"Last Son" Re-Watch: "Tools of the Trade" & "Two's a Crowd"

Superman The Animated Series

 We have reached the end of the first season of "Superman: The Animated Series." Time flies when you're only dealing with thirteen episodes. Will we end on a high note, a low note or a meh note? Let's find out!

Darkseid: "Welcome to Apokolips, Mr. Mannheim.

Bruno Mannehim: "Who are you?"

Darkseid: "They call me... Darkseid."

Bruno Mannheim and Intergang are getting more and more brazen. They attempt to rob the Metropolis Exchange using a tank, but are thwarted by Superman and Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. Though the press would rather give most of the credit to Superman. Mannheim is approached by a mysterious man named, Kanto, who offers him fantastic weapons that can even the playing field. Can Superman bring down Intergang with the help of SCU officers, Maggie Sawyer and Daniel Turpin? And who is Intergang's mysterious new benefactor?

How you doing?

This episode is something. On the surface, it's your run-of-the-mill S:TAS episode. But there is a mystery running through that ends up sort of being the best thing when it's revealed at the end. It's a re-match between Superman and Metropolis' main gang, Intergang. It introduces some new characters that will continue to play a part during the series with Sawyer and Turpin. Maggie Sawyer, in particular, is a pretty famous character that has played big roles in both Superman and Batman comics. Maggie was first introduced by John Byrne when he took over the Superman books post-"Crisis On Infinite Earths." She became one of the first and most openly recognizable lesbian characters in comics. She was engaged to Batwoman. She was Alex Danvers' first love interest in the CW's "Supergirl." It's great seeing her included in S: TAS. She is voiced by Joanna Cassidy, who I love. If you're of a certain age, you may know her from the seminal Christina Applegate classic, "Don't Tell Mom, the Babysitters Dead." She plays Rose Lindsey of "I'm right on top of that Rose" fame. Cassidy's voice work here is different. Her tone and inflection feel a little stunted, so I'm hoping it gets better in future episodes.

I'm getting a little more impressed with how the show is incorporating threats that are Superman level. The tank bit is great, though, even though I have no idea why the cops spend so much time shooting at it. It's a monumental waste of time and bullets. The weapons that Kanto brings Intergang are pretty cool, particularly the gloves that form giant hands that can rend steel. These are imaginative ways that a street level gang can be somewhat worthy foes for Superman. And that train bring down by Intergang was pretty cool.

That being said, this episode is pretty paint by numbers. Unfortunately, Bruno Mannheim and Intergang aren't the most interesting of villains so it sort of makes things a bit "meh." If you're familiar with comics, you have a good idea of who is behind this when Kanto arrives, but that doesn't make those last couple minutes of the episode exciting. Introducing Darkseid makes this episode essential viewing even if it is just OK and leaves you anticipating when Superman will have his first face to face with the ruler of Apokolips.

Grade: B

The Parasite: "You want me to go into this guy's mind and try to find out where the bomb is. No skin off my nose. But I want something in return."

Superman: "What's that?"

The Parasite: "Something to help the time go faster in this dump... And not a bunch of boring books either. I want cable *and* the premium channels."

Superman is called in by the SCU to help them take down a former STAR Labs employee, Earl Garver, who has stolen a radioactive isotope, made a bomb and is threatening to detonate it somewhere in Metropolis in four hours. After Garver is knocked unconscious, the SCU and Superman decide to enlist the help of Parasite to drain some of Garver's life force to gain his memory and the location of the bomb. Garver encased it in lead so Superman can't use his X-ray vision. When Garver's stronger personality gains control of Parasite, is all hope lost? Or can Superman convince his foe to take control lest he be destroyed as well.

Silence of the Parasite.

This is an odd episode to end this season, particularly after revealing Darkseid at the end of the last episode. I was fully expecting some Apokolips action, but instead we get the return of... Parasite? 

The episode opens and its high energy. The Metropolis SCU is attacking this mansion. They try to ram the door down, but it turns out the mansion is actually a reinforced steel building. Luckily, Superman shows up and goes HAM. It's always nice to see Superman really let loose like he does in this opening sequence. These are all non-living things, so he can rip them apart with gusto and he doesn't have to worry about any innocent bystanders getting hurt. The kind of icing on the cake to this is Garver being all cocky when Superman finally reaches him and then getting knocked out by a piece of his own death trap once Superman destroys it.

One issue I have with this issue is that there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency. There is a radioactive bomb that is going to go off in four hours, but there is a lot of dilly dallying. Superman can't just fly around and X-ray everything because the bomb's encased in lead. Probably shouldn't have told everyone at STAR Labs that was one of your few weaknesses, Supes. Superman also says that he can't search all of Metropolis in four hours, but I feel like he probably could pretty easily? But, I'll let that slide, because if he did we wouldn't have an episode. Superman is not the brightest crayon in the box this whole episode. I feel like a lot of the shenanigans that Garver as Parasite pulls Superman should have been able to see through. You don't need to be the World's Greatest Detective to figure out things aren't kosher here.

I'm not Parasite's biggest fan, but I do like the show leaning into this characterization of him as some dumb loser. He could have asked for literally anything in order to help. Maybe time off his sentence. Maybe getting to go outside every once in a while. But, nope. Instead he wants a big screen tv with cable and all the premium channels and I'm assuming premium is a kid friendly way to say he wants the porn channels. And you know what, I'm oddly invested in this. When the episode ended, I was oddly satisfied to find out that he got his cable.

The climax of the episode in the mine is fine, but it fits the sort of stupidity theme of the episode. How convenient that Garver found a mine where the walls were basically lead. And, Superman knows what Parasite's powers are, so maybe he wears some sort of protective suit, even if he knows it will get destroyed eventually. Even, a brief touch could give Garver his secret identity, but Superman seems to be not worried about that. And, I don't think that letting that bomb go off in the mine's "bottomless" pit would mean that everything as A-OK. I know I'm overthinking all this, but I want better for this show because it's good! Sigh. There's always season two.

Grade: C

Next up, ghosts from Krypton's past threaten Superman's adopted home as season two begins.

What do you all think of these episodes? Am I being too hard on them? Should I stop overthinking things? Or have you had the same thoughts? Let me know in the comments.