Season 2, episode 14: "Worlds War Bizarre"

The only part where the writers blew it was a missed opportunity between Clark and Jonathan about being powerless.

Sarah finding out about Jordan's powers was well-done. Also we get to see Lana seeing her bizarro counterpart, Lana-Rho.

They had to do the obligatory Superman appearance when he did his speech while powerless. You can't have another episode almost without Superman since that episode with Jordan stepping up.

 

My goodness, I loved this episode. Might be my favorite of the season. The stakes! The reveals! The emotional moments! They all hit, imo.

First, Superman's speech was perfect. No notes. And that wasn't the only perfect Superman moment in the episode. I loved that convo with Sam earlier too, where he suggested they were only in this mess because Superman saved him - "Saving a life is never a mistake, Sam." That's a pure Superman response if ever I've heard one. Any story that demonstrates that what makes Superman is not his powers is an A+ story to me, and that's what this episode was all about.

Lana's tenure as mayor sure is off to a trial by fire start, lol. She's handling it pretty well so far I'd say, though. I think she's also learning that having Superman in your corner ain't so bad after all.

The Steel fam continue to be MVP's and that will never be a bad thing. Their goodbye mirroring their goodbye from S1 back on their Earth was very well done, as was the addition of Nat's new found family. And John's pep talk to Clark had me . They've come so far!

Once again, I adore Jordan whenever he's not All About Sarah. Kid's really stepping up and I love to see it. I even loved his fear about flying his dad to the Fortress. That really rang true. He hasn't had much time to practice, afterall.

Small touch, but I really loved the editing choice of having Clark's voicemail, "Clark can't come to the phone right now..." inter-cut over the montage of everybody witnessing the appearance of the other world's sun. Well-played.

With the visuals in this ep, it's finally sinking in for me that we're actually getting a season of live-action Superman TV about Bizzarro World and the merging of two Earths (and a bonus Parasite!). Definitely never thought I'd see anything like this. I am a happy fangirl indeed. Can't wait for the finale.

 

In the early parts of last season, I defended the limited appearances of Superman in Smallville as a way to assist the audience with its “willing suspension of disbelief.” After all, favorite son Clark Kent had just moved back to his hometown; so if the Man of Steel started to show up on a regular basis, this would — and should — raise suspicions. But I figured this strategy would be gradually abandoned. And indeed it was. The culmination was Supes addressing the town hall meeting.

I know, I know. Most fans just accept the disguise trope as a longstanding tradition. Thus, they can enjoy something like Superman’s moving defense of Mayor Lane Lang as a kind of quintessential “Superman moment.” Alas, I am cursed by nitpicky-ness.

On a related point: I did think it odd that the impending Bizarro crisis was depicted as a more-or-less local event. I.e., why was it Lana’s responsibility to face hostility from the townsfolk and try to explain what was going on? What about the governor, the president, the United Nations? Didn’t the arrival of a second Sun (a freaky square Sun at that) make the national news?

 

There's also one other mistake the writers made - Lana had no headaches when Lana-Rho was around up until their meeting.

 

Kyle is actually growing on me. If he’s let in on the secret then I can see a reconciliation between him and Lana and will be ok with it. Hope they fully redeem him like how Stranger Things did with Steve.

 

Is Sarah going to find out that Clark is Superman or will she just think that Jordan has super powers? Maybe she'll think he's just a "meteor freak" like people generally assumed others were in Smallville.

 

I’m sure Lana will fill her in on the whole story

 

Unless Lana tells her a different story to avoid freaking her daughter out that she was dating someone part alien. And then Jordan will be forced to tell more lies to be consistent with Lana and say that he gained powers rather than them being latent.

 

They do have the whole XK card to play if they need to, but I don't think creating another lie is consistent with with the theme and direction of the season so far.

Decent episode. Glad Jordan continues to step up in a positive yet realistically steady way. It's fun having Nat in on the action as Steel II. I don't care how close knit a small town community is, you ain't looking to your Mayor for guidance on a big red sun in the sky. Clark's moment with Sam was gold-- and FYI just because I don't think I commented on it, his similar scene with Sam and John Henry in the previous ep where he told them something along the lines of "There's always a way/nothing's impossible" put the biggest smile on my face.

As always, I just wish this show was provided a bigger budget.

 

The fight had some nice shots.
Overall, the season lost me somehow. Everything around Ally feels cringe to me and I just want it to end.

 

You'll get your wish next week.

Now if Diggle showed up earlier in the season and was still trying to find a way to open the Green Lantern box and he also concluded that arc in the Flash, that means that Superman and Lois is happening at the same time as the Flash - ie present day. So if it were revealed that Superman and Lois takes place some time in the future then that wouldn't line up with everything else in the Arrowverse.

But if it does take place at the same time as the Flash then why doesn't Superman call on the Flash and any other heroes to help with the two worlds merging? And why isn't the Flash experiencing any of that like everyone else was when different series experienced Crisis?

 

Usually I have mostly praise for this show...this time I don't. Some people get upset when people criticize shows they like, so if you don't want to read critical statements, just skip the following....

Spoiler

Vaguely annoying and mostly filler. That's what this episode felt like.

Good speech by Superman, but I feel like he needed more of a plan than just showing up - I mean if he dies, the world is ****ed, so rather than lie low and try to figure out a way to restore his powers quickly ( sayyyyy, isnt there a mine full of yellow kryptonite that grants super powers nearby?) he does something that was almost guaranteed to draw out the villains to try and kill him. Even his near suicidal attack on Ally last week was kind of stupid - in the comics and in the animated universe he's a bit smarter than that when facing enemies who can drain his powers.

Suddenly Jordan's ****ing useless again - I mean, shouldn't he be at least as powerful, if not more powerful than Jon El and even-less-likeable Lana ?
I wad gutted because he's been getting cooler every episode.


Did anyone seriously think John Henry's plan was anything but futile ? I kind of feel like that was an insult to the audience, as well as the rest of the cast.

If the Langs were more likeable I might give a **** about them, but at present they're just an annoying distraction.

All in all, at the end of the episode we're pretty much where we were at the end of the last episode, Superman is powerless and the world is hours away from ending.....

As such, this episode really doesn't do much other than slightly elevate the stakes.

 

The stuff with Bizarro was awesome - peak Superman, but since

Spoiler

they killed him off in a really stupid way its gone downhill .... so I suspect that they actually didnt and will bring him back in the final episode, and somehow he'll save the day or something like that - maybe he'll merge with regular Supes and restore his powers so he can kick Ally's ass.

We'll see.