One of the reasons Superman is so revered worldwide is because of how he stands up for the marginalized and champions the ideals of truth, equality, and justice. With the surprisingly brilliant sixth episode, titled My Adventures With Mad Science, viewers are once again reminded of the cause Superman fights for.
The unfortunate fallout that happened in the fifth episode of My Adventures With Superman due to Lois confronting Clark about not revealing his secret identity to her and the duo abandoning Jimmy in his Bigfoot adventure is also addressed properly, even with the short runtime. In the previous episode, the General in charge of covert government operatives and Amanda Waller attacked Superman using agent Slade Wilson, wielding an advanced tech-laced armor whose tech signature was similar to most of the tech-based supervillains Superman had fought so far. The central mystery sprawls further in Episode 6 as Clark learns about his possible role in the larger narrative.
Spoilers Ahead
Bigfoot Adventure: Where Did Jimmy End Up?
In Episode 5 of My Adventures With Superman, while settling their personal matters, both Lois and Clark stood Jimmy up for his Bigfoot search and camping adventure, and since then, Jimmy has been missing without a trace. With neither of them being able to get him on the phone and Clark’s thorough search resulting in failure as well, out of concern for Jimmy, Clark and Lois went up and reached the camping site. Using her skills as an investigative journalist and her childhood experience of wilderness survival camping with her father, Lois tracks Jimmy’s footprints to the outside of a protected facility. Clark is surprised because earlier, his enhanced vision didn’t detect the place. The feeling of guilt dawns heavily on Clark and Lois, especially on Clark, because despite knowing all of Jimmy’s speculations about otherworldly things, he never shared the truth about his secret identity with his best friend. As the duo moves forward, they see signs that indicate the presence of an army that was somehow decimated all at once.
Meanwhile, Jimmy finds out that he is being held in a facility, and his captors are a super-intelligent, sentient Gorilla who speaks with a French accent and a disembodied brain kept inside a secure case with means to speak and feel all forms of sensation. As the weird duo decides to kill Jimmy, suspecting him of being a spy, Jimmy thanks them due to the fact that their existence proved that he wasn’t speaking nonsense and spouting random conspiracy theories all the time, whether or not his so-called friends Clark and Lois believe it or not. Jimmy’s words come as a surprise to the Gorilla, who changes his mind and asks him to share his emotional burden.
Who Are Monsieur Mallah And Brain?
The sensitive Gorilla introduces himself as Monsieur Mallah, and the disembodied brain is his lover or partner named Brain. Mallah reveals that the facility is Cadmus, aka Area 52, the top-secret scientific project of the United States government, where he was brought twenty-two years ago. Alongside the covert military project known as Task Force X, Cadmus was given a strange technology to weaponize, and although the former division used it to create destructive mechanisms, Cadmus tried a more constructive approach to sustenance using it. Mallah gained superintelligence when he was experimented upon and befriended a scientist at the facility. Gradually, the duo came closer and continued their journey into the unknown realms of science together.
However, after it was known that Cadmus didn’t use the technology at their disposal to create weapons, the government sent Task Force X to the facility to annihilate every member associated with the project. In their haste, Task Force X tinkered with the most sophisticated technological achievement of Cadmus—an unstable black hole, which expanded and exterminated everyone present at the facility. Speculating that there were no survivors left, the government did not attempt scouting the area; however, Mallah and the scientist’s brain survived, and the two have been spending their lives in this facility. In fear of public persecution and their own security, Mallah and Brain have lived inside Cadmus for the last two decades in complete seclusion. While Brain is paranoid and suspicious of outsiders, Mallah is sympathetic and understanding. Mallah consoles Jimmy, stating his feeling of abandonment is valid, but he needs to open up to his friends about it at the same time, and if that doesn’t work out, Jimmy is welcome to stay with them.
The series puts a surprisingly refreshing spin on the so-called Doom Patrol villains, Monsieur Mallah and Brain, and the subtlety with which it leans on identity politics is really laudable. The two unfortunate souls finding acceptance for their ‘differences’ is analogous with Clark’s predicament as an alien living among human beings.
Did The Team Reconcile With Each Other?
Meanwhile, Clark and Lois enter the outskirts of the Cadmus facility, and Clark feels kind of depowered as he senses that the facility is protected by some kind of shield, which his vision could not penetrate previously. They eventually get into an altercation when Lois confronts him about hiding the truth from her for so long, even questioning whether the feelings Clark had for her were true. Clark is shaken, but before he can answer her, a bunch of robotic drones get activated and start attacking them. As the duo runs through the forest, they activate multiple traps. While protecting Lois from the laser rounds activated by one such trap, Clark comes in for a direct assault. Clark is hurt but majorly impervious to the attack; upon Lois’ questioning whether he was aware of this invulnerability, Clark states that he wasn’t, and all he cared about was that Lois wasn’t.
Inside the Cadmus facility, Jimmy sees another contained blackhole and learns from Mallah that they wanted to create a more stabilized version this time in hopes of creating a wormhole that will allow them to travel to other dimensions and worlds, where they might find acceptance. Almost at the same time, Clark and Lois arrive at the front gate of the facility and almost come into conflict with Mallah and Brain, until Jimmy identifies them as his friends. Clark apologizes to Jimmy for not showing up when he needed him most and keeping secrets from him, and it is revealed that Jimmy already knew about Clark’s secret identity as Superman. The only reason he pretended to be unaware was because the subject was sensitive, and he wanted Clark to acknowledge it himself.
Suddenly the robotic drones start attacking the group, and Mallah reveals that those aren’t from Cadmus; those are OMACs (Omni Mind and Community—metahuman detecting AI mechanisms in DC comics) sent by Task Force X. The battle soon reaches the containment chamber near the black hole, and considering that the situation might worsen at this rate, Jimmy decides to have a heart-to-heart with Clark. Jimmy asks the reason as to why Clark chose to keep his identity hidden from his best pals, and Clark states that the fear of being treated like an alien and being treated differently led him to hide his secret from them. Lois and Jimmy assure him that they love Clark for who he is, not what he is. If only Mallah and Brain had such friends…
Seeing the situation getting out of hand, Mallah decides to open the containment field to let the black hole reach its critical mass in order to stabilize. The OMACs get sucked in, and by forming a chain, the group saves each other from getting pulled inside the singularity. The black hole gets stabilized, and a wormhole is created as a result. After opening up to each other, Jimmy, Lois, and Clark finally strengthened their bond.
Why Did the General Join Hands With Dr. Ivo?
With the red sun shield compromised after the OMACs attack (which depowered Clark and messed with his powers), Mallah and Brain decide to leave the facility and bid farewell to the trio. Now that they have a wormhole at their disposal, they can visit different worlds together. Brain asks Clark about the mysterious General chasing him, as he has deduced from Clark triggering the OMAC that Clark is somehow connected with the technology that the government received twenty-two years ago. Brain warns Clark that he is in the crosshairs of Strike Force X and the General overseeing it as well, who can be very persuasive. Brain offers for him to come with him and Mallah, as being ‘different’ like them, he will find it difficult to fit in a society that isn’t forgiving of the outcasts. Clark states he will stay, as he feels it is his duty to make the world a better place where everyone will find acceptance. Before leaving, Mallah hugs Jimmy for one last time and steps into the unknown realms through a wormhole with Brain, his one true love.
Later, General Lane arrives at the empty containment chamber with a captive, Dr. Ivo, the billionaire evil scientist who created the Parasite Exosuit and was exposed and defeated by Superman. The General is hit with a sense of déjà vu, as the mission of terminating Cadmus was his first mission, where he had to make the hard choice. The General wants Ivo to use the technology of Cadmus to create something that will pin down Superman, rip him out of the sky, and erase him from the memory of people forever. Having a common motive, Ivo gladly agrees to assist, and the duo gets busy planning their attack. Clark’s home planet Krypton seems to be involved in whatever vendetta the General has against Superman, which will be revealed in the course of the remaining four episodes of My Adventures With Superman.
