Viewer Log: My Adventures With Superman ep 23

Dating is complicated enough without Mad Scientists being involved. 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/u2761062/posts/viewer-log-my-ep-167794608

Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social