This is it: the season one finale of My Adventures with Superman. Loyalties are tested, secrets are revealed, and Thanksgiving at the Kent farm may never be the same. Hop in for our “yamtastic” five thoughts but look out for Kryptonian invaders and spoilers.
1. I am not a gun
Clark’s journey this season culminates in him deciding who he is. The episode begins with Clark having a nightmare. He sees the Zero Day attack with his friends as the victims. The leader of the attack opens his helmet and Clark sees himself. Very Luke and Vader in the cave on Dagobah.
Clark goes to see Jor-El in the ship. He tells Jor-El that he’s not like them and he will not be conquering Earth. An interesting change for folks watching with subtitles: Jor-El is translated for the first time. In episode two the subtitles just said he was speaking Kryptonese. If you turn subtitles on you can see Jor-El telling his son that he’d never hurt him. I don’t think Clark was sent to Earth to invade, but the language barrier with his father forced him to discover his own purpose.
Later our trio is heading to work and we learn that Lois’s father is coming to Thanksgiving with the Kents. We know we are going to get our big reveal and it’s further foreshadowed with Clark asking for their help in finding the general. Lois is going to help find the general alright. She’s going to bring him straight to your door.
Jimmy and Lois discuss the evil Superman they saw in the sphere. They agree that it would really hurt Clark to see this. It’s the opposite of what Clark has chosen for himself.
2. Mild Mannered Reporters for a Great Metropolitan Newspaper
When they arrive at The Planet they are greeted by a surprise promotion! They were so bad at being interns Perry has made the three of them reporters. Their first byline? “City Saves Superman”, which is a fun spin on the usual. Each of them gets something from the other three reporters: Clark gets a kiss from Cat, Jimmy gets a lone wolf from Lombard, and Lois gets a “Future Award Winning Journalist” name plaque from Ronnie. They all head out celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, but Perry keeps Jimmy to talk about Flamebird.
While I enjoyed the underdog shenanigans, the show wastes no time in moving things forward. This is a show that is not afraid to change the status quo. It keeps the show feeling really fresh and exciting.
When Lois and Clark show up to Ma and Pa Kent’s home they see their article is framed already. It’s up there with childhood pictures of Clark including one that could be with Lana Lang. One of my favorite moments of the episode is here when Ma thanks Lois. She explains that Clark has always kept himself at a distance because of his powers, but now he has Lois. This shows how important this Lois is to this Superman and I think confirms that Lois was right in not doubting her Clark.
3. Disguised As Clark Kent
When the general arrives, Clark asks what’s the worst that could happen? Well Clark I think the worst thing that could happen is that your girlfriend’s father is the antagonist you’ve been up against who kidnapped and tortured you. “Call me General Lane” he says. This doesn’t come as a surprise to Superman fans, but I wonder if a viewer coming to this show completely new to Superman is just as surprised as Clark is here. They’ve hinted at it throughout the season.
General Lane immediately starts to interrogate Clark. He thinks Clark looks familiar. What could be seen as a dad asking questions of his daughter’s boyfriend takes on a more sinister angle. Luckily Jimmy arrives when General Lane asks if Clark always wears glasses.
Clark gets excellent Superman advice from Pa Kent. If he has an enemy he should turn him into a friend. Plus, you can’t hate your girlfriend’s father.
Everyone starts to pull Jimmy aside to confide in him but he’s done with the drama, secrets, and lies. The show isn’t done with the drama though. Jimmy drops the sphere and when Clark picks it up he sees Overman. If the shock of that isn’t enough it opens exposing Clark to the Kryptonite. The ship reacts to the Kryptonite nearby and Jor-El sees Brainiac activate. Jimmy makes the connection that the green rock is what is hurting Clark and they put it back in the sphere.
Continued below4. Brainiac Attacks
Clark’s ship emerges from the ground and General Lane radios for backup. This is his Nemesis Omega, the attack he’s been waiting for. He believes they are at ground zero of an alien invasion. Clark gets Ma and Pa to safety and returns to deal with the ship.
Lois and Jimmy run from the Brainiac robots. When they are separated, Jimmy discovers the Kryptonite can destroy the robots. Lois reaches her father who is using the Omega cannon against the robots. Lois realizes her father is the general they’ve been searching for. Superman saves them both from the biggest robot yet.
Superman and Lois find Jimmy who explains the Kryptonite can not only hurt Clark, it can destroy the robots. A portal opens up just like on Zero Day. Clark decides he needs to use the Kryptonite to destroy his ship. His sacrifice will save his friends and family and stop the invasion.
Knowing the love this creative team has for all things Superman I’m comfortable pointing out two small visual references here that I don’t think are coincidences. Superman lifts his giant ship in very much the same way he lifts the New Krypton island in Superman Returns. When we see the Brainiac robots chase after him the camera is blurry and then zooms abruptly into focus. There are several shots like this in Man of Steel like when Kal-El’s ship leaves Krypton.
On the ship Superman gets help fighting Brainiac robots from his father. Again we are treated to a translation if you turn on subtitles. Jor-El tells Superman to follow him to the heart of the ship. Superman takes out the Kryptonite and while fighting through the pain punches the ship’s heart. This closes the portal cutting the invading ship in half.
Superman starts to lose consciousness while his father approaches him. Superman tells Jor-El that he had to stop the invasion and protect his family. Jor-El tells him in English to live. He then sends him to Earth in a pod while the ship is destroyed mirroring the destruction of Krypton we are all familiar with.
Then we get the confrontation we’ve been waiting for. Lois standing between her father General Lane and Superman. The dramatic lighting on her face along with the sunset color pallet make this one of the most visually striking scenes in the season. Lois convinces her father to spare Superman. When Waller radios, General Lane tells him it’s a false alarm. When Lois turns around her father is gone.
With Earth safe and General Lane gone, it’s time for Thanksgiving dinner. Clark uses some heat vision on the turkey and Jimmy drops the news he sold Flamebird for $5.6 million. He’s super rich now. This is fun and not without comic precedent.
5. Kneel Before Zod
Brainiac watches the ship enter the portal from the other side and be destroyed. Voiced by Michael Emerson this Brainiac reports to a Kryptonian Warrior that he has a new planet. Brainiac describes Earth as a planet in rebellion that has destroyed their ships and closed their portals. The Kryptonian Warrior is not concerned. “In the end they will kneel.”
What a tease for season two! Producer Josephine Campbell recently confirmed they were able to make season two along with season one, but we still don’t have a timeline for release. With the ongoing strikes it is tough to predict when the show will come back. What I really want to know is will we get more Crab Kent? Thank you for joining us on this ride, dear reader. Until next time stay tuned to Multiversity Comics!
