Ricky Church reviews the sixth episode of Krypton season 2, ‘In Zod We Trust’…
After the surprising cliffhanger last episode where Lyta was executed in front of all of Krypton, ‘In Zod We Trust’ amped up the stakes in some nice ways as the consequences of Lyta’s death was felt for all the characters. It offered some breathing room for Krypton viewers from the tense developments while also setting up the final few episodes’ conflict in the wake of this game-changing development.
One of the strongest aspects to ‘In Zod We Trust’ was the acting from the whole cast. Everyone gave strong performances, but it was Camerin Cuffe, Ian McElhinney, Colin Salmon and Ann Ogbomo who stood out the most as they dealt with the ramifications of Lyta’s execution by Jax-Ur. Cuffe in particular did a nice job as he expressed Seg’s grief and rage over his loss, especially as he was never able to undo the reconditioning on Lyta. It’s interesting to see Seg in a fairly new place emotionally as he’s now become desperate enough to accept Brainiac’s help in defeating Zod, but it’s a path made belieavble thanks to Cuffe’s portrayal.
One of the big dilemmas the heroes faced was the need for vengeance outweighing their morality. This problem more directly affected the rebellion the most as Jax crossed a huge line the rebels could not walk back. Val’splea to Jax and them to remember what they fight for was one of the most memorable scenes from the episode thanks to McElhinney’s delivery of his monologue. It really shows how precarious of a state they’re in as Jax is close to becoming the very thing she’s fighting against as she’s willing to win no matter the cost, but is willing to put it on her name alone in order to keep Val’s hands clean. The change in their relationship is an interesting one that highlights the parallels between their leadership styles and how Jax has slowly changed since the start of the season, a fact that Hannah Waddingham really sells. It is intriguing, though, that Val seemingly recognizes some of Jax’s points as he destroyed Wegthor’s space elevator to cut off Zod’s forces, potentially sacrificing hundreds of civilians. There is probably going to be some sort of twist involved with Val’s actions, but it was another surprising moment to end Val’s story on in the episode.
With everyone grieving over Lyta, there wasn’t a lot of progression with the overall story. The biggest movement to come out of ‘In Zod We Trust’ was Seg rescuing Nyssa and Cor-Vex from Zod and his reluctant alliance with Brainiac, but overall not much happened. That’s a good thing, though, as it allowed both the characters and audience to breathe after the tense events of the last couple episodes. It worked quite well in regards to Lyta’s death as the time devoted to each character’s grief and shock gave weight to her death and placed viewers in their shoes. Of course, a couple big developments happened toward the end to tease viewers for the final upcoming episodes, namely Zod pursuing a reckless course of action now that he has very little left to lose and finding Doomsday. Whatever he has planned for the ultimate destroyer can’t mean anything good for Seg, Val and the rebels.
‘In Zod We Trust’ delivered a nice episode that focused on the characters and their emotions. The cast gave strong performances and the slow-burn of the episode allowed breathing room for them and the audiences as they took in Lyta’s death and the infighting between Val and Jax’s differing beliefs. Now that we’re in the back-half of the season, the set-up for the final episodes as Zod may gain control of Doomsday is exciting and alarming for Seg and his allies.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church
