2x22 The Late Mr. Kent

[6.2/10] Eh, I like a good noir homage, but Superman isn’t really a great character for it. He’s the Big Blue Boyscout, not a morally conflicted gumshoe, so the whole routine rings a little false. Tim Daly can’t quite deliver the pained, smoky voiceover with the tenor it requires, so the episode’s main conceit plays as pretty flat.

It was also super obvious that it was Bowman the whole time. Maybe I’ve just seen too many noir homages or heard Robert Ebert’s law of conservation of characters too many times, but when the culprit is predictable, the mystery rarely has much juice to it.

I did like the basic conflict of Clark “dying” while Supes feels trapped without his civilian life to fall back on. Him telling his parents that he’d go crazy if he had to be Superman all the time is an interesting beat for the character. But it’s not really clear why he couldn’t just “wash up” as Clark someplace else at some other time when the fisherman wasn’t in view. It seems like a pretty meager problem compared to plenty of other times when Clark mysteriously fell, seemingly to his doom, only to pop up just fine later.

There is some boldness here in Superman barging into an execution and stopping it. (Though it’s a little odd that Metropolis does executions by gassing -- was that still a thing in 1997?) It’s kind of dark to show both a foiled execution of an innocent man, and gestures strongly toward a successful execution of a guilty one in the end. (I also appreciate the poetry of Bowman realizing that Clark is Superman just before he died).

The problem is that too much the meat of this episode is just kind of generic. I like the idea of paying a little more attention to Cal-El as Clark rather than Superman, to give that part of his identity the win for once. The problem is that Clark’s not the world’s greatest detective, so his investigative routine comes off pretty mild despite the noir trappings, and all the random bombs and assaults feel cheap. (Even in a police helicopter, Bowman should be zero match for Supes).

Overall, this one has some interesting concepts and a decent gimmick, but doesn't know what to do with them.

I love it. Love it love it love it. I don't even want to write all the reasons why because i just want to watch the next episode, but i feel i have to.

In the beginning when Clark senses his heartbeat and eye movement to detect if he's lying, brilliant.

The pizza shop felt realistic, the guy be taking an order, and then the scene actually expands and he ends up having back up tapes, great.

Clark's death and him having to stay hidden, good.

The effect Clark's death has on Lois is good and we see the emotions stirring within her, and it brings her closer to Clark, brilliant.

Her going to his apartment to investigate, her meeting with Superman, her spotting the tracker and bomb first and alerting Superman and him saving her, good stuff.

Clark's apartment explodes but we don't just move on to the next scene and plot development, we see Superman actually go and get a water tanker, punch a hole in it and see him put out the fire, awesome. Even when debris falls to the ground we see him clear up there too, and see the guy who planted the bomb look at his handiwork, where Superman spotted him.

The scuffle between the guy and Lois on the stairs was good, and then the interaction with Superman and Lois.

The battle with the villain and Superman was a foregone conclusion, but the choreography of the scene was entertaining, and it feels awesome when Superman's theme music kicks in at heroic moments.

Then at the end, the revelation the villain has that Clark is Superman, only too late, as we see the surprisingly dark move of the animation pulling the lever to execute him. I didn't think this animation would do that kind of implication, brilliant.

I loved the episode.