Review: My Adventures with Superman “Pierce the Heavens, Superman!”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

As a Brainiac-possessed Clark heads on a direct course for Earth, Lois must find a way to free him from the pleasing simulation trapping his mind.

OUR TAKE

Hey, remember Gurren Lagann? This title is a reference to that! Does it say anything about the show itself? Nope, just example 482 of how the writers like anime! AHAHAHAHA! I’ve been seeing a lot of positive reception to this episode, so let me be clear, I like A LOT of what this one is going for ON PAPER. Big bombastic alien invasion of earth? Classic Superman premise. Clark being trapped in a happy illusion that he must be forced out of? As mentioned last time, an homage to one of his best stories. Lois convincing him to snap out of it with the power of her love not just for him as a person but also what she believes he can be, followed by the two of them smashing the sky together to escape? Gotta be one of this show’s best moments hands down. The problems come with a lot of the things that SURROUND those good parts. I already mentioned a couple episodes ago that this version of Amanda Waller is playing her hand way too quickly and acting kind of dumb for the character, which this episode only piles onto with how easily she’s distracted, followed by having all of her goons easily distracted AND BEATEN as well. How anyone takes any of them, including the increasingly shafted Slade, seriously after this is going to be a miracle in its own right.

Then there’s the simulation plot itself. Again, the bones of how Lois gets to Clark and frees him are great, but the connective tissue is rather weak. For one, the scenes there vary wildly in tone to the point it feels like whiplash. First hologram Jor-El is screaming dramatically for his minions to find Lois, then he’s poking his head into a bush to stare at her to reset the program. Lois gets Clark alone after much effort to try to talk to him, then has to suddenly be tongue tied so as to raise the tension as she tries to express her love even though it’s already blatantly obvious. And perhaps most egregiously, they make a joke about aliens mispronouncing “Earth” which doesn’t make sense because this would be a verbal conversation. Basically, this season as a whole has been frustrating me quite a bit with how slipshod a lot of its writing has turned out to be, even if it does land the cool moments from time to time. I’m eager to see how the finale handles itself and how the recently confirmed third season will take things from this point forward, but I do have a well informed but perhaps irrational fear it’ll be more of that. But still, I mostly like the new suit, I just think it could just some trunks. Also, why did Brainiac-Clark not have shoes?