The Daily Planet Trio on the Rocks

My Adventures With Superman Ep 5 Review

You know, a lot of shows would typically wait until the end of the season to drop a big “wham episode.” That’s the episode when a show irrevocably shakes up its status quo. And now that Lois has figured out that Clark Kent is Superman, there’s no going back. What’s worse, Lois and Clark’s unintentional neglecting of Jimmy might push him away for good. The Daily Planet Trio has fractured, and it might destroy the life Clark’s worked to build in Metropolis. 

Is Lois Turning into an Amber?

So after the events of the party, Lois knows that Clark is Superman. Not think; she knows! Though at this point, she’s seen Clark lift a box filled with a massive dumbbell like it’s nothing. If you don’t know something up by then, then you’re either oblivious or lying to yourself.

The problem is that Lois’ biggest flaws, her recklessness and hatred of lying, come back to ruin everything. Rather than being upfront and asking Clark the truth with irrefutable evidence, she puts herself in harm’s way for the umpteenth time to talk to Superman. When that doesn’t work, she doubles and then triples down on her worst flaws. It gets to the point where she throws herself off the roof of the Daily Planet building to force Clark to save her! She’s willing to die if it means getting the truth out of Clark! 

Lois Lane is a hungry reporter who seeks literally nothing but the truth and thinks her best friend is lying to her

Amber is a high-school student who already knows that her boyfriend is a superhero but still feels neglected

If you guys can't see the differences here, then idk… pic.twitter.com/Wr9yJZc6ki

— Smv (@Smv_of_Heroes) July 29, 2023

After the episode aired, a popular tweet on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) compared Lois’ actions to that of Amber from Amazon Prime’s Invincible. That show saw the aforementioned character snap at the lead for not trusting her enough to tell her the truth. Now people think Lois is falling into the same pattern and being an unreasonable jerk. However, keep in mind Lois’ perspective. She’s so hurt by her father’s lying that when Clark doesn’t come forward and tell her the truth, she takes it as a personal betrayal. As a result, she fails to realize how it was her saying that she wanted to expose Superman’s secrets that made Clark want to hide the truth. In short, she’s being unreasonable and doesn’t even realize that. 

Jimmy Is Tired of Being a Third Wheel

Another exceptional part of the episode was how it dealt with the issues of Jimmy Olsen. The previous episode saw Jimmy realize that, contrary to what he thinks, he’s becoming a third wheel to Clark and Lois. What’s worse is that he can’t even tell them how he’s feeling neglected. When he tries to, they end up brushing it off due to their problems, only exacerbating the issue. 

What makes this a sign of good storytelling is that, instead of blowing these issues off until they hit a boiling point, MAWS doesn’t. The show deals with the urgency they deserve, and it helps make the characters feel like actual people. As a result, Jimmy becomes more than just the comic relief of the Daily Planet Trio: he’s got his own problems and insecurities. In addition to the third wheel thing, Jimmy also discovers that Steve Lombard has been trolling his conspiracy videos, hurting his self-esteem even further. Worse, Steve manages to get under Jimmy’s skin by correctly pointing out how his friends are drifting away from him. Jimmy tries to deny it, but deep down, he knows it’s true. The Daily Planet Trio is at risk of breaking apart.

Clark Kent Almost Loses Everything

While all of this is going on, Clark can only think about two things: telling Lois he likes her, and figuring what’s going on with that stolen military tech. Someone’s been abducting anyone using it, and he’s determined to figure out who, but he’s running himself ragged doing so. When the villain of the week tries to flee because she thinks he’s the culprit, Superman stumbles upon the true masterminds: Amanda Waller, Slade Wilson, and a currently unnamed General. All of them are convinced that Superman is the enemy, and all of them are determined to bring him down.

What follows is one of Superman’s hardest fights to date. Unlike in most media where Slade couldn’t hope to beat Superman, the show’s version doesn’t just hold his own, he has the Man of Steel on the ropes several times. Slade is one of the deadliest fighters in DC’s roster in every reality, but this version of him might be stronger than almost all the others. To their credit, though, the General makes Waller and Slade stand down when their actions put innocent lives at risk. If anything, at least it proves the General’s actions are just misguided.

Then right after this, Clark has to deal with what happens with Lois, and it devastates him. While Clark did hypocrtically lie to Lois despite telling her they shouldn’t keep secrets, he did have good reason to. He was rightfully scared that she would expose everything about him to the world. To put it bluntly, Clark didn’t know which would be worse: having his identity outed, or knowing that the woman he’s falling for was the one who did it. 

The Daily Planet Trio is Falling Apart

The episode ends on a very bleak note, with the Daily Planet Trio now fractured by neglect and mistrust. As a result, when Clark and Lois forget about the camping trip Jimmy planned to hunt for Bigfoot, he takes off on his own. This only leads him to be attacked by some form of ape-like creature in the woods, far from anyone’s reach. 

Keep in mind this is just the halfway point for the season. If they managed to do all this in just five episodes, then that implies that the next few are going to be even crazier. That implication alone is exciting. I’m looking forward to next week’s episode.

I Give “You Will Believe a Man Can Lie,” a 4/5

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