REVIEW: ‘My Adventures with Superman’ Season 3 Episode 6 – “Party Animals”

In the wake of the action-packed and emotionally explosive “The Death of Superman,” My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Episode 6 is in an awkward place. It has to build on the personal devastation of Clark (Jack Quaid) losing his powers and what that means for him and Metropolis, while also not letting the story get lost in that doom-and-gloom sense of melancholy. It’s simply not that kind of show. “Party Animals” finds a strong balance, letting Clark’s clear tremulous hold on his positive disposition be evident without sticking us in that perspective the entire time. 

Instead, in a lot of ways, My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Episode 6 defaults to a villain-of-the-week narrative hook now that Hank Henshaw has been defeated. It’s been a month since the events of Season 3 Episode 5, and it would seem that, by all accounts, Clark has moved on. While Lois (Alice Lee) and Jimmy (Ishmel Sahid) can tell something is up, it’s not apparent enough to fully intervene. Instead, they’re treating everything like it’s normal in an effort to push forward with their lives. 

In “Party Animals,” that means they’re all attending a gala where Lois and Jimmy will be awarded for their work at The Daily Planet. Supergirl (Kiana Madeira) will also be there for an award, something Superman was also initially meant to share. And Clark is totally fine with it. So fine with it that he immediately offers to look after Flip (Azuri Hardy-Jones) and the rest of the kids Perry (Darrell Brown) dragged along with him. 

Jimmy continues to make a mess of his relationship with Kara.

More than anything, My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Episode 6 serves as a contained way to explore some of the characters’ inner dynamics. Because, for as silly as the central villain ends up being, there’s still a nice amount of depth and tension to all of their struggles, whether they’re of their own making (Jimmy) or not (Clark) 

Jimmy has made a mess of things by refusing to follow his heart and turning down Kara’s first date request. In his absolutely disastrous belief that she deserves better than him, he’s proving his point by bringing a date to an award ceremony where Supergirl is meant to be a guest of honor. That the date in question ends up being the big bad, Dr. Poison (another Wonder Woman villain making an appearance), only further proves he needs to pull himself together. 

And even when he does, after he and most of the attendees have turned into animals and then turned back due to Dr. Poison’s attack, Kara, refreshingly, doesn’t allow a simple apology. Because he hears him confess his love for her and is angry that he could do so to a stranger rather than to her. She calls his actions “earth games,” and while we’re rooting for them to get together, it’s a mature callout that shows her growth. She didn’t need a fake date to feel valued. She needed her friends’ support, Jimmy to be honest with her, and for Clark not to drift away further. 

My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Episode 6 watches as Clark struggles to find himself. 

Clark’s story in My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Episode 6 really sells key aspects of his character and this version of the Man of Steel. One of the most entertaining parts of the animated series has been its focus on a Superman who is still figuring stuff out. From his backstory to how his powers operate to how he conducts himself as both a being from another planet and someone so impossibly human, this is Clark Kent/Superman in a belated coming-of-age story. 

And, up until his standoff with Henshaw and Superboy’s (Darren Criss) appearance, he’d been on the sturdiest ground he’s found to date. He had Supergirl by his side to help with daily heroics. And he and Lois were planning a future together. But without his powers, he’s back at square one. For someone who, at the start of the series, was so preoccupied with coming across as a regular, “normal man,” Clark is floundering with the reality of it now. 

But the second truth is that, regardless of whether or not he has powers, he isn’t your average person. Clark’s heroism doesn’t stem from his powers but from his instinctual willingness to leap into action when people need protection. 

Jack Quaid sells Clark’s emotional distress as he realizes he can’t save the day like he used to. 

That much is clear in his efforts to protect Flip and the other kids. When facing down armed men who level a gun at the kids, he jumps in front of them. And, when he remembers he isn’t bulletproof, he doesn’t move away. Instead, he lunges at the gunmen themselves. He’s shot in the arm for his efforts, and the kids are still terrified, asking where Superman is. 

Clark learns more of his need to rely on others as they run from the gunmen and, later, transformed animals in the vents. It’s Lois, really, who saves the day too, as Clark wrangles the kids. In one of the fierce reminders of Lois’s brilliance, we watch as she breaks apart a vent before turning into a cat and leaping back to Clark to assure him she’s fine. 

Lois, Jimmy, and Supergirl are the ones who, in Clark’s eyes, save the day. He can’t see his own heroism. Jack Quaid is phenomenal in these moments, his voice frayed with clear, restrained anguish, as he tells Lois that when Metropolis needed Superman, all he could offer was Clark Kent. “Who am I supposed to be?” he asks her, right before the two of them, Jimmy, and Kara, are teleported away to a mysterious location. 

“Party Animals” resets the story as we move into the back half of Season 3. 

It’s maybe not the most action-packed or even funniest episode of the series, but “Party Animals” hits on some character truths as it pokes at festering emotional wounds. And it’s not without playfulness. Madeira’s fury in her line reading of “Jimmy brought a date” is hilarious, and watching as Lois slowly pieces together that something is amiss as she notes the increased armed security is super in character. Jimmy being transformed into a turtle this time, rather than a wolf, is a fun indicator of his place in the race for Kara’s heart, while Lois’s cat transformation certainly looks similar to Sailor Moon’s. 

There’s even a hint of a greater threat in the brief moment when Clark seems to see a vision of an apocalyptic Fortress of Solitude, the pillars spewing flames and frozen ash. For all that Clark is undergoing now, it seems like it will only get worse first, a call back to Episode 1 when the robots there kept trying to tell him something. 

My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Episode 6 executes strong character work while remaining spirited and fun, with callbacks and nods to the DC canon. It’s an understandable step down from the brilliance of “The Death of Superman”. Still, it finds strength in how well-defined these characters are, making the slower, internal moments just as important as the big, brawling clashes.

My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Episode 6 is available now on HBO Max. 

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