After a couple of almost passable episodes that did not have me nodding as I tried to get through them, Krypton is back to its old, very, very boring normal in “Transformation.”
The problems remain the same: stuff is happening, ZOMG BRAINIAC, ZOMG PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER, ZOMG PEOPLE DYING, and yet, we hardly care.
Even about my boy Dev, who I know I said was my favorite last review, but I’ll get to that in a while.
Sometimes, shows fail by not establishing stakes. You don’t feel like anything is going to happen to anyone you care about, so you have problems engaging, and, if the show does deliver a cliffhanger, you nonetheless don’t worry because you’re sure your favorite are safe.
Krypton is not that kind of show, which should be a point in its favor. Except that it’s a show without stakes anyway, because I do not care about absolutely anyone, so whatever happens to the characters means absolutely nothing to me anyway.
People are dead! The plan that somehow involved General Zod, Lyta, Seg and Nyssa failed. It’s all gonna get worse from here on out. Kandor city is in mortal peril!
Even speculation is too much for me right now. This could go a number of ways after all, and we’re far off from the political arena and I just don’t care. All I care about at this point is that this show is ending in three episodes.
Last year, at San Diego Comic-Con, I had a chance to interview this cast and I came out of the interview incredibly excited about what was coming. That’s why I committed to reviewing the show. That’s why I hyped it before I’d seen even a second of footage.
It’s hard to put into words how disappointed I am with what this show turned out to be, especially because it could be so much more. It could be romantic, it could be a political masterpiece, it could showcase strong and layered familial relationships.
And boy, it could be the jewel of DCTV, though I understand that’s not exactly a high bar to set.
That’s part of the issue, though. The competition wasn’t stiff. I’ve watched, at different times, Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, and loved parts of all those shows. I’m also a huge fan of what Black Lightning did in Season 1.
Krypton is on a different network, and it strikes a different tone than those shows, but it could have – should have, been so much better. Instead, I’m left to conclude that, as bad as those shows have been at times, and as bad as some of them are right now, at least they make me feel something.
Even if that’s a tremendous desire to punch the screen.
For Krypton, even that would be preferable than the bland…whatever that fills me as I sit down to watch the show.
It really, really would.
Krypton airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on SyFy
