Thanksgiving at the Kents, what could possibly go wrong?
Last time on My Adventures With
Superman, Superman was captured by the General and Taskforce X. He was held
with a combination of a compliance collar, a shock collar for humans, and an
omega field generator. The General revealed to a captured Superman his history
with Superman’s kind, showing him a hologram recreation of Zero Day. On that
day, 22 years prior, a young General aka Sam and Amanda Waller were assigned to
a platoon that was safeguarding a floating archway. The Archway suddenly powered
up, and an armored humanoid figure in a cape lead an assault on the military. Dozens
of robotic drones were dropped and fought the military. They probably would
have been all killed but a massive explosion happens, disabling the portal and robots.
The General demands to know what Superman’s plans are, but Superman can only
cry at realizing he was sent to Earth for conquest. Later, Waller insists they
kill Superman, but the General wants more info from him. Rather than fight
longer, Waller decides some treason is in order. She shuts down the camera to
Livewire’s cell. Livewire, having just learned she has her electrical powers
even outside her armor, breaks herself and the other Taskforce X members out.
Ivo, itching for a fight with Superman, races over to him, busts him loose and
demands they throw-down. Superman is still not interested in fighting. The General
arrives and tries to stop Ivo, but the other members of Taskforce X arrive and
fight back. Livewire uses her powers to burn out one of Agent Wilson’s eyes,
and then uses them to supercharge Ivo, turning the Parasite into a giant monster
to cover their escape. Superman hears Lois and Jimmy looking for him through
the hole Ivo makes in his rampage and flies away. He’s found by Flip Johnson,
who was looking for Clark with Lois and Jimmy and brought to them. Lois and Jimmy do their best to comfort Clark
given what he’d found out, but the Parasite’s rampage kind of draws their
attention. Clark Superman’s up and flies out to stop him. Jimmy and Lois use
Jimmy’s now insane Flamebird stream follower count to get the word out to Metropolis
to cut the power to their buildings to try to starve Parasite of energy. The
people do, wanting to help Superman. Superman’s X-Ray vision kicks in and he
uses it to pinpoint the real Ivo inside the Parasite’s monster form, flies
through it and rips him out. Ivo is taken away and everyone celebrates. Clark
and Lois make out for a bit and Jimmy leaves to give them privacy. He takes
Lois’ bag with him and inadvertently sees the Superman X file. Well, that’ll
kill the mood. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.
The episode opens with Clark having
a nightmare about Zero Day happening again, the armored figure arriving with a
warship fleet at his family farm and laying waste to everything. He sees Lois
and Jimmy get heat visioned to death and then the armored figure’s helmet opens
and his face is Clark’s. He wakes up in a cold sweat. He flies back to the farm
and goes to speak with the AI version of Jor-El. He tells his bio dad’s
computer ghost that he now knows he was sent to Earth to conquer it. He says he’s
going to protect Earth if Jor-El and his people try again. Jor-El tries to tell
Clark that he doesn’t understand everything, but can still only speak in
Kryptonese, so Clark doesn’t understand him. Clark exits the projection, and
Jor-El says to empty space that he could never hurt him, his son.
We jump to Clark, Lois, and Jimmy
walking to work. Lois thanks Clark for letting her and her dad join the Kent’s
for Thanksgiving, Clark saying not to worry about it, as Jimmy’s with them this
year too. Lois is very nervous about the event as her dad is… a lot, but Clark reassures
her it’ll be fine. They all stop and look at the petrified remains of Ivo’s
Parasite form. I guess no one has tried to remove that yet. Clark tells the
others that he wants their help to find the General. They’re both skeptical as
to the “Why?” of that request, but Clark tells them that he knows the Kryptonians
will conquer Earth if h they get the chance, so he’d like to ally with the
General instead of fighting him. Maybe Lois’s Dad could look him up, he’s in
the military! He goes to get their usual coffee orders. When alone, Jimmy asks
if Lois is sure that Clark hasn’t seen the evil Superman data sphere. Lois says
no and they’re going to keep it that way for Clark’s mental health. Jimmy is
definitely conflicted about this, as they said no more secrets, but before they
can discuss it more Clark comes back.
They head to the Planet and enter a
weirdly tense atmosphere. Jimmy asks Lois what she did this time and Lois says
nothing but her usual stuff. Perry White
tells the group they’re the three of them have caused him more trouble than any
other Interns the Planet has ever had and asks them what they think the Daily
Planet does to those with that kind of behavior. The answer? He holds up a newspaper
with their story “City Saves Superman” on the front page and announces, “Make
them reporters!” Yep, he’s promoting/hiring them as full-time reporters. There’s
a little celebration, Steve Lombard gives Jimmy a wolf plushie, Ronny Troop
gives Lois a name plaque that reads “Lois Lane: Future Award-Winning Journalist,”,
and Clark gets a congratulatory kiss on the cheek from Cat Grant. Hi-fives all around.
Perry tells everyone to either get back to work if they have a deadline or
leave if they’re getting a half-day for the holiday. Lois offers her group to
stay but he tells them to go and have a Happy Thanksgiving. But he wants Jimmy
to stay behind so they can have a chat about Flamebird.
We jump to the Kent Farm as Lois
and Clark arrive. Martha welcomes both in. Lois sees that they framed their article,
and Martha tells her that it was the nicest article she’s ever read and by the
most talented and heroic lady she knows. Lois says that Clark’s the one that
saved the city, but Jonathan pops his head in to say that he couldn’t have done
it without her and to tell his boy to start peeling potatoes as he’s in the
turkey zone. When alone, Martha thanks Lois, for the fruit and for helping to
get Clark out of his shell. She explains that when his powers kicked in, he
started to distance himself from others and do his best to get close to anyone
for fear of hurting them. This is shown to us via old photos, Clark before age
ten seems to be a very happy, social child, hanging out with his friend (I assume)
Lana, playing on little league teams and all that, but after most of the shots
are of him alone. She thanks Lois again and goes into the kitchen. Lois peeks
her head around the corner and sees Clark peeling potatoes. She hugs him from
behind and kisses his cheek, telling him that she’s going to help him find the
General. The moment is interrupted by her getting a text from her Dad that he’s
arrived. She immediately panics, worrying that her dad is going be rude to the
Kents and everyone will hate her. She asks Clark if they shouldn’t hide and
come up with a plan. He tells her that
nothing her dad says or does could change his feelings about her. He opens the
door and see… The General! Clark tenses up, clearly expecting to fight this guy
that has already kidnapped him once, only for Lois to walk about him and introduce
her Dad, Sam Lane. Called in like a month in advance. Clark releases the crumpled doorknob and
welcomes Mr. Lane to his house, only for Sam to correct him and say, “Call me
General Lane.”
They all sit in the living room and
it’s extremely awkward. Martha joins them with hors d’oeuvres, and it’s still extremely
awkward. Sam notes that Clark seems familiar to him, but Clark nervously says that
he just has one of those faces. He asks what Clark if he has any hobbies, but
Martha cuts off that line of questioning by saying Sam must be so proud of Lois.
Sam says that’s expected of a Lane and asks what Clark is doing with his life.
Martha seems to almost drop the Superman bomb, but Clark cuts her off and
ushers her into the kitchen. When alone with his parents, Clark asks them what
they’d do if they had an enemy. Jonathan, who is sitting in front of the over
watching his turkey cook, says he’d turn that enemy into a friend. Martha, sensing that he means Sam, tells him
that he can’t “hate” his girlfriend’s father, no matter what he says about your
perfect son. The Lanes sit in silence for a bit before Sam thanks Lois for
spending Thanksgiving with him. I get the vibe they probably haven’t spent a holiday
together since Lois was in high school. He asks her about the “success” Martha
was talking about, and Lois points to the Superman article. Sam immediately tenses
up and makes it clear that he hates Superman and hasn’t read the article. Lois is
obviously upset that he hasn’t read it, as he never reads what she writes, and
he says he’s been busy with “classified” stuff. How Lois hasn’t put the pieces together
here yet is mindboggling. Martha pushes Clark back into the living room. He sits
down and Sam is still trying to figure out where he’s seen Clark before. He
asks Clark if he’s been in the military, applied sciences, or if he always wears
glasses, but thankfully Jimmy arrives and pulls focus as he sing-songs about having
news. The Kents all pull Jimmy aside and get him up to speed on things. Clark
tells him that Sam is the General and isn’t sure how he’ll tell Lois, Martha
admits she hates Sam and is not sure how to deal with that, and Jonathan tells
him his darkest secret, that he can’t get this turkey up to temp. Jimmy ends up
sitting next to the General and asks the elder Lane if he has anything to tell
him. Sam gives him a look and says he doesn’t even know him. Lois and Clark go
to grab Jimmy, but he says he’s not dealing with this. Sidenote, I do love that
it seems like it’s a Kent reflex (I’m including Lois in this because, come on, she’s
going to be a Kent sooner rather than later) is to confide in Jimmy.
Jimmy drags Lois and Clark outside
and tells Clark to tell Lois about her dad. And that they both need to thank
him for his emotional maturity and for bringing the bags they had forgot at the
Daily Planet. Lois sees the data sphere in her bag and tries to quickly take it
from Jimmy. Inn her haste, she knocks the sphere from her bag. Clark grabs it
and it starts playing the video. Clark is clearly disturbed by what he sees,
but then the sphere pops open and Clark starts having a seizure. Green veins
pop out on his skin and green crystals start growing from him. Back at Clark’s
ship, an alarm starts going off. Jor-El is shocked to learn that Kryptonite “the
poison” is here. Suddenly, a symbol appears in the simulated sky above him,
three spheres connected by lines into a V shape. Crap. Jimmy pops the
Kryptonite back into the sphere and closes it, allowing Clark to recover. Clark’s
ship starts rising from the ground. I assume that when it crashed it was the
single person pod that it appeared to be in the flashback, but in the 20+ years
since it crashed it looks like the pod has rebuilt itself into a full warship.
Double crap.
Sam warns the Kents and Lois and
Jimmy that, this may be hard to believe, but they’re in the middle of an alien
invasion! He tells them to evacuate and rushes on ahead. He calls in the
warship to Taskforce X and says that he’s going to carry out his orders. He brought
the Superman killing gun to his daughter’s boyfriend’s Thanksgiving…. Kay… Clark
superspeeds his parents about a mile or two from the action. He tells them that
he’s going to deal with his ship. Jonathan is freaking out about the prospect,
but Martha tells him they just have to trust their Superman.
Back at the farm, the warship
deploys about a dozen drones that start attacking Lois and Jimmy. They ran into
the cornfield. One of the robots’ corners Jimmy, he trips and the sphere pops
open. As soon as the Kryptonite is exposed, the robot explodes with crystal
growths of its own. Jimmy grabs the sphere and keeps going. The Brainiac symbol
on the robot starts flashing and the warship fires off one of the heavier mechs
that were used on Zero Day to join the fight. Sam keeps trying to call in backup
but isn’t getting a response. Lois finds him saying that he’s dealing with
Nemesis Omega and realizes her dad is the General. Like, I know a lot of women
in heterosexual relationships have to deal with the “my dad hate’s my boyfriend”
cliché, but I doubt most have a dad that literally tried to murder said
boyfriend. Lois lists off Taskforce X, Nemesis Omega, and Zero day, I guess to
prove to her dad how much she knows. Sam tells her that there’s more to this,
but the big mech lands and attacks them. Superman flies in and rips the things
head off before ripping it in half. Superman flies down to Lois and grabs her,
Lois telling him that Jimmy is that way. The big mech’s Brainiac symbol flashes
and the warship starts preparing something. They find Jimmy surrounded by
downed robots and green crystals, Jimmy explaining that they can beat the robot
with the crystal that hurts Clark. It’s then that they see the warship open a
wormhole. One the other side is a fleet of ships that dwarf’s Clark’s. Clark
tells Lois he needs the crystal. She refuses to give it to him, knowing that he’s
going to sacrifice himself to save everyone. Damn, girl’s been in a relationship
less than a year and already knows him so well. Clark tells her that it’s the
only way. Lois says that this will kill him, that she loves him and can’t lose
him. Clark kisses her and takes the sphere when she’s distracted. He flies off,
slamming into the bottom of his ship and pushing it skyward. The robots chase
after Clark, shooting at him as they fly higher. Clark lets the ship fly higher
and then slams into it again and enters it.
Inside, Clark is swarmed with
robots. And outside, the bigger ship has begun crossing through the portal. Clark
is quickly overwhelmed but Jor-El’s hologram arrives and tells him in
Kryptonese to follow him to the heart of the ship. Jor-El flies through robots,
shorting them out, and leading Clark to the heart. Once there, Clark opens the
sphere at the crystal heart. It starts causing him to grow crystals again, but
it’s not enough to stop the ship. Clark musters up the last of his strength and
punches the Kryptonite into the heart. He drops, the portal closes and slices
the end off the warship. Jor-El appears before Clark and says he brought Kryptonite
here. Clark says he had to stop the invasion. Jor-El forms an escape pod around
Clark and in English says “Kal-El, my son, Live.” The pod escapes just as the
ship blows up.
Clark crashes into Kansas again.
The General finds him and prepares to shoot but Lois gets in the way. He tries
to convince her to get out of the way. He says that he’s doing this to protect
her, but she says she needs him to listen. She tells him that, if he cares
about her at all, he’ll let him go. Sam gets a radio call from Waller asking
for a status update. He tells her it’s a false alarm. Clark stirs and Lois goes
to him. She turns to thank her dad, but he already left.
Back at the farm, the Kents, Lois
and Jimmy have dinner, Clark heat visioning the turkey to temp for his father. Martha
asks Jimmy about the news he had to share with them earlier. He tells them he
sold Flamebird to the Daily Planet for 5.6 million dollars, he’s super rich
now.
We jump back to the portal closing
on the Kryptonian warship from the other side. A robot in a cloak says “unexpected.”
He flies down to the nearby planet from his satellite base. The planet is on
fire and seemingly being caused by a single armored warrior. The robot, Brainiac,
tells the warrior that he has a new assignment for him, a planet that’s
destroyed their ships and portals and is now in open rebellion. The warrior,
who bears a house of El S Crest on its chest, says it doesn’t matter, they’ll
be made to kneel.
That was a solid season finale. It
seems like more time has passed in the show’s universe than in ours. I’ve seen
some people speculate that over a year has gone by since Clark and Jimmy joined
the Daily Planet, but I’d wager more like it’s been six months or so. Can’t say
as to why I think that, it’s just the vibe I get. Long enough that Lois and
Clark have been dating for a while, but not long enough that Martha’s wondering
when Clark is going to ask Lois to marry him. I liked seeing the trio get
promoted and that they and the “Top News Team” seem to be getting along now. I
think Ronny’s name plaque to Lois meant a lot to her. I am wondering how their
job change will effect their lives going forward, particularly Jimmy now that
he’s rich. I imagine that he’ll keep on doing Flamebird streams, just now on
the Daily Planet’s budget. I find it extremely funny that this is how Clark found
out about Lois’ dad. You’re telling me that Clark, whom at this point must have
at least visited Lois apartment at least once, never saw a single photo of her
dad? Or that Lois doesn’t have at least one “this is before my dad was an
asshole” picture in her apartment? Incredibly odd. I feel a little bad for Sam
here, because before the Superman article was brought up, I do think he was legit
trying to be pleasant. He’s just really bad at it and got the bone stuck in his
craw sort of remembering Clark’s face. Speaking of… the General totally knows
now, right? Like, Lois knew information that she couldn’t have without interacting
with Superman, this all happened at the Kent farm, and Lois very casually
touched Superman on several occasions. He’s either figured it out and will be
too conflicted to report it in, because love of daughter > love of country
or he’s an idiot. The lore drops about Krypton here were interesting. The fact
that it seemed like Clark’s ship only began activating when it detected the
Kryptonite is an interesting tidbit. And the ship only seemed to escalate as it’s
forces were attacked, first it was small robots, then it was a bigger robot,
and then it opened to portal to call for backup. Makes me think that Brainiac
in this universe began life as a hazmat containment device or something. The design
for Brainiac was pretty good too. I usually prefer him to have a human face,
but his inhuman head I think works juxtaposed with the Kryptonian cape. It’s
like he’s saying he is Krypton even if he’s not even technically Kryptonian. It
looks like we’re going to get more Kryptonians next season. The line about “kneeling”
is supposed to lead us to a Zod connection, but the House of El crest and the
fact the warrior was voiced by a pitched down Kari Wahlgren (Martha and Young
Lois Kent) has some folks speculating this warrior is in fact Kara Zor-El (Clark’s
cousin) or perhaps even his biological mother Lara in a robot body. But we’ll
have to wait and see. My Adventures With Superman is a fun reimagining
of the Superman mythos and I can’t wait for more. See you later.
Viewer Log: https://www.patreon.com/posts/89787272
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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