DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW 7.9

RECAP - DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW  7.9:  "Lowest Common Denominator"  

Well, the team has managed to escape the android version of themselves, and got into hiding until they plan their next move---but that means returning to the pocket dimension that serves as John's mansion in the process.  But in THIS installment---Gideon's programming to get them away from their counterparts and back "home" in a sense led them there----with some consequences, of course.  While they're safe---somewhat---for the moment, they're also stuck in Hell---and that means that ANYTHING can happen, and Astra is the expert on this scenario, so she has to take lead in this episode to help the team navigate this new pickle they've gotten themselves in---which is something akin to a reality TV episode. 

We get to see the team try and figure out how to get back to 2022 in the real world, as Gideon is having doubts about her ability to be an effective member of the team, what with her human emotions and newfound romance with Gary playing a part in it.  The team realizes they're in Hell as Davies went wandering through the mansion, and heard voices, only to open the doors, and seeing nothing but hellfire all about.  The team realizes that they're stuck there until they can find a way to get the time machine working again, and get back to their proper time.  But...Davies reminds Sara that she made a promise to him to rescue the man he loved before he dies in World War I.  The team agrees that they need to do what they can to avoid being possessed.  They're being watched, and when Sara and Ava go to investigate some noises, they find Gary and Gideon in bed after having sex.  

Astra finds out that there's a film crew that sold their souls to have success for reality TV, and they're watching, but they'll do whatever they have to in order to gain ratings, and stir up trouble.  She warns the team against allowing themselves from getting possessed.  But sadly, as she makes her way to Hell, we see Zari #2 and Nate nearly get into a compromising position.  And Behrad...now sober...is nervous as hell, because he admits to Nate and his sister that he's got the hots for Astra, and wants to ask her out.  Nate tells him to be himself, and he somehow sneaks down to hell unbeknownst to Astra.  Astra visits the demon who has the souls of the TV crew.  She lies to the demon...named Harrison...and tells him the Legends are HER souls, and for him to lay off.  But Behrad's entrance blows her cover, and they're zapped back into the mansion, unable to stop Harrison from stirring up trouble amongst the team.  

Sara spends the episode planning, but it's not about planning on getting OUT of the pocket dimension, and getting home, but planning a vacation for her and Ava.  Spooner goes stark naked, looking to form alliances with anyone like the game Survivor.  The once budding friendship between Nate and Zari #2 ends up turning into a hate-fest, as they begin to toss barbs at each other, and she thinks he's backing out of his relationship with Zari #1.  Davies wants Sara to start fulfilling her promise, and he actually manages to get her to agree to stop World War I.  Gary is upset because Gideon breaks things off between them, and Harrison uses her as his chance to destroy the team, and get ratings with all the drama.  Gideon shuts down her emotions, and then starts playing everyone against each other, looking to start bumping them off at some point.  

Ava has been playing den mother to everyone, and she's getting sick of it.  Sarah's like a Real Housewife of Legends, Spooner going all Naked & Afraid, Zari #2 and Nate looking like the Jersey Shore crew, and Gary's crying about losing out on Gideon like he's lost on The Bachelorette.  Astra is losing HER cool, because Behrad helped screw up a perfectly laid plan.  As Zari #2 and Nate argue about his relationship, she brings out Zari #1, and she's witnessing everyone having a meltdown, due to Harrison's manipulations.  B has hid in a room, and he's tempted with those special gummies of his.  Gary then takes the helmet, and eats it, and refuses to get it back so that they can go home, but with Gideon being her bad self, who knows what would happen.  Behrad then comes out of his room, and smashes the bowl of gummies on the floor.  He finally opens up that he doesn't like cameras because he was too shy and embarrassed to be on TV...especially since his family had a reality TV show in their time, and he was actually replaced because he refused to play along.  He always wanted to just play it cool, as his way of coping. All he wanted to do is ask Astra out, because he's got the hots for her.  And because of his realness, the film crew returns, and the spell is broken.  The crew is sent away, and everyone returns to normal.  Nate and his Zari talk about him moving into the totem, and she heads back in.  He and Zari #2 make up.  Sara apologizes to Ava for losing it, and says that even though Ava was the mother hen, she's still hot.  Davies apologizes for his behavior as well, and will only hold Sara to her promise to grab his boyfriend, which Sara promises to do without making the timeline worse.  Astra and Behrad agree to go slow, since he's getting used to being sober.  Gideon is back to her normal self, and she says that the one way to get home and put things right IS to stop World War I....so their next stop is Sarajevo in 1914.  

This episode allowed us to catch up with the team after the time jump, and we see how they handle being a part of a reality TV show.  It was comical how the writers made the cast fit certain characteristics of people from famous reality shows, and they played them to the hilt.  It gave us some comical moments, but also allowed the team to address some tension, and get it out into the open.  For Behrad, however, it was his chance to shine tonight, because Astra was kind of taking lead on this matter, what with her experience in Hell, and aware of the situation at hand, we can even see HER losing her cool at one point.  But Behrad's fears and anxieties come to the forefront, and his honesty finally allows him to solve the problem, and break the spell.  But we FINALLY get to see him admit his feelings for Astra, and it's good that she responds.  While we're cool with them taking it slow, it's great that they're FINALLY getting those two together after much teasing.  The rest of the team is now aware of the Gideon/Gary pairing and are disgusted with it, but that's the comical part.  It helps ease the tension.  But they STILL need to get the apex of this storyline in gear, because it's begun to drag for me, and we need to get to the eventual endgame, because the season finale is not far off.  So, I'm hoping things pick up steam in the next couple of episodes.  

How did all of YOU feel about this installment?  Let me know how YOU have felt for this season thus far?  Subscribe and leave a comment below.  

Until then....time is on our side. 

 

SUPERMAN & LOIS 2.2

 

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  2.2:  "The Ties That Bind"  

Well....this week was a little better....everyone was a tad more mellow, and not in need of a Prozac, and hit the breaks on the tension---sort of.  Lois is still trying to learn her way around how to deal with Natalie, and vice versa, while John has his own issues with being around Lois.  Lana is still trying to ensure that she can get the new mayoral candidate in front of the Smallville faithful to ensure that the incumbent mayor goes down, the smug bastard.  Jon is still dealing with rehabbing his arm, and trying to get back into shape, but notices one of his teammates is a tad more....jacked than he used to be. Sarah's still hiding something from Jordan, and sooner or later, she's GOING to have to tell him.  But having the WORST of it all...is Superman.  Clark has been experiencing crippling visions of something that was underground, and it's painting a grim future.  It's also hindering him from doing what he does best---be the hero.  On top of that, the new DoD head - Anderson - has new super-powered people on his team wearing Superman's crest, and the Man of Steel isn't happy about it, but Anderson wants Superman's loyalty to America, which the former Last Son of Krypton isn't willing to give.  It will hinder his ability to be the hero the world needs if he can't operate without US Government sanction.  Safe to say....things are messy all around.

For the Irons Family....John and Natalie took off from Smallville to head to Metropolis in order to get their lives in order, but it didn't turn out so well.  Natalie has had trouble fitting in anywhere on this Earth, what with everyone that she knew on HER world, are NOT her friends on THIS world.  And John is trying to be supportive, but Nat is also dealing with the fact that she's seen the Lois Lane of THIS Earth, and is married and has kids with the Superman of this world---and THAT is extremely off-setting.  It didn't help that Lois completely went cold shoulder on her as well.  But as we learned last episode, Lois and Lucy's mother abandoned them when they were little. This has also led to us learning about something ELSE about Lois' life that we will dip into in a bit.  As for the Irons...Lois had reached out to John to try and smooth things with Natalie, but it's still rough going.  Heading to school with the boys seems to help somewhat, as he hangs out with Jordan and Sarah at lunch, and Sarah brings up the car her Dad got, that they can't get running.  Nat offers to take a look at it, and she and Sarah hang out after school, where Nat DOES notice that Sarah IS hiding something from Jordan, and if she doesn't tell him, it's only going to be worse.  And, with minimal effort, she gets the car running.

Speaking of Lois, she's facing issues on TWO fronts this week:  Clark's issue with this mental attacks, and this recent revival of a story she did sometime back when she was still with the Planet about a Cult Leader who misled people.  Those caught up in the cult leader's web all gave testimony to Lois, and she followed all protocols, and the story went to print, and the cult leader got in trouble.  But, however, the cult leader has posted a video denying everything, and now some of her former followers are now recanting their stories, causing backlash to Lois' credibility, as well as Chrissy's.  Chrissy doesn't want to go down with Lois, but Lois sticks to her guns.  She had a personal stake in the story because of someone close to her that got involved with the cult leader.  Chrissy presses her about it, and Lois admits that it was Lucy.  Lucy was a victim, and she did what she did to help her sister.  Chrissy feels that they need Lucy to speak up, but Lois isn't sure that she can get her sister to talk---they haven't spoken since then. 

On top of that, she's also investigating what's going on in the mines, as they recurring earthquakes have been causing problems all around town.  She and Chrissy talk to the geologist on site, but she isn't forthcoming with the answers, so she enlists John's help to track the seismic incidents and try to figure out what's REALLY going on.  There's another tremor, and they make an interesting discovery.  So does the geologist...who notices that whatever it was in the tunnels, is VERY powerful, and makes a call to whomever her superior is, which calls into question who SHE really is, but I'm assuming it's SOMEONE evil.  

We check in with the boys, as Jon tries to get his arm back into shape, but notices one of his teammates BIGGER than he remembers.  Jon pretty much discovers the guy is juicing, and tells Jordan.  As for Jordan, Sarah finally tells him what's been eating at her:  she made out with a gal at camp, and while it was brief and didn't mean anything to HER, it leaves Jordan devastated, and he walks off.  

For Clark....it's been a REALLY rough go.  These mental attacks are getting worse, and he's seeing visions of destruction.  Lois wondered if it was a planet possibly, but he's not sure.  He goes to ask his brother Tal-Rho about it, and he says he himself hasn't experienced it, but wonders if the townsfolk and Jordan will.  Tal offers to test him at his Fortress, but Kal refuses.  However, as Superman is going to bust up a weapons deal, he gets an attack again, and a guy powering up with some gas beats him up, but the Supermen of America show up to quell the threat, and Tag---a new member of the group---wonders why the Man of Steel is down for the count.  At the DoD, Lt. Anderson wonders what it was that got to him, and Superman can't recall.  He's worried about Tag being a part of Anderson's group, but Anderson lays down his law to Superman:  If you're not on his team, he doesn't have free rein there anymore.  So, Superman ends up going home, to say that he's going to get his brother and head to the Fortress to see what's going on.  Jordan is there, and offers to go with, just so he can feel useful.  They head to Tal's Fortress, where he brings out the crystal that has their mother Lara's essence.  She offers to test Kal, and see what's going on.  Meanwhile, Tal tries to goad Jordan, but he isn't playing games with his uncle.  Tal breaks free of his binds, lying about being powerless, and goes to attack his brother, and Jordan fights back.  Lara begs him to stop.  Kal recovers and goes after his brother, but Lara stops him from doing anymore damage.  She knows what's happening to him.  

Later on, Clark is talking to John and Lois about his findings, and they find out that his mental attacks coincide with the earthquakes happening in Smallville.  5 separate incidents, and 5 earthquakes.  So, the pieces are coming together.  They just now need to find out what lies beneath.

To put a wrap on this episode, it appears that Lana's efforts to get one of Smallville's brightest, David, to run for Mayor falls to pieces as he decides to take a job in Bristol in the wake of the financial downfall of the town.  The mayor thing isn't a guaranteed thing, but this town in Bristol is.  So, he bows out of the race.  Lana feels it isn't fair, and Kyle chalks it up to politics.  And she wants to unseat the incumbent mayor so badly, and Kyle starts asking around while he's at work, and she starts looking for other potential candidates, only for both of them to make the same discovery:  that SHE should run for mayor of Smallville.  So, the incumbent mayor will now have a formidable foe in Lana Cushing.  

This episode was better than the season premiere, and we got ONE issue fairly resolved, but we also got some more unraveling mysteries that are now going to effect the Kents in a huge way.  First and foremost, whatever this thing under the ground is---it's effecting Kal-El in a big way, and it's going to put him in harm's way in a massive way---and I believe it's Doomsday.  And who knows if Lt. Anderson is going to rear HIS ugly head into the proceedings as well.  His patriotic issue is an annoying aspect of this season so far, and NOT a fan of it.  And these young "Supermen" are going to be sacrificial lambs to this underground threat.  

As for Lois---well...she's got some issues to work through.  She's STILL got a find a way to co-exist with Natalie, and NOW...aside from wondering what her husband's going through, is to put this cult leader down once and for all, and that means opening old wounds with her estranged sister, Lucy.  Now, we haven't seen Lucy Lane since she made an appearance WAAAAY back in Supergirl, when Supergirl met The Flash.  Lucy was working for the DoD at the time, so in this New Earth, not sure what's changed in Lucy's history since then, but this cult thing is new. So....not sure how this will play out, but expect tension.  

Not sure where Jon's story will go either, but it's not a big picture thing.  As for Jordan and Sarah...I expect the two to be apart for awhile.  I know Jordan will get drawn more into his father's issues, and Sarah can be expected to lose herself either in this new friendship with Natalie, and also with her mother's mayoral hopeful.  

So...what did YOU all think of this episode?  Subscribe and drop me a line below.  

Until next time....Up, up, and away! 

BATWOMAN 3.8

 

RECAP - BATWOMAN  3.8:  "Trust Destiny"  

It would appear that some people embrace...or BELIEVE they embrace their destiny, such as Marcus or even Mary at this point.  Some, however, still seem to embrace hypocrisy...like the Bat Team AND Renee Montoya.  The ONLY one that is STILL true to themselves...is Alice.  She's still consistently playing all the angles, and NEVER straying from who she truly is.  And this episode, we see yet ANOTHER angle that she exposes to the Bat Team...and it's none other than Renee Montoya herself.  With tensions still raw between Ryan and Sophie, as well as Ryan and Renee...we're reaching critical mass as the Bat Team is desperate to save Mary before she reaches the point of no return.  Meanwhile, Marcus is looking to make a HUGE splash in Gotham with his plans for the city itself.  This draws the attention of Mary, who wants to see if they can team up, and have little fun.  The Bat Team has to team up with Montoya to see HOW they can get Mary back....and that means tapping into Montoya's past with her lady love, Pamela Isley to find the way to cure Mary before it's too late. So, we get to dip into Montoya's past with Pam in order to find out just how her and Batman managed to subdue the supervillain, and put her deep beneath the ground, and wither her away.  

We wind the clock back ten years, when Renee confronts Pam on her idealism and agenda to fight for the side of environmentalism, but choosing the extreme to do it, which involves killing and controlling the human populace to do it.  Pam says that Renee is betraying her by choosing her duty as a cop over their relationship.  They love each other, but Renee makes the hard choice by teaming up with Batman, and using a serum he concocted to put Pam down.  Renee tells the team what they need to do in order to save Mary, and that means that Ryan has to make the hard choice like she did.  And that means--like it or not--she has to find a way to discover WHERE Batman put Poison Ivy, and get the serum from HER in order to save Mary.  So...that means the team has to find her fast.  However, Ryan's brother has decided to throw a monkey wrench in the works by throwing a party at Wayne Enterprises, and he's calling Ryan to mock her, and show he's got plans for the town.  Ryan decides that they're going to crash the party---if only to try and sneak into the Batcave, and find out what Bruce's notes on the serum for Poison Ivy was--which Renee then finally discovers that Bruce Wayne was Batman.  Sophie had gotten some fraud notice earlier on, but she puts it aside for later.  

Meanwhile, Mary and Alice talk about their own plans, and then the hotel manager shows up to kick them out, as Ryan and Luke has frozen all her credit cards, but she uses her Ivy powers to get him off their backs, but they know that Ryan and Luke won't give up on her.  Alice suggests that the only way to get them off their back is to them hate her enough to get them to give up on her.  This gives Mary an idea to show up at Marcus' party in order to get them to hate her.  

Ryan, Luke, and Sophie are on their way to the party with aliases, so that they can find a way into the Batcave, but Montoya  joins them on the plan.  They see Marcus holding something of a demented Job Fair, as he asks questions of a couple of people, and if they don't answer the right questions, they get shocked electrically like he did with the Joker's joy buzzer.  This draws Ryan to him, as she uses a fake French accent in order to get closer to Marcus, and get his fingerprint signature in order to get access to her old office in order to gain access to the Cave.  Sha manages to answer his question correctly, but rebuffs his offer.  She walks off, and they manage to get into the office.  And after disposing of his goons, they get into the Batcave (telling Montoya to turn their head so she can't see HOW they get entry down to it).  Once in the Cave, they try to peruse Batman's notes in order to find out just where he managed to put Ivy.  Luke is running interference upstairs when Mary arrives, and starts to flirt with Marcus.  Ryan manages to figure out that Bruce had stashed Poison Ivy in the Cave itself....so the trio manage to search deep into the cave to find her.  When they do, she looks like a corpse, but they manage to extract some of Pam's blood so that they can get it to Mary.  

Luke manages to get captured by Marcus.  Batwoman is on her way to get Mary, and Sophie's fraud notice pops up again, but realizes it's from Alice.  She goes after Alice as she leaves Montoya in the Cave with Ivy.  Batwoman catches Mary on the roof, and is about to inject her with it, when Mary tells her that she has no idea is that serum will even work, and is she willing to use it on her, knowing that she might die from it it.  Just then, Marcus shows up with Luke, and he is about to kill Luke, saying that while Batman had the Joker, Batwoman has him.  In that critical moment, Batwoman nails Marcus with the serum by deftly throwing it at him.  As Luke is saved, Mary makes her escape.  Alice is in Montoya's office, and informs Sophie that Renee lied to them, and that Renee LET Alice find her files about Ivy.  And that that joy buzzer of Joker's that had been supposedly missing wasn't...Montoya had it the whole time.  Sophie realizes that Renee played them in order to find Pam.  Meanwhile, Batwoman and Luke are in the Cave with Marcus, as Ryan calls her mother, letting Jada know that she has Marcus, and if she wants to save him, she better come up with a cure quickly.  

Mary returns to Alice, and tells her what happened.  She said that in the moment Luke was in danger, and Batwoman made her choice...that she was the LEAST of Ryan's worries.  Alice admits to her that since she's been on this trip with Mary, taking care of her...the hallucinations she's had have subsided.  They hug, as they both realize their sisterly bond has gotten tighter.  As for Sophie...she checks up on Alice's accusations by searching Montoya's office.  She finds the joy buzzer, and calls Ryan.  She let's Ryan know what Alice said, and she says she had left Renee back in the deep part of the cave with Ivy.  And, we see that Renee had been talking to Pam...wondering if she could hear her.  She sees the white flowers and remembers them from when they were together.  She ends up placing a kiss upon the corpse looking Ivy....and Ivy wakes up.  After Sophie tells Ryan what she knows....we go back and see that BOTH of them are gone.  The REAL Poison Ivy is back and loose--thanks to Renee Montoya's help.  

Things just keep getting WORSE for the Bat Team, and Batwoman made a critical choice to save a life in this episode---it just wasn't Mary's.  Marcus was the bigger threat to her, and Luke could die, so she did what she thought was best in a critical moment.  And it continued to show THIS Mary that she STILL wasn't important to Ryan to save.  I can't honestly blame Batwoman for the choice she made, but it still pulls Mary further away from her, and getting LESS of a chance from being saved.  Marcus...who needed to be subdued, is now put in a place where he can't be trouble for anyone, and will allow Jada a chance to save him.  However, NOW the team faces a much BIGGER problem:  Pamela Isley is now revived, and is in no doubt going on a revenge kick.  Question is...is Renee going to join her?  Has she been playing everyone the whole time?  It seems that Alice is the only one who's had ANY foresight the entire time.  Sophie proving what Alice said to be seemingly true is just complicating matters even MORESO.  It will be VERY interesting to see what Renee says and does in this next episode as we wonder what her excuse will be.  

As for Mary and Alice....we're FINALLY seeing these two finally become more like sisters.  Alice, admittedly, as steadfastly stuck by Mary through her metamorphosis.  And it seems it's had a better effect on her as well:  her hallucinations are diminished.  What this means for the both of them in the future remains to be seen, but we know that Mary WILL meet up with the REAL Poison Ivy soon, and not sure what that will mean.  Either way, it's going to set the stage for some VERY interesting storytelling in the next few episodes.  

What did YOU all think of this episode?  I enjoyed it, and the stakes are getting higher as we get further along into the season.  The twists and turns thrown in...with Montoaya being the latest...and makes it even MORE intriguing.  So....lemme know YOUR insights by subscribing and leaving a comment below.  

Until next time...the Signal is OFF.

DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW 7.8

 

RECAP - DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW  7.8:  "Paranoid Android"

I dunno, folks.....I had such high hopes for this season when it came out....but I gotta tell you---the more it's dragged on, the more I realize that it's becoming a borefest.  This installment of our time travelling bunch as we returned from the holiday break saw us take a peek at what's going on with the Robo Legends as we give the REAL team a time-out.  And....not impressed.  I just couldn't really get into this epsiode...it was just mere filler.  Though it DID push the story along, it did so in a way that just couldn't make me give a damn.  We know we have a renegade Gideon controlling the new Waverider, and she's brought back another Ava android to serve as the ship's doctor, and now we have a complete android crew of Legends that are there to reset the timeline AND kill our OG's at the same time.  So, when we pick up on this installment, we go back to the last time both parties met---back in the hanger where the old team was trying to get the parts to fix Davies' time machine.  They had barely escaped, and managed to time jump before they were captured by their robo counterparts.  Two of the robos were destroyed or "killed" in the process, and Bishop sacrificed himself in the process to allow the Legends to escape.  Where THEY are, we have no idea, but we pick up on our robo team, and we see what THEY do this week---which is, essentially, fixing the whole Chernobyl disaster from 1986 that the OG's apparently screwed up. 

The android versions of this team are something of an aggressive, overexaggerated version of the originals.  With Sara being this head-strong leader hell bent on carrying out the credo of the mission.  With the Zari and Astra bots seemingly killed, they're taken to the medbay to be reset by the Avabot.  Meanwhile, the rest of the team has to fix what the old team did in Chernobyl in 1986, so they head there to get the General that helped the originals get people to safety, and save lives.  So, the team captures him, and they plan on making him fake a news broadcast to order people back to their homes instead of evacuating them, and allow history to run its course:  meaning that several will die in the fallout from the plant's radiation leak.  However, in the process of getting the broadcast set up, Sara gets injured as she's shot in the arm.  But she seems fine....but, when the General refuses to do the broadcast, the others contemplate killing his family in order to get him to comply.  This somehow doesn't sit well with the Sarabot, and Avabot notices this, and gets her to come to the ship to get fixed up.  When she gets there, Avabot digs into her arm to pull out the CPU chip implanted in her, and replaces it with a new one.  Sarabot also notices the CPU chips for Zari, and makes a mental note of it.  When she's fixed up, Sarabot breaks into the cabinet, and notices the other CPU's with the names of all the team on them.  It's then that she realizes that THEY are the androids---not the originals.

The rest of the team was able to repair the problem with the General, and got him to do the broadcast, but there was a scientist that managed to escape, and she's got scientific secrets with her, and looking to get out of Russia, and possibly sell them on the black market.  Sarabot is tasked with getting her back, or eliminating her, so she's going on the mission solo.  But before she does, she pulls the Zaribot aside, and informs her of what's really happening, and they find out that Gideon is the one behind it all, and they need to reset her, so that they can control their own futures. Zaribot goes to work on rebooting Gideon, while Sara goes to meet the scientist back in 1986.  She manages to convince the scientist to disappear and hide, while she takes the scientific info, and tries to hide her true intentions to the rest of the team.  With the rest of the team watching, and Avabot especially keeping close tabs, she completes the mission, and fools everyone.  

Once back aboard the renegade Waverider, she ends up exposing the plot by Gideon, and telling them they're all androids, and that the Avabot has been helping Gideon all this time.  That how they're handling things isn't the right way, and they can make their own choices.  However, what Sarabot did NOT plan on, was Gideon managing to manipulate the Zaribot into NOT rebooting her, by upgrading her CPU and making her smarter and more powerful. So, with that in mind, Sarabot is then captured and reprogrammed to carry out her mission without any emotional aspect.  She meets up with the scientist again, and ends up killing her on the park bench where they first met.  Thus, their mission continues...now with Sara as nothing more as a killing machine.  

What can I say?  As I stated at the beginning, this was just filler, and proves that the Gideon on the Waverider is willing to make the ends justify the means in order to maintain the timeline----even if it costs lives.  This is a ship of androids, and there is no emotional thought now.  Whether they believe in the Sarabot's original claim that they're androids is a moot point now.  The mission will go on, and now it means that the showdown between the androids and the real McCoy's is going to happen soon.  We're only a few episodes out from the season finale, so I hope this gets wrapped up soon.  This was something of a boring episode, and I HOPE things pick up from here.  

How did all of YOU feel about it?  Subscribe to the blog, and leave me YOUR thoughts and theories.  

Until then....time is on our side. 

SUPERMAN & LOIS 2.1

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  2.1:  "What Lies Beneath"  

Like the poster says:  Small Town.  Big Secrets.  Welcome back to Smallville, and the First Family of this little town, as we dive into another season of the Man of Steel and the rest of the Kent clan.  And when we last left off with the Kansas town, it was recovering from the fallout of the Morgan Edge situation, and his near takeover of the town and more, as he tried to convert the town into new Kryptonians to revive the lost planet of Superman's birth.  We also get the fallout from the appearance of John Henry Irons' daughter Natalie, who has made her way to New Earth to find her dad, only to discover that the Lois Lane on THIS planet is VERY much alive----but it's not who she thinks.  It's a time of adjustment, but it appears that NOT everyone is taking it well.  Plus...Superman is about to face a new super threat lurking beneath the surface of the town---as well as dealing with the new head of the DoD as General Lane has stepped aside to be more of a father and grandfather.  

This opening episode of the season sees everyone in SERIOUS need of a Prozac.  Most notably Lois...who, upon seeing Natalie try and run towards her when Nat seems to think that's her mother, does nothing more but get stone faced and walks off.  Throughout this episode, she's been in total bitch mode, as she TRIES to throw herself into work, where Chrissy is TRYING to hire more help, but Lois hasn't been much help in THAT department.  On top of that, she's avoiding Clark and turning the cold shoulder to him, as he's off doing the Superman thing when needed, and ends up leaving the boys without adult supervision.  We see her discover Jon and his new squeeze Cassie in a near-sexual escapade, leading her to go off on Clark when he returns from his latest mission, and thus argues with him about the fact that Jon was left unattended, and nearly got into huge trouble with Cassie.  Not only that, Jordan went off with Sarah, and they have NO idea what HE is up to.  She argues with Clark, and it forces him to take off to the Cushings without her.  He gets some friendly advice from Kyle, who is also having some hard feelings of his own.  He and Lana seem to be having issues again, as she's now campaigning for the new Mayoral candidate...but seems to be devoted to THAT moreso than spending time with her.  It's caused the both of them to seem distant, and looks to fracture their current stability.  Clark seeks Lana's advice, and they both realize that issues are causing their relationships to go awry.

For Jordan and Sarah, things seem off because of the fact that she was gone at Summer Camp, and as a counselor.  When she returned, she seemed different.  And...she seemed to want to avoid Jordan at all costs.  Jordan's been missing her, and is just excited to spend time with her, but she seems to want to avoid him.  When he tries to show her a little romance, it fails big time, and it leaves him dejected.  She explains that she's just not feeling up to the romance at the moment to her Dad, and he tells her to just take things slow, and let things play out naturally.  That also allows him and Lana to have THEIR little pow wow, and Lana explains that she just wants what's best for the town, but by no means does her time spent with the new mayoral candidate mean that she's trying to ignore him, or not mean she doesn't want time with him.  

Jordan and Jon talk, and Jordan pours his heart out to his brother, who tells him to try not to stress about it.  Things will be okay.  Clark manages to talk to BOTH his boys, and without giving them the actual "lecture", let's them know that what happened CANNOT happen again.  They promise him they'll be better, but Clark warns them that their mother WILL lecture them, so expect it coming.  Speaking of parents and kids, John explains to Natalie about the whole Lois situation, and tries to get her to adjust to life in Metropolis, but she can't.  She doesn't fit in, and the friends that were her friends on her world, their dopplegangers here are not.  She's not happy here, and feels she doesn't belong, and wishes she had died when her mother did. 

Lois finally does talk to Clark, and she says that she's felt bad since she saw Natalie, because she understands how Natalie feels....because her own mother left her and Lucy when they were younger.  And that sense of abandonment hit Lois hard, and she couldn't deal with it when it came to Natalie.  Clark assures her that she is not her mother, and that talking to Natalie might actually help them both.  So, Lois calls John and Natalie, and they'll be hanging out at the Kent Farm while Nat and Lois get to know each other, and better understand each other.  

As for Superman....well...he's got another problem.  After performing a rescue of a North Korean sub, he got the lecture from Col. Anderson, who is now the head of the DoD, about having that sub dropped closer to American territory.  Superman explains to him that his loyalty is to the world at large, and Anderson tells him that he needs to have his loyalty to America first.  Tremors start happening in Smallville, and it's up to Superman to try and stem the shaking, and goes underground to perform a rescue, only to bump into two members of the DoD dressed in super suits and performing rescues, as the tremors subside, and they take off.  Superman tries to find them, but they're gone.  He then pays a visit to Anderson again, who hands back the signal that calls Supes to them, and says that when he wants to join their team, he'll welcome him back....but America's interests come first.  And that means his new team members will obey HIS orders.  But they also bear the crest of the House of El, and Superman is NOT happy that they wear it, and feel they don't have the right, but Anderson feels differently.  Meanwhile, at the end of the episode, we see what it is that's causing all the shaking going on, as we see a big hand pounding through some rubble.  

So, we've got A LOT of stress going on in town, with THREE families, and between the Man of Steel and the DoD.  We now see just how big a buffer General Sam Lane was between them AND Superman.  He's now going to be tested on his loyalty, and called out onto the carpet for it by the DoD and quite possibly the country in later episodes.  Superman has given his loyalty to protect the world, NOT just America, but this is just the problem with the DoD, as is with America in general:  protecting America FIRST tends to leave the rest of the world out in the cold, and thus makes our country a little LESS humanitarian, despite the belief that we perceive ourselves as "the good guys".  But, we all know that when it comes to the military, or America as a whole---powers like what Superman has is believed by us that those kinds of powers are best used when WE have them...NOT anyone else.  So, there's going to be a great divide between Superman and America coming at some point.  If they REALLY wanted to do a deeper dive into this story, they could also include the Justice League into it as well...making the citizens of the country make the heroes draw a line as to where their loyalty lies.  

As for Nat and John....hoping that time with the Kents will soften Nat up, and she'll be able to better adjust.  Not sure what this will mean with her relationship with Lois, but that will be interesting to watch grow.  For Jordan and Sarah, I see trouble on the horizon, and not sure if this high school romance is going to last long.  I have a feeling that Sarah's time away from Smallville made her realize that she's just not into Jordan like she thought she was, and it's going to lead to HIS broken heart.  Jon and Cassie have gotten a little TOO close, but hopefully, they don't split THEM up.  We need SOMETHING good.  For Kyle and Lana...I have a feeling it's going to be A LOT of this Kyle feeling inadequate to her, and her having to reassure him otherwise.  He needs to get over that.  And for Lois---she's going to need to be strong for Clark when this crisis about Superman's loyalties comes into question, and it puts him on the hot seat.  Then there's this new threat....and I have a VERY bad feeling that the disturbance underground might be Doomsday.  

Overall, not a bad start to the new season...it sets up the drama among our characters, and gives us a new, unknown threat at this time, that will become bigger as the season goes on.  I just hope the drama doesn't get TOO heavy to where it drags the show down, and slows the pace of any growth.  But...what we got set us up for what's to come nicely.

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Until next time....Up, up, and away!