REVIEW: ‘My Adventures With Superman’ Season 2 Episode 4 — “Two Lanes Diverged”

One of the most potent running themes of the series returns in full force in My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 4. Throughout season one, Clark (Jack Quaid) deals with the emotional crisis of feeling torn between two worlds. Alienated and worried about his ability to seem human, so much of the first season drama stems from his desire to fit in.

While some of these insecurities resolve once Lois (Alice Lee) and Jimmy (Ishmel Sahid) are in the know, it’s nice that the series refuses to let it be a closed case. Naturally, this version of Clark is still battling those inner demons as he tries to come to terms with himself, and “Two Lanes Diverged” beautifully captures his experience.

But it’s not just Clark who gets to go through the emotional ringer. My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 4 splits itself into two parts. In one, Lois follows her dad, Sam Lane (The General), as he works to devise escape routes from Metropolis. Lois can track him and learn about his plans, which infuriates her. She doesn’t understand why he thinks he needs to leave after they’ve just been able to spend time together again. But he sees his presence as a risk.

Their interactions lend themselves to flashbacks as we see how Sam parented and Lois acquired her survivor instincts. Sam teaches Lois how to always find him through training simulations in the woods. It’s all that she knows, her childhood marred by the grief of losing her mother and the upheaval of having to move for her dad’s work. However, through these training exercises, she at least knows how to find her dad, even if he makes it needlessly difficult for her. The flashbacks are well-executed as we traverse her emotional journey through adolescence and realize how his absence built her into who she is. She’s a fighter and a survivor, but at what cost?

It makes the bittersweet ending all the more tough to swallow. Because while we don’t trust that Sam will stay, Lois does. And it’s their final interaction that manages to hurt Clark, too. Already mentally bruised, he hears only a section of a conversation that hurts him, with Lois calling him strange. Usually, this time of unnecessary confusion would be frustrating, as we all but beg characters to sit still for a longer time to hear the whole truth. However, considering Clark is already suffering from his interactions with Jimmy and Lex Luthor, it makes sense why he wouldn’t sit around. That said, the seasonal trend of piling up problems caused by miscommunication continues. Just talk it out.

Unfortunately, there’s no real misunderstanding on the Jimmy and Clark side of the story. Jimmy has been invited to speak at an event due to the success of Flamebird, and he drags Clark along with him. Their friendship gets the spotlight as Clark tells him that Jimmy has saved Clark/Superman numerous times throughout knowing one another, the biggest save being Jimmy being his friend. That camaraderie is and was everything to Clark, who, as seen, tends to worry about how others perceive him.

Their love for one another is truly sweet and well-captured, and again, it makes the final blow all the more disheartening. Following a talk where Lex tries to eviscerate Superman’s public persona, the event is attacked, fueling even greater ammunition to Lex’s cause. In the final moments, Lex thanks Jimmy for pushing him into taking on his own company, and Clark is crestfallen, worried that Jimmy, too, thinks that Superman poses some sort of threat.

We know it’s not true, but My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 4 does a fantastic job selling just how easy it is to make Superman vulnerable. Not through his strength or fortitude but in his spirit. Because without people around him to help rally, his isolation is toxic. The animation captures this otherworldly sensation of being separate beautifully, with Clark set against the night sky, powerful but alone. For a character so associated with the sun, it’s interesting to see him at his lowest while taking in the light of the moon, so heavy in the background.

All of this pushes Clark into taking the plunge and finding his cousin, Kara. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore. With the Kyrptonians gone and Clart no longer able to communicate with his father, this is Clark’s only chance to speak to his kind. It’s the perfect place to set up the middle half of the season, especially with the ominous shot of Brainiac seemingly making it closer to his descent to Earth.

My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Episode 4 is a reflective episode that highlights the ongoing insecurities of these characters. While they’ve all grown, there’s room for improvement and pockets of past wounds that make them who they are. The series’ strength is remembering that this version of Superman is still green to the heroics and accepting his true nature. And ironically, it’s this that makes him so devastatingly human as he strives to obtain something he’s always yearned for.

My Adventures with Superman Season 2 is available now on HBO Max.

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