The Death of Clark Kent and Pierce the Heavens, Superman!
I was traveling last week so I missed posting about the latest episode! Humblest of apologies. This week I’ll cover both new entries as we prepare for the final installment of season two.
Title References
No, we don’t have Conduit discovering Clark’s secret making him give up his secret identity like in the 1995 storyline The Death of Clark Kent. The original was from the height of 90s events trying to recapture that Death of Superman magic. We had Death, Return, Bizarro, Overpowered, Fall of Metropolis, Zero Hour, Dead Again, Death of Clark Kent, and many more.
Pierce the Heavens, Superman! References anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (literally translated as “Heaven-Piercing Gurren Lagann”). I’ve never watched it so I’m uncertain if the references go deeper than just title.
Superbrainiac
Brainiac’s plan is to take control of Clark’s body. He’s been using Kara to conquer worlds, but she’s becoming more and more difficult to control. Clark’s extra power makes him a more enticing host. Especially now that Brainiac says his body and Kandor are falling apart.
We open on Brainiac using Black Mercy to do exactly that. While giving us a killer villain monologue spelling out that evil plan.
Michael Emerson is awesome as Brainiac. When he says “Rejoice son of Jor-El” it sounds so evil. Inspired casting among an already excellent cast.
Black Mercy
This show hasn’t seen a piece of Superman lore it couldn’t turn into technology. This time it’s Kandor and the Black Mercy. Kandor is now a Man of Steel Black Zero style space station and Black Mercy is a headband that allows you to view memories. They hadn’t named it when Kara used it previously. I always love Kryptonians in headbands.
It wasn’t until the end of The Death of Clark Kent that the Black Mercy started acting Black Mercy like. Trapping Clark in a fantasy land with Jor-El and Lara. I loved Clark feeding the baby Sun Eater. Compassion for all is his biggest strength.
Like in the Supergirl episode of the same name we’ve got someone going into the Black Mercy to save our hero. When she first arrives in Clark’s mind, Lois doesn’t remember who she is. When she sees Clark for the first time her memory is restored. The Black Mercy can’t seem to remove her, instead resetting the simulation groundhog day style. This gives Lois the chance to figure out the solution and wake Clark up.
Lois is as strong as Clark from his perspective. So in Clark’s mind they both have Super Powers. The combined strength of Lois & Clark punches out of Brainiac’s prison and allows Clark to control his own body.
“Mortigi Kodon!”
Clip Show
A late in the series clip show episode could feel cheap, but I think it was well handled here. See Superboy season four. Brainiac is exploring Clark’s memories looking for weaknesses, but each of them features some differences. Despite Clark fighting back Brainiac does eventually find Lois and Jimmy. Brainiac surmises his compassion is his weakness. But Brainiac will learn it’s a strength.
I was wrong about Metallos
I was so sure they would take the one surviving Metallo and put a person in him. But I guess not, it’s still just an army of robots. This time with some Kryptonite. Felt a bit pointless since Waller has robots. Brainiac has some Kryptonite armor anyway so they just end up causing problems with Clark and Kara.
It does seem a bit silly that Brainiac suddenly has this Kryptonite armor. I know it raises the stakes, but why not always use that? I thought his body and ship were falling apart, but now he’s got new armor?
Kara and Jimmy
They are adorable together. It reminds me of Lois & Clark from the first season, but unique and true to these two characters. I almost wish they didn’t have to fight bad guys so they could just be cute. They’ll just need to overcome the fact that Kara destroyed whole civilizations under Brainiac’s control.
New costumes
After Lois & Clark defeat the Black Mercy simulation Superman returns with a new costume in the red and blue. This time he’s got some serious shoulder pads. He doesn’t have Ma Kent around to give him new trunks though which is a bummer. I hope he gets those next week for the finale!
How will our heroes defeat Brainiac? He has control of the Metallos, he can’t be hurt by Kryptonite, Clark and Kara seem defeated. It looks bad! I can’t wait to tune in next week!