Krypton – House of El Review

Following the introductory Pilot episode, Krypton carries on more in the same vein with “House of El” picks up where the Pilot left off.

After Seg (Cameron Cuffe) finding his grandfather’s Fortress of Solitude, Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) tells the young Kryptonian that Brainiac – the collector of worlds – is coming to the planet. Seg doubts the Earthing’s claim and demands proof that of the coming alien. As this goes on Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell) challenges her commanding officer (Gordon Alexander) as he plans to purge the slums of Kandor.

“House of El” has three main storylines during its 42-minute runtime and the episode does a fine job balancing them out. The plotlines involving Seg, Adam, and Kem (Rasmus Hardiker) are interlinked because Seg has to get the tablet so Adam could check Val-El’s (Ian McElhinney) research and Seg having to navigate his new role as a part of the House of Vex.

Although the bulk of the episode focused on Seg and Adam it was Lyta who had the most interesting plot and so far the most interesting character. Lyta has numerous ideas that drive her and would give anyone an internal conflict. She’s against the purge of the slums for moral and practical reasons – why punished all the people just for the actions of one person and if the military goes ahead with the purge all it would do is drive the residents to the support Black Zero. Lyta also has a ruthless side and trying to prove herself to her mother (Ann Ogbomo) who made her presence known in the first episode by stabbing her daughter in the hand and stating that Kryptonians don’t beg for mercy. Lyta has a mixture of morality, ambitious and self-doubt swirling inside her.

The military guild has a standard sci-fi warrior culture, one of honour, power clashes and trial by combat. It does little to reinvent this trope, yet is still interesting for people who like these type of cultures in fiction. Lyta and her commander had a solid fight.

Kem and Adam are also notable. Their storyline is hardly anything innovative but they are likable and notable characters and stand out compared to the charisma void that is Seg. They come across a key plot point that will drive future episodes.

The episode continues to set up plotlines and characters. Wallis Day as Nyssa-Vex has a bigger role as Daron-Vex’s daughter and Seg’s arranged fiancé. She is shown to be loyal to her father and trying to win over Seg so the pair could manipulate and use him. Nyssa offers Seg kindness, having a polite, regal and icy surface. Day has come a long way from her days on Hollyoaks.

Game of Thrones fans will be happy to see Ian McElhinney having another major role in a genre show. He basically has Jor-El’s role for Superman on Earth, a computer program based on the mentor’s memories and gives Seg important information. The show is doing Superman’s early days as a superhero without the superpowers.

“House of El” gives audiences more of what Krypton‘s Pilot offered which is a standard sci-fi series. There are some solid ideas and characters but so far Krypton pales in comparison to other live-action shows based on DC comic characters.