Superman on Television

Superman: The Animated Series - Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episode 13: "Two's a Crowd"

Original Air Date: February 15, 1997

Reviewed by: Jeffrey Taylor

There Can Be Only One

It's best for any series to end a season on the strongest note possible. Between the previous week's "Tools of the Trade" and this finale, the creators of Superman: The Animated Series proved they could do as good a job on a Superman cartoon as they had with Batman: The Animated Series. This season had a strong start with the "Last Son of Krypton" pilot and a strong ending with these final two. Some of the in between episodes fell short, Like "The Main Man" and "Fun and Games," but I still maintain that placement of an episode counts. For instance ending the season with "The Main Man" would have affected the show in a negative way, especially given that new episodes wouldn't air for almost seven months.

"Two's a Crowd" featured the return of the Parasite from the sixth episode, "Feeding Time," which wasn't a perfect installment of the series, but was still very good and certainly a fan favorite. The brilliance of this episode came from well-plotted out storytelling and outstanding use of the Parasite as a victim/villain. Plus Brian Cox was in it (X2: X-Men United, Manhunter) which adds even more points.

5Rating - 5 (out of 5): While the previous episode was brilliant for its use and gradual unveiling of Jack Kirby's Fourth World, this one holds its own by perfectly simple storytelling and by maintaining suspense for almost the entire show. The real villain of the story was Dr. Earl Garber, played by Brian Cox, who had set a bomb to go off in a few hours that could take out half of Metropolis. He was the only one who knew where it was and how to disarm it. Once the SCU (Special Crimes Unit) led by Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin arrived, it was clear they would not be able to breach Garber's stronghold, until of course the Man of Steel soared in.

Superman's abilities often tend to vary depending upon the how weak or strong he needs to be in the context of the story. He appeared to be especially weak in this installment not only because of the electric wall he encountered (electricity being an odd weakness to begin with), but also when he was shot by a high caliber gun with bullets that could actually knock him down. I have a small problem with this when Superman's strength is lowered so drastically to fit the action of the story.

Upon his encounter with Garber in the stronghold, Superman was nearly crushed by a hydraulic press, which as he fought against the weight, caused the gears to over-grind and the ceiling to collapse on Garber. As the only person with the knowledge of both the location and deactivation codes for the bomb, someone would have to retrieve the information from his mind. Remember how the Parasite retained Superman's memories along with his powers during his first appearance? He seemed the obvious choice to find the information from Garber despite his being unconscious. First off, Garber's doctor explained that he would be in a coma for 24 hours. When people are knocked out, no medical physician can tell exactly how long the person will be unconscious before waking up. But I'll let that go because it fit into the excellent ending.

Garber's mind was somehow stronger than any of the Parasite's previous victims, including Superman. So when the Parasite drained a part of his energy, he received not only his memories, but part of his consciousness. Professor Hamilton explained that "Garber's intellect, his ego, his force of personality, it all must have combined to overwhelm [Parasite]." Therefore Garber could actually speak to Rudy in the confines of his mind, as well as control the Parasite's body. Remember that Rudy was never very bright either in his civilian life or as a supervillain. So coupled with the genius of Garber, they had the potential to accomplish great things. However, the Parasite's ability to leech off others was always temporary, so Garber's mind would most likely dissipate over time.

Action Comics #715 The Parasite's coupling with a more brilliant mind had also been explored in the comics not long before the airing of this episode. In Superman: Man of Tomorrow #2, dated Fall of 1995, Lex Luthor locked Dr. Freeman in a room with the Parasite and the two were locked together in the same body and often switched physical control to each other as they needed to. This was back when there were four monthly Superman titles that continued as in a weekly format. To counteract the cursed "skip-weeks" that would occur roughly every three months due to five Wednesday release dates occurring in the same month, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow was created as a quarterly issue that would also springboard new stories for the coming months. The new Rudy Jones/Dr. Freeman version of the Parasite was one of those plot points. Superman: The Animated Series simply borrowed the idea, but simplified it for a single episode.

Superman followed Garber's (as Parasite) audio-taped instructions to disarm the bomb. After a sigh of relief, the Parasite's hand sprang out of the ground and grabbed hold of Superman. As expected, Garber double-crossed Rudy by reactivating the bomb and ordering Superman to hold out his hand like a good boy. Superman dropped the bomb into the gigantic hole in the mine, allowing it to explode safely below Metropolis.

There was a great comedic moment when Rudy as the Parasite was negotiating for his cooperation with the SCU and Superman. He could have demanded a shorter sentence or just about anything he wanted for his part in saving the city. Being the simpleton that Rudy was, it only followed that he would demand cable television complete with the premium channels for the duration of his stay (probably life) imprisoned at S.T.A.R. Labs.

There are a few problems with the episode if looked at closely enough. There was no way any doctor could have predicted exactly how long Dr. Garber would have remained unconscious after the ceiling fell on him. The climax involving the bomb in the mine was hardly climactic since the audience could immediately see the enormous, seemingly bottomless pit that the bomb would be thrown into. The ending was painfully obvious from the beginning of that scene. It's nitpicky, but I really hated the whole concept of Superman's aquasuit complete with a pentagonal "S" on his chest.

Brian Cox was excellent portraying Dr. Garber, as he always is. Brion James continued to wow the audience as the voice of Rudy Jones/Parasite. His unorthodox qualities really shine here, perhaps even more so than his first appearance in "Feeding Time."

The animation took a leap forward in design this time out. Originally the entire series was intended to be set primarily in daylight to contrast the similar designs of the much darker, nighttime-based Batman: The Animated Series. Although very little of this episode was placed at night, several of the sets were confined indoors with little ambient light, such as the interior of the Garber's stronghold in the beginning and the mine at the end. Consequently the design of Superman's costume had darker hues in the blue and a more vibrant red for his "S" and cape. Coupled with glowing red eyes (the idea is that he can create the effect with a touch of heat vision), he can appear quite menacing. In future seasons more of the show would be set at night because Superman's costume just looked better that way.



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