My Adventures With Superman S3 Ep 9 Review
Well, this is quite the mess, you guys! Thanks to Lara and Jonathan, the children of tomorrow, and Lex, there is a MENACE to the space-time continuum now loose in the universe. Kara is in a coma, the kids have PTSD, and everything is going to hell. The one good thing is that Clark has returned to the Fortress of Solitude to try and regain his powers. The bad news? He has to go through a trial that will have him go full barbarian warrior to do so. Well, that’s not bad in and of itself, but it’s the lesson he’s supposed to learn.
Oh, and Brainiac is back.
How did it Get to this?
In the aftermath of the Eradicator’s escape into the timestream, Amanda Waller has taken charge. I didn’t touch on it before, but we got to acknowledge the fact that Waller is now willing to see the Kryptonians as allies and protectors of Earth. She’s finally learning from her mistakes. However, she’s still Amanda Waller, a no-nonsense soldier. And even though she doesn’t know where Jonathan and Lara come from, she doesn’t hesitate to draft them into her anti-Eradicator plan. Except Lois isn’t happy about that.
Lois has spent this entire season trying to come to terms with her future with Clark. She accepted that she’ll be a mom one day, and now she’s learning that she could become the kind of parent her dad was to her, and it scares her. She also makes things worse when she rightly calls Jonathan and Lara for making Luthor wake up the Eradicator before it was ready. And for Jonathan’s disrespect to her in general. He tried to shame her for not actually fighting. WHAT DOES HE EXPECT?!? Unless there’s some tech lying around that can give Lois Kryptonian powers, or some power armor, she can’t do much!
She at least has better luck with her daughter. Through Lara, Lois learns that her future self does care about her kids enough to give her a pep talk. But it’s ultimately Kara who has to talk some sense into Jonathan.
KARA! YOU’RE OKAY!
Thank heavens, Kara is not dead. She’s left in a coma for several days, and when she wakes up, Jimmy is asleep by her side. He stayed there the entire time because he cares that much. I know that their relationship has been a problem this season, and we only have one episode left. But I hope they become an item in that time. And if we get a fourth season, I would love to see them act like a couple.
So, Kara finds Jonathan moping on the Moon, angsty about how he can’t live up to his dad’s reputation. So Kara tells him the truth: he’s not perfect. Everyone sees him like that because he never gives up. So Jonathan reconciles with his family and agrees to help. But, honestly? I don’t really like this version of Jon that much. I get why he is the way he is, but his personality gets a little grating. Hopefully, when Lois and Clark do have kids, they’ll have a better life.
So, everyone comes together to fight the Eradicator. The Kryptonians, Steel, Slade and the other agents of Task Force X. Even Luthor.
Yeah, when Luthor tries to duck and hide like a coward, Jimmy calls him out on it. He was the one who set Lex on his current path, and he is so disappointed in how he’s turned out. Especially since he’s seen that Lex can be a hero for himself. So he tells him to either shape up and be a hero, or just admit that he’s the bad guy. And it works!
But where does this leave Kal-El the Barbarian?
Kal-El the Barbarian
So, as many of us probably guessed, Brainiac is technically not dead. The version we met in season two is dead, but the version that helped run Krypton remains active in the Fortress of Solitude. And he is unimpressed with how Clark lost his powers and seeks to teach him a lesson on strength. Thus, to get his powers back, Kal-El has to relive Krypton’s ancient history and the start of their Empire. He has to be a barbarian conqueror.
From the second I heard what Brainiac was telling Clark, I saw the red flags. It’s obvious that that ship of invaders was just people who crash-landed. The Kryptonians told themselves that lie to justify their tyranny. And despite Brainiac trying to force him to give in to Krypton’s past, Clark isn’t playing his game. He stays true to himself, choosing to befriend the aliens and help them, because that is what real strength is like.
And Brainiac just loses it as we get the big twist. It turns out, Brainiac was one of those stranded aliens, forced to serve the Kryptonians until the day their empire collapsed while being converted into an AI. And he’s justifying the entire thing like it was right for Clark’s ancestors to do that! This was some insane levels of Stockholm Syndrome at work, and it made me sick to my stomach. How broken do you have to be to justify your terrible lot in life like that?!? Even worse, Brainiac takes Clark’s sympathy for the Coluans fate as an insult! He cannot compute the fact that things could’ve been different, and so tries to kill Clark. Thankfully, Bizarro is able to save him, but…what now?
Oh, no! He’s Voiced by Steve Blum!
The Eradicator returns from the timestream, and now looks like an anime version of General Zod, more dangerous than ever. We only have one episode left of the season, and possibly the series, and we have no clue how Kal-El can get his powers back, let alone stop the Eradicator! Can we please get a happy ending for the final episode? Please!?!
Hopes aside, I liked the barbarian aspect of this episode and I hope that we get more seasons of the show. That, and I think Lois would love the outfit!
