Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 26

 Everyone tries to adjust to the new normal.

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Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 25

 It's a battle of the Supermen. The world shall tremble with their clash. 

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Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 24

Clark + Lois = Golden Retriever

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Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 23

Dating is complicated enough without Mad Scientists being involved. 

Last time on My Adventures With Superman, the gang heads to Super Fest, a convention setup to celebrate superheroes, both real and fictional. Lois, working there against her will, immediately spies Winslow Schott, the Toyman that tried to get her dad captured by Waller, and goes to stalk him to prove he’s still a criminal. Kara expresses her obvious romantic feelings for Jimmy, but Jimmy rebuffs her, saying that he wants her to experience more of life before rushing into a decision. Shortly thereafter, a teen fan of Kara’s, Jessica Cruz, says that she admires Kara’s bravery and that spurs Kara forward to seeking out potential suitors to see more of what life has to offer. Jimmy is… less than thrilled. Clark faces off against a new mercenary villain, a Russian woman going by the Whip, who uses Kryptonite in her tech to weaken him. She also expresses her disappointment to learn Clark does superhero work for free. He lasts until Whip’s Kryptonite runs out, ties her up and leaves her for the cops. Whip seems to like a fella who’s so dominant as she whispers, “I love him,” as Superman flies away. Clark makes it back to the convention just in time to deescalate the snafu Lois found herself in after ripping off a child’s Teddy bear’s head to try to prove Winslow Schott is still a bizarre arms dealer. She then notices that his booth is covered in weapons, needles him as being a loser for just a minute, and that sets Winslow off. He activates his booth, transforming it into a not-Gundam. Before Clark can handle the situation, a different Red-Blue Blur knocks Schott outside and beats the tar out of him. It’s revealed to be Captain Hank Henshaw, rebuilt by LexCorp to be their homegrown Superman. Clark and the gang are shocked by this revelation but go about their day. And in the final moments of the episode we learn that Hank’s body is almost entirely mechanical, and he’s dead set on protecting Earth from Superman. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open with a commercial specifically made for Jimmy. It’s from the World Organization for Romantic Matchmaking Science (WORMS). The CEOs Zazzala and Tazzala, who are romantic partners as well as business partners (I’ll get to it in the closing paragraph), are pitching their dating app to Jimmy and swear that they can use the power of science to match him with his perfect date. We pull out to see that Jimmy is showing the promo video to Clark and Lois. Clark is mildly supportive of Jimmy trying new things, and Lois is looking at him like he’s batshit insane. Lois accuses him of publicly going on this App and promoting it through Flamebird to get back at Kara for taking HIS advice. Jimmy insists that it isn’t, badly, and that he’s just trying to make Flamebird a lifestyle brand. They bicker about Jimmy being an idiot, before Lois points out that Jimmy has an actual story he’s supposed to be looking into about a mysterious criminal called the Distortionist. They are kidnapping people and mutating people with gene manipulation. Jimmy says that it can wait, as he and Clark are going to WORMS!

 

Clark emphatically tells him ‘no,’ as he is planning on spending the day with Lois. He doesn’t have any Superman business at the moment, so he’s being a good partner and goes to make Lois breakfast. He cleans off the table and Lois sees that he kept the model farm he bought from Winslow Schott last episode. She is immediately freaked out to see that Clark had added two miniature figures of the two of them… with a cradle. She tries to be super chill asking about the model and if the figures are supposed to be them, while clearly panicking every second she looks at it. Jimmy cuts in on the awkward moment by insisting Clark come with him to WORMS. Dude, he’s in a committed relationship! Anyway, Clark agrees to drop him off, but that’s it. Because Clark isn’t metaphorically dense, just literally, he does pick up on Lois’ nerves and asks if she’s okay. She insists she’s fine but smiles like she’s being held at gunpoint.

 

We move onto Metropolis square where a purse snatching is stopped by Hank Henshaw. The captain takes the purse back and hurls the thief against a light pole. The woman tentatively asks if he’s Superman, and Hank introduces himself as Captain Hank Henshaw. A bystander asks if the guy is okay, and Hank says the THIEF got what he deserved. We see the guy drag himself a bit, so he’s at least not dead. The bystander says that Superman wouldn’t have done that, and Hank cuts him off and says that Superman should be tougher on crime. He flies off, waving, and Lex asks him over his built-in radio how he’s feeling. Hank says that it feels great.

 

Cutting back to the apartment, Kara super speeds in and asks if Jimmy knew that hotdogs come in Chili variety. Lois, who’d been napping on the bunk bed, gets up and lets her know that Jimmy is at a speed dating event to try to make Kara Jealous, and thus doesn’t deserve a chilidog. She takes it and scarfs it down as Kara asks why she’d be jealous of that. She’s a Kryptonian warrior after all, she’s as strong as she is beautiful. Her words. Lois decides to stir the pot a little inform Kara that Jimmy is just trying to prove to himself that he’s as desirable as Kara is, something she’s doubtful of. Kara thinks that this is a competition, then, a game that she can win. Lois suggests getting Kara on Crushrush, a dating app, so that she can ‘win’ at dating and make Jimmy her Earth mate. Perfect plan, I foresee no way this’ll just complicate matters further.

 

Clark and Jimmy arrive at WORMS. The boys are impressed by the scale if nothing else. A camera crew approach them and ask for their first impressions for their promo. Jimmy gives a glowing review while Clark… points out he didn’t sign a release for this and thus is allowed to leave. Clark waves Jimmy goodbye and heads out. Zazzala and Tazzala join Jimmy, where we learn that the two CEOs have broken up. Zazzala tells Jimmy not to worry about her romantic drama, and instead focus on finding his ‘soilmate.’ Terrible name. Jimmy is introduced to his first date.

 

Lois and Kara set up a dating profile for Kara. This proves difficult, as Kara doesn’t have a lot of opinions on things. Lois just marks her as “sporty” when she mentions her preferred Kryptonian marital arts, and that’s it. She doesn’t even have opinions of Ocean or Mountains. Lois realizes that Kara needs a few more earth experiences to fill out the profile. Kara asks if there are any more experiences they can have in the apartment. Lois’ eyes shoot back at the miniatures and the cradle, panics, and says they should hit the town. They catch Clark as he returns, lets him know about the change of plan, and leaves Superman alone with his miniatures. He sits down to work on the figures… but then hears there’s a fire on Metropolis’ Adopt-on-a-Yacht event, people AND dogs are in danger. He zooms over and puts the fire out. One of the dogs takes a liking to him, and Superman asks about their adoption policy. He immediately bails when he hears that they need his ID.

 

Back at WORMS we meet Jimmy’s date. She’s a statuesque tanned redhead named Doris, but she goes by Gigi. She’s extremely forward, saying that she’s deeply interested in Jimmy’s body… specifically how much Kryptonite he’s been exposed to and if he’s noticed any affects. Jimmy says no. Gigi says some loaded words about ‘changing’ people. Jimmy doesn’t seem to notice that she’s got a weird vibe to her, even after she sprayed the air with some chemicals, force fed him ‘chocolate’ and then took a blood sample from him. We cut to Jimmy in a confession booth where he says that everything is going great. His blurb reads “Jimmy Olsen, Oblivious,” as he starts growing hair on his wrists and claws.

 

Returning to Clark, he’s back at the miniatures and is adding one that will probably make Lois drop dead from a heart attack. He laughs at ‘Clark jr.’ for forgetting his mitt as he tries to slide a baseball mitt on the miniature, but is called away when he hears about a robbery at LexCorp. Not because he wants to help Lex, but because he’s worried about the bystanders, since Intergang is involved.

 

Jimmy tells Gigi that he’s supposed to be looking for the distortionist, and claims nothing gets by him. And only then realizes that Gigi has turned him into a Wolfman. He howls in surprise.

 

Lois takes Kara on the town, clearly hoping to take her to a museum or something classy like that… but they’re distracted by the Mall, which Kara insists they check out.

 

Intergang tries to flee from LexCorp but are attacked by Hank. He tracks down and quickly takes out Mist and Roughhouse. Silver Banshee unloads a sonic blast at him. She barely moves him backwards, but the force of her attack was enough to break some of the fake skin off his face and the contact out of his eye so it now glows visibly red. He tells her she’s going to regret that and charges. Clark intercepts the attack and says they need to calm down. Hank tells him to get out of his way.

 

We cut back to Jimmy at WORMS. He’s depressed that he’s a wolf now. He admits something felt off early, but he didn’t want to ruin the vibe. A producer lets him know that they can fix him, which does perk him up.

 

Hank and Clark clash, Jimmy interrupting by calling Superman to let him know what is up. This does show off the power disparity between Hank and Clark, as Hank is visibly trying to overpower Clark, and yet Clark is able to have this quick convo with Jimmy. Hank sees Siobhan try to run off and chases after her. Clark knocks Hank aside and stops Siobhan. He keeps getting in her way and insists she hands over the tech. Hank charges. Clark ends up having to juggle Siobhan to keep her from Hank, deal with Siobhan trying to struggle away from him, and Jimmy trying to chat about how WORMS is going. He’s truly a Superman. He finally gets Jimmy to hang up, takes Siobhan’s tech and helmet, and tells Hank that no body needs to get hurt. Hank gets up and says he disagrees. He opens up his palm and charges a laser blast but is stopped by LexCorp robots trapping him in a cage. Slade tells him to stand down and that Lex wants a word with him.

 

Lois and Kara are hanging out at a record store and Lois shows Kara her favorite band from her childhood, Black Canary. That’s a fun reference. Kara starts, I kid you not, a musical number about the future. She’s super excited about learning about Earth culture and experiencing new things. And Lois is apprehensive about the next step. She makes it clear that she wants to marry Clark and live life with him but is worried shifting the status quo will upset somethings. To which I say, Honey, it took your comic book counterpart like 50 years to learn who Superman is, status quos lead to getting stuck in a rut. The thing that makes me laugh is that there song is diegetic, so if you pay attention, you can see the random Metropolis citizens reacting to Supergirl and some lady singing about the future.

 

Back at LexCorp, Lex scolds Hank for screwing up. He’s been officially dubbed by the news as Cyborg Superman. Lex tells him that with the public against them, there will be no way to convince the public to side with them over Superman. Hank is blasé about the whole thing, asking who cares what the masses think, they have the power. He moves towards Lex, and Slade does his bodyguard job and stops him. Hank takes another step, and Slade activates his battle suit. He tries to attack Hank, but his swords can’t cut Hank’s metallic body. Hank smashes him around a bit before Lex uses his remote to freeze Hank in place, reminding him there’s no WE in this. Lex has the power, and Hank will do as he’s told.

 

Zazzala apologizes for what happened with Gigi and gives him an injection to turn him back, saying that she hopes this won’t affect his experience with WORMS or his review. Jimmy is initially very gracious, until his hands turn into puddy and stretch out. Zazzala apologizes, saying that she’s not WORMS chief biologist, so she may have done something wrong. Tazzala joins them, and the two reconcile (despite Tazzala not saying a word). Jimmy says that’s a cute moment but they need to fix his bones.

 

At the apartment, Clark adds a white dog to his model, saying that Lois will love him. He pitches a few names for the dog, Bark Kent, Snowy, and settles on Krypto right before Jimmy calls again. Jimmy gets zapped by Tazzala, which fixes his bones, but he asks Clark for his help. Clark tells him that he’s always willing to help in an emergency, but the keyword is EMERGENCY. The emergency then rears her redhead as Gigi comes out and swears that if she can’t have Jimmy, no one can. She sprays herself and reintroduces herself as Giganta as she grows into a fifty foot woman. Jimmy tries to play it cool, saying that they can still be friends. Gigi shouts at him that she came here to “FALL IN LOVE!” before grabbing him like that woman from King Kong and starts running down the street. Jimmy tries to call Clark, who starts to scold him, but then sees Jimmy go by their window and realizes that this is in fact an emergency.

 

Kara and Lois sit on a bench after their mall outing. Kara is excited as she’s got things to add to her profile, while Lois is still panicking about the future. Kara shows Lois all the potential mates that are displaying a fish they caught, and an exasperated Lois says they’ll all have fish! They see Giganta run by with Jimmy in hand, and a dejected Kara says that she doesn’t think she’ll find a date that big. Lois flatly tells her that that is not what winning looks like.

 

Gigi climbs the Daily Planet, because I guess she’s going full Kong and that’s as close to the Empire State Building as she’s going to get. She says she’ll make Jimmy gigantic too, and if he hates it then they’ll call it quits. It’s only then that Jimmy gets that Giganta is the Distortionist too. She says she’s not into labels as Superman flies in. Clark tries to grab Jimmy, but Gigi waves him around too much. Tazzala and Zazzala join them, they both have synthetic bug wings to help them fly, just to tell Jimmy that they are in fact back together. And to apologize about the endoskeleton thing. Giganta keeps climbing and Clark asks the Zalas if they could affect Giganta’s skeleton too. They agree to help and all three fly after the giant lady. They fly around Gigi to distract her and Tazzala injects her. This forces her to shrink and fall, Clark shooting down to grab her. As he carries her back to the top of the tower, she grabs his arm and talks about how gentle and kind he is. Clark cuts her off, saying, “I’m in a committed relationship.” Jimmy says that maybe he should get off the app, but Tazzala says they’ll add a WORMS Sponsorship to Flamebird if he stays. So, Jimmy’s back on board. They ask Superman for his thoughts, and Clark says that his appearance is not an endorsement, so gets his face blurred.

 

They all head back to the apartment. Clark finishes building the barn as the lady’s come in. Kara says that she has 75 potential mates that have all said “Sup.” She goes over to look through her matches and Jimmy goes to join her. Lois pulls Clark to the side and admits that she’s feeling anxious about the future. She makes it clear that she WANTS the farm, kids, and a dog, just not right this second. She says that she doesn’t want to lose what they have and shrink their lives down to a model farm. They’re interrupted by Kara and Jimmy arguing if Giganta counts as being greater than 75 potential dates because she’s as tall as 100 women. Clark says that he never made Lois breakfast, and to make it up to her, they’ll get brunch tomorrow and figure out their future.

 

We then cut to The Future. Metropolis is an apocalyptic hellscape that a boy in red and blue is running through. He enters a LexCorp building and we see this is clearly Lois and Clark’s son. He’s Korean with the Superman crest on his chest and Clark’s baby blues, there’s only so many people he can be. He’s joined by a bald Lex, as well as John Henry Irons and Jimmy in combat gear. Lex and John Henry get the boy outfitted with something over his shield as the robots burst in. Jimmy and John Henry are killed in laser fire as Lex affixes a time travel watch to the boy. He tells this Superboy that the only way he can help is to go back and make sure this never happens. He casts Superboy into the timestream, but not before he sees Lex also killed in laser fire.

 

Well, that’ll throw a wrench in things, now, won’t it?

 

Well… Jimmy is handling this like an adult. … Man, it’s been a while since I said something so sarcastic that it hurt. As I said last episode, I think Jimmy’s initial impulse to turn down Kara’s love confession was coming from a good place. She’s kind of a blank slate and really should experience a bit more of life before settling down. Hell, Lois’ filling out her dating profile highlights that with the fact Kara passed on all of the questions Lois posed to her. But, getting on a dating profile in the hopes of making her feel similar jealousy to how he was feeling? One of the most childish things he could have done. I love Jimmy, but he kind of deserved getting turned into a wolf and then having his bones turned to puddy. Jimmy is going to be eating some humble pie a few times this season. WORMS was a fun way to serve that up. On paper, a dating app that seems to specifically cater to scientists, tech moguls and the like sounds like a great idea. But then you remember that 90% of scientists in this universe could be described with the adjective “Mad” and you know that this is a recipe for disaster. If you didn’t recognize any of Giganta’s three names, then I’m happy to inform you that she is actually typically a Wonder Woman villain. The Showrunners expressed a desire to pull in a few baddies from outside Clark’s typical rogues gallery, so we’ll see a few more Wonder Woman staples this season. Tazzala and Zazzala are both based off incarnations of Queen Bee, an insect themed DC Villainess. If there names weren’t a hint, in the comics they’re actually sisters, with Tazzala being the original Queen Bee and Zazzala being the fourth incarnation. Before you react, I think this is a reference. Well, a reverse-reference. Sailor Moon was a wildly popular Shoujo (target audience are teen girls and young adult women) anime series that featured a squad of planetary themed heroes in Sailor uniforms fighting evil alien invaders. Two of the Sailor Scouts, Uranus and Neptune, were canonically a lesbian couple. Now, anime in the 90s was much more heavily censored than it is today, and there was basically no way that TV Execs back then would allow an out queer couple on TV screens. The problem was, Uranus and Neptune were big fans of PDA, so there had to be some explanation for why they were always leaning on each other, draping arms on each other and so forth. They made the very strange decision to make them ‘cousins’ in the original English dub. I feel like the execs didn’t have any idea how cousins act, but that’s just me. So, in summation, I think making the Zalas dating when in most media they’re related is a reverse-reference to that Sailor Moon dub. This show LOVES anime references, so there’s some weight to my idea. Lois and Kara at the Mall is really cute. They’ve got a good vibe, with Kara dragging the more grounded Lois around. Their musical number made me laugh the first time I saw it. The number was also nice that it highlights that Lois’ relationship anxiety is based off of speed, not desire. If you asked her, I think she would say that long term, she’s going to be Mrs. Lois Kent, will have kids with him and live on a farm like Clark would love. But she’s clearly thinking that would be more for them in their 30s, not their 20s. The rush is making her anxious. And I liked that a good chunk of the episode was just Clark getting to work on his miniatures for a bit. The man doesn’t get to relax very often, and miniatures does feel like something he’d be into. I could see him with a warehouse of Warhammer figurines. He doesn’t play the game, he just likes assembling and painting them. And it was funny to see the ways he got pulled away from his little fun with the dog yacht fire and then Intergang. Having him face off against Hank this early was a good way to show off their differences in approach. Hank is all hardball, make the criminals suffer, Clark is more of a light touch sort of guy. Which is why it’s good that Clark is clearly the more powerful of the two. The fight was extremely one sided even with Clark juggling Siobhan and her stolen goods around. I also liked the choice to make Hank’s lasers come from his hands. It makes him visually distinct from Clark, and highlights that as good as Lex’s tech clearly is, he can’t completely replicate Superman. The showdown with Giganta was a little anticlimactic, but at the end of the day she’s just an angry woman trying to find a date, not a rampaging cyborg. Even at 50 feet high she’s less of an overall threat. The bit of her starting to change her sights to Clark and him cutting her off makes me laugh every time. And finally, I liked that Clark and Lois agreed to talk things out at the end of the episode. It definitely seems like they’ve both had a lot of emotional growth since season 2 and learned that they can’t bottle up their feelings as much as they did last time. They love each other and have learned that they need to communicate to make sure they’re okay. Or else Lois might try to break up with Clark again because she for some reason thinks a long-distance relationship is hard for a man that can circle the globe in seconds. Shame that their planning is definitely going to be interrupted by their time traveling son. I already know how Superboy is going to introduce himself to his parents and you’re in for a treat if you haven’t seen it before. But we’ll talk about that later. Have a good night everyone. And stay safe. 

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Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 22

Conventions are always such a hassle. 

Last time on My Adventures With Superman, the spooky season got spookier. It’s Halloween at the Kent family farm. Since defeating Brainiac, everyone has seemingly got comfortable in their new normal. Jimmy and Kara are extremely close, although Jimmy is denying his feelings for her to himself because he’s positive that she’ll move on from him eventually. Lois meanwhile got hit with her quarterlife crisis as Clark started talking about getting a farm together in a good school district. Thankfully, they all get distracted when Lois’ dad shows up, to enjoy one of Martha’s pumpkin pies, and to tell Lois that someone broke into the Pentagon and stole files on Project: Caliban, a side project under Project: Cadmus. The crew go to investigate and find just an extremely empty set of warehouses, but after chasing a two-faced deer that Kara wanted to pet, they found the secret entrance to the underground lab. Inside they find a massive cloning operation and what looked to be an attempt at replicating the biosphere of Krypton. There’s a bunch of Kryptonian plants, a Kryptonian lizard tiger, and a bulky, Tarzan style Superman clone running around. They find the grave of one Dr. George Otto Binder, who had raised the clone, B-1Z, like a son and gave B-1Z an encouraging message about how he should live life. The crew then find out the lab had been under attack by a robot and B-1Z was just defending himself. Clark is able to destroy the robot, but is injured in the process and the lab starts to flood. B-1Z saves him and wonders off into the world. He gets some candy from a trick-or-treater, and sees Superman on the big screen, which seems to encourage him. Meanwhile, we learn that Lex was the one that sent the robot and had tried to get data from Caliban for his own project. Foiled by Superman, again, he decides to grab Hank Henshaw, who’d been on life support since his plane got shot down in Brainiac’s invasion, for his new project. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open on Clark and Kara saving the day across Metropolis. Kara takes the lead for most of it, stopping a distracted driver from hitting a kid, and Clark warns the kid to look both ways before crossing the street, the two Supers share a high five; Kara stops a jewel thief, the Supers share a high five, the thief tries to get in on it but Kara slaps his hand away; They stop a bank robbery, Kara heat visioning their blasters into pieces, and then Kara hi fiving herself when they run away. She’s fitting well into the Supergirl role.

 

We then shift to Super-Fest, a convention both celebrating fictional superheroes as well as the two real ones of Metropolis; Superman and Supergirl. Jimmy is setting up a booth at the event. Kara is excited to help Jimmy set up his booth and announces her desire to try to rebrand herself as Power Woman to the people of Metropolis… but we see the sheer number of Supergirl merch already out there, so odds of that seem slim. Kara asks what Clark is going to be doing. He says that he’s going to introduce Kara at a Supergirl panel, but then he’s going to enjoy the con as himself, Clark Kent. Jimmy asks for a box, which Kara gives him while giving him significant eye contact. Lois gives Jimmy a knowing look, which causes him to quickly explain what’s inside. Flamebird themed holographic video phones, so the two humans can call their super pals if something goes wrong. Lois asks if these are really necessary and Jimmy asks her when they have ever gone to a large event that wasn’t attacked by supervillains. Kara says she appreciates this token of his affection, and Jimmy tries to insist it’s a platonic gift. Causing Lois to yell at him for fumbling things with Kara because he’s being a wienie. She thinks he’s going to hurt her, while Jimmy insists that he won’t trap Kara in a relationship that they know won’t work. Which causes Lois to scream, “NOBODY KNOWS THAT!” at him. But Jimmy’s in full self-pity mode. He thinks that, because she was a caged bird for most of her life, she deserves to see the world and find what makes her happy. Lois asks, “And what if that’s you, Jimmy?” but he refuses to answer that. He says that everything will stay the same, no relationships will be complicated, and everything is perfect as it is. It’s like he wants the writers to screw him over. They head to Jimmy’s booth.  

 

The booth had already been set up by Team Flamebird: Steve and the News Kid Legion. Jimmy got a booth in order to sell a line of comics, Flamebird Presents: Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen. This was in fact a series from the Silver age of comics that ran from 1954-74 and were a string of comedic adventures featuring Jimmy. The comics Jimmy shows covers of are all references to real issues, just with Jimmy and Superman’s positions flipped. So, Superman is bound up in chains while Jimmy burst through a wall to save him instead of vice versa. Clark says that Jimmy is taking a lot of… creative license with their adventures, but Jimmy insists that that is what sells. Jimmy says that he’s grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle and that these comics will help him recoup the losses he made to his net worth in season 2. Lois throws a bunch of the comics at him, demanding to know why she’s the villain in these comics, and why she’s drawn with jagged teeth. Jimmy insists that people love enemies to lovers’ stories, and that metrics show that Lois, girl frenemy of Superman will be a surefire hit. I disagree with his data, but I enjoy that Gabby and Patty of the News Kids help with his visual aids. Lois is annoyed that she even has to be at this convention to write a puff piece. Cat Grant then springs in, revealing that she insisted that Perry assign Lois to cover this event, believing that if there’s a story to be had at Super-Fest, Lois will find it. Cat then pirouettes into the crowd, cackling like a crazy person.

 

Lois does a visual sweep of the Fest and spots none other than Winslow Schott! … He’s the Toyman, he was an associate of her father’s that tried to turn him in to Taskforce X last season, if the name doesn’t ring a bell. Lois, obviously still furious at this guy that betrayed her dad, grabs her emotional support Superman and drags him after Slott. They pass by some cosplayers that look suspiciously like Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy from the Teen Titans, before Clark is briefly distracted by a miniature tractor. Lois says that the tractor looks great, but they don’t have time for this.

 

Lois explains to Clark who Schott is as he reaches his Toy booth. She seems most upset about how the explosive Schott used was a teddy bear. Clark tells Lois that she should have fun… stalking this guy, but he’s has to go introduce Kara. He warns his beloved to not do anything too extreme while he’s gone. As Clark leaves, we see B-1Z is at the event in his homemade Superman suit. A photographer, who looks suspiciously like a comic accurate Jimmy Olsen, and the Teen Titans cosplayers get a photo with him, which seems to excite the big lug.

 

Back at Jimmy’s booth, Kara is trying to find ways to help Jimmy while getting as physically close to him as she can without touching him. Given the suite of Kryptonian powers, I think she could get as within a hairs breadth of actually touching him. Jimmy keeps telling her its fine, so Kara suggests that she get them hotdogs. They’re interrupted by Cat, who has noticed that Kara spends a lot of time with Jimmy and wants to know what’s up. Jimmy asks Kara to get them two single hotdogs. When Kara zooms away, Jimmy insists to Cat that nothing is going on between him and Kara. Only for her to ruin that by super speeding over with hotdogs while also carrying the two main actors from Challengers of the Unknown, the X-Files parody that they dressed up as for Halloween. Kara is super excited to show them off, making it clear that there is something going on here. Kara puts the two actors down, who grab the hotdogs and run, before taking Jimmy’s hand and asking to speak to him candidly. She says that he might not have noticed, ha, but she has romantic interest in him and wants for him to be her mate, like Clark and Lois. This gives me flashbacks to the Orville, where Bortus, one of the alien crewmen of the ship, his husband asks to “Experience the Sexual Event.” Ha. Jimmy is touched that Kara just asked him that, but insists that she shouldn’t jump into a relationship with the first person (literally) that she ever met. He tells her that Clark, Kal-El, had a chance to experience the world before he and Lois got together, and that she hasn’t. He tells her that she needs to experience more of the world before making a big decision like this. They’re interrupted by the Supergirl panel being announced. Clark, in his Superman gear, flies over and grabs Kara for the event.

 

Meanwhile, a group of thieves drive up to Metropolis First National Bank. The normal crew want to go in quick and quiet, but his hired muscle disagrees. The muscle, a Russian woman with cybernetic whips, throws a fire hydrant through the doors of the bank and stabs a bunch of cars with her whips. She insists that if she wants to be the highest paid muscle in Metropolis, she has to prove that she can party with the Man of Steel.

 

At the Fest, Superman introduces Kara Zor-El, Supergirl of Metropolis, to the event. He then hears the alarm and super speeds away to handle it. Cat, who is MC this Q and A (why would you get her to do that?) asks the first question, asking Kara about her ‘sign.’ Kara doesn’t know what that means, answering the House of El sign is “Your letter S.” Cat asks the next question, what’s her secret to her skin. Kara answers, “I wash it.” Cat laughs at that response but Kara looks like she’s uncomfortable.

 

Superman flies into the bank and asks the robbers, “Didn’t we already do this today?” before he’s grabbed by a whip and whipped into the wall. The muscle introduces herself as the Whip as the rest of the crew run away. Clark says that he doesn’t want to hurt her, and she replies she wants him to try. Before powering up her whips and revealing that she’s got a Kryptonite boosted mode. She whips the weakened Superman around and into a wall. He’s shocked to see someone with that. Whip says that she always brings the best treats to the party… and that Kryptonite is super easy to get now after Brainiac and the Metallos spread them all over the place.

 

Back at the Fest, Lois monitors Schott. She sees him sell a bear to Libby, the little girl Superman saved in season 1, before getting in his face. Schott tries to pretend he doesn’t know who she is, but Lois loudly accuses him of trying to kill her, which makes him drop the act. He claims that she and Sam ruined his life and asks her to just leave him alone so he can share a love of toys with the other Fest goers. Lois stares daggers at him for thirty seconds before announcing, “NO!”

 

At the interview, Cat is, shockingly, dominating the conversation. She asks Kara to “face the elephant in the room,” (Kara asks if she can pet it), and Cat asks what about her is unique. Cat claims that Metropolis doesn’t really need TWO superheroes, so what is it about Kara that’s different from Superman. Kara is thrown off by this question, but looks into the crowd and suggests that a girl in that group looks like she has something to say. The girl, Jessica Cruz, explains that she thinks that Supergirl is ‘brave’ that she’s a warrior that fights for people and that she wishes that she was as brave as Supergirl. Kara thanks her for saying that, and decides that she should act Brave. She flies up and tells any eligible Earthling suitors to meet her at her booth once the interview is over. Cat, and Jimmy in the crowd, are shocked by this announcement.

 

Superman is thrown around by the Whip and asks her what her plan is. The Whip has a full action plan here, she’s going to beat Superman, increasing her reputation in the criminal underworld and become the highest paid muscle in town. Just like Superman. Clark tells her that he works pro-bono… and the Whip tells him that is incredibly sad. You shouldn’t do things for free when people can pay you. She catches his leg and slams him into the ground. Clark tells her that he’s not interested in career advice from her, and she says too bad, as she’s interested in him. Clark zooms around her, and discovers that she’s got a crystal battery back on her harness, like Livewire’s suit had in the second episode, and that it’s rapidly depleting.

 

Back with Kara, her booth has a line like 100 people deep. She’s getting gifts and meeting with all sorts of people that are interested in her. One of them is a big, beefy dude that looks exactly like Jimmy. He asks her to sign a photo for his boyfriend. Jimmy, glaring from across the room, just sees “Muscle Jimmy,” talking to Kara and is immediately jealous. He’s pulled from his jealous spiral by Lex, who is examining Jimmy’s comic and being judgy. Jimmy demands to know why he’s there, and Lex reveals that he’s at the Fest also looking for new opportunities. He gives Jimmy his card and tells him to come to LexCorp’s presentation, he’ll love what Lex has to offer. Jimmy immediately throws it out.

 

Lois, meanwhile, is digging throw Schott’s supplies, looking for any toys that might actually be weapons. That’s the Toyman’s whole thing. Schott insists that he’s reformed, but Lois refuse to believe that. She sees Libby holding her bear, the same style as the bomb thrown at her, and take it, saying it’s filled with explosive… fluff as she rips its head off. Libby stars crying as her mom calls Lois a monster. And Lois is horrified to realize that she IS Villain Lois!

 

Kara’s booth is getting a lot of traffic and gifts. She gets a song from a guy, a valentine card from a ten-year-old shooting his shot, and a mime presentation. Jimmy is flustered mostly by the mime, saying that he’s “Capturing her heart from his invisible prison!” Jimmy tries to focus, but Cat appears behind, and tries to interview him, asking if he regrets letting Kara get away. Jimmy says that Kara is Supergirl, and he’s… just Superman’s pal.

 

Sidenote, Cat and the rest of the Daily Planet crew know Clark is Superman, right? Just from Jimmy insisting that they’re best friends, and yet he’s also best friends with Clark. That’s gotta trip up people that know him.

 

Whip flings Clark into a wall, saying his low income is a turnoff. Clark insists that he won’t discuss his personal finances with a supervillain. Whip says that she’s going to finish him, tangling him in her whips and strangling him… but then her Kryptonite boost runs out. Without that, her whips are just hardened metal, can’t really even annoy Superman. He quickly catches her and ties her to a traffic light outside. She asks why he is leaving when the fun is just starting. Clark bids her good day and flies away. Whip blushes to herself as she announces, “I love him,” to Superman’s back. Good thing Lois is distracted or else her Hussy Sense might have gone off and she’d have to do something about this Whip.

 

Clark returns to Jimmy’s booth and sits beside him, seeming pretty out of it. Jimmy asks what’s up and Clark says that being Superman is harder than it used to be. Being hit on by criminals will do that to a fella. Lucky that Silver Banshee is seemingly not interested in him and Livewire and Heatwave are lesbians or he’d have had to deal with this sooner. Clark hears the commotion happening around Lois and goes to check on his… overly enthusiastic love. Clark, ever the peacemaker, give Libby a new bear, apologizes for his pocket reporter and offering to pay for the damages. He also asks to buy Schott’s miniature farm set. Lois begins to apologize… but then notices that Schott’s booth has rocket launchers, a machine gun, bullets, and several other weapons hidden amongst the toys. She decides to pick on Schott some more and accuse him of not being good enough to be up to something nefarious. This thoroughly pisses off Schott, who hits a button and screams “How’s this for a threat!?” his booth transforms into robot reminiscent of but legally distinct from a Gundam. Lois shrieks, “I knew it!” B-1Z sees and prepares to leap in to help. Clark takes off his glasses and mutters, “I can’t believe I do this for free,” when something else Super speeds in, slams Toyman’s robot through a wall and outside.

 

We’re introduced to Captain Hank Henshaw, the new Superman presented by LexCorp. Lex appears and takes a mic to introduce his creation. He explains that Hank was shot down during the Brainiac invasion last year, but his will and Lex’s brilliance, he’s back, stronger than ever. He claims that with Henshaw, the people of Metropolis don’t need to rely on the generosity of aliens. As he speaks, we see Henshaw slamming Toyman’s robot into the ground over and over again before cracking the pilot window. B-1Z looks on, terrified, before slipping away. Lex notices Lois and asks for a blurb for the Planet. Lois doesn’t pay attention to him and asks Hank, “Why? What is this about?” Hank claims that his is about taking back humanity’s future.

 

The crew walk home. Kara asks if Lex is upset and built this new Superman because of something she did or screwed up. Clark tells her of course not, that Lex was like this even before they’d met. Clark says that they just need to keep working and hopefully they can change Lex’s mind, as well as anyone else who is afraid of them. Lois wonders what could have happened to make Hank agree to be Lex’s personal Superman. Jimmy says whatever the reason, they can just use real Superman and Supergirl to stop him.

 

At LexCorp, Hank gets into his repair station. Lex is amazed that Wilsom Schott gave them such an opportunity to show off Hank’s new hardware. He says they’re one step closer to wining the hearts and minds of Metropolis, Hank adding, “And saving them from Superman.” As he does, the pod removes the outer plating of his jaw, revealing a metal one underneath.

 

Okay, did anyone reading this go into this not knowing that Hank Henshaw was Cyborg Superman? Was this reveal surprising or just ‘Oh, they revealed it, neat!”

 

Alright, so that’s two more subplots to add to the pile. So, in total we have: 1. Lois is feeling anxious about moving forward with her relationship with Clark. 2. Kara is trying to take Jimmy’s advice and see more of the world and potential suitors. And 3. Jimmy having a petty, jealous freakout about Kara taking his advice. Which is especially stupid when you consider that Kara was 100% going to go on a few first dates, maybe even a second date, with some other guys before super speeding over to Jimmy and asking if that is enough experience for her to be able to say they should be together. Like, bro, grow a spine! I suppose that the fourth subplot would be Clark feeling kind of exhausted from Superheroing… but that’s less of a subplot and more of a genre convention for him. If it’s a Superman series, Clark starts to feel a bit overwhelmed on occasion. His battle with the Whip was fun, just a simple fight to keep him busy while his friends have their social plots running. The idea that Kryptonite has spread across the city isn’t great for Clark, but hey, it lets the criminals have a leg up on him on occasion and that’s just good story telling. Lois’ s stalking Winslow Schott to prove that he’s still an unconventional arms dealer is classic Lois. If you look up Obsessive in the dictionary, her picture is right there. It’s kind of funny that she was so hung up on Schott’s titular toys that she didn’t notice his booth was outfitted with actual weapons. It’s a ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’ sort of thing. Her vindication scream as the giant robot powers up is also classic her. Doesn’t matter that Lois is in danger, what matters is that she is right. Jimmy and Kara’s subplot… well, it’s a bit irritating. On the one hand, I get when Jimmy is coming from with his fear about Kara. He is a normal guy whereas Kara is someone that walks on air, they don’t exactly click on that level. And, unlike Lois, who knows that Clark has had experiences with other people and thus is completely genuine and informed on his decision to be with her, Jimmy always has that worry that this is only happening because he’s literally the first guy Kara met. It’s the sort of doubt that would eat away at a man. So, his advice that Kara try seeing other people for a bit? Good! Getting immediately jealous because the cute, friendly, and sincere blonde with superpowers is immediately getting guys lining up to meet her? Dude, what did you THINK was going to happen! For Kara’s end, I like that she is trying to do what Jimmy told her to do. It is better to get an idea of what your interests are and of other people before you rush into a long-time commitment. Mom, if you’re reading this, this isn’t an attack on you, just an acknowledgement that whirlwind romances don’t always work out as well as yours did. And Hank’s reveal was good. He comes in, shows off his costume and powers, makes it clear that he’s the Temu Superman, and everyone looks on in a mix of shock and horror at seeing him beat an old man’s giant robot. This whole reveal actually characterizes the difference between Clark and Hank exactly. Clark, had he gotten the chance to suit up and face Schott, would have tried to talk him down. Clark always tries to communicate with his villains and get them to surrender whenever he can. Hank dives right in and starts wailing on Winslow until the robot is broken. It’s brutal, efficient, and just not very Superman, other than how he uses his powers. So… ya, Subplots are set up and now we get to see what comes next. Oh, and it was good seeing more Bizarro. See you later. Have a goodnight and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 21

 Season 3 starts with candy and ends with mad science. 

Last time on My Adventures with Superman, Clark and Kara teamed up to defeat Brainiac. The scions of the house of El had to fight off waves of hacked Metallo robots and Brainiac’s archer cannon but got backup from Clark’s rogues and General Lane to fight them off. Clark and Kara tried to reason with Brainiac, but he instead activates Kara’s Eradicator Protocol which turns her into a rage monster and sends her after Clark. He also monologues for a bit and revealed that he was the one that killed Krypton after learning they’d brokered a peace with their unnamed enemy. Clark breaks through to Kara with the power of friendship, and the cousins send Brainiac’s ship, the Kandor, into space towards the sun. Brainiac, being a sore loser, activates his Black Zero protocol which infuses the Kandor and himself with Kryptonite. He fires a Kryptonite infused shot at them, hitting Kara. She falls into the sun and Clark dives in after her. Their combined powers plus a solar boost allowed them to overcome Brainiac’s Kryptonite based armor and they shattered him into a billion pieces, grabbing his processor in the rubble. Kara gets adopted not only by the friend group of Clark, Lois and Jimmy, but also by Clark’s parents. The season ended with Clark and Kara grabbing their preferred human and flying off into the sunset. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

The episode begins at the Fortress of Solitude, which has been transformed into a proper Kryptonian building since the last time Clark had visited. Clark comments on the change in décor and that he and Kara will start a new chapter of their lives here. He offers to go down with Kara, as she’s come to put Brainiac’s CPU into storage at the Fortress. She thanks him but says she has to do this on her own. Clark is then met by the Stewarts, the robots that are seemingly running the fortress. They all sound distressed about something but are super vague about what they’re stressed out about, so Clark can’t make heads or tails of it. I heard the words “Kandorian Crystals,” which has me… concerned. As Kara puts the CPU into storage, Brainiac wakes up and warns Kara that this won’t last. He’s impressed that she’s convinced Clark and the humans that she’s a hero, but at the end of the day, she’s her father’s daughter and she’ll show her true colors. Kara denies that this’ll happen and says that she knows who she is. Then Brainiac asks the surprisingly difficult question, “Then who are you, child?” Kara flies off in a huff. Clark sees her go and flies after her, which upsets the observers more. Considering they’re saying things like “Rao’s Child Stirs” and “Overcome him with strength of will” I think they’ve a right to be concerned. They agree that Kal-El doesn’t know their ways, the lead robot saying that he will learn, he has to. Kara heads up into the upper atmosphere, looks down on Earth and asks the same question that Clark did all the way back in Season 1, “Who am I?”

 

We then get an updated opening sequence! It adds Kara to most of the moments, swapping Clark and Lois staring longingly at each other while Jimmy laughs for Jimmy and Kara staring at each other while Lois laughs and Clark blushes. There’s then a shot of Clark and Lois looking at a boy with a sword on his back and the House of El S on his chest before vanishing, and then Jimmy and Kara joining those two to stare down their combined rogue’s gallery. It’s a good update.

 

After the new opener, we join the Super Crew at the Kent Family Farm. Ma and Pa Kent are running a corn maze and general Halloween celebration for the local kids, and Jimmy is promoting it with his Flamebird page. He shows the highlights of the event, Pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, the corn maze, and finally, Kara, who is super excited to pet a dog dressed up as a Pumpkin. Jimmy makes a joke about the corn maze being so scary that Supergirl had to save him. Kara says that his distress was very audible. She reassures Jimmy’s viewers that she is in fact Supergirl, don’t be fooled by her disguise, and she’s here to protect everyone. As they finish the video, Lois sneaks up on them and notices that something is… up with these two. She notes that they’re wearing matching costumes and excitedly asks if it’s a couple’s costume. Kara tells her that it is based on their version of the X-Files, Challengers of the Unknown. Lois is very delighted to hear that Kara and Jimmy had watched the whole show, together, alone, with POPCORN! Lois almost asks if they’re dating, but Kara gets pulled aside to help Clark and Pa fix the tractor. Jimmy tells Lois not to put him on the spot with Kara like that. Lois asks what’s up and Jimmy tells her that there’s nothing going on between him and Kara. While there’s a spark between them that literally anyone can see, he insists nothing will come of it because he knows that Kara can do better. He knows that she’ll ditch him the moment she realizes that too. Bro has got extremely low self-esteem, it seems. Jimmy, she might walk on air, but she clearly likes you! Kara comes over to tell them they need more small value Earth Currency for the Plant Maze and Jimmy takes her to go do that.

 

Lois, who is dressed as Dr. Frankenstein, complains to Clark, dressed as the Creature, about how Jimmy is fumbling things with Kara. Clark tells her that they shouldn’t butt in and that the two of them need to figure this out on their own, as this is both of their first relationship. Lois is a bit surprised to hear that about Jimmy, but Clark insists he hasn’t ever seen Jimmy romantically involved before, and they’ve known each other since college. Lois teases him about this being why they have bunkbeds. While they’re discussing this, they watch a cute moment where Kara uses the fact that Kryptonians don’t need to breath to scare Jimmy into thinking she drowned bobbing for apples.

 

Clark loves fall on the farm and when Lois agrees it’s pretty, he brings up that he’s been… thinking about things. Turns out, Clark’s been looking at listings for small hobby farms near Metropolis for them to move in together. Lois is down for a ‘hypothetical’ farm, but then Clark also points out that they could also get a dog. Which Lois is also down for… but then Clark mentions that he’s been looking at prospective three-bedroom two-bathroom farmhouses near Metropolis in a good school district… it’s the prospect of reproducing that makes Lois panic a little and ask how long he’s been ‘thinking’ about this. Clark admits it’s been since Brainiac almost destroyed the world, it made him think about ‘the future.’ Lois is clearly scared of change. Clark sounds a little disappointed but understanding when it sounds like Lois might not be into the idea. Lois quickly backpedals, saying that she does want that life with him, but maybe they should take it slowly. She knows that he had a good childhood with Ma and Pa at the farm but her relationship with her dad was… weird. She’s pulled out of the conversation when Lois notices her DAD is at the event. He’s in his dress uniform and enjoys Martha’s apple pie. General Sam Lane tells her that the Kents invited him, he’s retired now but is doing work at the Pentagon. It’s much lower stress than when he was running Taskforce X. He says he’s at the event just to see her and enjoy the holiday. He even gives Lois her old compass from when they used to do wilderness weekends that he’d found in his office. In case she needs help finding her way.

 

Sam then ruins the moment by revealing that there was a break in at the Pentagon and he wants Lois to tell Superman to check it out. He says that someone stole files on a program connected to Project: Cadmus and Taskforce X dubbed Project: Caliban. Lois clarifies that this Project: Caliban is a Kryptonian bio-weapon project, which, ya know, is bad. She agrees to help and runs to get everyone, with Sam shouting after her the clarification that he wants Superman to check it out.

 

Clark, Kara, Lois and Jimmy head out and find a fenced off area and some old warehouse looking buildings. Clark makes her promise that they’d be back in time to hand out candy, which Lois does, and then he hurls the fence out of the way. Inside, they just find a dilapidated warehouse. Lois thinks they’ve really cleaned out the place, but Jimmy thinks otherwise. He noticed that there are no roads, trails, or plumbing for this building. It’s like someone built a shell and left it empty. Kara notices what she calls a dog. Kara seems to be under the impression that all Earth animals are dogs. Jimmy tries to correct her and says it’s a deer… but then the deer turns its head and its revealed to have a two headed monster. It’s a deer with a second head, a wolf. The two heads are connected by the eye. Kara chases after the dog-deer, saying she wants to pet it. Deeper in the woods, they find a hidden bunker.

 

The group quickly deduce that something really strong broke out of the bunker and then tried to force the door back into place. Kara, Jimmy and Lois want to go inside, but Clark is less than enthused. Jimmy asks, “What could be better than solving a mystery on Halloween with your three best friends?” with Clark responding, “I don’t know, bobbing for apples!” Lois tells him to lighten up a little and they head inside.

 

They descend several flights of stairs, Jimmy mentioning that he hopes the digging didn’t disrupt the race of dino people living beneath the earth. Lois tells him that the Earth isn’t hollow and filled with Dino-people. Jimmy counters by asking ‘Like how aliens and bigfoot weren’t real?” Lois claims Clark doesn’t count as an alien, and Bigfoot was Monsieur Mallah. They find the biolab; it’s filled with huge incubation tubes with various experiments growing inside. Lois notices one of the tubes is damaged and tells the others there’s been fighting in there. Jimmy finds a filing cabinet full of documents. He looks through it while Lois walks in deeper. She hears something running around in the background and we see canine-like feet run passed her. She finds an empty tube, its plaque reads: Subject B-1Z, DNA Sequence: Extraterrestrial, Outcome: Viable. Lois hears glass breaking and sees another empty tube.

 

Jimmy leaf’s through the documents, learning that the creatures here were made from DNA taken from the Zero-Day event and wonders if this was a weapons program. Clark and Kara go off together and Kara tells Clark that Kryptonian DNA is in those tanks. Clark ominously states, “They were trying to create us…”

 

Losi realizes she was separated from everyone and starts to freak out. She gets ambushed by a mutant animal. It’s like a six limbed, five-eyed lizard. Clark and Kara hear Lois scream and super speed to her. Kara asks, “Is this a dog?” as Clark charges it, shouting, “No.” Whatever this creature is made out of, it’s a sturdy beast. It slices through Clark’s shirt, revealing his costume, before firing a freeze ray from its mouth. It freezes Clark in place, but Kara knocks it back and he’s able to break free. They fall back from the creature, grabbing Jimmy and enter into a decontamination chamber.

 

After being sterilized, they find a room filled with Kryptonian plants that Kara recognizes. Jimmy gets grabbed by Kandorian Ivy, but Kara saves him. They have a moment, but Lois ruins it by saying that the forest thins out ahead. The find a clearing with a single oak tree growing in the middle. Clark sees a mound of dirt and uses his X-Ray vision to confirm there’s a body buried there. It’s old, the body is just a skeleton in a lab coat now. His ID says he’s George Otto Binder. Lois thinks that something got loose in the lab and killed the scientists. Clark points out that it’s weird that whatever killed him buried the guy. He goes to grab Binder’s glasses that were left like a headstone, causing a hulking creature to lunge at him. Everyone, say hi to B-1Z, aka Bizarro! B-1Z attacks Clark, his huge frame letting him overpower even Clark’s spectacular strength. Unbeknownst to them, a flying robot is tracking their movements. Kara decks B-1Z to get it off Clark, calling it a Kryptonian Clone, an abomination. The lizard thing leaps out of the foliage to guard B-1Z. Before they can do anything about it, there’s an earth-shaking slam that scares B-1Z off. Jimmy asks the obvious, what scares something like that?

 

Clark and Kara force open a door in the direction of the quake. They find a forest of trees, more oaks. Weirdly, they find things like a kite in a tree (exactly like the one Clark had to fly up and free), blocks, child drawings, making everyone realize that a child was being raised here. Clark hears a noise in the distance, someone calling for help and he super speeds away to investigate. Kara also hears something and goes to investigate. She finds a little classroom setup on the outskirts of the trees and a TV playing a video of Dr. Binder giving a lesson. The advice Binder gives is ‘no matter what, choose to be kind.’

 

Clark finds a shattered wall and hears someone calling for help. He rips the wall open and they find a robot inside, it playing the cry for help. The Robot charges Clark, knocking him aside. It flies out and connects with that robot we saw earlier, turns out that small robot was its head. It flies away and attacks B-1Z. Clark tells his humans to stay with Kara. He super speeds over and saves B-1Z from being shot with a blast of energy. He realizes that the robot was the one destroying the lab and that B-1Z was just defending himself. B-1Z warns Clark as the Robot charges him again.

 

Back in the lab, Jimmy and Lois find Kara watching Binder’s lesson. Jimmy reveals that Binder was the head scientist of this project, based on the files he found. Lois guesses that Binder was raising the clone as a weapon, but Kara corrects her, saying that Binder was raising the clone as his son. Which, ya, tracks with the children’s toys and drawings. Kara says that Binder taught B-1Z how to grow things, gave him a reverence for life that her own father, Brainiac, never allowed to form in his weapon. She claims to not even know how to grieve, so there’s no way B-1Z was raised like her. Jimmy realizes that Binder was protecting the clone from people that wanted to exploit him.

 

Clark fights off the robot, though it is able to shoot a laser through the lizard’s side. He asks B-1Z if he’s alright. The robot attacks Clark, grappling him and attempts to self-destruct to kill him. Clark tells B-1Z to run as he flies up to get him clear. The root explodes and the blast is intense enough to knock out Clark. This triggers a lab failsafe, and the building starts to flood. B-1Z finds the knocked-out Clark. He grabs Clark and leaps them out of the building to safety. He calls Clark his “friend,” before he hears the others approaching. He grabs his lizard and leaps away.

 

That night, Clark answers the door for some trick-or-treaters. They’re dressed as a reference. … A bird, a plane and a little superman. Clark passes out candy and the start struck little superman is pulled along by his siblings. Clark stands and Lois puts an arm around his waist, a motion Kara copies immediately with Jimmy. Totally, Jimmy, she’s so not in to you. She’s just copying casual touching for no reason.

 

We cut to the streets of Metropolis where B-1Z is wandering around. He remembers his father’s message about choosing to be good and kind, and how his choices will shape the world. A child hands B-1Z a sucker, and he sees his ‘friend’ on the big screen as Superman saves the day, causing the big lug to smile.

 

We cut to LexCorp. Lex is looking through the footage his robot sent him. Slade walks in and asks about Caliban. Lex says that the project is a bust, they didn’t get a viable sample and Superman ruined everything. Slade offered to go get the drone, but Lex tells him not to bother. He says they’ll go see Henshaw. Slade asks why, when Hank Henshaw needs machines to breathe. Lex says that’s what makes him perfect. We get a shot of Hank Henshaw, and he’s not looking good. His face is covered in metal bits, his head is hooked up to a brain scanner of some kind, and he’s wrapped up like a mummy. If you know anything about Hank Henshaw, you know where this is going…

 

This was a great start to the new season. My theory is that the only reason we’re picking up on Halloween is to set up Clark and Lois’ personal drama for the season. They chose Halloween as a timestamp, to show us that it has been at least a year since the season 1 finale, which took place on Thanksgiving. Why? To make it clear that neither Clark nor Lois is ‘wrong’ with this drama. Clark is ready to move onto the next phase of their relationship, going from long time dating to cohabitation and/or marriage. And when you’ve been with a partner for 1.5-2 years, that’s a reasonable expectation. Lois is definitely not, which, when you’ve been with a partner for 1.5-2 years, isn’t an unreasonable reaction. Which isn’t to say that she doesn’t want to settle down and start a family with Clark… but she’s (about) 25, and that’s a huge lifestyle change. She’s enjoying the adventure and freedom she has right now, something that could end at least for a while if they go the farm and kids’ route. Lois is 25 going on 26, and Clark is 24 going on 40, they need to make some adjustments. Jimmy and Kara’s relationship drama is going to be… a trip. Let’s just say, we’re starting a plot point that is… divisive online. The lab is interesting, and getting a new spin on Bizarro is always fun. I should note that his creator, Dr. George Otto Binder, is his creator in multiple senses. The character is named after DC artis Otto Binder, who created the original Bizarro, and is also credited for co-creating Supergirl and being a major writer for the Captain Marvel series. Due was a big deal. Now, typically, Bizarro is depicted as a failed clone of Superman, with chalky white, rocklike skin, and usually displays some kind of diminished intelligence. Sometimes he’s stupid, sometimes he’s confused, sometimes he speaks with the opposite meaning. (He says, “I hate you,” when he means “I love you,” that sort of thing.) This version they seem to be playing up more of a naiveite, since he was raised in isolation and had been along since Binder’s death. So, he’s not stupid, just timid and lacking in real world skills. We’ll see him a few times in this season and he adjusts well to his new surroundings. He’s a very good boy at heart. And the tease with Hank, oo, that’s a good tease. For those NOT in the know, Hank Henshaw is mostly known in the DC mythos by the name “Cyborg Superman.” So, you can probably guess from that name alone what Lex is going to do with that broken man. But more on that next time. Have a good night and stay safe, everyone. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 171

 The kids are all grown up. But two of them still need a little push. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Izuku got on with his life. He passed his classes, got his hero license and graduated from UA. He inspired people to do better and helped change the world for the better. Eight years after his second year, Izuku is now a teacher at UA high and is training the next generation of heroes. His friends are doing well, but there is a bit of distance between them now what with their jobs and his retirement from active hero work. He meets a young man named Dai at the All Might statue whom he encourages to try for UA, Dai’s dream school, even if his Quirk isn’t impressive. He too can become a hero. Izuku heads into school the next day, where he’s met by All Might. All Might just got back from a trip to the US and he brought back a souvenir. Using the Data from his Hercules system, with the help of Mei Hatsume and his ‘friend’ over seas (its Melissa Shield even if they didn’t use her name) and funds raised by his classmates (especially Bakugo) they designed Izuku an Iron Man suit that let him mimic his old powers. With his new suit, Izuku rushed out and got to fly again along side his class as they banded together to deal with a landslide. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Uraraka wakes up in a field. She’s confused about why she’s here, but can’t worry about it, she has to get back to work. She turns to find Himeko Toga standing behind her. She says, “Hi Ochako,” before Uraraka wakes up. She fell asleep at her desk, it seems and has been having this dream a lot, she mutters that she’d had it ‘again.’

 

Uraraka (we learn that she’s 24 on the chart) meets with Tsu (34), Mirio (1), Nejire (7) and Amajiki (18) as the four are going to help her with her Quirk Counseling gig. She tells them not to be fooled by kids who seem like everything is fine. They need to have patience and help those that are reticent talking to adults to open up. She thinks this will take about a month, and they have a lot of support from her own staff and the PSC. Hawks is even pitching it to try to take her program nationwide… though he sounds like a con artist when he talks about it.

 

Amajiki notes that this must take up a lot of her time and wonders if Uraraka is making time for herself. She’s stunned by this question, but the students come running up and start begging for attention before she can answer. They get Mirio to do ‘the thing,” which is to jump into a tree and use his phasing power to make his ass appear in multiple places while shouting, “uh-ho, time to harvest some peaches.” I doubt he realized that this would be his signature ‘thing’ when he said it to Tomura Shigaraki. Nejire looks despondently at her friend and mutters, “So awkward.” The kids start firing at his ass with their quirks. From how everyone is reacting, this is something Mirio does for kids a lot. Uraraka notices one kid is hesitant to participate and offers her hand in encouragement. She floats the kid up; he gets in close and hits Mirio with a beam from the kid’s helmet. The kid, Oshima, got the first hit on Mirio in about a year. Oshima gets cheered on by his classmates as Mirio climbs out of the tree. Uraraka is excited to see the kids happy and is just happy that this is her job. Nejire complements her and says that she sounds like Amajiki. He’s embarrassed by that and grows a mole claw to dig a hole to hide in. Uraraka explains that she works with Tsu a lot for this, and she gets to see her other friends as well. She says she has plenty of free time for herself… but Tsu gives a look proving this a lie.

 

Uraraka and Tsu head home together on the train. Uraraka tells Tsu about the dream, saying that she’s been having it for about a month. She’s spoken to a doctor about it, but they couldn’t find anything medically wrong with her and wonders if it’s just stress. Tsu tells her to get a second opinion, as Uraraka tends to let things like this build up. Uraraka wonders if Himeko is trying to reach out to her, like she’s a Vestige. One she gained from Himeko transferring her blood into Uraraka to save her life. There’s a spooky visual of Himeko’s head being reflected in the glass behind Uraraka instead of herself. Tsu leans in to put her head on Uraraka’s shoulder and tells her to figure out the dream.

 

We jump over to Izuku, Bakugo, and Kirishima driving. Bakugo is pissed he’s playing chauffer for them. Izuku thanks him for the lift, and Kirishima says that he should lighten up. This is just the excuse he needs to show off his car, and they’re headed to the same place anyway. Bakugo angrily says that he’s only driving them because Kirishima threatened to do hardened punches on the hood if he didn’t. Kirishima (revealed to be #12) tease him about crumbling to threats when he swore he never would. Izuku tries to make small talk about the car, but Bakugo demands to know WHY he needs a ride, is he really that hard up for time. Izuku says that he is, and that this ride let him finish a lesson plan for his kids. Kirishima asks if any of the students might be a good fit for him as a sidekick. He says that Fat Gum (11) and Amajiki have helped him out, but now that he’s gone independent, he wants to not rely on them as much. Kirishima says the others are doing well, but a few of them went independent before him so he wants to catch up. Izuku says that he heard Bakugo got a lot of applicants, but he scared them off. Bakugo tells him to shut it. Present Mic narrates, saying that Bakugo debuted as 4^th but dropped to 15^th after some gaffs. Bakugo angrily says that he’s waiting for an applicant that claims he wants to surpass him, and that he’ll hire that person on the spot. Izuku notes that Bakugo still carries his All Might signed trading card on a lanyard. Bakugo asks if he’s staying at UA. Izuku says he is, he’s working part time as a hero like All Might and Aizawa used to. He says that he’s doing two different, but important jobs. He claims that even if he still had OFA, he’d still want to be a teacher. He thanks them both for their support. Kirishima starts laughing hard, revealing that Bakugo was going to ask Izuku to join his agency, but Izuku turned him down before he could ask. Bakugo tells him to shut it and tells Izuku to start thinking more highly about himself or he’ll miss out on things. “If everyone is special to you, no one is,” is how he puts it. Izuku is confused by this and gets sucked further into the backseat, Kirishima finally asking what is up with those.

 

We cut to their destination, a party with the former Class A to celebrate Shoto making it to the number 2 spot. He thanks everyone for coming to celebrate him, which Kaminari (44) kind of ruins by saying that he’d take any excuse to party. That makes Shoto a bit depressed, but Kaminari tries to back peddle on that. Sero (38) says that maybe 44 shouldn’t tease 2, and Kaminari asks that they not litigate that again. Iida (14) is on his side, saying that the chart is more expansive and diverse now, so the flat number doesn’t mean as much. Yaoyorozu (19) points out that things like philanthropy and other good deeds are being factored in, Shoji (9) nods in agreement. Mineta tells Sero to show some restraint as “Numbers are Hurtful!” and it’s revealed he’s 108. I imagine he gets dinged a lot for his… antics. Ashido (28) and Jiro (30) shockingly tell him that this number is still respectable… even though I’m pretty sure he’s the only one in their class that is in triple digits. Which includes Izuku, who’s been back on active duty for like a month. Shinso is revealed to be an independent and thus isn’t on the chart, he can’t relate to wanting that kind of exposure. Hagakure (39) isn’t shocked by his attitude. Sato is impressed that everyone could make their schedules work for this (he’s unranked) and Ojiro (32) points out that they’re all so busy despite villain rates dropping. Tokoyami (17) says that despite them, crime is ever present, and Aoyama (unranked) agrees.

 

Tokoyami points out that the other big heroes are still working hard as well. Best Jeanist (5), Mirko (6 with two weaponized prosthetic arms) Mt. Lady (3), Gang Orca (21), Kamui Woods (4), Wash (how the hell is he 8^th?) Death Arms (42, and I’m glad he got back to work), Ryukyu (40) and Present Mic (45) are all still active. He also points out their generation is going strong. We see several heroes from around their year, but only Yo Shido (20), Monoma (10), Kendo (23), Honenuki (14), Tetsutetsu (26), Fukidashi (33), Tokage (22), Yoarashi (16), Shishikura (41) are ranked. I’m sorry, they aren’t translating what exactly characters like Camie are doing, but she and others are apparently still working. Tokoyami says they’re all fighting for a better world where they won’t be needed. He wants the job of a hero to fade into obscurity. He then puts down his drink and vents how his ad agency has asked him to try to be more fabulous, which he took offense to as he IS the darkness. Ojiro asks if he’s drinking a ‘mocktail’ as a subtle way to check how drunk Tokoyami is.

 

Everyone gets comfortable and enjoys the party. Shoto, Izuku and Bakugo sit together and Shoto starts talking. Bakugo warns him not to brag. Shoto says he’s not sure he is and points out how folks are always talking about how he overcame a ‘difficult fate’ and that he’s doing his ‘duty.’ Shoto says that when he hears about destiny and fate, he feels like he’s a player in someone else’s story. All of his words are played over his career highlights, the sports festival, fighting Dabi a few times and reconciling with his older brother once he was in hospice. He admits that to combat this he’s taking an artisan class that teaches how to make bowls and chopsticks. Such a rich guy hobby. He’s doing it because he figured Soba would taste better with handmade tools. They ask some questions about it, and Shoto says that he got the idea while praying at Toya’s alter. FYI, this is confirming that Toya has died at some point between episode 168 and now. Obviously, one doesn’t pray to the shrine of a living person. Shoto says that its because eating is something he enjoys, and that it shows the world he has other interests besides hero stuff. Bakugo teases him about his choice. They get distracted by Ashido squealing. She just heard the gossip that Komori the mushroom girl and Kuroiro the shadow guy from Class B are dating. Sero upon hearing this asks if Kaminari and Jiro are a thing, as they spend a lot of time together and even have agencies right next door to each other. They deny it, but the vibe is still there. Kaminari says he picked the spot as he just went solo and felt he needed support from someone and when he saw the place next door to Jiro was open he jumped on it. They very much have a ‘we’re seeing each other on the down low and don’t want to talk about it just yet,’ vibe. But maybe I’m reading too much into it. Bakugo mutters Kaminari needs a villain.

 

Izuku thinks about inevitability. He says that he’s living the life that he wants, has the career he wants, and is doing well overall. He remembers his last words with Tomura when their minds connected, and the troubled villain told him to ‘do (his) damned best.’ Izuku wonders if he’s been overlooking something… right as he looks at Uraraka. An alert goes off that there’s been a carjacking and that quirks involved make it a dangerous situation. Everyone suits up, and Sero mutters that this is why they can’t get drinks together.

 

They head out... and imagine you’re doing a carjacking, and you get met with a sizeable chunk of the top 100 heroes in Japan to stop you. Its overkill is what it is. Iida speeds ahead and causes the car to swerve, letting Bakugo blast the door off, Izuku captures them in his artificial Black Whip, and Shoto to stop the car with an ice wall. Everyone else lands and poses. The thieves are taken away. Bakugo claims he got their first, but Izuku says that Iida technically did. Iida mentions that random crimes like this will always be an issue and the others agree. It’s also revealed that while Izuku has the most advanced version of power suit, basically everyone has a transforming briefcase that holds their equipment.

 

The students break up for the night, promising to meet up again sometime soon. Shoto admits that he paid the bill so they can all go home. Ashido yells at him for doing that when everyone was supposed to treat HIM as the guest of honor, so everyone else pays him their share. Bakugo offers to drive Izuku home as they’ve got an early morning with Edgeshot tomorrow, but Izuku turns him down. Kirishima, Ashido, and Kaminari all accept the offer he didn’t give. Kirishima and Ashido chant ‘brand new car’ as they head to Bakugo’s car, making me pretty sure they’re a thing as well, while Kaminari laughs. Bakugo says they’ll see each other soon, and Izuku says he should come by the school soon, as Aizawa wants to give him another lesson on good communication. Bakugo snorts angrily at that jab before walking off with a wave. Izuku walks off and remembers what Bakugo said about ‘special people’ to him.

 

Uraraka says bye to Tsu at the train station and promises to see her bright and early the next day. She heads off and thinks that she’ll be back at it again tomorrow. As she walks, she remembers that because Izuku and her didn’t sit next to each other, they didn’t get to chat. They made significant eye contact at one point in the night, though, and she mentions that they see each other at work sometimes. She stops as she remembers him saying that she was his hero back in high school. Right in front of billboards featuring Izuku, Bakugo and Shoto, how odd. She thinks about how everyone figured out what they wanted to do after the war. They’ve stayed close and respect each other’s goals. She thinks she shouldn’t ask for much more… but then she remembers her fight with Himeko and how she announced to Himeko that she loved Izuku.  She admits that she wants more, and that she wished they could have talked more. She looks up and sees none other than Izuku Midoriya running to her with a grin on his face and saying how good it is she’s still here. She suddenly remembers her dream, Himeko telling her that it’s okay. Izuku reaches her and tells her that their class is special to him, and he cares about them all. He thought that would be enough for him… but he admits that today that he had hopped he’d get to talk to her more and that he felt that way a lot. She blushes furiously at this admission and remembers more of her dream. Himeko says that she lived life how she wanted, and she loves Uraraka. And that’s why she wants to push her to love to. And as she said that, she shoves Uraraka forward, making her stumble into Izuku’s chest. She remembers her conversation with Tsu and how she’d had the dream for about a month… and realizes that about a month ago was when she started seeing Izuku more as he got back on active duty. Izuku wonders if spending more time together would be… cool, while blushing. Uraraka is nervous, looks back and is encouraged by Himeko. So, she holds up a hand and says “I feel the same.” They clasp hands, Himeko nods and fades away, and the credits roll.

 

This is a headcanon, but until Horikoshi says otherwise, I believe these two will be engaged by the following Christmas. They meet each other’s parents after a month, Izuku goes ring shopping after three, he proposes Christmas day, which in Japan is more of a couple’s holiday. When you’ve met your person, ya know.

 

There’s not that much to say about this episode. It’s kind of the epilogue equivalent of those recap premier episodes that they did for the first few seasons. The majority of the episode was just to show us where everyone ended up after graduation, and it did that well. Everyone seems to be where they want to be, even if some like Mineta want to be higher up on the popularity charts. I do wish they’d translated what the kids not on the Hero Billboard charts were doing, but I don’t care so much that I want to look it up for this summary. Everyone seems happy. Despite Izuku feeling like they don’t see each other as much, like he said last episode, it’s clear that these kids still have a strong bond and do enjoy being around each other when they can make it. I like that Horikoshi took a moment to spell out that Izuku would have ended up in the classroom even if he hadn’t lost OFA, as Izuku is self-aware enough to know that’s where his heart lay. And I like that he and Bakugo have clearly hit a point where they’re not actively fighting anymore. They’re friend-friends now, not frenemies. And finally there’s the Izuku-Uraraka relationship. There are some folks that were upset by this, feeling that there wasn’t enough romantic build up, or feeling that this was too ‘vanilla’ or that Izuku should have ended up in a queer relationship. To those I say… tough. Izuku and Uraraka are pretty obviously the male and female leads of this story, and while outliers obviously exists (Naruto, Bleach, Dragonball, Harry Potter, etc) in the VAST majority of stories, I’d go so far as to say 90% easy, the lead boy and girl end up together. That’s just kind of how stories work. And, I’ll just say it, if you didn’t think there was that much build up, you weren’t paying attention. Uraraka was the first girl that Izuku spent much time around, and while that quickly changed as he got to know his class, she was the one most often to make him blush or flustered in situations. Same goes for her, hell, her subplot for at least a third of the story was dealing with the fact that she had feelings for Izuku and what that would mean for their friendship. I’m sorry if you’re a queer person watching or reading My Hero Academia, really resonated with Izuku and were disappointed when he ended up in a straight relationship… but like, Izuku being gay was never in the cards. I’m not saying queer shonen protagonists don’t exist, but if that’s the route the story is going to take it has to be the focus. Izuku never showed interest in boys, that’s just fact. I personally am in the opposite camp, I wish we could have gotten more than just both of them admitting they wanted to spend more time together… but this is a shonen anime. Romance is never really a focus of those… unless it’s written by a woman. Or Yukinobu Tatsu (Dandadan). Besides, these two are incredibly shy and a bit socially awkward. Izuku saying that he wants to spend more time with her specifically was like at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist. If ya know, ya know. As I said above, unless Horikoshi contradicts me, those two are endgame and Ochako will be Ochako Midoriya before long in universe. I’m a hopeless romantic, so sue me.

 

I should probably sum up my thoughts on the series as a whole. … I’ve been watching My Hero Academia for ten years. It was the second series I ever did a Viewer Log for. When it began, I was 25, living with my parents and sort of coasting through life at the moment. I still remember how I got started. My younger brother who was also living at home at the time, ran into my room and said he’d just finished MHA and I needed to check it out. I put him off for a few days, as I like to annoy him by doing that sometimes. But I finally sat down and watched it… and I finished season 1 in an afternoon. I started the writeups not long after that, and I’ve been coming back to blog about it every few months to a year ever since. It’s a story I turned to when I needed a pick-me-up and it’s one I introduced to a few people, both IRL and I’d like to think with these 171 episodes and 4 movie posts gushing about how much I like the series. Is it perfect? No. I think certain plot points are kind of rushed, the anti-heteromorph stuff seems to just kind of come out of no where in the latter half of the series, and the fact that this entire story, from Izuku meeting All Might to the defeat of AFO is just over like 18 months is INSANE. But it’s a very heartfelt story. It’s a story about growth and perseverance. It’s about hope, and diligence. It’s about hard work and luck. Some argue that Izuku Midoriya lied at the start of this series when he claimed that this was the story about how he became the greatest hero, but I disagree. He fought and defeated an evil so old and so entrenched in the world that eight of his predecessors couldn’t stop him. He helped change his world for the better and he kept doing it every day as he trained the next generation. He’s a hero through and through, the greatest in my eyes. The story is over, but the journey never ends. I’m just sorry this is where me and Deku part ways. In short, as if 175 posts didn’t let you know, I love this story.

 

I’ll cover My Hero Academia: Vigilantes at some point, but I’ve got a few new shows to cover. Like tomorrow’s post. Season 3 of My Adventures With Superman. See you then. Have a good night and stay safe.

 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social