Episodes 13 Review
"Clark's life falls apart as The General goes into hiding ... in Clark's apartment! Meanwhile, Jimmy struggles with being a leader, and Lois goes toe-to-toe with Vicki Vale as they track down missing scientists!" The third episode of season two "Fullmetal Scientist" starts off Superman saving people from fire but the arson slowly reveals a more sinister purpose when a new corporation comes to town touting new robots and missing robotics experts. Jimmy struggles with having a new roommate and leading his Flamebird division. Clark is yet again unable to get a word in with Lois about Kara and the Beacon and is against the deadline to publish an article. Lois and Vicki Vale get into old-fashioned reporter hijinks trying the nab the latest scoop but the former gets an offer that leaves her with uncertainty. In typical fashion, all three of their problems converge into one giant kerfuffle. All in a day's work for three best friends in Metropolis. Can't catch a break.
The pacing, drama, action, humor, world building, overarching threats, and balancing act of character arcs continue to be on point while the world of My Adventures With Superman continues to expand: this week is centered in the Bakerline neighborhood which was mentioned a few times last season, the arrival of more DC characters in Silas Stone, John Henry Irons, Thomas Weston, AmerTek, and robots named after Metallo. Out of the new characters, Weston is the most reimagined. Gone is the military background from the comics, Weston is a bombastic anime villain who just wants to be top dog but almost blows up the city because of his desperation. Silas Stone is a small presence in the episode but a point is made to mention he has a young son that's 9 or 10 and most DC fans know that's Victor Stone aka Cyborg. John Henry Irons is relatively unchanged, a scientist with ethics who finds out he's working for a corrupt company and takes matters into his own hands. Not to mention like with Stone, a famous relative of Irons is also mentioned - his niece Natasha who has had a very very short list of appearances in animation.
The subject of Clark's article is a nice callback and recurring theme from last season's penultimate episode "Zero Day Part 2" where the people of Metropolis rose up to the occasion and helped Superman defeat Ivo. Here we have John Henry Irons, a hero in his home community of Bakerline stepping up to help Superman save Metropolis from AmerFusion's meltdown. Returning from season one, Livewire appears to be operating as a powered mercenary for hire and we can assume Intergang and Heatwave may return in similar roles. Another interesting return is Superman's bio-electric aura, seemingly a nod to the gaggle of new powers All-Star Superman got in the comic when he was overcharged by the Sun. And just in time of its emergence, it comes in handy with the big threat of the episode. Perhaps more of Superman's powers will show up this season. And the big one, Lexcorp is officially founded and swallowing up companies for Task Force X starting with AmerTek.
DCAU Resource's rating: 9.8/10