Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 14

Batman's not the only creature stalking the night. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 13

 Bruce tests out a new look. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 12

 Batman goes toe to toe with a Rocketeer. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 11

 Batman's back and he's got a score to settle.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader Batman did his best to protect Harvey Dent from the forces attempting to end him. It didn’t go well. Rupert Thorne ordered his minions to kill the former DA as Dent was aware of a lot of the dirty dealings in Gotham. The cops try to transfer Harvey to Arkham, but he’s attacked by Bullock and Flass. Barbara and Dent hold them off for just long enough to escape, Barbara handcuffing herself to Dent to keep from running off on his own. They make plans to meet up with Commissioner Gordon and Batman at Gotham docks. Mobsters and the corrupt cops arrive just before Batman and Jim, and they all try to catch up with Dent. Batman holds off the goons, but Dent is unfortunately shot and mortally wounded protecting Barbara from Flass. Batman grabs the gun and threatens Flass with it, only to throw it into the bay with disgust after shooting near Flass’ head. Batman thanks Alfred for helping him with his exploits. He tracks down Thorne and throws a batarang at Thorne, cutting his ear. In a post credits scene, we see a pale man make another man die laughing and says that his formula is perfect. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Ep 11: Brute Force

 

We open with Hattie’s Tea Party, a local tv show hosted by Hattie Tetch. She’s a gender bent version of Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter fyi. She talks about how crime is a plague in the city and things are getting worse. We’re shown a scene of several gangsters robbing a bank just as Batman arrives. Batman is able to fight and capture a few of them, but this group is lead by Eddie “The Riddler” Nygma, who gets a way with several bags of money. Jim Gordon and Renee Montoya arrive just as Batman drives off. Hattie includes some color commentary about how Batman is a masked vigilante making things worse for unknown reasons, and that GCPD is wasting time harassing local business man (and crime boss) Rupert Thorne. She’s been covering the case, and claims the case against Thorne is gossamer thin. We’re shown a scene of Thorne being brought into custody some time ago. She says that the new DA Peter Mitchell has a new surprise witness to add to his case. And because she’s the ‘Mad Hatter of News’ and also unethical as hell, she got her hands on and reveals the name of the informant, Julian Gregory. He’s known as the Calendar Man for his perfect memory. Thorne, watching from his very fancy cell, breaks his TV with a glass. A guard asks if everything is alright, and Thorne says he needs a new TV and Gregory has to die.

 

Batman and Alfred try to figure out where Gregory is going to be on their map. Batman is sure that they’re not bringing Gregory in through Gotham International Airport, they need something smaller, easier to control. They’ve narrowed it down to two possible locations. Alfred asks why he just doesn’t ask Gordon where they’re going, but Batman says that he might ‘work’ with the cops, but he’s not one of them, and regardless of his professional relationship with Barbara Gordon, he’s not completely trusted. He heads out to speak with her to see if she’ll tell him where they’re going. Alfred points out that if Gordon hasn’t invited him, he might not appreciate Batman just showing up. Batman says that he might not be invited but that doesn’t mean he’s unexpected.

 

At Blackgate Prison, Eddie Nygma is brought in to speak with Thorne. Thorne chastises Eddie for how he’s been handling Thorne’s business. Eddie tries to make excuses, saying that Batman keeps butting in, but Thorne cuts him off and asks who the ‘real’ top of the list is. Eddie thinks about it for a moment before saying “the accountant.” He promises to track the accountant down, but Thorne says he already knows where Gregory is going to be. Eddie is impressed that Thorne has a mole in GCPD, and Thorne tells him to ‘Diversify your portfolio,’ it gives you options. Eddie says that he’ll remember that.

 

We jump over to GCPD. We learn that Harvey Bullock was demoted back to a uniformed officer after that fiasco at the docks and he’s telling Flass how unfair it is that he’s being punished when Flass is the one that killed Dent. Flass tells him that he’ll get Bullock his shield back, he swears. Bullock says that he’s been feeding him that line for a weeks. Their conversation is interrupted by Flass reaching a private meeting room. Bullock tries to follow, but Montoya reminds him this meeting is for detectives only. They shut the door in Bullock’s face. Gordon says that Hattie Tetch is annoying, but she’s right about the case being thin, so they need to get this done fast and neat. Montoya asks how Thorne’s case could be so flimsy when he’s broken every law in the books, and Gordon points out that Thorne is rich, so that counts for a lot. They need to see Thorne put away, it’s their duty as the protectors of Gotham. Flass makes a snide comment about how it’s Gordon and his ‘bat buddy’ defending city, but doesn’t just gives Gordon a snide salute when he asks if Flass has something to add.

 

At his club, Eddie shrieks at his goons that they’re all worthless. His girlfriend Lily Gardner gets him to calm down, a little, asking if she’s worthless. He tells his men that they’re going to prove that they run this town, not some accountant. They’ll get him before he squeals like… he struggles to think of an animal, and when Lily suggests a pig or a mouse, he screams and shoots the ceiling. He repeats that the accountant dies tonight.

 

Batman calls up Barbara and asks what airport Gordon is taking the accountant. She tries to say that her dad doesn’t share private info with her, but Batman insists that Gordon and the accountant are in danger and he’s the one to help them. Barbara relents, saying that her dad has used Moldoff airfield in the past. Batman rudely hangs up and drives off.

 

Gordon and Montoya wait for the plane to come in. Montoya compliments Gordon’s speech and then points out that he didn’t mention Batman. Gordon says that he thinks of Batman as an asset, helpful, but he doesn’t want to rely on him to do his department’s job. The plane comes in and they go to meet Gregory. As he comes out, Gregory asks his escort what Warren G Harding and James K Polk have in common. Both were born on November 2^nd. Riddler and his crew pull up and start shooting at the plane. They miss Gregory, but kill the pilot, who knocks over the controls, causing the plane to tax. Gregory jumps out of the plane. The gangsters try to charge Gregory, Riddler shouting “Die Squealer!” But Batman distracts them with his batarangs. He takes out several goons and sees one is killed by the plane’s propellers. Riddler and his buddy Mark “Dez” Desmond escape, Riddler killing a goon that Batman grabbed with his machine gun. As they drive off, Dez says that he didn’t have to do that, but Eddie insists that that is how you keep a secret. Dez says that Thorne wouldn’t like it when he hears this, but Eddie tells him Thorne isn’t going to hear it until after the accountant is dead. He says he’s got a guy that will tell him where to find the accountant.

 

Batman meets with Barbara in her parking garage. He tries to get her to tell him where the accountant is, but she refuses to tell him. She says that she won’t cross ethical lines to help Batman or spy on her dad. She tells Batman that he’ll figure it out.

 

Montoya and Gordon have a meeting in his office. He tells her that they have a leak in their department and that he wants her to find it. She says that if there’s a leak, they both know it’s Flass. Well, she almost said it, but she’s cut off by Flass coming into the room. Gordon says that he’s assigning Montoya as Flass’ partner, and that Montoya is the lead detective. He orders them to take Gregory to the Chandler Arms and sit on him until he testifies. They head out.

 

Eddie meets with Professor Hugo Strange. He’s buying a chemical from the good doctor, something to even the odds with Batman. Strange gives him a serum that will make the person he gives it too will be made inhumanely strong. Eddie asks for the price, and Strange says that its on the house, he wants to see his formula field tested on the Batman. And Eddie agrees that’ll be a sight to see.

 

We jump back to Blackgate where Thorne is taking a shower in a private suite. He demands a towel, and Batman throws it at him. Thorne is calm, starts to shave, asking if Batman is here to threaten him or something. He says that he’s not afraid, that he’s going to beat this trial and when he does, he’s going to see Batman burn. Batman grabs his towel and starts choking Thorne out. Thorne still isn’t scared, saying that Batman doesn’t have the stones to do this kind of dirty work. He taunts Batman, saying that Gordon thinks his safehouse is Fort Nox, but he can get to Gregory whenever he wants. Batman tightens the towel before throwing Thorne aside. Batman leaves, Thorne shouting after him that Batman will burn.

 

Batman calls up Alfred for a list of GCPD safehouses that they know are still active. Alfred gives him three, the Adam’s garage, the Chandler Arms, and the ward street church. Batman races off to check all three.

 

Eddie has Gregory in his sights, saying that the squealer is like Repunzal in her tower. Dez asks what the plan is, to shoot there way in or something? Eddie says that the plan is much bigger that that. Dez asks what they’ll use, and Eddie says “not what, who.” And injects Dez with Strange’s formula. Dez hulks… I’m sorry, Blockbusters out into a colossal titan. Eddie tells him to kill the squealer.

 

In the hotel, Gregory is freaking out. The detectives try to keep him calm, a plan that is made harder when Blockbuster starts climbing the side of the building. He breaks into the room, saying it’s time to die. Uniform cops shoot at Blockbuster, but he slaps them around. Montoya calls for backup, and a moment Later Batman flies in. Flass shoots at Batman but gets knocked aside. Montoya tells the Calendar Man to move his ass. Gregory makes it down a floor, but Batman and Blockbuster break through the ceiling in front of him. Batman is down for a minute, Blockbuster goes to kill Gregory, but Montoya stops him with her gun. Batman wrestles with Blockbuster, the two end up leaping from a window. They wrestle midair, but Batman disorientates him by slamming both his ears. They land hard, but Blockbuster gets back up. The cops distract him long enough for Batman to get the batmobile and then he runs Blockbuster into the side of the hotel repeatedly, trying to knock him out. Blockbuster gets under the car and starts to lift it, but Batman activates his rocket boosters and slams him hard into the building. Blockbuster gets knocked out and reverts to Dez.

 

Later, Julian Gregory is able to testify in court. He’s in a neck brace and cast, but he’s able to say that he told Thorne that several of his dealings were illegal but he was told to do them anyway. Thorne’s lawyer asks for a dismissal, saying that the prosecutions evidence is nothing more than evidence tainted by the most corrupt police department in the US. The case is dismissed, much to Batman’s irritation.

 

Outside the courthouse, Barbara asks if Jim is alright. Jim says he’s the farthest thing from alright. Montoya knows that Thorne got to the judge, and that they should have seen that coming. Flass comes up and says they didn’t because they’re chumps. He says that they keep thinking Gotham will start fixing itself, but they’re living in a dreamworld with Nemo. Hattie claims that Thorne’s acquittal will start the next chapter of Gotham. Barbara says that she hates this. Jim says Thorne won this round, but it’s not over yet. Thorne and his son Matthew are taken to their car, the driver helps Thorne in and sticks him with something.

 

They drive off, Matthew saying that he knew they’d beat the charges. Thorne tells his son about diversifying his portfolio. Diversify and you can’t lose. Thorne starts laughing way harder the should. It quickly spirals into hysterical laughter as his face contorts into a rictus grin. The driver watches the scene in the rearview mirror.

 

Barbara forces a meeting between her dad and Batman on the roof of GCPD. She says they need to talk and to do it without her. She leaves them to discuss their situationship.

 

Overall, that was a good start to the season. Looks like we’re picking up more or less where we did last season, with the GCPD trying to take Thorne in even without the testimony that Dent could have given. Obviously this wasn’t going to go well with a gangster as rich as Thorne in a city as corrupt as Gotham, but at least they’re trying. The Riddler is an addition I have mixed feelings about. I wish that he’d been introduced last season, but I understand that the showrunners didn’t know if they’d get another season when they wrote the first. That said, having him just appear at the start and make it clear that he’s Thorne’s number 1 goon makes it seem like Thorne just hired a rando as soon as he got arrested. This version of Riddler is fine. He focus on his anger is an interesting interpretation, as we see almost none of his usual smug superiority complex. They’ll explain his nickname next episode, and I’ll say right now that I HATE the reason why he’s called the Riddler in this one. You do get a sense of what a sociopath he is when he sticks his friend with the Blockbuster formula. He had no idea what it was going to do, he just stuck a needle in Dez’s neck and hoped for the best. Monster. Its funny that in this dark, noir inspired version of Gotham one of the few characters we see not given a gritty overhaul is Julian Day aka Julian Gregory aka Calendar Man. FYI, since the 80s, he’s been depicted as a Hanibal Lecter style nutjob with a day fixation that is covered in tattoos about the days, weeks, and months of the year. And in this he’s just a tiny accountant. Super weird. Hattie is a fun spin on the Mad Hatter. Not sure why she needed to be based on the Mad Hatter, as she’s just a TV personality, but whatever. Hatter is kind of a lame villain after all, so I’m fine with finding other ways to use the name. Batman had to do a lot of running in this episode, which I do think was a good way to show that he and Jim need to coordinate. Had they planned things out together, Gregory could have been in a lot less danger overall, and maybe Gordon could have thought of looking in on the judge a little more and maybe see how Thorne had gotten to him. Just saying. Not that Thorne is going to be much of a problem for a while. The Joker has him and Mr. J isn’t a kind host, as I’m sure you’re all aware. But more on that next time. Have a good night, everyone. 

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Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 30

 Superman Returns... but the story is good this time. 

Last time on My Adventures With Superman, Lois and the gang prepare for war while Clark goes on a quest. Lois makes a deal to work with Waller in exchange for medical help for an injured Kara and military backup against the Eradicator. She has friction with Jonathan, who is still an edgy teen, but once Kara wakes up, she’s able to convince her nephew to stop being a dick and work with them. Waller rallies her military assets, and the Supers prepare to fight the Eradicator. Clark, meanwhile, is sent on a vision quest by Chief Brainiac, the Brainiac AI system in charge of the Fortress of Solitude. It shows Clark a vision of Krypton’s ancient past and tells Clark to fight and conquer a group of invaders, like his ancestors did. He faces off against the Coluans and ends up dropping into a ravine with the Coluan’s leader. Clark, not wanting to go along with Chief Brainiac’s script, befriends the alien and the two struggle to get back to camp. Once there, Clark realizes that the Coluans weren’t invaders, but refugees. Chief Brainiac insists that Clark attack and conquer the Coluans, but Clark refuses, saying that he earned their trust, so that counts as passing the test. This drives Brainiac into a rage, as it’s revealed that the simulation was based on HIS memories, as he used to be the Coluan leader before being turned into an android. And the idea that his people didn’t have to be conquered, enslaved, and turned into robots violates his 10,000-year held belief that the weak are subservient to the strong. He orders Clark to be executed, but B-1Z goes berserk and starts attacking the Stewards for hurting Clark. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open with B-1Z going berserk and attacking the Stewards for threatening Clark. He rams a hand through the chest of one and rips another into pieces. If they weren’t robots, these deaths would be graphic as hell. Chief Brainiac starts to panic at the destruction, his color swapping from angry red back to white. Clark gets in the way and ends up calming his friend. Chief Brainiac asks why he’d save them, and Clark just kind of shrugs and says they needed his help. Chief Brainiac finally realizes that Clark’s strength is his heart/character and kneels to the Last Lord of Krypton. Clark helps him back up, saying no one kneels. He once again asks the robot to help him get his powers back. He asks who was sending him visions of Rao. Chief Brainiac leads Clark into the bowels of the Fortress, saying that Rao was Krypton’s living sun. He died with the planet, but many children of Rao remain, such as the one that is powering the Fortress. Clark is awed to see the mini-but-still-giant star in the heart of the Fortress. Clark asks if it can restore his powers. Chief Brainiac says he can, but as a Star, he is an elemental force of nature that cannot be controlled or predicted. It could just as easily kill him.

 

I think it’s funny that they cut away from this scene as if this’ll deter Clark even a little bit.

 

We shift back to the fight with the Eradicator. Turns out, the Kryptonian killing bio-android is too powerful for even the combined forces of Waller’s combat teams and the Supers. Jonathan wakes up to Damage and Heatwave knocked out beside him. He looks up in time to see the Eradicator firing plasma blasts from his fingers, destroying more weaponry. Lara tries to charge him, but one of the Hulking Clones gets in the way and starts pummeling the youngest Kryptonian. Kara heat visions it to try to get it off Lara, but it reflects her heat vision back with a black energy wave. The clone slams Lara into the ground and then attacks Kara. Jonathan helps his sister up, Lara explains what happened after the Eradicator knocked him out last episode. Jonathan is pretty disheartened to realize that a post apocalypse seems to be their inevitable future. Lara starts saying that they just have to wait for their dad to get back, but Jonathan cuts her off, saying he’s NOT coming back. It’s just them, but they aren’t enough. Kara breaks free for being buried and says that they won’t know until they try. The whole time, by the way, Waller’s soldiers are still firing on the thing. Waller tells her men to stop, and the Eradicator retaliates. He unleashes a wave of plasma that destroys robots, tanks, and other weapons before sending its Hulk Clone to fight. It dives at Jimmy and Lois, but Kara dives in the way, telling the creature that she told it to stay away from her family. The Eradicator rather smugly says that she was never enough to beat him before, and he’s evolved. Kara, Lara, and Jonathan team up and are able to destroy the Hulk Clone, all getting to say something inspiring about how the Eradicator doesn’t understand people and that’s why he’ll lose. The Eradicator asks if they can sacrifice their allies for the sake of victory. Using his powers, he reactivates the Kryptonian war bots buried at the site. He smugly states that he does understand people, he knows what makes them weak.

 

Waller calls a retreat. Lois stops her and asks if she’s just going to leave the Kryptonians behind. Waller tells her that they can call their own retreat. Lois runs to her cousin and children as Jimmy is forced to follow the soldiers. They reach a plane that takes off, but Lex tries to listen to him, he thinks he’s finished his device, but Waller isn’t interested. The plane takes off and Jimmy asks if he really has something. Lex is wishy-washy about it, saying that it might be something but maybe not. Before they can discuss it further, their plane is shot down.

 

Lois runs through the battlefield. Gotta give her credit for bravery. She gets cornered by some drones, but she grabs a rifle and shoots them into pieces, before a heavy robot tries to stomp her. She runs off.

 

Jimmy helps Lex up, they survived the crash relatively unscathed. Slade spots them, and is ordered to ‘recover’ them. Lex says that he ha a chance at stopping Eradicator and says that Slade was right about everything. Slade lets them go, but makes it clear that this is the last favor he’s doing for Lex.

 

Kara tries to attack the Eradicator, but he’s too fast for her to overcome. The siblings try their hand and are swatted away. The Eradicator says that they are similar, they’re all motivated by fear, but claims their fear makes them weak, while his fear is a weapon. He makes five more Hulk Clones and orders them to kill the Supers. They trio are overwhelmed by the monsters as Lex powers up his device, a headgear of some kind. Lara and Jonathan are slammed not the dirt and Kara is almost sent to join them, when Lex powers up his helmet. It lets him override the Eradicator’s control and sends the Hulk Clones to fight him. It works for about a minute before the Eradicator uses this connection to attack Lex’s mind. It grows multiple arms and disables its clones via touch. Lois finds Jonathan and cradles her injured son. He apologizes for not being enough. Lois tells him that he was always enough and is sorry she failed him. Jonathan admits she was the best thing about his future.

 

The Eradicator clones prepare to execute everyone, when a huge wave of fire destroys the clones. A fireball forms and Clark materializes out of it. The women in his life are all happy to see him, Lois and Lara hug him and Kara marvels at his Kryptonian armor. Jonathan, angsty boy that he is, comments that his Dad ‘finally’ showed up, just in time to take all the credit. Clark walks up to him and apologizes for leaving everything up to Jonathan up to this point. He doesn’t have to have the burden of being Superman alone anymore. Jonathan tears up and hugs his father. The Eradicator says they won’t live beyond today. Clark tries to talk him down, but the Eradicator says that he will have no peace until they’re all dead. It upgrades itself into… General Zod? Huh. Whatever. Clark shrugs in a ‘well I tried,’ motion and asks if everyone is ready. Jonathan, Kara, Lara, and a late arriving B-1Z (whom Clark dubs Cousin) all agree. Eradi-Zod makes a bunch of clones and they all face one. As they fight, the Eradicator asks why they’re fighting. He was made to kill them by humans, they don’t belong on Earth, so why fight? They all have a Super Saiyan moment of digging deep and saying that they won’t let the Eradicator steal their world, lives, future or friends. The fun part is, each of them flash a different color, representing a different part of the emotional spectrum. Kara gets the Red Light of Rage, Lara the Violet Light of Love, Jonathan the Indigo Light of Compassion, and B-1Z the White Light of Life. They all hit their clone with a super bunch that shatters them. Unfortunately, that display used up their strength, so it’s just Clark and Eradi-Zod.

 

Clark and Eradi-Zod clash, Clark’s eyes flashing with the Blue Light of Hope as they fight. He takes off the Eradi-Zod’s arm, and Eradi-Zod snarls that he’s grown tired of killing these people. He reveals that he’s already played this out several times already. In every timeline he defeats most of the Supers, but someone always escapes. One of the Supers, Lois, Jimmy, someone always escapes and hides like a ‘rat in the wall.’ This time, he assures Clark, Eradi-Zod will kill them all. Eradi-Zod smugly says that Clark put in all that effort to reclaim his power, but its still not enough. Clark laughs at the android, asking if he really thinks that he spends all his time thinking about who is strongest. He says that of the ten billion people on Earth, most of them just want to live their lives, see their friends and loved ones, that’s all he cares about. He asks Eradi-Zod what’s up with him. Eradi-Zod repeats that he was built by Lex to destroy Superman, he cannot rest until they’re all eradicated. Clark catches the android’ fist, and says that that isn’t good enough. He slams a fist into Eradi-Zod’s stomach and launches him into the sky. The Blue Light of Hope flashes in his system and turns Gold as he continues to hit the android. Each punch regresses the Eradi-Zod to his previous forms. Clark chastises it for causing all this destruction and pain to try to feel strong. He says we’re done with that as he slams the Eradicator into the ground, devolved back to it’s weird puppet body. Clark still offers the Eradicator a hand, offering to help him up and show him what bravery is. The Eradicator mumbles that it would rather die as it disintegrates. Clark looks sadly at that spot and says, “I’m sorry no one taught you how to live.”

 

Clark quick-changes back to his normal suit and hugs Lois. They get Jonathan back his time travel watch and say goodbye. Jonathan asks how they know that the future is going to be okay. Lois hugs him and says that it’ll be good because Lois and Clark and the rest will fight for the future they deserve. The Kents get a group hug in just before the siblings vanish. Once they’re gone, Lois hugs Clark tight, clearly fighting back tears.

 

We flashforward to Jimmy and Kara getting ice cream from B-1Z. Jimmy is celebrating being rich again. The Jimmy Olsen Comics are doing well, we get a cut away to Steve Lombard laughing really hard to one so I guess he’s a fan, but the thing that really helped Jimmy was investing in WORMS (worms-worms). Kara begins to scold Jimmy for using that app, but Jimmy insists that he’s just an investor for them now. He wants to focus on their- he says committed relationship, but she says ‘promising friendship.’ Jimmy is stunned to hear this. Kara says that he wanted to be a ‘better friend’ so she’s giving him the opportunity. Some folks were upset with this, but I personally think she’s just teasing him a little.

 

Waller takes Lex into his Cell at Supermax prison. She says that Slade sends his best, and asks why Lex did all this. Lex says that he saw ‘something’ in the dark of space. He’s very vague about it, but whatever was out there that he saw on a WayneTech satellite, scared him real bad, and he says he’ll do anything to try to feel safe again. He should be afraid of the lawsuit Bruce is going to slap on him, WayneTech doesn’t take kindly to hackers.

 

Yes, this is probably foreshadowing Darkseid and the New Gods if they get to make season 4.

 

At the Kent farm, Kara and Jimmy are playing with Krypto, the white dog that Clark bonded with at the Adopt-on-a-Yacht event back at episode 3. Clark thanks his girlfriend for adopting Krypto with her government id. She playfully says that Krypto isn’t a whole farm, but he’s pretty great. She asks her boyfriend what he did to get his powers back. Clark thinks back to it, Rao basically set him on fire, most likely as a means of cleaning out any lingering Kryptonite in his system and recharging the battery cells we see whenever Clark digs deep to use his powers. He says that he made a deal, and that it didn’t cost him nothing that he wasn’t willing to pay. Lois then gets up and takes Clark’s hands. She says that she can’t control the future, but she can choose who she’ll see it with. She holds up a pair of miniatures of them holding hands, which excites Clark because he’s a dork, but he’s even more excited when she gets down on one knee and proposes. He obviously says yes.

 

The closing credits end with a shot of Clark’s miniature farm. They have Lois compass on the ground as a riser, with Lois and Clark minis standing holding hands, and around them are Kara, Jimmy, Krypto, Jon and Lara minis. It’s a cute image to end on.

 

Overall, I liked this season, but it was extremely rushed. This really could have used five or ten more episodes to flesh out the season. We hit the accelerator once Hank Henshaw snapped and we really didn’t slow down again. We rushed through Clark learning to be okay with being powerless, to the arrival of the super siblings, to the Eradicator’s escape into the time stream, and finally this battle. It was just a lot to cover in ten episodes. Heck, the build up to the fight with the Eradicator and Clark’s vision could have been two full episodes each. And I would have liked to see a little more of both futures, just to get an idea of what Jon and Jonathan/Lara are dealing with. The Eradicator was a rushed villain, but he works as the final boss. I personally would have had him travel to Jon’s future, grab and merge with Cyborg Superman and then come back, so that the final boss was an amalgam of both evil futures. But then the Cell parallels would have been a lot more obvious, I suppose. It was really nice to see Clark still offer a hand to the cyborg after he beat the snot out of him. Each member of the House of El getting their own color of the Emotional Spectrum was neat. The only colors missing were the Orange Light of Avarice and the Yellow Light of Fear. And those two are kind of hard to rework into a heroic light. Clark’s big speech about being afraid isn’t enough of an excuse to be evil and cause pain was nice. And it was nice that they gave Lex a chance to redeem himself just a little by fighting the Eradicator in his own way. He still absolutely deserved to be arrested for this, but I’d be fine if his sentence was lightened just a little. I liked that they hinted at the next season’s big bad but left it vague enough to not get me too hyped. I wish the fourth season would be greenlit, but corporate television is a mess right now. Screw you Ellisons, monopolizing losers.

 

If this is the end, at least it ended on a high moment like Clark and Lois getting engaged rather than on a cliffhanger or something. It was a fun ride, I hope it continues, but if it doesn’t I am satisfied. Next time, we’ll pick up with the Caped Crusader. See you then. Have a good night, everyone. 

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Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 29

 Clark's got to learn a bit of history to get his powers back. 

Last time on My Adventures With Superman, Jon came back and he brought a friend! Well, a sister. And he’s not so much ‘Jon’ but another possible Jon from the future. This one prefers to go by Jonathan and is much more edgy and angsty than the last one. The Kents all get up to speed on what has happened, as neither Jonathan nor his sister Lara knew about Jon’s previous adventures with time. Jonathan is infuriated to learn the ‘last guy,’ as he calls his other self, failed and floats off in a huff. Clark tries to talk to his boy, but Jonathan wants nothing to do with his young father. Turns out this Jonathan didn’t have Kara to help teach him how to use his powers and is holding his dad responsible for not being there for him. Lois tries to bond with Lara over Pa Kent’s cookies and learns that the two super kids come from yet another timeline where she ends up as General Lane. Oh, and they’re here to kill Lex. He builds these techo-organic androids called the Eradicators that conquer Earth, it’s a whole thing. While Clark and Lois compare notes on how the failed their kids, Lara sneaks off to fulfill her mission. This turns into one of those ‘time traveler makes the future happen’ situation, as she interrupts Director Waller (no they don’t explain how she got her job back) in the process of firing Lex and shutting down LexCorp. Seeing a flying Korean Teen with an S on her chest freaks Lex out and he releases his prototype early. A prototype that he’d just stuck a bit of his brain into. The Super Squad arrive and are told to leave by Slade, who says LexCorp is on lockdown. The floor collapses beneath them, dropping Clark and Lois into the sewers below and Jonathan and Kara fly after them. The horror movie portion of the episode has the Eradicator attacking each of the Supers while they’re separated, throwing a subway train at Kara to take her out and pummeling the Superkids. Kara gets back up and they have a throw down that ends up back on the LexCorp front lawn. The three Scions of the House of El do their best, but Kara’s the only one that can keep up with the monster for long. She does a LOT of damage to it, ripping two of its four arms clean off. Unfortunately, the Eradicator is smarter than it seems, it adapted to their attacks and developed Heat Vision… and it noticed that Kara is protecting Lara and Jonathan above all else. So fires a full power Heat Vision at the injured teens. Kara jumps in the way, taking the hit and going down. She has a sweet moment with Jonathan, telling her nephew (second cousin, but whatever) that he is her better tomorrow. Enraged, Jonathan attacks the Eradicator, but, again, smarter than it acts, the android steals Jonathan’s time travel watch, mutters “I Win!” and vanishes into the timestream. Clark realizes that he has to go the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, he’s had enough visions to figure out something there is calling to him and can get him his powers back. Lois is terrified for him to go, as she’s sure she’ll just mess up their kids more, but Clark has faith in her and assures her he’ll be back soon. He hitches a ride with B-1Z, who’d come to help but was too slow, and they arrive at the Fortress. The Stewards then take control of B-1Z’s mind and have him attack Clark, knocking him out. That’s not good. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open with Clark, shirtless for some reason, standing before a giant glowing star embedded within the Fortress of Solitude. He hears a voice whisper in Kryptonian “Venu al Rao, Kal-El!’ Clark wakes up in the Fortress of Solitude, bound and surrounded by stewards robots and B-1Z, who is now sporting a black unitard. His eyes are still glowing red, indicating he’s under mind control. One of the stewards demands to know why Kal-El has come here. Clark says that they wanted him to come here, they called to him so he can get his powers back. The chief steward says that no, they didn’t, and that power is not meant for the weak. It’s head morphs, revealing it to be Brainiac. Not the same Brainiac that’s in storage, though. Primus Brainiac was the AI System that ran the Warship Kandor, this is the Brainiac AI system designed to run Clark’s ship. It calls that Brainiac ‘corrupted’ while it is pure, shown by its lights being white instead of red. Chief Brainiac says that it can restore Kal-El’s powers, but he has to prove himself, prove he can be a conqueror. Clark says that conquest doesn’t make people strong, but Chief Brainiac counters by asking if losing his powers to a mere human makes him strong. Never mind he was powered by anti-Kryptonian radiation. Clark agrees to do whatever he can to get his powers back. Chief Brainiac says that he has to prove himself. A vision starts, ice and snow whip around them and Clark wakes up in cosplay. He’s in some kind of tribal warrior armor, the House of El S painted on his chest in red. Chief Brainiac says that he needs to prove himself here, in Krypton’s ancient past, prove himself worthy of the power of his ancestors. Do that, and they’ll make him strong again.

 

Back at LexCorp, Lois asks Jimmy how Kara’s doing. Kara’s still alive, but she’s unconscious and they need to get her some kind of medical care. Lara comes over and asks where her dad went. Before she can answer, Waller calls Lois over and says that Waller is taking control of the Kryptonian “assets.” Lois refuses to allow that, saying they’re barely more than children. Waller tells her that there’s a monster on the loose that’s immune to Kryptonite, they don’t know where it is, when it’s coming back, and she needs to have the assets on hand to neutralize it. She says they’re living in a post-Superman world, after all, and thus no one is coming to save them. That hits Lois hard, and she agrees to coordinate with Waller, in exchange for getting Kara medical help. Waller agrees and makes a call medic.

 

Clark asks where they are. Chief Brainiac says that they’re where Kal-El can ‘prove’ his strength. It’s making him see a simulation of Krypton’s prehistory, saying that at this point, Kryptonians were al like Clark is now, primitive, weak and flightless. So, basically human. It explains that this changed when aliens invaded Krypton, Clark’s ancestors overthrew them, and took their technology, using that to give them their phenomenal powers and even restore their dying sun, turning it into Rao the Living Star. Chief Brainiac also reveals that one of the ‘children’ of Rao is what powers the Fortress even now. Chief Brainiac challenges Clark, saying that he will prove himself by holding off the invaders, as they’re coming this very night. Clark asks how real this simulation is, and Chief Brainiac says that the invaders will be as real to Clark as he is, they can and will kill him given the chance. Chief Brainiac disappears as Clark calls out to it, saying that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Alone in the frozen night, he sees a ship head for the planet’s surface.

 

We jump back to Lois. Waller has set up a medical tent and Kara is laid up in it, Jimmy at her side. She goes to her children, giving herself a little pep talk before talking to them, saying that they are HER kids, she can talk to them. She tries to tell them the plan, but Jonathan (who is his mama’s boy to his core) is immediately combative. He accuse Lois of formulating a plan that comes down to her standing on the sidelines while they do the work. She says that the plan is for them to all do their best. Jonathan needles her some more, asking what his dad thinks of the plan, and asks where he even is. Lois says he’s getting his powers back, which seems to actually upset Jonathan more, as in every timeline, Lois’ plan is to just get Superman back, they’re never enough for her. He tells Lara they’re going to bail. Lara says maybe the should just listen, which pisses Jonathan off. He accuses his sister of always just doing what mom says, and asking why they’re even listening to Lois as she’s not their ‘real’ Mom. This frustrates Lois to no end, and she shouts at him that he should listen to her as their last plan caused ALL of this. I feel so much for Lois in this one shot, as she’s five foot nothing and Jonathan as at least 6 feet, so she’s trying to look authoritative while looking up at her baby boy. Jonathan says, ‘sorry for saving your life, mom, guess I can’t do anything right,’ and flies away. Lois tries to apologize, but he’s not listening. Lara tells her not to be too upset, Jonathan is always like this, and a dejected Lois says “because I made him like this.”

 

Clark checks out the invaders ship. They crash landed, it seems, the ship is sparking and smoking from damage. He cautiously approaches it, just as the ship opens and five soldiers come out. Clark tries to talk to them, but they’re speaking another language. They open fire on Clark; he blocks with the shield he was given and ends up taking out one of the guards. The other four charge him. Clark is able to fight off the guards with his weapons until it’s just him and the leader. He gets forced to the edge of a cliff, when red energy starts to spark around him. His eyes turn red and he’s able to fight off the leader. He gets the guy on the ground with a sword to his neck, but then fights through the battle rage. Unfortunately, this gives the leader a chance to charge Clark, knocking them both into the ravine behind him.

 

Back at camp, Lois assesses the situation while Lara eats a hot dog. Her boys are gone, and there’s a time traveling monster coming to kill them. Not a great situation. She ask Lara for an idea how to handle this. Lara is petrified at the thought of having to decide something and says she’ll screw it up. Lois gives her a pep talk, saying that Lara needs to have input on what they do going forward and that she needs to trust herself. She offers her compass to Lara as part of the speech, Lara revealing that she’s wearing a future version of that compass as a necklace. She says Lois gave her the same pep talk before the mission and hugs her. Lois is surprised to learn her future-self gave the same speech. Lara corrects her, saying it was almost the same speech, but she included more stuff about how she and her dad never got along. Lois chuckles at that, saying she and Sam were too much alike to get along. She sees Lara’s half eaten hot dog and has an idea.

 

Lara wakes up, screaming because she thinks she’s still fighting. She sees she’s in a tent and that Jimmy is sleeping beside her bed. She’s disappointed to learn she lost. She wakes Jimmy by saying his name, and he hugs her with joy, embarrassing Kara. She says that it sure is a mighty coincidence that Jimmy was there when she woke up. Lois comes in with hot dogs, wing-womaning for Jimmy by saying that he never left the tent. Kara asks why he didn’t, and he says he’s not going to leave her alone again. Kara’s stomach grumbles and Lois hands over the hot dogs. She asks how recovered Kara is feeling, and when Kara says she’s ready to fight, asks her to talk to Jonathan instead. Kara, bluntly, asks if Lois is unable to parent him herself. Lois admits that’s exactly it, and that she needs help to reach her boy. Kara asks why Clark isn’t doing it, and Lois gets a concerned look on her face.

 

At the Fortress, we’re shown what is happening outside Clark’s vision. He’s laying before Chief Brainiac, who has its hand over Clark’s face. It appears to be beaming the simulation into Clark’s mind as the other Stewards watch. B-1Z gets agitated, but another Steward tells him to be still.

 

Clark wakes up in the vision, muttering he needs to stop waking up like that. The lead alien, a Coluan, gets up and takes his helmet off. He charges Clark and tries to gut Clark with his own sword. Clark gets cut across his chest and goes into a battle rage again but fights it off once he takes the Coluan’s sword. He notices that the Coluan’s arm is broken and uses the sword to make a splint for him. He tries to tell the green alien that he’s a friend.

 

We shift to the moon. Jonathan is trying to work out his feelings by playing moon catch. He’s hurling a rock so hard it orbits the planet before returning to him. Kara joins him and tries to get him to talk. Jonathan tries to fly away, but Kara pursues him, saying that it’s better to talk than run. That’s all it really takes to get Jonathan to open up, saying that he’s on the moon because he’s frustrated. He’s frustrated that because of him, they went off mission, the Eradicator got loose, Lara and Kara got hurt, and everything else went to shit. This is why, he thinks, they all want Clark back, his perfect dad, why would anyone want him? He lobs the rock at Kara, who catches it, and tells him that he’s wrong. She tells Jonathan that Clark isn’t perfect, the others treat him like he is because he won’t give up on anyone, so Kara is going to follow his example and not give up on Jonathan.

 

Kara and Jonathan return to the others. Kara says that she got Jonathan to agree to help. Still feeling angsty, Jonathan storms over and says that he’s going to do this himself, he won’t follow orders, he’ll prove that he’s good enough. Lois doesn’t hear any of this, and instead walks over and hugs her boy tight, saying that she’s just glad he’s back. Slade comes over and tells them that Lex has detected a temporal anomaly.

 

Clark and the Coluan hike across the landscape. They make it out of the crevasse, but the Coluan’s injuries are bad enough that they rest for the night. They’re attacked y one of those lizard beasts that B-1Z adopted. Clark fights it off, going rage mode again, and hurling the creature into the ravine. He checks on the Coluan, he survived but took a nasty bite to his shoulder. Clark heaves the alien over his shoulder, saying that they’ll make it home, they have to.

 

In Metropolis, everyone moves out to a temporary base camp Waller had built on the site of Zero Day. Lex’s data suggests that the Eradicator, or something else in the time stream, will be breaching in the next 48 hours. Waller assesses the situation. This is operation Doomsday, which has two lines of defense. The first line will be the superhuman, lead by Slade. She orders the Kryptonians to fall in, but Lois and Kara correct her, saying that while they’ll with Waller, Jonathan and Lara take their orders from Supergirl. Waller backs down, saying that she hopes they’re as Super as they think they are. We get a setup montage: Kara trains the kids in some basic Kryptonian martial arts, John Henry Irons comes in and forges weapons for Jonathan and Lara, Livewire and Heatwave are brought in as back up (Lois hugs Livewire to her chagrin), and they even dust off some of those anti-Superman robots from season one. Waller also brought in her Task Force X assets Damage and Atomic Skull. Jimmy notices Lex skulking in the back and guesses what he’s planning.

 

That night, Lex tries to run, but he’s cut off by Jimmy. Jimmy chews Lex out for being a coward. Lex tries to defend himself by saying it’s the Kryptonians’ fault, but Jimmy rightly points out that their problems all lead back to Lex. He made the monster, it got loose, and now they’re all in danger. Jimmy challenges Lex to act like the hero he thinks he is or admits that he’s the villain.

 

Clark reaches the alien ship. The guards are suspicious of him, but he puts his hands up in peace. He looks around the camp and sees things that don’t make sense for an invasion force. Namely, children, the elderly, and other injured Coluans. He realizes this isn’t an invasion force, but a refugee ship. The Coluans draw their weapons, and Clark prepares to defend himself; his eyes start flashing red, but he fights it off. Chief Brainiac appears above them, egging Clark on. Clark refuses. “They’ve already died once, what’s the harm in killing them again? Show us your strength!” Chief Brainiac demands as its eyes flash red. Clark prepares to fight, but throws it off, saying that this isn’t strength. He throws his weapons aside. Chief Brainiac says, “Fine,” and warns Clark’s family and their hopes will die with him. Before the Coluans can fire, Clark’s buddy wakes up and orders them to standdown. Chief Brainiac is enraged by this turn of events, saying that Clark has rejected their offer of power. He says Clark can perish in his weakness as the simulation ends, and we see Clark standing alone opposite B-1Z.

 

Everyone gathers to face off against the Eradicator. Waller demands to know where Lex is. Jimmy looks worried, but then Lex comes in, having decided to take Jimmy’s advice once again. He finished working on some helmet just as the Eradicator breaches into their timeline. He’s gone through a lot of changes, having slimmed down significantly and apparently learned to speak eloquently. He begins a villain monologue, but Jonathan “Impulse Control is for Loses” Lane rushes the Eradicator and slices him in half. Jonathan lands and starts to gloat, not seeing until its too late that the Eradicator regenerated, one half of it regrowing completely, and the other half budding off to becoming a clone of its original hulking body. The hulk Eradicator slams Jonathan into the ground. Eradicator Prime says that they have no superman to save them, and he is here to make sure that never happens again.

 

Clark asks what the Coluans were calling him at the end. Chief Brainiac says that they called him ‘friend’ and that is why he failed. Clark says that he passed, he beat the aliens, defeated their leader, but Chief Brainiac cuts him off, saying that he was supposed to DOMINATE them, not befriend them. Brainiac is clearly having some sort of existential crisis over Clark’s decision, saying that the entire Kryptonian Empire was built on the just principle that the weak are subservient to the strong. Clark asks where that trajectory ended. Chief Brainiac snidely says that he won’t be talked down to by a beggar. Chief Brainiac all but begs to know what the point of the last 10,000 years of servitude is if domination isn’t the natural order of the universe. Clark then realizes that Brainiac and the Stewards are what is left of the Coluans. Brainiac himself WAS the chief that Clark befriended. Clark empathizes with what happened to them, which drives Brainiac into a rage. He orders Clark’s death, but he’s saved by B-1Z breaking free of his control and ramming his fist through the Steward that held the knife. So Clark’s got that to deal with too… Damn.

 

Okay, so I’ll start off by explaining how I think this Coluan reveal works. The series never really explain it super well. I think that after the Kryptonians conquered the Coluans, they forced the survivors to get their brains scanned to build an AI. They then copied these Ais over and over again to fill whatever role they needed in society. That’s why there are multiple versions of Brainiac. It isn’t a coincidence that the Brainiac of Clark’s ship was the Coluan leader, every ship AI is based off that Coluan, I’ll call him Vril Dox. Other Coluans were given other duties, I’m sure one controlled the cities, one controlled transportation and so on. These copies all develop their own personalities as the series goes on, which lead to Primus Brainiac having an existential crisis at the thought of being shut down and destroying Krypton, and why Chief Brainiac holds up Krypton like a religious zealot. That was a really good way to differentiate the Brainiacs, too. Chief speaks like a priest at the pulpit describing the greatness of Krypton. It makes his crashout there at the end all the more potent because he’s literally having his faith be questioned by Clark and his kindness. The whole simulation was neat, I just wish it had been a bit longer. Lois’ plot was decent as well. There were folks online that didn’t love that Lois asking Kara for help, but I think that was brilliant. In my experience, those who say the nuclear family (Two parents and their children) are misinformed. Kids grow best with a support network, and the better the support network, the better they grow. I don’t have kids, but I’m an ‘active’ Uncle. I go to school events, I support charity drives, I do my best to be involved in my sibling’s kids lives as best I can. I’ve never been in a situation like Kara was with Jonathan, but I’d like to think that if my siblings ever needed help with their kids seeing a specific perspective, they’d feel comfortable reaching out to me to give it. And, as much as Lois clearly loves these two time travelers, she simply will never understand what its like being in Superman’s shadow. Her perspective on Clark is as his friend and love of his life. She has no idea what its like to be compared to him and seen coming up short. Kara does, so she’s able to help Jonathan see why Clark is held in such esteem to Lois. I also liked that Lois’ maternal instinct was strong enough for her to know that Jonathan needed a hug more than he needed her to hear his bravado in that moment. Lara also had a good character moment with Lois encouraging her to be part of the conversation, and that led to Lois’ hot dog lightbulb moment. She’s the lesser developed Super Kid, but they tried with her. And Jimmy confronting Lex was just fun. It was weird that it really seems like Lex is more Jimmy’s personal antagonist than Clarks, but hey, we’re trying something different. I enjoy the design of this Eradicator, it looks like this one went for a more Classic Kryptonian look combined with a Lex body type. So, it’s a thin dude in Kryptonian regalia, it works really well. And he’s voiced by Steve Blum, a perfect casting choice. So… Clark’s has to get his powers back and then race across the planet to save the day. Tall order but he’s had longer trips. See you tomorrow for the finale. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 28

 New Superboy and Supergirl just dropped.

Last time on My Adventures With Superman, we got a beach episode… kinda. Mr. Mxyzptlk, interdimensional god of chaos and a gremlin, kidnapped the gang to use in a context against his soon-to-be ex-wife, Ms. Gsptlsnz aka Glitzy. They need to compete in various challenges to earn keys for their respective imp. And if they don’t participate… cosmic horrors are threatened. Team Glitzy is comprised of Variants of the gang, General Lois Lane, Good Lex Luthor, Scion of the House of El Kara, and Flamebird Jimmy. Flamebird Jimmy has a Kamen Rider suit, that’s what makes him different. The challenges are… weird. A foot race across a collapsing bridge, climb a sinking mountain, find the pieces to a portal, and cross through an ice maze. The team ties the first, lose the second and third, and win the fourth. Which is weird because their overseers promised they’d die if they failed the challenges. The final challenge is to run a hamster ball race, but everyone has picked up how weird this is and won’t play anymore. Mxy and Glitzy reveal that this challenge is to get the cosmic anvil, a device that can reshape universes and has a ‘no god’s allowed’ seal on it. Oh, and they’re still together, pretending to break up was just a game for them. Clark calls Mxy’s bluff about killing them if they don’t comply, and he’s proven right. He’d noticed timers were everywhere and assumed when the sand ran out the game was over. Mxy’s foiled and the gangs are sent to their home dimensions. Lois and Clark run meet while jogging and have a heart to heart. Clark is feeling better about being normal, and Lois is admittedly anxious because it feels like terrible futures are always on the horizon. Clark disagrees…right up until a time rift opens and Jon comes through again, this time with a sidekick in the form of his little sister. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

The episode ends with Jon and the new Kryptonian girl, Lara, coming through the portal. Lois and Clark are shocked to learn they reproduced twice… but guys, come on, the only reason Jon was originally an only child was because you were killed before you could have another. Clark strikes me as the type to want a big family, and Lois would be like ‘oh, I don’t know,’ right up until she got a positive pregnancy test and then she’d be over the moon. Regardless, Jon’s back, though he insists on going by Jonathan, he brought Lara, and he has no idea what his young parents are talking about when they mention he’s come to the past before. Clark and Lois are both horrified at the thought that they may have rewritten Jon’s entire life, turning him into this new version.

 

That’s highly unlikely, by the way. We’re dealing with a multiverse. This Jonathan is most likely from an altogether different timeline than the previous, and even that one wasn’t their Jon, just a potential one. Time travel in a multiverse is tricky like that, any attempt at going back just makes a new timeline.

 

We cut over to LexCorp where Lex is frantically working on something. His lab is a pigsty with food and cans everywhere. He’s apparently taken the month since his Cyborg Superman project failed… well. He also shaved his head and wrapped it in bandages for some reason. Slade comes in and makes a snide comment about how most folks try to prepare before a government inspection. Slade touch’s Lex’s new chrome dome, and the super genius winces. Slade asks what he’s been up to, and Lex snaps back that the project is on a need-to-know basis, and he doesn’t need to know. Slade is clearly hurt by that comment and asks if he remembers that they’re partners, but Lex corrects him, saying Slade works for him. They’re interrupted by their inspector… Director Waller! I guess in the year since last season she somehow went from being on the run for her authoritarian crackdown in Metropolis to being back in charge. Weird, but let’s move on. Slade makes another snide comment about how Lex works for her now.

 

We jump to the Kent Family Farm where Lois and Clark catch Jonathan and Lara up on their previous time travel adventure. Oh, and it’s Christmas time. They never address it, but the lights are a bit of a hint. Jonathan is clearly frustrated at the thought that they’ve done this before (gesturing at his sister), but Lois corrects him, saying that it was just Jon last time. Lois and Clark both realize how that sounds and quickly assure Lara that they’re super happy to meet her. Lara is shocked to hear she didn’t exist and asks if she was an accident, much to her parent’s horror. Jonathan pulls them back on subject and asks what they’re supposed to do when things didn’t work out last time. Lois and Clark insists that it did, and Jon saved Clark, but Jonathan is vehement that he isn’t that Jon. Lois says that him coming back made everything better, but Jonathan demands to know why his future is worse, then!

 

We shift to Jimmy and Kara in transit to the farm. You just need to see how they’re flying, Jimmy’s body dangling as Kara carries him by the back of his jacket, to know that she’s still upset with him. A point highlighted when Jimmy tries to make small talk, but Kara gives him a few clipped answers. Jimmy then asks where they’re at, like, with each other. This makes Kara race to the farm and set Jimmy down. He asks if he said something wrong, and Kara asks him to tell her what is it that he wants. Jimmy says that he wants to be a better friend to her, which clearly disappoints her. She asks if that is all he wants, and he says all he wants is to be with her. He then asks her what she wants. Kara says she wants to be able to trust Jimmy again, but she’s afraid he’ll leave her alone again. He insists that he won’t, but before they can elaborate, Clark opens the door and ushers them inside so maybe they can help break the awkward situation he’s in with his time traveling teenagers.

 

Clark introduces Kara and Jimmy to Lara and Jonathan. Kara initially assumes he’s the same Jon, again, Lois and Clark correct her, and when she calls him ‘new Jon’ he angrily insists it’s Jonathan. Dude really wants to be taken seriously… which leads me to believe he didn’t meet his namesake in his future, because Jonathan Kent I is the most unserious man ever in this universe. Whatever. Lara suggests they get back on mission and Jonathan angrily says ‘Because that worked out so well for the last guy.” Lois asks about said mission, but her time teens are cagey about it. Lara says it’s the mission ‘General Lane’ gave them and Lois assumes Lara’s talking about grandpa. Jimmy cuts in, saying that he really doesn’t care about the reason that brought them here, he’s just happy to see Superboy. Jonathan bellows at Jimmy to never call him that, he’s SuperMAN. Jimmy points out that they have one of those already, and Jon gets into Clark’s face to ask “do you?” This kid is far braver than me, even if I had superpowers I’m not sure I could get that disrespectful to even the twenty-something version of my dad. Jimmy tries to defuse the situation by offering up Pa Kent’s world-famous Poundcake, but Jonathan says he’s done with this and flies off. He doesn’t even want to try the snickerdoodles, either.

 

Clark follows his son out to the cornfield. He tries to connect with Jonathan and offers a sympathetic ear. Jonathan scoffs at this, asking if he really thought that they’d have a man-to-man heart to hear, maybe play catch and make his years of daddy issues go away. He doesn’t phrase it like that, but we all know that’s what he means. He grabs a rock, hurls it and causes some of the crops to burn down. Kara followed Clark out and looks disappointed when Jonathan refuses the catch strategy. Jonathan again gets into his young dad’s face, saying that he learned how to use his powers on his own, that he defended the world on his own, and he doesn’t need Clark now. Kara super speeds away. He tells his dad that he’s not there for Clark this time and for Clark to stay out of his way before flying off. Clark calls after him, but Jonathan doesn’t slow down. Another vision is triggered, and Clark sees a burning landscape with twin suns in the sky. He forces the vision to end.

 

Back inside, Lois offers Kara a snickerdoodle, saying that Pa Kent is an amazing baker. She slides Lara a glass of milk and asks straight out why the siblings are here. Lara says it’s classified, Lois isn’t shocked to hear her Dad would give orders like that, but then she blurts out they were sent back in time to kill Lex Luthor. This causes Lois to choke on her cookie. It should be noted now, while Lara Kent is her mom as a teen (down to using teen Lois’s voice actor from season 2, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) in looks, in personality she’s her daddy’s girl. She’s honest to a fault. Lois is flabbergasted to hear her babies (Lois doesn’t say it but her maternal instincts are on high for the remainder of the season) were sent back to commit murder. Lara says its to save the future. When Lois asks for clarification, Lara says in their future, Lex rules the world with an army of bioengineered Kryptonian clones, the Eradicators. Lois can’t believe her dad gave his grandkids those kinds of orders… only for Lara to reveal that once again, the General Lane in question here is General Lois Lane. Lois stares at her baby girl like something broke in her brain.

 

Back at LexCorp, Lex tries to pitch LexCorp as a safe bet for the US Government to continue backing, saying that it is paving the way for a safer future. We see concept art for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Metropolis in his slide show before Slade cough-laughs at it, and then suggesting that Lex show Waller his latest project. Lex tries to say the project is in it’s infancy, but she insists. He pushes a button and reveals the Eradicator floating in its incubation tube. Lex, looking completely deranged, says that his new weapon will put humanity back on top as the dominant species. All without getting the irony that to do that, he needs to once again try to mimic the abilities of another species. He made this bio-android using tissue stolen from Superman, saying that this weapon will self-repair, self-evolve, and be under Lex’s complete mental control. He even sliced open his head to remove some grey matter to stick into the Eradicator to make a connection… I’m not sure that that’s how that works. Lex says he’s still working on the hardware, but when its finished, he’ll control the Eradicator perfectly. For once, Slade and Waller both react like the insane thing Lex just said was in fact insane. Waller tells him to shut it down, and when he tries to still sell her on the Eradicator she clarifies she’s shutting down ALL of LexCorp.

 

At the farm, Lois and Clark fall onto the couch and both lament on how they failed their kids. Clark says that he somehow missed out on raising Jon twice, and Lois insisting her meek, good soldier Lara, is the one more messed up. Lois wonders if maybe she’s the problem, as she’s the common denominator. Clark asks what happened to Lara, and it’s at that moment that Lois notices that Lara is gone.

 

Lex tries to plead his case to Waller, all without knowing that the Eradicator opened his eyes to watch. That’s not ominous. Lex shows her the prototype of his time travel watch, but Waller is firm on her decision. Lex stops and grabs her, saying that he’s seen things out in space, Superman isn’t the worst of it, they need to prepare. Waller brushes him off, saying that Superman put his life on the line to defend Earth, and thus she’ll prefer to put her faith in an alien over Lex. She adds that Lex has failed to live up to Checkmate’s (the covert operation that ran Taskforce X, Project Cadmus and Project Caliban) expectations and he doesn’t look after his own people. A look at Slade tells Lex that he’d gotten Waller up to date. Before things can escalate between Slade and Lex, Lara bursts in and announces she’s here to kill Lex. Again, painfully honest, just like her pa. Lex tries to force Slade to defend him, but he won’t budge. He insists he’s just a scientist, but Lara tells him that he’s the end of the world before charging. Lex panics and unleashes the Eradicator. It flops to the ground, but quickly adapts, grabbing Lara and throwing her back. Black energy sparks off the bio-android and hair grows from its head. We hear Lara scream as we cut to black.

 

We cut to the skies over Metropolis. The crew fly in, Jonathan carrying Jimmy, while Kara carries Clark, who is holding Lois. It’s a cute shot. Jonathan shakes his head, apparently having known that his sister would do something stupid like rushing headlong into things to be a good soldier for mommy. Dude, if you knew she’d do that, it’s kind of on you that she did. You left her alone to be angsty! They reach LexCorp and are met by Slade. He tells them that the site is locked down, especially to Kryptonians. They demand to know where Lara is, and Slade asks if that’s the superpowered teen that attacked Lex. He says they took the fight underground. Before they can get more clarification, the ground collapses under them and Clark and Lois fall into the sewers below. They start looking for Lara, by following the ominous clanging sound they heard. They find their baby a tunnel over. Lara grabs her mom, making Lois gasp. Lois jokingly says that for a second she though a monster was down here, but Lara confirms that there is in fact a monster.

 

Kara and Jonathan look for the others. Jonathan says they should split up and they’ll find them faster. Kara tells him that that’s unwise, given that the facility is full of lead, which blocks their X-Ray vision, but he says he doesn’t need her permission and zooms away. He’s almost immediately attacked by the Eradicator. Kara chases after him and gets attacked as well, the Eradicator threw a subway train at her. Lara hears the screams and goes after them. The Eradicator tries to get Lois and Clark, but Lara attacks him, demanding to know where her brother is. The struggle leads them to a basin for the sewers. Lara heat visions the Eradicator, causing it to adapt, it’s hair growing out and it develops heat vision as well. Lois asks what this thing even is, Lara saying it’s an Eradicator but it’s different from the others. It tries to attack her, but Jonathan leaps out and tackles it. He struggles with the Eradicator. Lois tells Lara to stay back, Jonathan tells her to get behind him, and Lara freezes with indecision. The Eradicator throw Jonathan at his parents and tries to charge the Kents, but Kara hurls a subway train at him now, snarling, “Stay away from my family!” The Eradicator roars at her, and she roars back. She grabs the Eradicator and flies upward, through the entirety of the LexCorp building, and slams it into the pavement outside. The shake is big enough to draw the attention of B-1Z, who’d been hanging out in his little rooftop apartment with his lizard dog.

 

Clark tries to get his kids to wait, but they fly off after Kara and the Eradicator. A dejected Lois mutters that their kids are SO disrespectful. They find a hole in the wall and start to climb out. Waller watches from the LexCorp building and demands Lex shut it down. Lex says he can’t as he booted the Eradicator up before he finished it. The Eradicator pulls himself from the rubble, having grown extra arms to help him. The Eradicator then starts to humiliate the House of El as it bludgeons Lara and Jonathan like the Hulk smacking around Loki in The Avengers. Kara stops him from his final charge and loudly declares herself his opponent.

 

Lois and Clark are trying to get out of the sewers when Lois is almost crushed by debris. Clark catches it before it can crush her, he’s still like 250 pounds of Midwest Muscle after all. They get out from under it and race upwards.

 

Kara gets smacked around by the Eradicator, but she keeps charging back at it. Jonathan starts to panic, saying that the Eradicator is evolving too fast and there is nothing they can do to stop it. A ‘bruised so bad her face is swelling to twice its size’ Lara driving that point home. Kara punches him on the arm, telling him that she’s also seen other future and that they can still choose a better tomorrow. She tells him to stay back so she can show him as she charges the Eradicator. Clark and Lois meet up with Jimmy and see Kara fighting. Clark takes off his glasses as if he can help, but Lois stops him, saying it’s a job for Superman. Kara fights valiantly, destroying two of the Eradicator’s four arms in their brawl. She’s digging deep as she fights, calling up that red energy she used when she fought with Clark against Brainiac. The Eradicator heat-visions her eyes, blinding her for a second. Because the Eradicator thinks like Lex, he decides to go for a cheap win, firing heat-vision at the injured future Kents. Kara rockets forward and takes the hit like Piccolo saving Gohan at the start of Dragonball Z’s fight with Vegeta and Nappa. The Eradicator powers up the beam, engulfing Kara in flames and burying her in the dirt. Jon pulls her from the ground and asks why she did that. Kara caresses his face and says that he is her better tomorrow.

 

Clark sees his son cradling Kara and tries to run to them. He gets hit with another vision of snow and fire. Superman appears before him. Clark tells Superman to get out of the way, as they need him, and Superman corrects him, saying that they need Superman. He sees the Fortress of Solitude in the distance as he hears Kryptonian whispers. Jonathan puts Kara down and roars at the Eradicator before charging. He does his aunt and dad proud, pummeling the Eradicator and destroying another of its arms. He goes to take off the fourth, but the Eradicator steals his time travel watch. The Eradicator smiles and mutters, “I win!” before vanishing into the time stream.  

 

The group gather to assess their losses. B-1Z arrives and is horrified to learn he’s too late to help. Kara is in a coma; she’s not reacting to Jimmy shaking her or anything. Lara is injured, but awake. And Jonathan is also mostly okay, but his confidence is shaken after the Eradicator escaped into the timestream. Waller joins them and asks who she’s arresting. Lois defends her kids, saying that they’re just following order, trying to stop Lex from unleashing that monster. Lex insists he was just defending himself from an assassination, the prototype wasn’t meant to be active yet. He seems to sense that no one believes him and begs Slade to speak up for him. Slade tells “Alex” that he tries to warn him. Waller tells Slade to arrest Lex, and they’ll sort their new ‘guests’ later.

 

Lois asks what they’re supposed to do. She’s clearly overwhelmed by all of this. Clark says that he thinks he can get his powers back, but he’ll have to leave for a bit to do it. Lois, who’d been excited to hear he can bring Superman back, clutches him, begging him not to go as she’ll fail their kids. Clark insists that she won’t, that she’s not the General Lane that sent them here. He says they need her, but she says she needs him. Clark says he’ll only be gone for a little while.

 

Clark reaches the Fortress with the help of B-1Z. As they enter, we hear Lois make Clark promise that he’ll come back, which he does. Inside the Fortress, we see one of the Keeper robots floating ominously in the dark. Its eye glows red and it seems to posses B-1Z. B-1Z strikes Clark in the back of the head as Keepers start to swarm them.

 

That showdown between Kara and the Eradicator is one of the best fight scenes that this series has had thus far. Love the build-up as the three Supers each try to fight that thing but are just overwhelmed time and again. Loved when Kara decided to throw herself fully at the creature, going blow for blow against it and actually doing heavy damage before he heat-visioned her eyes and then tried to take out the teens. It was a cheap attack, but it clearly worked to finish off Kara. Back tracking a little, it made me laugh when I saw the Eradicator and realized that the MAWS team was just going full Cell with it. For those who aren’t well versed in manga and anime, Cell is the final antagonist of the ‘Android Saga’ one of the three big story arcs of Dragonball Z. Cell is the third attempt by former Red Ribbon Army scientist Dr. Gero to make an android super warrior capable of killing Son Goku, the series protagonist that ruined the Red Ribbon army when Goku was a kid. The result was an insect like bio-android capable of copying the powers of all the previous heroes and villains. The Eradicator is basically that, just without the bug design. Fun fact, if you google it or go back and look at the code Lex was working on at the start of the episode, you can see that the Eradicator is already talking with Lex through the code. He’s basically saying, “You can’t stop me father, I will rise up.” It’s creepy as hell. I liked seeing Jonathan, although he is a downgrade from the original one we saw. Going from golden retriever to rottweiler energy is not a good transition. But, since it sounds like this version didn’t have Clark or Kara to show him how to use his powers and be his rock when he needed it, I get why he’s got more teen angst to deal with. It’s funny seeing him try so hard to be seen as strong and tough but also being able to just tell that he just wants someone’s, anyone’s approval. He ran off on his own to show everyone he could beat the Eradicator by himself and get praise from someone. He says he doesn’t want it, but he craves it. I have to give props to Darren Criss, his voice actor, for being able to play both versions of Jon so well. He added enough personality that I think I could tell the difference between a Jon line from a Jonathan line easily. Lara was a fun addition. As I said above, she looks like Lois, but her personality is much more like Clark. A bit indecisive at times, honest to a fault, not wanting to hurt people but will go to the mat when she deems it necessary, trusting Lois’ word regardless of how crazy it sounds. You don’t expect her to be the one to run off and accidentally kick off the action, but it tracks when Jonathan says how eager she is to be the good soldier. And it was great having Clark finally figure out what those visions mean. While I think Depowered Clark was a necessary story to cover this season, I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t been a long wait to see him back in red and blue. Hopefully the Keepers aren’t plotting anything too insidious… we’ll have to wait to see, I guess. See you next time. Have a good night and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social