Season Review: SuperMansion Season Two

The sophomore slump is in the books.

The second season of SuperMansion turned out to not be quite the epic its first episode suggested, but it still proved itself as worthy viewing. It seemed like in every other episode, the show would hint toward the next big plot development. More often than not, those arcs fizzled out. It’s a substantial list:

• Dr. Devizo’s involvement with the secret footage of other Subtopians
• The public outcry against the League of Freedom
• Robobot’s identity crisis and religious journey
• Portia’s path to a greater acknowledgment of self-worth
• Any contribution or appearance at all from Zenith

SuperMansion’s hook is to show what superheroes are like when they’re not actively being super. That’s what the first season was all about – then it happened to tie it all together with a satisfying dramatic arc in the end. Only a few episodes of season two stuck closely to this premise. The rest favored plot points over the natural comedy that radiates from the ensemble cast. The result felt disjointed, both in the individual episodes and in the less than cohesive overall season.

But as the season finale seemed to suggest, I may have been watching this show the wrong way the whole time. Maybe with all this character building out of the way, we were supposed to focus on action this time around. There was a lot of it, and it worked very well. The fight scenes were never disappointing and always fun to watch. They served as a time (and sometimes the only time) for each character to be properly utilized and show off their strengths. If I were to judge SuperMansion as your run-of-the-mill superhero show, I would definitely say it succeeds.

But season one proved that the show can be so much more than that, so more often than not, something felt missing this time around. Early on I hypothesized it may come down to the absence of Brad. I acknowledge that’s likely a personal preference but I still stand by it as a factor. The original crew was perfectly balanced. Each character pulled something new out of the next. Everything felt effortless. Without Brad’s enormous strength, insecurity, and innocence, the whole thing was lopsided.

That’s not to say that SuperMansion can’t go on! It’s solidly enjoyable. With this crew of talented writers, voice actors, and animators behind it, it’s going to stay that way no matter what. Since the show clearly has no fear of evolving, it will be interesting to see what direction the already confirmed third season will take.

I’m happy to see Lex back in the League. She’s a fun character we didn’t see much of at all this season.