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The Superman Honeymoon is officially over in Metropolis. Jimmy is excited to speak at a Superman-related event, only to find out that he’s been set up for an ambush. Lois’ complicated relationship with her father comes into clear focus. Spoilers follow for My Adventures with Superman Season 2, Episode 4.
“Two Lanes Diverged”
As Superman has aged in our world, how we think about him has changed. He’s not just a metaphor for the positive side of immigration–someone from a very different culture coming to America and improving it–but also a metaphor for how Americans respond to immigrants. Instead of being easy to classify as a villain, Lex Luthor is an antagonist to Superman, but one who makes some genuinely good points–while burying them in some pretty scary language.
Jimmy shows up to the STAR Labs event as “Superman’s Best Friend, Jimmy Olsen” with Clark in tow, thinking he’ll be talking about how great Superman is–only to end up on stage with Lex Luthor. This version of Jimmy might be a bit more savvy than some previous versions, but he’s no match for a self-actualized Lex Luthor. It’s wild that Jimmy’s roommate Clark looks so similar to Superman.
On the STAR Labs stage, Lex steamrolls Jimmy quickly, making a lot of points that are hard to debate. We don’t know who Superman is, where he’s from, why he’s on Earth. We shouldn’t assume that he’s selflessly helping us, and we don’t know that he won’t suddenly turn on us one day. It’s the whole Invincible problem–maybe Superman is a vanguard sent ahead to gauge and tame Earth.
This all seems unfair to us, who are watching things from Superman’s point of view. But if we were living in Metropolis, we might feel differently. But then at the same time, Luthor poses all of this under the umbrella of “the Superman Question,” and states that Earth should be for Earthlings only–the same kind of dangerous language that we’ve seen used to persecute entire groups of people in the real world, over and over again throughout history.
This is all to say that, aside from Lex’s youthful zeal and sporty green and purple jacket, he’s a pretty standard interpretation of Lex Luthor. The Superman side of this episode is less about Superman and more about the mounting threats against him. At the end of the episode, Lex has gathered around him Amanda Waller, Hank Henshaw, and other government people who seem to be on his side.
Young Lois
While all of that is going on, Lois is having her own adventure. Her relationship with her dad is dicey at best, and now we get a clear understanding of why. Sam has spent Lois’ life trying to prepare her for the danger that might come while totally ignoring the damage already done. She lost her mom at an early age, and then found herself moving around for the rest of her childhood, never really able to make friends. Meanwhile, anytime Lois tries to bond with her father, he finds reasons not to tell her about his life, always going to back to the old “it’s classified” excuse.
What he’s done, then, is teach Lois not that she doesn’t have to rely on him, but that she truly can’t rely on him. This sets up the dynamic they’ll have moving forward. Sam will probably be an ally–eventually. Right now, though, he’s someone that Lois loves but that she can’t rely on. This will also likely inform how she’ll interact with Clark moving forward, and what she needs from him to see him as someone she can rely on. It also sets up why Lois is as resourceful as she is; she’s not just a plucky reporter, but someone who spent her childhood out in the woods, looking for her father and navigating by the stars.
I like all of this. This episode establishes what Superman will be facing for the rest of Season 2, and gets us deeper into Lois’ head than we’ve previously been.
What doesn’t work is the relationship drama. The previous episode put a beacon for Kara Zor-El into Clark’s hands and a business card from Vicky Vale into Lois’. Since then, it’s just been the two of them saying that they need to talk, and then not talking. As with my comments last episode, this just feels weird after how tightly paced the first season went. We’re spending multiple episodes waiting for Lois and Clark, the two main characters, to have a conversation. And that’s boring and frustrating, and not what I want from this show.
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