Krypton Season 1, Episode 2 Review: ‘House of El’
After the reveal last week that Seg is the one who can save Krypton, this week’s episode does little to reveal why, instead digging further into the conflict between Seg and House Vex. Additionally, the Zod family is expanded upon, with Lyta choosing to assert herself in the military.
Seg remains unconvinced by the arrival of Adam Strange, still believing him to be mad, and resolves to get revenge on Daron-Vex for the deaths of his parents, as well as the death of his grandfather. Vex remains a bit too obvious a villain, with his daughter’s moments of kindness doing little to paint the house as anything but the enemy.
Seg has yet to really show the intelligence everyone claims he has, still coming across as more of a brute who believes in violence above all else. It’s an odd choice to basically present the grandfather of Superman as seemingly having none of his morality. Maybe throughout the season he will start to show traits more usually associated with Clark, or maybe they’re trying to present the idea that all his goodness comes from Earth.
Lyta gets some much needed development here, after last week’s episode struggled to differentiate her from being anything other than Seg’s lover. We see that she does have some interest in the military, and is constantly trying to find ways to seek approval from her fearsome mother – who also shows a lot more warmth this week. Whilst her motivations seem to still be routed in her love for Seg, she at least shows a desire to develop her career and a care for her planet above all else.
A mid-episode fight scene is quite exciting, seeing Lyta face her commander in brutal hand-to-hand combat with no mercy. It’s an energetic, frantically shot sequence that’s by far the best action scene the show has produced across the first two episodes. Lyta certainly takes a beating throughout but her strength shows through.
Meanwhile, Adam Strange gets a short story with Seg’s friend Kem, with them working to find evidence of Brainiac’s oncoming arrival. This leads them to investigate a peculiar meteor shower that may hold hints of Brainiac. But the revelations are left for next week.
Krypton’s plot does slowly move forward this week but, so far, it’s still hard to really figure out why Seg is so important. Maybe some time needs to be devoted to presenting him doing something other than punching, or planning, or punching.
★★
