Superman on Television
Superman: The Animated Series - Episode Reviews
Season 3 - Episode 8: "Superman's Pal"
Original Air Date: February 20, 1999
Writer: Robert Goodman
Director: Kazumi Fukushima
Cast:
Tim Daly as Clark Kent/Superman
Dana Delaney as Lois Lane
David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen
Malcom McDowell as Metallo
Dina Sherman as Tina
Lauren Tom as Angela Chen
Reviewed by: Marc Lax
After Jimmy helps Superman save some bystanders, TV anchor Angela Chen tricks Jimmy into saying that he and Superman are pals. At first Jimmy likes the attention being Superman's pal but after being hounded by fans he truly regrets it. Jimmy tries to get Angela to take back what she did but she refuses. After being chased by a group of girls for his autograph Tina, the new intern at the Daily Planet, drives up and gives him a hand. Jimmy has a crush on Tina and after being outed as Superman's Pal she takes an interest in him agreeing to a date. On their way home a group of thugs attacks Jimmy and Tina. Tina calls for Superman to help and at the last second he appears and chases said thugs away. He tells Jimmy to fix the whole "Superman's Pal" thing.
After Tina saves Jimmy she takes him to somewhere private. A junkyard. You see Tina isn't what she seems, she's really the girlfriend of Metallo! They've lured Jimmy to the junkyard in hopes of Superman showing up so Metallo can take out his revenge on the Man of Steel. Tina phones the Daily Planet telling Lois she and Jimmy have been kidnapped. Lois tells Perry of the situation not knowing Clark is listening in. He takes off to the junkyard. Superman and Metallo fight it out in the junkyard (shades of Superman III). Just before Metallo can perform the last crushing blow Jimmy dowses Metallo with battery acid and saves the day. Later Superman thanks Jimmy for his help and gives him a signal watch to use whenever he's in trouble.
Rating - 3 (out of 5): This is more like a 3.5 as, except for the action in the junkyard and a few funny scenes with Jimmy, there's nothing very special to this episode. The whole 'Tina pretending to like Jimmy but really being evil and trying to use him' plot we've seen over and over. Tina is unlikable from the beginning so it's no surprise that she turns out to be a villain's girlfriend. Still the fight between Metallo and Superman is a lot of fun and every once in awhile it's nice to see Superman almost being taken down by a real threat. Kryptonite as opposed to electricity. All in all an entertaining late entry to this series.
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