Season six of Adventures of Superman has not been, as I’ve read in a few places, less silly than the prior seasons. In case you weren’t sure about that, this week’s episodes revolve around an ‘anti-memory vapor’ and a robot that runs on Kryptonite. Let’s get into it.
1. Actual murder!
Adventures of Superman hints at death a lot. Almost every episode sees Lois and Jimmy almost killed by whatever local hood is the subject of that week’s caper. But rarely, if ever, have we seen evidence of a successful murder before “The Big Forget.” A reporter for a rival newspaper, according to his murderer, was put in cement boots and tossed into the river. While we don’t exactly see a body, this is the first time we’re privy to something quite this dark. The rest of the episode doesn’t exactly go bleaker, but it sets a tone of danger that is rarely seen on this show.
2. Lois, the capitalist
The catalyst for this episode is Perry complaining that Lois and Jimmy never get stories without Superman. So, they make a bet that they, along with Perry, can come up with a front page story in return for a raise. The raise, $10 a week, was promised by Perry two years earlier, so this isn’t exactly greed on the part of our heroine and cub reporter. This gives them motivation to break the most dangerous story they can find, and it leads to all three being kidnapped by criminal Mugsy Maple.
Let’s set the stage for exactly what is about to take place: Lois, Jimmy, and Perry are found snooping in Maple’s office, and are taken, at gun point, to his country house. They are walking into what seems to be, at very least, a life-threatening kidnapping situation, if not a straight up execution. Lois, knowing her life is in danger, laments aloud that she hopes they can get out of this on their own and not require Superman’s help, lest she lose her raise. Lois, is $520 a year of more value than your life? Because if not, I’d be changing your tune right about now.
3. A truly poor use of a potentially fun scientific experiment
Both of the episodes this week feature Professor Pepperwinkle, a recurring mad scientist who is forgetful and bizarre. “The Big Forget” deals with an ‘anti-memory vapor’ that, through Jimmy’s absolute bungling, gets in Maple’s hands. This is a fun, if silly, device for the episode to be based around, and it allows Clark to reveal his Superman persona to his coworkers without consequence, as he just uses the spray on them afterwards.
Well, you may think that’s what he’s planning on doing. However, he just sets the can up and lets it spray into the air, without directing it at any one person. It would’ve been absurdly easy for Superman to save the day, change back into Clark’s duds, and then spray everyone. But instead, they cut one shot from their budget and undo the science of earlier scenes in the episode.
4. Robots are fun!
“The Gentle Monster” is set around Pepperwinkle creating a robot companion. Before you think he’s built an ASFR…well, he may have. But we just see the robot, named Mr. McTavish for reasons never really explained, play the piano, cook, and keep him company. It’s absurd, yes, but it is no less absurd than anything else in the last three seasons, so let’s have some fun with it! Plus, who doesn’t love a boxy 50s robot, who half the cast pronounce ‘ro-but?’
Of course, there’s a catch: he’s super-powered, and that’s due to the Kryptonite he was built with, which makes Superman weak around him. Again, this is a fine subplot, and it’s nice to see Superman have impediments that aren’t just his laziness or contempt for folks. I wish the robot got more to do, but then how would we have a nearly useless munitions provider subplot?
5. New flying footage alert!
I’ve now watched nearly 100 episodes of this series, and this episode is the first time when a shot of Superman flying was made for this specific episode. Superman has a bomb in his hands, and is flying with it. This caused the production crew to film a shot of Superman flying, this time against a night sky, holding the bomb. While it is nice to see them put some effort into the production design of the episode, for a show that has survived on major explosions happening just off-screen for six years now, it is a bit odd that this is where the producers decided to make that change. “I know the show is likely in its last leg of production – let’s go nuts and film some more flying!”
