Krypton Review: House of Zod S01E05

Krypton continues to lay out its foundations this week, with episode 5: House of Zod, giving us some backstory to the second most well-known Kryptonian family. (BEWARE! This review contains SPOILERS!)

This episode essentially follows on directly from the last one, and the pair could have functioned as a two-parter.  Seg (Cameron Cuffe) starts out in the cold, having escaped from the mysterious Black Zero leader (Colin Salmon), and knowing he will die out there, sneaks back into the complex.  During his search to find a way out, he stumbles across another prisoner, Raika (Sonita Henry), who tells him that she knows an exit route.  This opens up what could well be quite an interesting storyline for future episodes, as it turns out that she is part of a group that follow the ‘Ice Goddess’ Cythonna, and they seem to be protecting something connected to the House of El.  The episode doesn’t go into much detail, but hints at more depth that we will hopefully discover in future shows.  Within this, there is definitely going to be some disparity between what people think the House of El will do, and what Seg wants to do, and he will no doubt battle between family expectations and his own path.

KRYPTON — “House of Zod” Episode 105 — Pictured: (l-r) Sonita Henry as Raika, Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

The basis of the storyline this week revolves around this idea of duty and honour, especially through the eyes of Jayna- Zod (Ann Ogbomo), as we see various flashbacks to her upbringing, and what is expected; various aspects of this seem particularly harsh, as she is pitted against her brother, who ultimately betrays her in a selfish act during a test, and she has to leave him for dead.  Her father doesn’t seem surprised and writes him off, somewhat coldly, which just underpins the viewpoint on emotion within the House of Zod.  In contrast, Lyta (Georgina Campbell) seems a different kind of warrior to her mother, as she still seems outwardly connected to her emotions, as opposed to burying them, which frustrates Jayna no end.  Ann Ogbomo ably plays the anguish she feels at having to make some difficult choices to save Lyta, and conveys the dichotomy between her love and shame for Lyta very well.

KRYPTON — “House of Zod” Episode 105 — Pictured: (l-r) Georgina Campbell as Lyta-Zod, Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

Into Jayna’s ordered existence has come Nyssa-Vex (Wallis Day) once again, attempting to manipulate the developing situation for her own ends.  Ostensibly, she is working towards a common goal with her father, Daron-Vex (Elliot Cowan), but it is becoming clear that Nyssa is much more cunning and calculated.  The Vex’s plan to overthrow the Voice of Rao requires the military, under Jayna’s control, to be on their side, so it is promised that Lyta will be spared if Jayna agrees to join the cause.  Ultimately, this manipulation of all the events by Nyssa leads to the sacrifice of Kol-Da (Andrea Vasiliou), who it turns out was in a relationship with Daron; this death is probably partly by design by Nyssa, as she emerges as the truly dark force in the family.  Sadly, this also means no more Kol-Da, who a couple of episodes ago looked to be an interesting character.

KRYPTON — “House of Zod” Episode 105 — Pictured: Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

Various other characters are beginning to step outside of their theoretical roles this episode, giving the show more colour and depth, and newly saved Lyta is no exception as she goes out on a limb to save Seg; having escaped from the Cythonites with Raika’s help, and after having wandered around in the ice for a while, with no clear plan, he manages to contact Adam (Shaun Sipos), who gets a message to Lyta.  There have been several moments where Seg seems to bumble along without a plan and yet somehow comes through.  In this case, he almost winds up dead, but is re-captured by Colin Salmon’s mysterious leader character, before Lyta can sweep in to save the day.  At times I think they must wish that Seg is like the Fonz and he can metaphorically ‘bang the jukebox’ to solve any problem.  “Aaay!”

KRYPTON — “House of Zod” Episode 105 — Pictured: (l-r) Colin Salmon as Black Zero Operative, Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

This rescue and subsequent fight between Lyta and the mysterious character, leads to a great reveal, which looks set to infuse some more complexity into the series; it does come nicely out of leftfield, but there were some hints before, so it’s not a complete surprise.  What this does do is raise a whole load of questions, which along with the ones we thought of revolving around the Cythonites earlier, means that there’s a lot of ways the show can develop.

From a relatively straightforward beginning, this show is starting to show a much more layered future, and evidence that the characters have more in them; all they need is a bit of time to fully explore each one, including all the supporting roles, such as Kem (Rasmus Hardiker), and a rich universe will come to fruition.