Things are getting awfully serious in Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy. Based on Mark Millar and Frank Quitely‘s comic series, the series has shown us the struggles of heroes both in and out of the super suits. In the previous episode, Brandon (Andrew Horton) laid his friends to rest while struggling with the pressure of being perfect in his father, Sheldon’s (Josh Duhamel) eyes. In the past, Sheldon struggles to come to terms with his father’s (Richard Blackburn) secrets. In the fourth episode, “Painting the Clouds With Sunshine,” George (Matt Lanter) tries to help Sheldon after his seizure and in the present day, Hutch (Ian Quinlan) gets on the wrong side of a superpowered crime boss.
Disclaimer: This is a recap and, by nature, will contain spoilers for Jupiter’s Legacy. If you haven’t watched it, I highly suggest you do so. Viewers can find the entire first season here on Netflix.
RELATED: Catch up with episode two of Jupiter’s Legacy, “Paper and Stone”!
“Painting the Clouds With Sunshine” opens with a radio broadcast explaining that people are worried about a possible attack from supervillains in honor of George Hutchence/Skyfox’s 40th anniversary of leaving The Union. In an apartment, we see Hutch tinkering away as Jake (Morgan David Jones) questions why they aren’t helping on his upcoming heist. Jack, Jacinda (Jess Salgueiro) and Gabby (Humberly Gonzalez) all seem to think that he will figure out he can do this on his own and leave them behind.
They have been following his rules, which include never killing. Hutch promises them that this isn’t the case and they are like family to him. The big man needs this job to be under the radar, in out and no clues left behind. Hutch knows that he needs to go in alone to keep things as easy as possible. He knows using his power rod will make the job easy and no one will ever know he was there.
Later that night, a group of men with masks are escorting the cargo out to a van. We see Hutch casing out the place and teleports himself into the back of the van. But he isn’t alone and teleports back outside before the guy can shoot him. Just as things seem to be getting a bit out of control, The Utopian/Sheldon arrives to deal with the other bad guys. Hutch uses this as a cover to get back into the van and grab the case. A few gunshots hit inside the van and Hutch teleports back to the loft before the case explodes.
Back in 1929, George wakes up in his mansion and goes through his morning routine while Jean Goldkette’s Painting the Clouds With Sunshine plays in the background. From the looks of it, things are going exceptionally well for him. Down at breakfast, Cuthbert (Brian Tree) has laid out 99 eggs that have been boiled to varying degrees for him to chose from. While he is enjoying his breakfast, Walter (Ben Daniels) and Jane (Meg Steedle) arrive.
They want to know where he has been hiding since Sheldon’s seizure and Walter even insinuates that he is trying to keep his distance. Jane explains that something isn’t quite right with Sheldon and wants George to try and talk with him. George knows that the doctors said he was alright, but Jane believes that this isn’t physical. Walter shares that Sheldon isn’t eating or sleeping and while none of them will say it, Sheldon probably isn’t right in the head. George agrees to go over and visit before his benefit tonight.
In the present day, Hutch is trying to smooth things over with the team for his failed mission. They are worried that the Big Man will come down hard on them and that it is time they run and hide. Hutch thinks he can handle their boss and tells them not to worry about it. Hutch steps away to take a call from a mysterious man. It looks like Hutch is trying to buy something costly and doesn’t want the rest of the team to know. He tells the guy to give him until the end of the week to get the money, but the guy warns him he has two days.
While the call is wrapping up, two other men arrive, who Hutch lovingly refers to as Linus (Noah Danby) and Lucy (Xavier Schoppel). I don’t care if the guy’s name is Kevin; Lucy matches the joke perfectly. They work for Hutch’s boss and are here to escort him to a meeting. Hutch tries to get out of it, but they aren’t willing to take a raincheck. He uses his power rod to teleport himself to the big man.
“Painting the Clouds With Sunshine” jumps back to 1929 as George pays a visit to Sheldon. As George approaches the door, we can hear Sheldon inside screaming and arguing with someone. Though we never hear another voice speaking. Once inside, George realizes that Sheldon is by himself and is looking rather rough. George asks who he was talking to, but Sheldon brushes it off as thinking out loud. Behind Sheldon, we can see his father Chester bludgeoned by the fall. It is pretty clear that George can’t see him.
George warns Sheldon to be careful about “thinking out loud” because people might get the wrong idea. George tells Sheldon that he stopped by because everyone is so worried about him. But Sheldon doesn’t have the time to worry about that and heads back over to his desk. He has drawings of circles on top of circles. George tries talking to him about everything that is going on and we can see Chester taunting Sheldon about how people are just here to watch him go crazy and to ignore them.
Sheldon freaks out again on his father, but George sees it as some sort of a fit. George comforts Sheldon, who finally opens up that he doesn’t think he is okay. He tells him not to worry that this is just grieving and that he needs to get past this. George tries to talk Sheldon through this, but Sheldon struggles with the fact that Chester walked off that ledge right in front of him.
George opens up about how his mother died from a fever. She was so scared that she would pass that sickness onto George that she refused to let him in the room. He never got the chance to see her again before she died. And soon after, his father followed her in death after his heart gave out. George tells Sheldon that sometimes he wonders what it would have been like if he was like Sheldon and Walter. If he hadn’t been alone and his parents had lived longer. George manages to talk Sheldon to sleep, but before he leaves, he finds the drawings that Sheldon destroyed. He grabs them and takes them with him.
Back in the present, Hutch finds the Big Man (Robert Maillet) dealing with some lackluster employees. He asks Hutch where his quantum modular is but doesn’t care to listen to Hutch’s excuses. The Big Man gives Hutch a pretty backhanded compliment about being so tough for having no powers, but he knows if he killed his friends that it would soften him up. The Big Man gives him the chance to make up for his failure with another job.
Hutch teleports back to the apartment and breaks up a rather intimate moment between Gabby and Jacinda. He tells them about his meeting with the Big Man and having one chance to make up for his mistakes. They are worried that this case will put them in hot water since they are going against two major mafia life groups. Hutch gets them to agree to help, but only if he can get Jack on their side so they can use his van.
Hutch goes off and finds Jack, who wants nothing to do with the job. He knows that they don’t play around and have done some pretty terrible stuff to people who just happened to look at them funny. Jack’s plan is to get out of town and stay on the run before eventually hiding in Antarctica. Hutch reminds him that he can’t just drive to Antarctica, but Jack knows that the van will take him anywhere. Hutch hits him with the fact that the girls are only in if he is a part of the team, which eventually wins Jack over. He tells him it’s a simple grab and go.
However, later that night, Jack is screaming bloody murder in the back of the van as Gabby and Jacinda try to patch him up. It turns out it wasn’t as simple as Hutch imagined. They are in a car chase with the Kulakov Brothers running after them, talk about super speed. Hutch ends up turning down a wrong alley and finds himself face to face with a wall. Jack tells him that he needs to hit a few hidden buttons and then boom, the van teleports right through the wall and onto the other side.
Just as they are celebrating their victory, Hutch takes his eyes off the road. Just as he is turning back around, he sees a woman crossing the street and he swerves to try and miss her but instead smalls right into the side of Chloe (Elena Kampouris). She tries to see if everyone is safe inside the van when Jack falls out the back. Not thinking and terrified that they just ran into The Utopian’s daughter, he attacks her. Jacinda follows Jack out and starts fighting with Elena as well.
Things seem to be going well for Jacinda and Gabby joins the fight only to find herself getting sent off towards space. Jacinda flies off to try and catch up with her as Jack gets up and runs away. Hutch finally comes to and climbs out of the front of the van with the case. Elena realizes that she knows who he is, but before she can stop him, Hutch teleports off to Idaho. Elena grabs whatever spilled out of the case as she hears sirens approaching.
In 1929, George is at a benefit where he is trying to piece together Sheldon’s sporadic drawings. Things seem to be lining up when Margeret (Genevieve DeGraves) arrives and he makes the joke about not letting her sister play with matches. It looks like these are the sisters George mentioned in the previous episode who happened to burn down his boat. She shares that she is happy he has managed to keep his head above water since the crash before joining her sister.
When she leaves, George turns his attention back to Sheldon’s drawings and finally pieces them together and seems to understand that they have a meaning. A man snaps a photo of him before George leaves the benefit early. He rushes over to Sheldon’s house and hears the same screaming from inside his room, but this time Sheldon is just talking to Jane. Sheldon seems to have done a complete 180 from how he was acting earlier.
Sheldon thanks George for his simple words of wisdom and how they helped him break out of whatever funk he had found himself in. George tries to leave, but Jane convinces him to step and heads off to make tea. Sheldon continues to thank George for helping him and shares that he even though out taking his own life. He asks George not to tell Walter or Jane for fear of being locked up.
Sheldon realizes that George is holding something, which he admits to being some of Sheldon’s drawings he borrowed. Sheldon tells him to toss them in the fire, which surprises George. He tries to tell him they are more than just crazy doodles. George thinks that they are something more than that. He shows them that there is something more about the shapes, like a puzzle. As Sheldon looks down at the drawings, he starts to see a windmill in the picture.
George thinks this is some kind of memory that Sheldon must have forgot, but Sheldon knows he has never seen this windmill before. As Sheldon goes to throw the paper into the fire, he sees his father again and begins to hallucinate and sees the same flashes he saw before. But this time, Sheldon gets a more distinct shot of the farm the windmill is at and a boy on the step and a man firing a gun. As George tries to call for the doctor, Sheldon gets up and starts wandering off.
Later that night, Walter and George argue about his choice to share the drawings and theories with Sheldon. Walter tells him that he constantly tries to hide the truth behind ‘flowers and sunshine’ and knows George lost all of his money. Walter accuses him of making himself the center of everything and that the truth is Sheldon has lost his mind. Jane overhears the two and as Walter tries to apologize, she admits that she already knows the truth.
Neither were able to find him and Walter is going to go to the police, which will show everyone that Sheldon has gone off the deep end. George tries to tell Jane that he would never do anything to hurt Sheldon. They are best friends, but she points out that he isn’t here and walks away, leaving George alone.
“Painting the Clouds With Sunshine” jumps back to the present, where Hutch is alone in a bar nursing his wounds when Linus and Kevin show up. They are here to escort Hutch to The Big Man, but Hutch isn’t in the mood to deal with any of them. He explains that they got the case but lost it to Chloe Sampson. They find this extremely funny, but it doesn’t change the fact that they failed the mission. They tell him to get the bag back from her, but he tells them that it’s already gone and to live with it.
Linus and Kevin know they will be just fine, but Hutch and his friends won’t. Hutch tries to reach for his power rod, but Kevin uses his tentacle power to grab it first. He makes a smart remark about having it in his hands and Hutch calls out for it to teleport itself to shark-infested waters. Bye-bye Kevin. He calls the power rod back and it is wrapped in Kevin’s tentacle and nothing else. Hutch shares that it doesn’t matter who is holding the power rod; it only listens to him.
Linus tries to plead with Hutch that they were only doing their job and that if he were in charge of the shots, he would just put this in the past. Hutch takes this as claiming the Big Man’s heart. He sends the power rod away and when he summons it to return, it is covered in blood. Hutch shares with Linus that he broke a promise he made when he killed them. But he understands that the world is changing and he needs to change with it.
Linus tries to walk away, but Hutch tells him he needs one more thing from him – an advance. In the city, Hutch meets with the seller he spoke with earlier in the episode and hands over the money plus the extra ten percent for calling him a Nazi. In return, the man hands over an item that could power a small city for an entire year or punch a hole through the strongest being on the planet. Whatever he feels like doing with it.
In 1929, we see George awakening in 1929 just like he did at the beginning of the episode. But this time, as he heads down to breakfast, it becomes clear that the entire house has been emptied. It turns out that Wingate has purchased the home from him but is allowing him time to find other living arrangements and that the staff has been compensated. As he sits down at the table, there is only one egg that Cuthbert chose after keeping track of all his selections in the last year. Cuthbert leaves him alone to enjoy his final breakfast in the house by himself.
In the present, Hutch enters into a locked room filled with different types of inventions. He unpacks the new gadget he purchased and beings work on this creation of his. As “Painting the Clouds With Sunshine” comes to a close as the camera pans out from Hutch, who comments that he is “almost there pops,” and we see the photograph taken of George during the banquet in 1929.
RELATED: Keep up on Jupiter’s Legacy with our recaps!
First, I would like to formally ask to borrow Jack’s van. Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about “Painting the Clouds With Sunshine”! Just when I think Steven S. DeKnight can’t outdo himself – he proves me wrong. This episode of Jupiter’s Legacy heavily focused on George and his story. Until now, we know that he was Sheldon’s best friend and would eventually become Skyfox and leave The Union to become the world’s worse supervillain.
Well, now we know that he also has a son named Hutch, who isn’t necessarily good but, in the beginning, listens to The Code. Of course, he goes through quite a bit in this episode, including a few failed missions that change his outlook on life quite a bit and in the end, he seems to have dropped The Code completely. The Big Man can make all the jokes he wants about not having superpowers, but that power rod is dangerous enough. We also see that Chloe knows Hutch exists and it will be interesting to see the two of them interact as the season progresses.
This is also the first episode that focuses on someone other than Sheldon during the 1929 storyline. We get the chance to learn more about George and who he is. He hasn’t played a significant role in the current events, but his choices have a tremendous impact on everyone. George seems to be the only one who wants to help Sheldon uncover what is going on in his head and that this could be so much more.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/jupiters-legacy-interview/
- Saturday Morning Webtoons: RAISING HELL and SNOW AND BRIAR - November 9, 2024
- 5 Pirate WEBTOON Series That Will Make You Want To Set Sail - November 8, 2024
- Tavern Talk Thursday: 5 TTRPG-Esque WEBTOON Series To Get Lost In - November 7, 2024