Life kicks us down at the exact moment when everything seems to be going great, and even the Man of Steel is no exception in that regard. After the trip to the multiverse in the seventh episode of My Adventures With Superman, the romance between Lois and Clark had barely started to blossom when Lois got her hands on an ominous case file of the evil Supermen of the Multiverse, which triggered her concerns about Clark. On the other hand, the mysterious General, the leader of the covert government offensive project Task Force X, has started taking the villainous scientist Ivo’s help to manifest his plans of bringing ruin to Superman, whom he considers a threat to humankind. As Clark learns to control another of his newfound powers and struggles with public perception, the eighth episode titled Zero Day: Part One turns out to be possibly the darkest one in My Adventures With Superman.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did The General Form The Suicide Squad?
As My Adventures With Superman Episode 8 begins, viewers are taken to a black site where all the former supervillains who used the mysterious technology of Task Force X are held captive. This includes Livewire, Silver Banshee, Roughouse, and Heatwave, who are visited by the General, Amanda Waller, and Ivo. Without much ado, the General reminds them of their past crimes of using technology to jeopardize civilian lives, and to make amends for that, they have to bring down Superman. Their sentence will be reduced in exchange, and they are forced to comply with the General’s command at all times, thanks to the shock collars tightened around their necks. On the General’s command, Ivo prepares to provide the team with his technical enhancements.
Although the name doesn’t get mentioned in the episode, the team General assembles is a dead ringer for DC’s infamous super-team known as the Suicide Squad, which is an ensemble of notorious villains who are exploited by the United States government as expendable assets tasked with black ops missions in exchange for reduced sentences.
Clark’s New Hurdle: How Did Jimmy’s Flamebird Community Gain Sudden Traction?
The scene moves to Clark and Jimmy’s apartment, where Clark’s super-hearing powers have emerged suddenly at midnight, leaving him increasingly troubled as he keeps hearing the whispers of thousands of denizens of Metropolis at once. Thus starts Clark’s continual rescue mission, which momentarily stops only when Jimmy returns from his parents’ three days later. Jimmy learns about his newfound powers and also realizes that Clark has been pushing himself too hard. But can Superman take a break when the world is plagued by incessant waves of problems? We guess not.
On the upside, Jimmy’s otherworldly phenomena discussing the Flamebird community portal have skyrocketed in popularity within the past couple of days, as people are witnessing a huge increase in sightings of Superman across Metropolis.
A Friend From Gotham: What Dilemma Is Troubling Lois?
Lois goes to the Daily Planet and is amazed to find out Clark has decorated their rundown office room with flowers on the eve of their first-week relationship anniversary. However, at the same time, she is reminded of the disturbing discovery she made earlier about the evil versions of Superman across the multiverse. She is certain that Clark is never going to give in to the dark side, but her softer emotions are constantly challenged by the fierce journalistic side of her.
Editor in Chief Perry calls Lois into his office to let her meet with one of her idols in her professional career, the celebrated and accomplished journalist of the Gotham Gazette, Vicki Vale, who was Perry’s college mate as well. Vicki wishes to write a piece about Superman, but not about his role as a savior of Metropolis but rather as a menace to the city. Lois is caught in a conflict between her personal feelings and her duties in her professional life. Jimmy is also assigned to this gig, and Perry specifically asks Lois to ensure that Vicky gets to finish her assignment properly without any hassle. Vicki is considering quitting the Gotham Gazette, which is a golden opportunity for Perry to rope in the award-winning journalist to the Daily Planet, and to do that, a good first impression is a must.
Lois arranges for a number of candidates across Metropolis for Vicki to interview, all of whom cherish Superman’s presence, much to her dismay. However, Vicki herself has arranged the last interview of the day with none other than Ivo’s corrupt associate Alex, who demeans and belittles Superman and, in a totally biased manner, posits him as a threat, citing the destruction that happened in Ivo’s tower during the fight between Superman and Parasite. All this adds fuel to Vicky’s willingness to craft a hit piece against Superman, and despite Jimmy and Lois trying to persuade her otherwise, she stays adamant about her course.
What Caused A Change In Public Perception Of Clark?
Meanwhile, Clark had previously overheard the general’s plan to take him down and also learned about the secretive exploitation of the captive supervillains. During his tireless search to learn more about the motives of the general, Clark learns that Siobhan’s brother, the metahuman Mist, has escaped Task Force X captivity. Clark has a hard time detecting his presence due to his elusive invisibility superpowers, but an even more problematic hurdle in his way is his physical condition, which is deteriorating due to his overexertion. While looking for Mist, Clark reunites a little girl, Libby, with her mother.
Finally, as an exhausted Clark spots Mist and chases him, the latter runs into traffic, leading Clark to run into a truck to save him. Bystanders don’t get to see Mist due to his invisibility powers, which leads them to assume that Superman caused this accident out of nowhere. It takes only a whisper to make a mountain out of a molehill, and soon, terrified of the strongest person on the planet, the bystanders start fearing and avoiding him—even little Libby as well. Understandable, as humans fear what they do not understand, and more importantly, their ever-fluctuating assessment hardly goes beyond their self-serving measures.
Elsewhere, Lois argues that they need to stop Vicki from publishing the hit piece, but they have an even more serious topic to address, as Jimmy notices in his Flamebird community that videos regarding the latest incident have put Clark’s image in a negative light among the masses. Concerned about him, Lois and Jimmy call Clark to the roof of the Daily Planet, and even in his weary condition, Clark ponders bringing the General to justice for his actions. The concern in Lois’ subconscious peeps out as she asks whether that means Clark will clash with even the US military if it needs to be, and Clark, steadfast in his position, reminds her how the General has abducted people to serve his goal.
Superman is there for every living being out there, irrespective of species or other ‘differences,’ and this moment reminds viewers of that. Clark also sees the online community’s negative response, which leaves him disheartened, but he fixes his current objective of addressing the general situation at the moment. Jimmy and Lois ask him to stop burning himself out, and Lois’ paranoia at the back of her mind makes her ask Clark to stop his Superman duties and try being ‘normal.’ Clark breathes a sigh of anguish, having heard the remark from Lois too, as if he is once again reminded of Mxy’s foreboding statement—that he is never going to have a ‘normal’ life. It is a harsh reality Clark has to deal with: no matter how much his humanity inspires people across the globe and how much his close ones care about him, he is always going to be different and alone in his own way. Clark takes his leave from Jimmy and Lois to focus on Mist, and the duo finds out after returning to their office that Vicki has already published the article, and her entire shtick was nothing but a ploy to use Perry, Lois, and Jimmy for her own pursuit to become the Editor in Chief of the Gotham Gazette.
Did Superman Manage To Beat The Suicide Squad?
Finally, Clark manages to focus and apprehend Mist, who states that his sister Siobhan, aka Silver Banshee, along with other supervillains, is being transported by the secretive authorities, and he is rushing to utilize this only chance to rescue her. Clark offers to help him and intercepts a plane that is being used to transport the captive villains. However, as he proceeds to rescue them, it soon turns out that it is Clark who needs rescuing, as in his weakened state, he finds six powerhouses of the Suicide Squad: Rough House, Heatwave, Livewire, Silver Banshee, Slade Wilson in his advanced armor, and Ivo in his Parasite exosuit surrounding him. The ones he wanted to save from the General’s exploitation are the very people hunting him down, a clever way to highlight the theme of public perception showcased in the episode.
A fierce battle ensues, where Superman gets brutally beaten by the group but, using the last vestiges of his power, manages to knock them out. However, Ivo, the most nefarious out of the bunch, is not going down easy, as he starts to drain Superman’s energy using his Parasite armor—almost to the last limit—until the General incapacitates Ivo by triggering his shock collar. It is also revealed that Mist tricked Superman with his story to lure him directly to Task Force X, as he, too, was manipulated by the General. With their mission accomplished, he arrived to take Superman to their research facilities to clip off his wings for good. A beaten-down, depleted Supes asks the reason for their doing so, and the General reiterates his opinion of Superman being a threat to humankind. Clark tries to state that he merely wants to do the right thing by helping people but gets knocked out by Livewire’s thunderbolt, which she unleashes on the General’s command. As Clark is taken by Task Force X, Jimmy and Lois rush to the location and watch helplessly, pondering their friend’s fate.
With only two episodes remaining in My Adventures With Superman Season 1, we are expecting two major reveals to take place: firstly, the General’s real identity, and secondly, how Clark’s arrival is associated with Task Force X, Cadmus, and the entire secretive offensive protocol. The second part of this episode is surely going to clarify some of these queries and continue the pattern of surprising viewers with even more intrigue than the last ones.
