“The Machine Who Would Be Empire”
What They Say:
Kidnapped and far from home, Superman bonds with his cousin Kara … and discovers the truth about Krypton from the last Kryptonians in existence!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The series has covered a lot of interesting ground so far this season and while I lament the lack of time for it to just breathe, I also understand why. The addition of Kara to this season has definite worked for me as something different from past iterations and the very anime-influenced elements we get from her. Having her basically “freeing” her cousin and bringing him into space is definitely a hard thing for him to take but he’s also admittedly kind of panicking a bit about how Kara is definitely pro-Krytoponian Empire with a pretty dark bent about it. We’ve seen “dark’ Kara before because of how she was raised, kept away from, and so forth, but it’s interesting to get a younger Superman who’s snarkier than usual in dealing with it. She’s not exactly the more mature one here but she’s definitely the more driven one with her intention of conquering Earth.
The pieces we get of Kara’s backstory and the attempt at bringing back Krypton to its place in the galaxy is certainly interesting. Seeing the last days of the planet through her eyes is interesting since it’s all about elevating other societies and worlds into their doctrine that has such a peaceful view given of it even though you know everything she’s seeing is based on perceptions she hasn’t experienced. Clark being able to show his childhood to Kara is interesting as well as we get to see more ourselves but also the kind of supportive environment that was there. Kara’s conflicting feelings over it are presented well because she’s not wrong in some senses as to how Clark was told to hide who he was but it’s the kind of thing where she doesn’t have the context to be able to understand what his situation was. Similar to how he lacks real context to hers as well.
Clark’s definitely smart in his approach to dealing with her by asking her to take him to one of the planets that the Empire has uplifted – not just a projection of it. The journey itself is great as Clark learns more about his abilities in a way that makes sense – and how he’s limited himself based on his Earth-based raising, and Kara finds herself actually having fun for once – much like why she fell for Jimmy. Unfortunately, there’s no fun when they arrive on the uplifted world only to find it in ruins. Finding Thanagar in this way is off-putting to say the least and Kara’s confusion is handled well as she realizes slowly but surely the way she’s been controlled over the years. It’s a slow process but one that makes sense as more and more is teased, leading us back to Kandor for Clark to meet her father. The twist as to who is really running the show with a Brainiac is a great little twist with its history on Krypton prior to its fall. It adds a new level of pernicious evil to the whole thing.
In Summary:
Getting to see more of the past through the larger villain here is interesting because it speaks so much to how dead and empty much of the known galaxy is compared to the mainline DC side of things. The teases we get of other things like Thanagar and Green Lanterns is really nicely done while keeping its focus on Clark and Kara through different perspectives. Rolling with the Kandor naming of things, it’s a neat way to bring Brainiac to the forefront while not feeling like a retread of everything else. The anime elements are pretty nice throughout but the main focus on Kara and Clark is what works the most. The view of Clark as a tool and weapon from Brainiac’s perspective is a given and the setup for the final round of episodes coming up sets us up for a pretty great time ahead.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Max
