My Adventures with Superman season 1, episode 4 recap: Let’s Go To Ivo Tower, You Say

After a quick interview with Superman at the end of the last episode, Lois is convinced that Superman is lying, since he didn’t give a straight answer to any of her questions, meaning that there’s really nothing for her to be able to write a story about. Clark’s attempts to suggest that Superman might just be a good guy that wants to help people aren’t convincing to Lois either.

Instead, Lois has Jimmy buy every tabloid that he can find, figuring that if Superman is too elusive to get a story about in a reputable paper, then maybe some less reputable papers will have enough information that she can find a lead. However, the search for Superman information is halted when Perry White calls the three interns into his office to give them their first real assignment.

It seems that Dr. Ivo, the CEO of a tech company called AmazoTech, is hosting a gala and Cat Grant would like the interns to ask all the famous people some fluff questions to fill out her coverage of the event.

That evening the interns meet at the Planet to get ready for the gala. Clark notices that one of Jimmy’s tabloids has an article about a sighting of a flying boy from fifteen years ago in Smallville and he quickly tears out the article and stuffs it into his pocket before either Jimmy or Lois can see it.

Clark and Lois almost acknowledge that going to a fancy black tie event together could be considered a date, but Jimmy, oblivious to the moment, steers them off track. Together the three go to the party, but then Lois reveals that she has no intention of asking Cat Grant’s questions when she has the opportunity to confront all of the politicians in the room about the shady dealings.

The evening isn’t going so great though, and Lois can’t get a single person on the record. Clark tries to follow Lois’ lead but he isn’t having much luck either. Then he overhears Doctor Ivo talking to a chairman of his company’s board. It seems that Ivo is about to be voted out of his own company, but he has a reveal that is planned for later that night that he promises will take care of all the money problems.

Clark confronts Ivo who tries to smooth talk his way out of the conversation but ends up insulting Lois in the process, causing Clark to focus even harder on him. Ivo ends up having Clark thrown out of the party, tearing his suit coat in the process. After security leaves, Lois lets Clark back in the building and begins a quick fix of his jacket with her pocket sewing kit. The two of them share a bonding moment. Clark is about to confess to Lois that he is Superman, when she rants that the reason she is struggling now is because Superman has thrown her off, and stalled the progress in her career. Clark backs off and doesn’t reveal his secret.

What is Doctor Ivo’s secret plan?

As an AmazoTech employee walks by, Clark and Lois notice a secret lab and sneak inside. In the lab, the two of them discover the new technology that Doctor Ivo is about to reveal.

Back at the party, Doctor Ivo reappears on the stage covered in high-tech armor. He claims that with the rise in superpowered crime in the city, this suit will give its wearer powers like Superman. To show off the suit, Doctor Ivo throws the chairman of the board out the window to bait Superman into showing up. Clark sneaks away from the party and saves the man just in time before confronting Doctor Ivo.

With Superman now present, Ivo traps the party guests and also sets up an electric cage so that he can show off his suit overpowering Superman. The suit is designed to absorb kinetic energy and redirect it, meaning that every time Superman hits Ivo, the suit protects Ivo and then hits back just as hard.

Lois and Jimmy spot a control booth and break-in, overpowering the AmazoTech employee in the booth. They manage to turn off the cage, freeing the guests. Superman also realizes that if he simply dodges Ivo’s attacks and doesn’t fight back, then he won’t give the suit energy, causing the suit to eventually collapse in on itself, critically injuring Doctor Ivo.

As the chaos of the evening dies down, Lois and Clark find each other in the aftermath. Lois shivers and Clark gives her his jacket. With that action, they admit to themselves, and to each other that this evening counted as a date, and walk home together, leaving Jimmy behind. However, back at the Planet, Lois is trying to put together a possible timeline for Superman. She rearranges her board, but there is a missing piece. A missing piece she discovers when she puts her hands in the jacket pocket of Clark’s jacket that she’s still wearing.

In the pocket, she discovers the tabloid story that Clark tore out from the beginning of the night. Lois realizes that the story is not only the missing piece she needs, but that it means that Clark is Superman as the episode comes to a close.

Moving the plot forward quickly

We’re four episodes in and Lois has already figured out Clark is Superman. There might be some who look at this and say that it’s nice to finally see someone figure out that Clark is Superman so quickly because it’s such a bad disguise, but that isn’t really what’s happening here.

Yes, Lois figured out Clark’s secret quickly, especially compared to other versions of the Superman story, but what that really serves is helping drive home the point that this is still very early in Clark embracing his Superman persona. As this show is developing, Clark is still trying to figure out who exactly Superman is and in what ways he’s similar or different to Clark. And he’s not perfect. He’s stumbling, trying to figure out how to make this new double life work. It’s not just a glasses/no glasses situation that lets Lois figure everything out. It’s how Clark hasn’t fully separated his two personalities yet.

Lois is smart enough to put all the clues together, and Clark hasn’t fully figured out how to keep from leaving clues. The early discovery not only serves to highlight how talented Lois is at investigative journalism but establishes Clark as still very much a novice superhero. Plus, the discovery helps to keep the status quo from getting repetitive.

Already it’s become apparent that Clark disappears for the action scenes leaving Jimmy and Lois to have to accomplish something non-superpowered on the side while the fighting is happening. That dynamic works a few times, but it’s easy to see how that could get stale quickly.