Krypton S2 Ep. 8 Thoughts

"Mercy"

This week’s episode of Krypton surprised me in all the best ways with its storytelling elements diving into incredible new yet familiar grounds for this hardcore comic book TV viewer.
Krypton introduces a DC Comics antagonist that I never expected to see on the show yet it perfectly fits in with the mythology considering the core setting of the show. That being the “Black Mercy” which, for this fan of the CW Supergirl series, was a a welcomed surprise. If you’ve ever read any of my Supergirl episode reviews, there’s a chance you’ve come across my statement being that the best episode of that show was by far the Black Mercy centered episode.

The reason being that, through that particular alien’s ability, we as viewers get to watch the protagonist live through a beautifully presented alternate “perfect life” fantasy...until it crumbles like a terrifying nightmare. What Krypton does with its Black Mercy iteration is essentially the same concept only now with the Lyta Zod character and with a much more compelling expansion of the creature’s use. Not only is the Black Mercy used by Zod to place his mother (who is shockingly revealed to be alive) in a compliant state, but the creature’s essence is also being used as a desperate attempt to put Doomsday in a state to be controlled as well. The idea that Doomsday is immune to every element on Krypton which is why Zod turns to the foreign nature of the Black Mercy being discovered on another planet is pretty intriguing.

Krypton continues to rise above many of the comic book TV shows in the market when it comes to visual direction.

Essentially the show masterfully uses one newly introduced villain to support the build up of another established one. The fantasy sequences in Lyta’s mind was very well executed from both a production standpoint (which is no surprise to the show’s already incredible cinematic flare) and storytelling concept. The idea of her living the perfect life with Seg was a great way for us to see just what this hardened soldier’s dream scenario would be. And when her reality started to bleed through due to her repeated struggle against the creature’s grasp, her dream, similar to the Supergirl episode that I referenced, starts to turn into a nightmare. My favorite part being every character’s last state of which she left them in the real world being abruptly inserted (Dev’s missing arm, Jada’s wound from being shot by her, and Zod’s future as a dangerous conqueror).

The presentation of the Black Mercy trying to keep up with Lyta’s fight between reality and this created fantasy was pretty engaging to watch unfold. There’s also the slight body horror element of the actual physical creature itself strapped around Lyta that looked like something out of Alien or other incredible Sci-Fi/Horror prosperities. By the ending of this episode, Krypton’s iteration of the Black Mercy character officially became my favorite in both its visual presentation and the storytelling elements surrounding it.

Aside from the Black Mercy’s use and Doomsday’s build up, we also get to see Seg and Nyssa dealing with the the loss of their son to Brainiac as well as a pretty entertaining heist component with the team breaking into Fort Rozz. This in my opinion was probably the weakest segment of the episode in comparison to everything taking place, yet unlike the previous episode’s weaker link subplot, I still rather enjoyed it overall. We also get a fantastic and pretty intense flashback scene where Zod is shown physically fighting off Lyta to eventually get her to comply perfectly tying back to Seg’s phantom zone vision of seeing Zod seemingly choke her to death. It’s an awesome callback as you see Zod vaguely hearing and reacting to what sounds like a faded scream of Seg coming from the ether.

Overall, this was another awesome episode of Krypton with surprising twists and turns, spectacular production values, and a praise worthy adaptation of a DC Comics antagonist. Of all the comic book TV shows that are currently ongoing, this is the one entry that I’d really like to see renewed the most so that it can finish on its own terms.

Episode Rating: 9/10