Superman on Television

Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episode 6: "Fear Factory"

Perhaps I am expecting too much from this episode.

True, they got Superman's greatest fear right, which is a good thing. But why the fears of everyone else (with the exception of Brainy) were so trite I don't know. And even Brainy's fear was predictable with even the smallest amount of forethought.

This felt like a Halloween episode, and according to the production schedule it was the fourth episode produced but the sixth one aired (had it aired in production order, it would have come out on Nov. 4). Clearly it was intended to be a Halloween episode, so why Kids WB chose to air it now instead of Nov. 4 makes absolutely no sense.

And I'm sure, for little kids, this would have been a spooky Halloween episode. But the whole "it's a haunted mansion!" where we're supposed to believe that superheroes who regularly fly all over the place and battle aliens would be scared of roller coasters and... aliens is pushing things a bit.

It was good to see Bouncing Boy again (where's he been, anyway?) and it was good to finally see acknowledgement of Jonathan Kent's existence, but on the whole it really fell flat and has left me wondering just how much this show has to offer an older audience. Some of the episodes have very much seemed to capture that same feel of Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League where it could be easily enjoyed by people of all age ranges.

But for as often as it hits the mark, Legion of Superheroes seems to miss it and be something only the youngest of fans would enjoy.

Hopefully the second half of the season can improve that track record.

Back to the main TELEVISION page.