Home,” has some fun moments, but is ultimately a tumultuous disappointment.
Some of the episode’s best parts come from the latter half of the runtime. The character of Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) surprised me in the best way possible. He is the nucleus of the episode. He brings comedy, heart, and emotion to the action. Plus, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) is great again in this episode, especially when paired with Strange. It is clear that they bring a different kind of energy and charisma when in the same scene together in a way that is not matched by any other character.
Although Brainiac (Blake Ritson) is almost considered a secondary antagonist in the episode to General Zod (Colin Salmon), he brings a forceful presence that is not quite felt from the latter of the two (more on that later). Even though Brainiac is not at full strength and in his element, he still brings creative surprises to the story with more insight into his brilliant mind.
One of the main reasons I began watching Krypton in the first place is because of David S. Goyer’s involvement in bringing the show to life. He co-wrote this episode with Cameron Welsh (directed superbly by Marc Roskin) and the Man of Steel references are quite a treat to fans. His conceptual ideas in the script and dialogue references back to his incredible Superman film give the story more life and establish more credibility – since his and Zack Snyder’s take on the doomed planet is widely considered the most fascinating sequence in that film.
My favorite part of this episode is likely going to be a fan favorite, but, of course, it is the appearance of Lobo. What an entrance! Emmett J. Scanlan brings this character to life with such rebellious energy and spirit that hearkens back to the character’s roots in the comics. This moment alone is literally worth the investment of watching the episode.
Unfortunately, there were some negatives that held back the episode from greatness. The first of which is Zod. The part is over-acted by Salmon and comes off as cheesy, stereotyped, and unbelievable. I do not completely blame him, but the generic take on the character did nothing to help the story. It might have only done harm considering the fact that Brainiac and Lobo give off a strong presence of antagonism without needing to do much and Zod literally tries too hard to provide the same feeling. Zod’s final scene appears convincing at first, but still loses me by the end of it.
Some of my favorite characters of last season were Nyssa-Vex (Wallis Day) and Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell). In this episode, however, they were not given a lot of great material to go off of, especially Nyssa. Lyta’s storyline looks to gain more intrigue as it plays out and even though the same can be said for Nyssa’s arc, it currently remains elusive and has not matched that of the previous season in terms of quality. I do not expect this to become a trend, but I found it to be quite underwhelming considering how amazing their performances have shown to be so far.
At the end of the day, I expect the show to get better as each episode unveils a new chapter in the story of Krypton. This one to me was a mixed bag, containing a mixture of intrigue and excitement as well as a slew of underwhelming performances and narrative choices. It is not a terrible episode by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not necessarily a spectacular one either. As for the future, bring on Lobo!
Rating: 7/10
