Season 1, Episode 10: "O Mother, Where Art Thou?" (SPOILERS)

I know this show is well liked and I was enjoying it early on, but sadly I gotta say I hated both this one and the one before it. The core Morgan Edge plot I just find eye rollingly bad, and the teenage romance now feels like Clark/Lana from Smallville all over again. Wish I was enjoying this as much as many of you, but I am thinking like the other CW DC shows, maybe this just isn't for me.

 

For these types of shows, I expect the antagonist to be grandiose, larger-than-life. Dramatically, this is all but necessary given the grandiosity of the protagonist. So on that front, Edge/Tal-Rho fills the bill. Granted, he’s not the most complex or nuanced Big Bad — not in the same league as, say, Jessica Jones’ Kilgrave. But he’s a fair bit better than most other DC/CW villains. I have no major complaints.

 

I dont see grandiose. I see lazy. Long last brother? Stupid. Bringing back Krypton? Smallville and Man of Steel both did this. I also hate the new character possessing an established one trope. Smallville did this all the time, now we got Lara and such doing it? Also Edge's costume is just the frigging Blur outfit from Smallville. Nothing here is original and it all feels soap operish and very CW. In a bad way. I enjoyed the Superman family stuff early on, but as the Edge plot takes more focus I find this show less watchable. Also hating the teen romance devolving into Smallville stuff I saw for 10 years

 

I hear ya. I’m not personally bothered by Edge and Clark being related but I understand why someone else would be. I certainly wouldn’t have gone that route if I was in charge.

RE: Jordan and Sarah: I feel like they’re pretty easy to ignore at the moment. So long as the title characters continue to be the driving force behind the series (and with Jordan being everybody’s least favorite Kent, I don’t see the focus shifting any time soon), I’m willing to tolerate them for now. And frankly: they could be way worse. I think they’re more engaging than annoying and their more obnoxious attitudes are on-point for kids their age.

 

Jordan/Sarah has NONE of the overwrought, contrived angst of Smallville or any other CW “teens” show I can remember. They are refreshingly normal and totally harmless to me thus far. But different strokes for different folks.

The brother thing isn’t what I would’ve done, but it’s still a mystery being unraveled so I’m not gonna pass judgment on it yet. But I think they’ve handled it fairly well thus far, tbh. I certainly prefer it over the basic “it’s Zod!” reveal most of us thought they were doing a few episodes ago. That was when I was most disappointed in the direction they were taking. This is at least something different from the obvious route, imo, and I’m enjoying it so far as a new take on “The Day of the Krypton Man.”

 

I agree Zod is overdone. But this isn't better. It is the same thing with more forced family drama Superman mythos don't need.

This romance def has the Smallville pattern. The constant lying about his abilities, etc. I honestly would just rather they let her find out about the powers so we can skip this particular step in the story. I have seen it way too many times.

 

I don't get the Samllville comaprsion considering this plot is Superhero comics 101. I can understand being tired of it (like I was with Invincible) but its not CW specific lol.

As for the brother storyline I found it thematically consistent with the rest of the series. It works better than say Zod because there is no personal connection. Edge works as a foil for Superman with his backstory and honestly the twist enriched the show for me. His plan might be similar to MOS but if its being done beter here I don't have much to complain about.

 

Yeah most superhero stories that aren't Marvel's "celebrity" superheroes are gonna have a character with abilities hiding them from their love interest for a while. Daredevil, Spider-Man, you name it. If they have secret abilities, this is gonna be a subplot. Difference here is that normally it would've been Clark and Lois, but this story's after that part of their lives, so it's their son instead, which I fail to see a problem with. Especially since there hasn't been NEARLY as much drama focused on it as in previous incarnations of this trope. It's just an expected trope of the genre, and far, FAR from CW-specific.

 

Remember when they tried to force that drama onto the Danvers?

 

I don't agree really at all. I don't think the personal connection adds anything here. When they do this Zod and co want to remake Krypton story, it is a story about choosing between his old and new home. I don't see how making it about choosing between his wife/children vs this brother he only just found out about, has no meaningful connection to, and is already an established villain he dislikes at this point adds anything new or meaningful to the dynamic. It is the same exact thing with minor tweaks to give it the appearance of being new.

Not to mention the reveal itself felt it was just thrown in there. Take season 3 of Doctor Who. There is build up to the grand reveal of who the villain ends up being in relation to the Doctor. Or if you want a great example at telling this long lost brother story, Dexter season 1. Again, that story teases it and adds mystery, so the reveal is a great payoff and they have a much more meaningful relationship. In this show, we just have a plan involving possessed people having Kryptonians thrown in there. We don't even get hints that Clark may have family on the planet already. Then suddenly Morgan Edge is his brother. Just dumb to me. I don't see anything of value in the setup or execution here.

I understand I have an unpopular opinion here given the show is popular. But this is just how I see it

 

In my estimation this has been far, far less egregious than how this trope is typically done in these kinds of shows. These characters feel much more grounded and realistic in their depiction as angsty teenagers. So I'm actually invested in their relationship rather than annoyed, even when they behave in less than mature ways, and even when the plotting dips into too familiar cliches. I think the actors do a good job at selling it, too.