Welcome back to Boomb Tube! Here, we will be catching you up on the week in comics TV, both through micro-reviews, as well as links to our full-length TV reviews. We also tend to review series that are dropped all at once weekly so there are a few ‘older’ shows mixed in for good measure. Are we missing your favorite show? Let us know in the comments!
American Born Chinese – “What Guy Are You” (S1E1, Disney+)
Tune in later today to read our full review of the series premiere by Paul Lai.
The Flash – “A New World, Part Four” (aka “Finale”) (S9E13, The CW)
Read our full review of the series finale by Ramon Piña.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur – “OMG Issue #1″ & “OMG Issue #2” (S1E15-E16, Disney Channel)
Read our full review of the season finale by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Riverdale – “Betty & Veronica Double Digest” (S7E9, The CW)
Read our full review by Elias Rosner
Superman & Lois – “The Dress” (S3E9, CW)
Superman & Lois plays on one of the tropes I hate most in Superman stories, the character’s self-righteous judgment of those he deems as failing in ethics and morality. John Henry, with a malfunctioning suit and under attack from a zombie Atom Smasher makes the call to put him down … again. The way the show plays it, the blow didn’t feel like a killing blow. You need it to be from Superman’s POV with his pained response to sell the moment. Superman, of course, is none too happy that his good guy ally killed someone, “you always have a choice,” he says, standing behind him in judgment.
Just like everyone has their reasons, Superman is “right” John Henry did have a choice. He could kill Smasher or die. It’s a real Hobson’s choice, for John Henry. Superman has never had to face such a decision because he’s, at worst, a demigod among us. It is part of his fantasy. By playing into this trope, the show furthers something that has been happening all season, the alienation of Superman. Showing the distance between him and his family. For all his power he cannot save Lois, just like he could not save Pa or Ma Kent etc. It helps to underline the nature of his perspective and how it is, in fact, limited, not omnipotent. Maybe he’ll be forced to make a choice like that soon.
I would be remiss if I did not recognize the discourse on scars in this episode; it is the haunting signifier that reinforces the meaning of “ideal” (read this with the MOST scare quotes) femininity and Womanhood represented by the titular dress. As part of my research, scars come up fairly regularly as motifs. I do not, however, have any bearing or reading on the literature as it relates to mastectomies and subsequent scarring. With that said, it is interesting how, for at least this episode it stages, a traditional binary gender read on the meaning of scars. Historically and culturally, female scarification is linked to a loss of beauty and value because patriarchy can only understand Woman’s body in surface-level objectified terms which then become internalized by women.
This is not to make light of the individual lived experience, psychic stress, and trauma women who go through this process pre and post; just historically, in the arts this is the dominant meaning in the West. Male scarification, however, is linked to wounding and loss of power, but also endurance and new strength. That is the logic Clark uses to comfort Lois at the end of the episode. Her scars are a sign that they can still be together. I’m curious if the show incorporates that into Lois going forward and if she can perform masculinity with her scars. It would be a interesting mirror to the treatment of scars on Oliver Queen’s body in Arrow generally but a specific example of this being S01E05 “Damaged”. Oliver is shown using his scars to perform masculine and feminized positions simultaneously, depending on the moment. Maybe this show will be able to, just a little bit, break down a binarist view of scars.
Continued belowThat said, I have my doubts the mastectomy will actually happen, and we won’t have some magic blood cure to Lois’ cancer. Add that to the waiting list like Lex Luthor. – Michael Mazzacane
Sweet Tooth – “What It Takes” (S2E5, Netflix)
Read our full review by Alexander Manzo.
