“Krypton” Episode Review – S01E06 “Civil Wars”

Superman Homepage writer Michael J. Petty reviews episodes from the “Krypton” TV series, airing on SYFY.

Check out his review of the 6th episode of Season 1 in which Seg is faced with an impossible choice that will shape the El legacy and the fate of the universe.

Originally Aired: April 25, 2018
WRITTEN BY: Doris Egan
DIRECTED BY: Kate Dennis

REGULAR CAST:
Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El
Shaun Sipos as Adam Strange
Georgina Campbell as Lyta-Zod
Aaron Pierre as Dev-Em
Wallis Day as Nyssa-Vex
Elliot Cowman as Daron-Vex
Ann Ogbomo as Jayna-Zod
Rasmus Hardiker as Kem
Blake Ritson as Brainiac
Ian McElhinney as Val-El
Colin Salmon as General Dru-Zod

RECURRING CAST:
Tipper Seifert-Cleveland as Ona

Rating – 4 (out of 5): “General Zod. This son-of-a-bitch is Superman’s greatest enemy. Trust me on this, we need to kill him now.” – Adam Strange

SPOILER WARNING

This week’s Krypton changes everything. All the small plot points and references to Superman mythos this season are finally paying off and coming to a head, and it’s awesome.

First and foremost, General Dru-Zod has traveled back in time to stop Brainiac from taking Kandor. This is noble, even heroic, and seems to fit with everything we already know about the House of Zod. They are loyal to Krypton and will protect the planet with their lives. At this point, it’s still a mystery as to how Zod traveled back in time, maybe a Legion ring or a Time Sphere(?), but either way he’s here now and working with his mother and an El. I’m excited to see what more the General can add to the series going forward.

Ironically enough, when Krypton was first announced, I was partially disappointed that Jor-El and Dru-Zod wouldn’t be the lead characters because I have always loved the interaction between the two. Now that General Zod is on the series, and working with Seg-El, it looks like we may get something similar after all.

As it turns out, Brainiac hasn’t come from the future, he has always taken Kandor. Now, we Superman fans know this and to us this knowledge is a no-brainer, but to the general audience (and for the sake of the story), this is a game-changer. Not only were Adam’s “facts” about Brainiac wrong, but now he’s paying for not telling Seg about Krypton’s impending doom. This lie has created such a rift between the two that Seg wants Adam to leave his time, preferring Zod to be his new partner.

In the wake of all of this, Lyta-Zod and Seg are still fighting to be together. Lyta is unsure who he son’s father is (probably Dev-Em…) and is now concerned about whether she and Seg-El could ever be together. Seg wanting to live in the moment, calling the future “confusing”, is kind of a nice change of pace for the series which, like most prequel stories (I’m looking at you Gotham…), sometimes gets too caught up in its anticipation for the future.

That being said, a large part of me would really like Kal-El to show up in the past, vouch for Adam, and have to work together with Zod to fight Brainiac. The problem with that may be that Kal-El might overshadow his grandfather, but I think that bringing him (or even Jor-El honestly) onto this series could add a lot, especially with Dru-Zod now being a big player. Only time will tell with that, but as a Superman fan watching this series, seeing Seg not understand his grandson’s importance is mildly frustrating.

I’m glad we got a taste of Doomsday this week (he looks great!), but I’m also glad that they’re saving him for another day. We don’t need to have all our desserts at once, Brainiac and General Zod are enough.

The retcon about Kandor’s abduction being the reason for Krypton’s inevitable destruction is interesting and I honestly like the idea, but a large part of me believes that Zod is lying. In some stories, he is the one who destroys Krypton (Superman: Earth One, Smallville, etc.). I’m not willing to say that Kandor being saved or taken will directly affect Krypton’s destruction just yet, so I’m still kind of rooting for Seg-El and his friends to defeat the Collector of Worlds.

Side note: I love that Krypton has a “Hall of Justice”

I don’t have much to say about the military coup against the Voice of Rao (now completely under Brainiac’s control), other than to say that I loved the spotlight on Dev-Em this week. We haven’t really got much out of him at this point, but I’m glad to finally be exploring his character. I’m also incredibly interested to see how this fight against the Voice turns out for both Dev-Em and Jayna-Zod…

Until next week!

Check out the “Krypton – Episode Reviews” Contents page.