Well, the pilot premiered last night and is available for streaming. It was a one-hour pilot. I thought it was okay. Not great. The production designs and visual effects are good. The acting was meh, the story was okay; there's a Socratic type trial, a Romeo and Juliet type romance, a Star Trek (2009) like bar fight. I like how we are getting exposed to the working of Kryptonian society, of course, this is a re-imagining of Krypton society as a kind of feudal order in a high-tech environment. I also like how they kept Krypton as an ice planet (paying homage to the Richard Donner Superman films), and also still made it high-tech (in line with the more recent Man of Steel films). If anyone else saw it, what are your thoughts?
Several of us have already posted reactions in the show's "coming soon" thread, but now that it's actually airing, I guess it makes sense to transition to an official reactions thread. Here's what I wrote in the other topic: To that, I'll add that I liked the artful and appropriate musical invocation of John Williams's Superman theme at a couple of key points. Also, having mentioned the female characters, I have to say that Wallis Day's Nyssa in particular has my attention, if only because I suffer from a Hitchcockian predilection for chilly blondes.
So Seg-El just saw his parents shot in front of him and then he retreated to a cave to figure out how to fight back... ... this isn't a Superman prequel, he's friggin Batman!
I'm confused about one thing. I re-watched MOS and if Krypton is supposed to be in continuity with it I'm confused about something. Jor-El is arguing before the council that space travel is the solution to Krypton's energy problems. Jor-El says "Look to the stars like our ancestors did, there are habitable worlds within reach. We can begin by using the old outposts". In Krypton, Val-El (Superman's great, great, grandfather) says, "You can deny it all you like but the truth is we are not alone in the Universe." If in Seyg's time they don't even believe in other living beings besides Kryptonians, if Val-El discovered the existence of life outside of Krypton for the first time, then what was Jor-El referring to when he said "Look to the stars, like our ancestors did." Are these ancestors that pre-date the setting of Krypton? Should I just conclude that Krypton isn't in continuity with MOS or what?
Krypton is not in continuity with MoS. It's borrowing a few elements from that version of Krypton, as well as elements from other prior versions, and creating its own continuity.
Unlike others...I think it can work as Supermans grandpa can discover the old history of space travel...also Braniac hasn't arrived yet so that might be the impetus to rediscovering history. And cultures can change within a generation...most certainly 150 years
I'm really enjoying this show. I'm not sure why it received such a tepid critical reaction, but as with the pilot episode, this week I again found myself caught up in the story's dynamics, both personal and political. The confrontation scene between Lyta and her mother was particularly nicely played, in the way their personal pain bled out around the edges of their military roles. And Nyssa continues to intrigue (and allure). The commercials were annoying, however. It felt like there were more of them than on broadcast shows (though I don't know if that's really the case), and it seemed like whenever the narrative started to gain momentum it was interrupted. Guess last week's limited-commercial-interruptions premiere spoiled me. Interesting that Seg's grandfather was the one to discover the Phantom Zone in this continuity. Traditionally, that's Jor-El's accomplishment.
Episode 2 advanced things a lot, and fleshed out a lot. So Superman sent Adam to Krypton because only Adam could ride the Zeta Beam. But how did Superman find out about the threat to Krypton's past? And Val-El not only built the first Fortress of Solitude, but discovered the Phantom Zone -- a feat generally ascribed to Jor-El in other versions. Anyway, I like the idea of the House of El as a long line of great scientists. And I like the idea that the El crest/S-shield (the El Mayarah, as Supergirl calls it) is a symbol of goodness and hope to the Rankless of Krypton as well as to the people of Earth 200 years later. I do find it a little odd that Kryptonians are so obsessed with putting their house crests on everything they own and wear, but it's nice to see that symbol used as something important and special. So now we know the meaning of the many-faces mask, although it's odd that a monotheistic religion would continue to acknowledge the "false" gods it's rejected.
Hopefully Seg never rises enough that the populace raises their arm shouting "Seg El! Seg El! Seg El!".
First of all, LOL at the comment above me. Second, another issue with last night's episode to me again boils down to Kryptonian society. What kind of advanced society would have leadership positions decided by combat to the death? What kind of advanced society would allow combat to the death for ANYTHING? Of course the biggest sci-fi moment of that episode was having Lady Zod beat that monster in a hand to hand fight fairly. I don't care how well trained they are, a bigger person that can fight will always beat a littler person that can fight. Stick Floyd Mayweather or Sugar Ray Leonard in a ring in their primes with Mike Tyson or George Foreman in their primes, and the heavyweights would destroy the welterweights, even if the welterweight has more skill. It's strength. We have established that Adam Strange can use zeta beams to travel the distances, but we have not established the time travel. We also don't know how Strange can handle the greater gravity on Krypton so well. The higher gravity is part of what makes Superman strong and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Strange should be struggling.
^ Point might be sort of taken about the combat to the death, if our own "advanced societies" didn't feature equally inexplicable practices. (Alien viewer of TV series Earth: "It's completely implausible that such an advanced society would tolerate constant mass shootings as routine, rather than institute even the most common-sense measures to curtail them.") You're not wrong about Adam Strange and Krypton's gravity, though. Be nice if they would address that.
Would many people other than perhaps the diehards who read all the comics be aware that Krypton have a high gravity? Most of what I've seen on tv and in movies has been that his powers come from the energy of a yellow sun and nothing to do with the gravity of his native planet.
^ Probably you're right, and that may be why they've ignored it. It's true that the explanation for Kryptonians' superpowers on Earth has come to emphasize the yellow sun concept much more, but I think in the comics Krypton has remained pretty consistently a high-gravity planet, even though it's no longer a central component of the characters' abilities.