My Adventures with Superman season 2 airs new episodes every Sunday on Max in the Nordics, Iberia & Central Europe and Saturdays on Max in the US. Episodes also air HBO Max in Poland & the Netherlands and on Channel 4 in the UK & Ireland.
Synopsis
Lois and Jimmy confront Kara and make a plan to rescue Clark. Meanwhile, BRAINIAC delves into Superman’s mind to figure out what makes him tick…and how to TEAR HIM APART!
Review
It’s time to pick back up the serialised narrative as My Adventures with Superman boldly steps in a dramatic direction following last week’s Ocean’s Eleven-style caper. With just two more episodes to go after this week the endgame of season 2 is in full swing as Clark and Kara’s problems escalate despite the interruption of Lois and Jimmy’s unexpected arrival.
With an ominous title like “The Death of Clark Kent” it comes as no surprise that last week’s episode was a welcome relief. As I said in last week’s review there’s no escaping that My Adventures appeals to a broad audience which includes kids. So an episode like “Olsen’s Eleven” was important to keep the levity particularly coming in to an episode like this. Writer Angela Entzminger has produced a taught script which crackles with intensity and emotions boil over for plenty of our characters.
Anyone hoping for a happy reunion between our core trio better hold their horses. Lois (Alice Lee) and Jimmy (Ishmel Sahid) aren’t getting anywhere near the Man of Steel whilst he remains in close proximity to Brainiac (Michael Emerson). The bulk of the episode is dedicated to Brainiacs attempts to break Clark’s (Jack Quaid) will. It allows My Adventures to revisit moments from previous episodes in a Ghost of Christmas Past way, reliving some of Clark’s memories but putting a painful twist on them. We don’t often get to see Superman challenged in this way. Rather than being able to use his strength or his abilities to save the day, he’s faced with confronting his own insecurities and that poses a real threat to everyone.
It seems like My Adventures may be setting up a future confrontation between the cousins. We know from the trailer for season 2 that Kara (Kiana Madeira) will eventually suit up as Supergirl. But could this be because Clark has become lost to Brainiacs mind control technology, similar to how she was convince to become his foot soldier for so many years. Flipping the balance of power and allowing Supergirl to emerge as a hero could be an interesting way to setup the newly confirmed third season. With Amanda Waller (Debra Wilson) convincing Earth that Kal-El poses a threat it’s going to take more than a simply apology for the destruction caused during his first fight with Kara to get the people of Metropolis back on side. Plus who knows what other attentions their fight might have caught…
Back to this episode and Kara is afforded some serious character development. She’s reunited with Jimmy and has chance to bury the hatchet with Lois. Though neither of these is obtained easily. Entzminger’s script ensures plenty of conflict between characters as Kara reconciles her memories of the past with her experience of the past couple of episodes. Unwilling to accept that her “father” may not be who she thought there’s a stage of grief aspect to her character journey which feels well mapped out amongst the now heavily serialised narrative.
Coming in to the penultimate episode of season 2 we’re left on a cliffhanger which once again splits the narrative in to two potential streams. I can’t predict where we’re going to end up but boy am I excited for the journey.
Verdict
This week’s My Adventures with Superman challenges the Man of Steel in new and exciting ways. Whilst it’s difficult to watch our hero challenged in this manner, the series tackles his emotional turmoil with pitch perfect veracity.
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