"My Adventures with Superman": Episodes Four and Five - Best villain yet, followed by a series low point
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Episode four marks a departure from the typical Superman story beats, and into the show’s more individual narrative. Chief among its contributions is introducing Professor Ivo, yet another character I didn’t actually know about before (though I know of his creation, Amazo). Ivo as portrayed here technically draws from a number of millionaires and media types. He has some traits similar to classical versions of Lex Luthor, while his appearance resembles a cross between Tony Stark and Jacksepticeye. Compared to Leslie and Intergang, Ivo definitely left a bigger impression on me villain wise. He’s brilliant and smooth, but also unfiltered, condescending and increasingly self destructive. His spiral into greed fueled egomania is legitimately threatening, but at the same time, I find it believable that he could charm or coerce a crowd. After all, his initial role is the star of a lavish gala, attended by the richest and most influential citizens of Metropolis. Most of Ivo’s guests aren’t of particular note, except for two; One older gentleman with the most stereotypical English accent I’ve ever heard, and Ivo’s assistant Alex (three guesses who that could be in DC’s lineup). The eventual fight sequence resulting from this party is perhaps the show’s most creative one yet. It requires Clark to think tactically for a change, rather than relying on sheer power, and the ending leaves some vivid scars on our antagonist.
Clark and Lois’ dynamic also gets some more focus in this episode, including a heavy dose of flirting and warm colour grading. To say the show knows what it's doing with these scenes is an understatement; There’s nothing subtle about the insinuations, or the way Clark and Lois mutually check each other out. Amid all the romance, however, we also learn more about Lois’ past and personality. She specifically mentions that her dad was emotionally unavailable and secretive, and that she’s desperate to advance her career. These two factors are crucial talking points for the next episode, but they also put her interactions with Clark and previous behaviour in a different context. They illustrate the frustration of her stagnated career, and perhaps her perspective on honesty. Again, she absolutely lied to get her way before, but given that she’s always been kept in the dark by her father, I would think some amount of that behaviour could rub off. Beyond Ivo and those observations, I don’t have a great deal to comment about this episode. It’s all around solid, a nice progression of the series that diverges from the more known Superman canon. The villain is good, the main fight sequence is good, and the romantic dialogue rings true. It’s simply a fine addition to the series’ narrative.
Of course, the most important detail that episode four establishes is Lois putting the clues together, and FINALLY deducing that Clark Kent is Superman (Maybe she needed glasses…I don’t know). This segues into episode five, where her primary objective is getting Clark to admit the truth one way or another. Elsewhere, Jimmy has a small subplot involving his work rival Steve, and his growing resentment over the lovebirds sidelining him. This development from Jimmy feels a bit too much like a device for dramatic tension, but the focus is there to make it work. I’ll also admit…Steve being revealed as Jimmy’s internet troll, and their little heart to heart, are decently done.
Jimmy’s subplot aside, though, I’ll just cut straight to the chase - this is my least favourite episode of the series. At minimum, it has the most conflicting scene for me personally, and I know I’m not alone from the internet backlash. I imagine that for many viewers watching the show as it aired, the finale of this episode may have been a breaking point. My criticism isn’t limited to that scene, however, because I’m also not especially taken with the content preceding it. The climax revolves around Clark’s encounter with Slade Wilson (Chris Parnell), Amanda Waller (Debra Wilson) and General Lane (Joel de la Fuente). The trio are involved with much of the tech related conflicts of the season, but for the purposes of this scene, all they want is to capture Superman. The unfortunate issue is that for being a very intense fight conceptually, I found it strangely lacking. There’s a repetitiveness to the battle itself, mainly in how they recycle the same shot of Clark slamming backfirst into a wall. Wide shots of the landscape also reveal where the animation budget might’ve run out. Furthermore, some of Lane’s delivery (and therefore, the delivery of de la Fuente) comes across as forced, and even Quaid isn’t dialled into his readings completely. The premise of this fight should be quite emotional, but like I said, I found it oddly dull.
Of course, that’s followed up by the show’s major bit of backlash. Lois reunites with Clark atop the Daily Planet, and fed up with him evading her questions, she jumps off the roof. Clark swoops down to rescue her, thus revealing his identity, and the two proceed to have a charged argument. Lois proclaims that Clark keeping this secret from her is the same as lying, and the two eventually break apart. So many videos, blog posts and online reviews have aimed their sights on this sequence. They’ve crucified Lois’ character here as irrational, hypocritical and unsympathetic. They even likened her words to those of Amber from “Invincible”, which in my view, is an unfair comparison. What's my reaction to all of this noise? Well, it may be meandering and stuck between two prominent camps of thought, but I’ll do my best to articulate it.
On the claim that Lois is irrational, I think there’s some legitimate reasoning to support that. Risking your life is simply a dangerous idea, if it’s only to force someone to admit a secret of theirs. That goes double for relationships, and any partner believing their significant other is hiding something. Lois even did a warm up to this a few scenes before, when she handcuffed herself to Superman (for all the good that would do), right as he was fighting some criminals. I also believe Lois, even if it’s subconscious, shows some level of selfishness and hypocrisy in her accusation. As I’ve kept saying, she easily lied to Clark and Jimmy in episode one, so she’s also capable of being dishonest herself. The thing is, though, that her reaction didn’t come out of nowhere; The groundwork was laid from the very beginning. In the conclusion of episode one, she did make a verbal promise to try and remain truthful. In episodes two and three, it was shown how much uncovering Superman’s identity meant to her - personally and career wise. In episode four, we learned that she has fundamental issues with her dad withholding truth - even when it comes to her dying mother. In this very episode, there are multiple moments where she expresses concern for both Clark and Superman alike. At the time of this argument, she’s tired - desperate even. She’s exhausted of Clark’s avoidance and blatant fibs. I mean, how would you react if someone had a massive burn mark on their neck, and told you they got it shaving? Because that’s what Clark tried to do, which was clearly the final trigger for Lois. Just to be clear, none of this justifies her actions. Gambling her life on whether Clark would fly down to save her was daring at best, irresponsibly manipulative at worst. What I’m merely saying is that from what we’re presented with, Lois’ psychology makes this outburst consistent. It’s a jarring tonal shift, sure, but from a character perspective, the pieces fit together.
So yes, Lois was extreme in her response, and she clearly struggles with trust and communication. But by that same token, so does Clark. In the same way Lois’ past makes her want total honesty, Clark’s past makes him fear total exposure. If everything about his life were to come out, who knows how many supervillains would threaten his friends and family? Lois may not have had bad intentions with wanting him to open up, but he didn’t know that. Everything he saw with her investigation and zealousness made him wary of telling the truth, despite how close they were becoming. From a neutral glance, I can say both of them had needs they weren’t expressing, and viewed the other’s behaviour as an obstacle. They both should’ve handled this exchange better, though one handled it objectively worse, arguably. There’s an alternate conversation I could write for this scene, one that’s more indicative of a healthy, positive relationship. Alas, my personal fan fiction is not what I’m reviewing. At the end of the day, I can see the purpose and build up behind this scene, even though the scene itself is problematic. I still lean towards Clark’s side slightly, given what Lois was willing to risk, even though her motivations were subtly hinted at prior. My general takeaway, I suppose, is that I don’t need a fictional character to be perfectly human - I just need them to be believably human. I want them to have faults. I want them to have moments of failure, miscalculation and perhaps even pettiness. That doesn’t ruin them for me; It makes them more accessible (Not relatable…accessible…there’s an important nuance there). I speak from personal experience in that when couples don’t communicate well, they can say and do things they end up regretting, or just don’t reflect their better sides. Clark and Lois had a cute romance up until this point, and as far as I’m concerned, those earlier scenes remain intact. They're not a perfect pair, and they obviously have a big elephant that needs addressing, but the chemistry they created together was tangible. I don’t know - it just seems silly to me to take one bad scene (two unpleasant minutes, to be exact), and decide it ruins the entire series. I sincerely mean it when I say this is my least favourite episode, but watching it again, I don’t think it’s horrible. It’s an unfortunate low point in the middle of the show, but it doesn’t derail it completely. That’s my overarching thoughts on episode five: A weak middle section of the series, that thankfully doesn’t last forever. Stay tuned for the second half of “My Adventures with Superman” (aka, the strong half).
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