Krypton Season 2 Review

Five episodes were provided prior to broadcast.

Expansive as the DC TV landscape has gotten, I must say that I greatly appreciate most of what it has to offer. Whether it be the superheroics of The Flash and Arrow, the brutality of Titans, or the rom-com-zom-dram that is iZombie, I’ve been satisfied on a variety of levels. Sure, the argument can be made for oversaturation, but I’m willing to look the other way if something can grab my attention and keep it.

When it comes to Krypton, it immediately had my attention because it’s rooted in Superman mythology. The problem was that it didn’t retain my interest because, more often than not, the first season was downright boring whenever characters such as Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) and Brainiac (Blake Ritson) weren’t on screen. Zod almighty, did I ever want to tune out whenever the political element would seemingly drag on forever and we had to endure all that fixation on ranks and such.

Truth be told, I did tune out because I never actually finished watching season 1 until just recently. Seeing as how I decided to review the sophomore effort, I thought it best to go back and watch the finale so that I’d be up to speed. And you know what?  I didn’t dig that at all.

But as somebody who’ll readily admit they were about to throw in the towel, I’m here to tell you that anyone else in agreement with me really needs to give this show a second chance. As I watched the first five episodes making up season 2, I found them getting better with each successive installment. So, yeah, Krypton finally came around.

Cruel as I may have sounded earlier, I’d always hoped for this series to kick into higher gear because I don’t want to see any sort of Superman product sucking. Even though Big Blue himself isn’t part of this saga, it will forever be associated with him. You may have forgotten the failed pilot for The Adventures of Superpup, but I sure as hell didn’t.

Maybe it’s just me, but a large amount of credit for the turnaround goes to General Zod’s rise to power. Yes, that means politics are still involved, but they play out more intriguingly this year. Zod isn’t your typical villain, as there’s a sense of altruism to him because he truly loves Krypton and its people (in his own special way) – yet he can’t help the need to conquer. And while I’m at it, I’ll say I never truly noticed how tall Colin Salmon is until he was cast in this role. His impressive stature assists me in believing others will kneel before him.

In a nutshell, what you need to know going in is that Superman has seemingly been wiped from existence, as the time-altering events of season 1 allowed for Dru-Zod to emerge as the savior he thinks himself to be. Furthermore, his father, Seg-El, starts out in the Phantom Zone before later reuniting with Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos). I won’t (and can’t) spoil what crazy adventures those two will get into beyond the premiere, but I’m liking where the story is heading. Surprises wait around every turn.

To its credit, Krypton has at least looked pretty from the beginning. But when it comes to this new season, the production design and visual effects are sheer triumphs in the television medium. The world is very immersive, and I’ve come to enjoy spending more time there.

Something else that’s new is that of the Lobo character. Played by Emmett J. Scanlan, his appearance has proven divisive amongst hardcore fans for some reason. This completely baffles me though because the guy looks like he walked out of a comic book. Really, he’s that accurate to the source material.

If you don’t like his performance, I can’t fault you, because that matter is entirely subjective. Scanlan’s character voice isn’t as gruff as what we’d previously heard on Superman: The Animated Series or Young Justice, but it’ll grow on you if given the chance. What you’ve seen in trailers is merely the tip of the iceberg; he’s equal parts Jack Sparrow and Deadpool, yet with his own twist. I really do hope to see more of him before long.

Staying on the subject of comic book accuracy, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Doomsday. He’s still a looming threat at the time of this writing, so I think he’ll heavily factor into the eventual season finale. But if you’ve seen season 1, you already know what he looks like. This is yet another example of TV doing it better than the movies. Is it really so hard to pick up a comic and stick to what you’re seeing in the illustrations, Hollywood directors? I’ll have to bite my tongue so that I don’t go into another tangent laying into Suicide Squad‘s pimp Joker.

If I haven’t convinced you here and now, then I recommend you allow Krypton season 2 to speak for itself. See the first five episodes through and there’s a fair chance you’ll change your tune just as I did. Don’t forget, even the mighty Justice League animated series took a little time to find its footing. That said, maybe this bad boy can one day stand alongside Smallville in the hallowed DC TV pantheon mentioned earlier.