Two Lanes Diverged

My Adventures of Superman returns for episode four. As the title indicates it’s a very Lois centric episode, but that’s not all. We get some great Lex and another villain reimagining.

Lex Luthor with a purple and green letterman jacket standing in front of a screen that says The Superman Problem. Jimmy Olsen looking despondent in the background.

Jimmy’s Wealth Watch

Jimmy is invited to speak at the S.T.A.R. Labs Symposium on aliens. He finished episode two with $3,754,082, but when he rolls up in the limo here he’s already down to $3,574,082. I wonder if that’s a typo by the show? He spends another $370,080 on symposium prep bringing him to $3,204,002. It’s been fun to watch him dwindle his millions. The comic added a days till Jimmy is solvent” countdown which was also super clever.

While in the limo Clark reads the names of the other speakers: CEO Hamilton who has a history of being both a friend and foe to Superman. General Wade Eiling who is another generic villainous DC Comics general. Senator Sackett who in the comics was just a mayor and Luthor puppet.

Missed Connections

Both Lois and Clark are going through issues this week and they don’t get a chance to support each other. It can sometimes be frustrating in a television show that needs to stretch out the story when two characters have drama simply because they don’t talk to each other. We don’t get that here thankfully. They want to share what’s going on, but there are things that have been keeping them apart. It also felt very natural at the end of the episode when Clark doesn’t hear Lois say she loves him because he’s weird. He just hears that he’s weird.

This Clark has always been self conscious about being different. He’s got the support of Lois and Jimmy and when he feels like he doesn’t have that it’s extra difficult for him. Lex and General Lane take that away from him this episode so he resorts to calling Kara. We’ll see if that turns out to be a good idea.

Lois is hurt that her dad is always moving around, always leaving. Never being there with her and for her. I’m glad this Lois didn’t have to deal with season two Dean Cain Superman. The General sees that Lois has been hurt running from Task Force X and he can’t put her in danger so he runs again.

Little Lois Flashbacks

I loved the flashbacks this week. Seeing a young Lois and her relationship evolve with her father gave depth to both characters. I’ll note that it looks like no Lucy in this universe. I also loved the Korean name for Lois’ mother: Umma, silver star, Eun Byeol, 은별. Again, it was additive to the character in a way I loved.

Chekhov’s gun

While Jimmy and Clark check out S.T.A.R. Labs we see a bunch of weapons that have been developed. These come back in classic 3rd act fashion when Lois and her father are chased by Task Force X.

The uselessness of the best tech against Superman allows Lex to twist everyone in the most perfect Luthor way. Despite having a full head of hair this show nails Luthor. He was giving Luthor speeches last season when we only knew him as Alex. Connecting him with Star Labs, the military, and the US Senate against Superman is going to cause some major issues for Clark.

Toyman

This week’s villain reimagining is Winslow Schott. Once I saw the bear I had a feeling and it was confirmed very quickly. Winslow is not someone to be trusted, and I’m surprised General Lane got duped by him. I don’t forsee him being a threat to Superman, but he was building a model of The Brain from last season. Maybe he’ll help supply Task Force X with more weapons.

Brainiac

Is that him floating over Earth? It was teased he was going to be a big part of this season, but we are almost halfway through. I hope we don’t end on a cliffhanger, since season three hasn’t been confirmed yet!

June 12, 2024 MAWS


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