What’s The Use?
Episode 5 of Jupiter’s Legacy Season 1 begins in the present, with Sheldon struggling to hold it together. The country is starting to turn against his code, and the issues at home are having a profound effect on his psyche. He attends therapy, discussing his Father’s betrayal and what’s driven his profound, almost authoritarian, way of instilling righteousness upon others. In fact, he decides to send Brandon off to check on Darkstar’s clone. This “tough love” is interpreted by Grace as Sheldon rubbing his son’s nose in what he’s done. Once there though, Brandon gets talking to Walt and asks him what he would have done in the heat of the moment. Walt tellingly sidesteps the question, eventually interrupted by the arrival of Barnabas Wolfe. This eccentric magician joins them all in the autopsy room, where Barnabas shows what he’s capable of. He removes the layers of armour around this doppelganger as the group find a strange orb inside this thing’s body. Barnabas uses his powers, and realizes there’s something inside the orb. And that something is Chester’s watch. Heading back to see Sheldon, it’s revealed to be an exact replica and copy of Sheldon’s. But how is that possible? They both realize that there’s only one man who would be capable of engineering such a thing – and that man is George. With Skyfox missing in action for such a long time, no one seems to know where he is. Chloe wakes up in hospital with Hutch sitting waiting for her. It’s a brief conversation in truth, especially when the next scene shows Hutch loading up a truck. Sheldon appears too, prompting Hutch to high-tail it away. Sheldon follows without much fuss. He’s too quick and he has big questions about George. According to Hutch, he hasn’t seen his Father since he was a kid. Apparently George turned on all the other heroes, at least according to Sheldon, but Hutch sees things in a very different light. Sheldon asks Hutch for help, which eventually sees the pair teleport inside a strip club when Hutch asks his contraption to take him to see George. Apparently this is the same result every time he tries. We then jump to Hutch with Chloe having sex, with Hutch admitting afterwards that he told Chloe’s father the truth… mostly. Grace arrives to check up on Brandon but immediately sees Barnabas’ powers in action. For now Barnabas is staying, having concocted a plan with Walt to allow him into his mind. Back in our 1929 timeline, Sheldon is back home but still seeing Chester’s bloodied corpse sitting at the table with him. Eventually Sheldon has enough and heads back to see his Father’s body, taking his watch before leaving. With the watch in hand, Sheldon visits George at his estate. He mentions the strange whispers and how something is calling out to him. Right now though Sheldon is struggling to piece together quite what this all means. Pointing out the coordinates, Sheldon believes there’s something there that could change the world. On the back of this, George eventually agrees to join him in this expedition. Walt and George then continue on their rounds, recruiting a group comprised of Grace and Fitz. Galivanting off to recruit his team however, puts Walt in a difficult position. The board vote to kick Walt and Sheldon out the company and the books could not be more dire. Sheldon and George then come to blows, with the latter believing Sheldon’s trip could be a cathartic experience; a trip of healing and acceptance for Sheldon to get some much-needed closure. Speaking of which, Jane drops off her engagement ring when she finds out about this and walks away. Back in the present, we see the identity of that therapist Sheldon was talking to at the start of this episode. His name is Jack Hobbs, and he happens to be a criminal genius that Sheldon himself locked up in Supermax. The intriguing lines between good and bad continue to blur.
The Episode Review
The idea around shades of grey and how we perceive the world how we want to is fascinating and a natural extension to shows like X-Men which tackles this in more detail. It’s something that’s reflected with both the young and old hero generations but also something that’s overshadowed by the biggest problem with this series – the editing. The timeline jumps and cuts in this are ultimately the biggest downfall of Jupiter’s Legacy. Take the Chloe and Hutch scenes as an example. We cut from Hutch and Chloe in the hospital, to the former then loading up a truck and talking to Sheldon.Several scenes are squeezed between it, including time jumps back and forth. We then finally return to Hutch and Chloe together talking in the latter’s bedroom. In that span of time, nothing is fleshed out in a compelling way. It’s sporadic at best, and really offsets the pacing of the series, which is a real shame. The constant back and forth between different characters is something that’s occurred throughout the season and in doing so, it fractures the character development. With the exception of Sheldon’s family, we have no real clue who any of these supporting heroes actually are and what drives them. Hopefully the remaining three episodes can improve on that front, especially after such a good couple of chapters.
