Krypton Review: Civil Wars S01E06

With co-conspirators in place, the Vex plan is about to be launched in Krypton episode 6: Civil Wars.  (BEWARE! This review contains SPOILERS!)

Civil Wars is exactly the right title for this episode, as we see conflict on two fronts, one in each of the main plots.  In the city we have the final touches of the coup being prepared, with Daron-Vex (Elliot Cowan) and Jayna-Zod (Ann Ogbomo) facing off on the exact details of the plan to overthrow the Voice of Rao (Blake Ritson).  Meanwhile, under the city, in the catacombs, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) and Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell) have to decide between following the lead of General Zod (Colin Salmon) or Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos).

KRYPTON — “Civil Wars” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Ann Ogbomo as Alura, Elliot Cowan as Daron-Vex, Wallis Day as Nyssa-Vex — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

For the conspirators, the plan is to have Dev-Em (Aaron Pierre) plant a bomb which will kill the Voice of Rao during the final part of the ‘Nova Cycle’.  During the process of setting up their patsy to take the fall, a Sagitari officer (Desmond Eastwood) becomes suspicious, and Jayna ends up having to kill him.  Ann Ogbomo shows some nice inner conflict within Jayna here, as she has to go against her principles and throw all in with the Vex’s plan.  Similarly, Dev is only involved for Jayna, being clearly not a fan of either Vex, and Aaron Pierre plays him well, as a relatively stoic, but loyal soldier.

KRYPTON — “Civil Wars” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Tipper Siefert-Cleveland as Ona, Voice of Rao — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

Alongside the main plots, we also have the beginnings of Brainiac’s sentry, now in the Voice of Rao, exploring the world he’s in and gathering information.  Initially, this is through testing questions given to Ona (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland), as his innocent acolyte.  Through these discussions, the sentry determines that there is more to learn, so changes his involvement in the ‘Nova Cycle’ celebration, and upsets the plans of the conspirators. This leads to a significant adaptation of the plan, which Dev finds difficult to live with and adapts it himself on the fly.  Ultimately, this gives us a nice showdown between the conspirators and the Voice of Rao, with a good twist which will launch the show off in a different direction.

In the other main plot, there is a whole load of time travel based confusion to unpack, and no one quite seems to know exactly who to trust.  On one side, Lyta’s son, General Zod is trying to kill Brainiac, so that he can ultimately save Krypton, but on the other, Adam only knows General Zod as Kal-El’s (Superman) arch enemy, so insists he can’t be trusted.  Obviously, Lyta and Seg have no idea which way to go, and there are some interesting points raised about the timeline and what the best course of action is.  All those bases are covered relatively well, and it all hangs together.

KRYPTON — “Civil Wars” Episode 106 — Pictured: Georgina Campbell as Lyta-Zod — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

My big problem here is that we know that Lyta is General Zod’s mother, and that Seg is Kal-El’s grandfather, but no one seems to be asking directly who the father and grandmother (respectively) are!  I found this incredibly infuriating, and it only became more so as the episode went on.  You would think that the first question after Lyta ascertains that General Zod is her son would be to ask who the father is!  There is brief conversation which touches on it in a very weird tangential way, but it isn’t enough, and makes this section of the episode seem ridiculous and loses any authenticity in their reactions.

KRYPTON — “Civil Wars” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El, Georgina Campbell as Lyta-Zod, Colin Salmon as Black Zero — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

What this episode does get right is to get the overarching plot moving along, and there is a briskly satisfying pace to developments.  The coup is happening, albeit with hiccups, and we’re learning more about the future destruction of Krypton.  The appearance of Doomsday is a nice inclusion, and there seems to be a momentum to things.

The situation is getting murkier for all involved, which in this case is a good thing for the creation of drama, and it is only a few extremely odd blips that are spoiling the flow.  With some tweaks and a little attention to the character logic, this could have been great, but it is still a fine episode.  Admittedly I did also wonder where Kem (Rasmus Hardiker) was, or why General Zod doesn’t think about getting the location of the weapon from the Fortress, but these are small quibbles, and Krypton is definitely on the rise.