Krypton, season 2, episode 1 review: Light-Years From Home

The continuing saga of Superman’s ancestors kicks off with Krypton under the rule of Zod, major character deaths, and a certain Czarian bounty hunter.

In its inaugural season, Krypton seemed like a simple, yet extensive Superman prequel. Throw in a little space opera, fan service, time travel, political drama, and pulp action goodness. It seemed as if everything was going like clockwork aside from a few interesting revelations, like the fact that Superman’s great-grandfather, Val-El (Ian McElhinney) mentored the Kryptonian terrorist, Jax-Ur (Hannah Waddingham). Or that Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) and General Zod’s mother, Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell), were actually lovers, making Zod (Colin Samson) Jor-El’s half-brother.

And then came the finale. By the time season one ended, Brainiac (Blake Ritson) was sent into the Phantom Zone, but also pulled Seg in with him. Zod, with his knowledge of the future, seized the opportunity to take control of Krypton himself. When Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) returned to Earth and the present, not only was he shocked to learn that Superman no longer exists, but that Zod took over Earth, and Brainiac bottled up his hometown of Detroit.

Of course, with Superman’s history completely rewritten and non-existent, Krypton is now free to venture off into even more wild directions, while Strange tries fixing the damage done to the timeline. If the timeline even can be fixed, that is. If episode one of the new season, “Light-Years From Home,” is anything to go by, even the most ardent Superman fanboy will agree that “Everything we knew about the Man of Steel is wrong.”

“Kneel Before Zod!”

Set about six months after “The Phantom Zone,” “Light-Years From Home” wastes no time establishing that Zod has full control of the Sagitari, turning Krypton into a planet-wide police state. This includes mandatory “somatic reconditioning” for desenters, like Seg former ally Raika (Sonita Henry). It also turns out Raika released Doomsday to try to stop Zod and (big surprise) he went off on an uncontrollable killing spree and his whereabouts are unknown.

As for Lyta, she seems to have willingly drunk from her future son’s Kool-Aid. Considering the issues she had with her mom, the kill or be killed promotional structure within the Sagatari, and seeing first hand what her son becomes, why wouldn’t she? Of course, we also get a scene between her and Zod where he questions where her true loyalties lie. Naturally, the predictable course will be that she’ll turn against her son later in the season, especially once she finds out Seg is still alive.

For the time being, though, Campbell really goes full hilt into selling her newfound role as a villainous “ice queen.” Likewise, Samson is excellent as Zod, making him into a surprisingly complex villain. Even though his measures are extreme and dictatorial, he is trying to prevent the extinction of his entire species. Let’s not forget that fixing the timeline would also mean the deaths of billions once Krypton inevitably explodes.

Strange allies and not-so nice reunions

Adam Strange also returns, this time sporting a red jacket, a direct nod towards his comic book counterpart. The moment he arrives in Kandor, though, he finds himself “recruited” (i.e. abducted) by Jax-Ur, who now has a cybernetic eye. He is also surprised to see Val-El free from the Phantom Zone, resulting in some rather embarrassing moments involving face touching. Nyssa-Vex (Wallis Day) is also part of the underground, and is carrying her and Seg’s newborn son, Cor-Vex.

Forced attempts at comedy aside, these scenes are pretty much your “bring the audience back up to speed” moments, along with what the overarching goal of the season will be. That mission is for this small band of rebels to escape to Wegthor, one of Krypton’s three moons and the only place Zod hasn’t taken over. Adam, however, wants to find Seg. After all, if Brainiac bottled Detroit in the future, that means he must have escaped the Phantom Zone, which means Seg must have too.

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Naturally, plot convenience and coincidence proves Adam is correct. Months spent inside the universe’s largest screensaver have resulted in Seg nearly going mad and growing real facial hair. Fortunately, Val’s projection tells Seg he can use the Sunstone to stab one of the Phantom Zone’s wormholes and set himself free. Somehow, this works, but (of course) “Val” was really Brainiac in disguise. The fact the audience had already seen the real Val beforehand ruins this supposed shocking twist.

But it’s where Seg and Brainiac end up, which proves really interesting. Instead of Krypton, they wind up on Colu, Brainiac’s surprisingly verdant homeworld. It’s also here where we learn Brainiac’s origins… and how he killed his entire race. The way in which Ritson delivers this information with such cold dismissiveness is just fantastic, reminding us why he’ll likely be the best live-action version of this Superman villain to date.

As for Nyssa, she’s less interested in fighting for the resistance than she is figuring out who she really is. During the finale, Nyssa learned she was actually cloned from the original Nyssa, who died along with her mother in a transport accident. It’s a bit of weird detour that distracts from the main plot, but it does set up a great scene between her and her father, Daron-Vex (Elliot Cowan). It seems Daron, after a season of plotting and scheming, has ended up back in his hometown literally shoveling crap in the sewers. So much for him being Krypton‘s version of Littlefinger.

“Am I glad to see you, Earthman!”

It’s also right about when Nyssa confronts her father that “Light-Years From Home” really starts going nuts. Just as Daron pathetically apologized to Nyssa, his head’s suddenly blown off… by Lyta. It appears the resistance had a mole, who’s revealed to be Mama Zed (Shobu Kapoor)! Before you can get over the shock, she’s rewarded with a literal shot in the back from Sagitari troops. Of course, Val, Jax, and especially Adam escape, but the idea that anyone can die in this series has now been firmly established.

The biggest surprise, however, is what happens with Brainiac. His trip through the Phantom Zone partially damaging his circuits. Brainiac suggests to Seg a truce until they find a ship to leave Colu and return to Krypton. It looks like we’re in for the old “adversaries forced to work together” scenario. In a brilliant subversion of this trope, however, Seg is having none of it. When Adam finds Seg, we see that Superman’s granddad has literally caved-in Brainiac’s head with a tree branch. It’s a shocking reminder that, when it comes to Krypton, your vast knowledge of Superman comics will not help you here.

We also have Seg genuinely happy to see Adam, giving him a full-on bear hug. It’s nice to see that months of isolation has softened Seg up towards Adam. In turn, Adam, now that he’s “The Last Son of Earth,” isn’t as cocky. This isn’t to say their odd couple bickering has subsided, of course.

We’ll have to wait to see just how much nicer they’ll be to each other next episode, though. Just as they’re getting back into arguing over directions, we get a surprise appearance from Lobo (Emmett J. Scanlan)! Yes, the “Main Man” is now a recurring character on Krypton. While he was given little screen time during this episode, what we do see of Lobo genuinely seems like a very faithful rendition of the character.

As the start of a new season, “Light-Years From Home” works as a nice primer for the season to come. With its Kryptonian rebellion storyline, it definitely seems the series will move further into a sci-fi action-oriented direction and away from “Superman meets Game of Thrones” approach. It also seems they’re still willing to take risks, as they did during the season one finale. Krypton may not be compelling drama, but it’s definitely learned how to have some fun.