Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Tales from the Krypt.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 27, 2020

SyFy's Krypton didn't last too long. Two seasons and 20 episodes is not at all impressive in the Superhero saturated marketplace, but it's also not at all surprising that the show didn't enjoy prolonged success, nor would it surprise for any of its peers to fall flat. It's not that the first season didn't do well enough in terms of narrative, production, or ratings to warrant a second season. In fact, the first season ended with enough gusto and shifting expectations to generate some excitement, but for whatever reason -- and there are plenty of reasons worthy of speculation -- ratings steadily dropped through season one and fell sharply through season two, hitting bottom at just 290,000 viewers for the series' penultimate episode and gaining, comparatively, just a few more for its last outing. That's with strong critical ratings and a vocal following in its back pocket, not to mention its ties to one of comic's most prolific characters. So, what went wrong? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps nothing Krypton did or did not do, specifically; it just appears to have become lost in the flood of Superhero content, still dominated by Marvel but also competing with several other popular DC outings on the air (Arrow , The Flash, Gotham). That, and asking audiences to care about a Superman universe show without Superman.

Official synopsis: As the series' final season opens, Kandor is under the control of General Dru-Zod, who's on a ruthless mission to rebuild Krypton and secure its future by conquering the universe. Faced with this bleak outlook, Seg-El, the legendary Man of Steel's grandfather, along with space-and-time traveller Adam Strange, attempts to unite a dispersed group of resisters in an effort to defeat Zod and restore hope to Seg's beloved home planet. But DC Super-Villain Brainiac infiltrates Seg's world in a very personal way. And trying to bring together Nyssa-Vex, Val-El, Kim, Jayna-Zod, and Dev-Em as dedicated Rebellion fighters is no easy feat. Ultimately, Seg is destined to confront Zod himself...as father and son.

Here's a Superman show without Superman, for better or for worse (ratings would say worse). It's a show built on mythology, constructed around history, and not history in the same vein as the wonderful Smallville that followed a young Clark Kent/Superman coming of age in his Midwestern Earthly home. No, Krypton instead deals with The Man of Steel's distant relatives, distant in time and distant in worlds. It incorporates some familiar names -- the House of El, of course, but also General Zod and Brainiac -- and forms a complicated tale of Kryptonian society and politics that ultimately pays dividends when it comes to the show's own, dramatically skewered take on Superman's lineage. But do even the die-hards really want to spend time slogging through a story that tries to construct backstory built around a mix of familiar and unfamiliar characters?

The show's creative team certainly had no easy task but they do make Krypton work, to an extent. It can and often does become far too bogged down in its own mythology and the complex and convoluted moving parts around Kryptonian politics and society, and quite often to any given episode's detriment. Season two's end rewards don't really justify the show's existence, and the unceremonious cancellation came as no surprise to anyone paying attention. Krypton and its second season in particular -- by all measures a more accessible, finely honed, more engaging season than its predecessor -- works in spurts. The second season does fix some of season one's shortcomings now that it's working in an established world of its own making, able to stretch beyond Krypton's shadowy, shady corners and build on season one's time-twisting finale. It's just too little, too late.

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season's 1080p transfer plays well within the show's somewhat visually challenging production design, lighting, and post production influences. The show is by-and-large a visually dark affair, with shadowy corners and low light arenas the standard for the various settings. Such scenes are often bleak and gray, accentuated by accent lights shining dull warm yellow and orange light on key subjects or focal areas, or by way of a more diffuse pattern to bring some visibility to the screen. Costumes are dark, props are dark...the entire thing just isn't very visually robust, though it is, obviously, what the filmmakers envisioned for the production. The color palette is not desaturated, it's just greatly influenced by the dreary lighting conditions. In these darkened shots, clarity remains unaffected, offering high yield skin and clothing definition, firm location detail, and an overall sense of texture and definition. Noise is certainly in accompaniment much of the time, but even under the limited luminosity it's never particularly bothersome. The show does, from time to time, enter into some more welcoming light. It is in such shots and scenes and sequences where the image reveals a firm, capable presentation that is light on noise and heavy in clarity, fine detail, and color reproduction excellence. The picture is generally healthy, sharp, and true. It's well managed under the visual style and the constraints inherent to that style. Fans should be pleased with Warner Brothers' efforts with this one.

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season features a nicely balanced DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is immersive as necessary and straightforward along the front in general, with dialogue the mainstay that presents with faithfully authentic cadence and prioritization from the front-center position. Musical cues are healthy and nicely detailed, pleasantly wide along the front and folding in only appropriately balanced back channel support. The rear channels do carry a good bit of activity during action: a few shootout scenes in the final episode come alive with impressive zip and stage traversal, yielding perfect clarity and directional authenticity with each zap. Likewise, the back channels carry critical ambient effects; whether detailed and specific sounds or just an immersive background hum, the track finds nice balance and a feel for immersion within even its most mundane moments. Listeners will not feel shortchanged in any department.

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season contains two extras on disc two. A digital copy code is included with purchase. The release ships in the standard Warner Brothers TV series slip box.

• Villains: Modes of Persuasion (1080p, 38:05): "The villain is always the hero of their own story." This is a well-rounded exploration of villainy in general including, but also beyond, Krypton. Various interviewees explore the history of villainy across various characters within the DC universe, looking at personal characteristics, the compasses that direct them, how they reflect within and beyond society, and more. Comic fans will find this a gripping, worthwhile watch.
• The Fate of Superman (1080p, 2:58): A quick exploration of Krypton's character arcs and how they define Superman's lineage. It also explores Zod's role in the story and moral quandary Seg-El faces in the series.

Krypton: The Complete Second & Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Where did Krypton go wrong? Did it go wrong? Perhaps the show suffered from a case of overdevelopment and/or questionable execution. Maybe the story wasn't tight enough. Or was it the acting? Perhaps it's as simple as this: Krypton, while imperfect, did nothing egregiously wrong. There's simply too much Superhero saturation, too many excursions beyond what works -- and there's a whole lot of what works -- and into the far reaches and dusty corners in hopes of finding some untapped resource. There's even a young Alfred show out there, for goodness sakes. Are legions of fans really lining up to learn about distant relatives and convoluted backstories? That's what this reviewer believes ultimately doomed Krypton: there are just too many tentacles out here, many of which are blindly stabbing at anything and everything to latch on to the next big Superhero hit, all the while reeling in the ideas and slapping the audience upside the head time and again. Here's an idea: cool it for a bit. Let the appetite grow. Fans are stuffed to the point of bursting, and there are only so many TV watching hours in a week. Anyway, Krypton's second and final season Blu-ray includes two extras to go along with solid video and audio presentations. For fans only. The season is also available in a double pack with Krypton's first season.