Superman stretches the laws of physics to the breaking, or rather splitting, point to prevent a coup in a Latin American country.Superman stretches the laws of physics to the breaking, or rather splitting, point to prevent a coup in a Latin American country.Superman stretches the laws of physics to the breaking, or rather splitting, point to prevent a coup in a Latin American country.
Jack Larson
- Jimmy Olsen
- (credit only)
Robert Shayne
- Inspector Henderson
- (credit only)
Bill Kennedy
- Announcer
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile the Latin American country in the episode is "unnamed", the furled flag visible in the early scene in Vice President Obreon's office is clearly Brazilian.
- GoofsSuperman uses his power to split himself into two equal entities. This is the first and last he has done this. Why would he not do this at least one time to prove he and Clark Kent could be in the same place and the same time to prove they were two different people.
Featured review
Enjoyable despite - or rather because of - the insane premise
While this show tended to be much more grounded in the first two seasons, the colored episodes are known to take dips into the wonderful world of soft science fiction. This is certainly one of them. However, while some episodes focus on concepts which are clichéd (time travel, a little man from Mars) and others which are just boring (a machine that makes people think they're upside down? Seriously?), this one actually has a rather interesting one: Superman splitting into two selves, each significantly less powerful than the original version. The "explanation" for this, while nauseatingly bad, kind of makes sense in a "superheroey" way.
All around, this episode was just fine - nothing bad, but nothing special either - but the fun concept that drove it pushed my enjoyment of it up quite a bit. The concept of a single person splitting into two is an interesting concept to begin with, and as it is in this show it seems like a very good fit for Superman, both because it's nonsensical and because it gives Superman an interesting challenge, as the two Supermen are much weaker than the one Superman.
And while some might prefer a story where the two halves of a person don't get along, I really enjoyed the fact that this show did otherwise. It was just...well, cute. An unusual kind of friendship, yet as strong a friendship as there can be. I especially liked one Superman patting the other on the back as he flew off to save the day. I know this sounds dorky, but it made me think about the nature of love and friendship. Who is a better friend than one's self? Maybe, in a sense, this is the basis of love and friendship - identifying others with oneself in some way. But I digress.
Sure, if it was a longer and more complicated story, they probably would've mixed things up a bit. But this is Superman, a character who embodies an almost childlike simplicity and idealism. It just plain works for him this way.
There's other things I could talk about other than Superman's split, like the overarching plot line of the attempted overthrow of the president of the unnamed Latin American country, or Superman being in jail, or the fact that Jimmy didn't appear, or all the plot holes (but then again, what episode of this series doesn't have them?), or the fact that at one point, Clark Kent wore a bathrobe, but none of that seemed particularly interesting to me. Except the part about Clark Kent wearing a bathrobe. I always get excited whenever he wears something other than his normal suit.
In short, by the standards of this show's better offerings (such as many in the black-and-white era), it's not an especially well- written story, but it's definitely not bad either, and even if the basic concept is nonsensical as can be and maybe not utilized to its full extent, it's still worth watching. I certainly enjoyed it.
All around, this episode was just fine - nothing bad, but nothing special either - but the fun concept that drove it pushed my enjoyment of it up quite a bit. The concept of a single person splitting into two is an interesting concept to begin with, and as it is in this show it seems like a very good fit for Superman, both because it's nonsensical and because it gives Superman an interesting challenge, as the two Supermen are much weaker than the one Superman.
And while some might prefer a story where the two halves of a person don't get along, I really enjoyed the fact that this show did otherwise. It was just...well, cute. An unusual kind of friendship, yet as strong a friendship as there can be. I especially liked one Superman patting the other on the back as he flew off to save the day. I know this sounds dorky, but it made me think about the nature of love and friendship. Who is a better friend than one's self? Maybe, in a sense, this is the basis of love and friendship - identifying others with oneself in some way. But I digress.
Sure, if it was a longer and more complicated story, they probably would've mixed things up a bit. But this is Superman, a character who embodies an almost childlike simplicity and idealism. It just plain works for him this way.
There's other things I could talk about other than Superman's split, like the overarching plot line of the attempted overthrow of the president of the unnamed Latin American country, or Superman being in jail, or the fact that Jimmy didn't appear, or all the plot holes (but then again, what episode of this series doesn't have them?), or the fact that at one point, Clark Kent wore a bathrobe, but none of that seemed particularly interesting to me. Except the part about Clark Kent wearing a bathrobe. I always get excited whenever he wears something other than his normal suit.
In short, by the standards of this show's better offerings (such as many in the black-and-white era), it's not an especially well- written story, but it's definitely not bad either, and even if the basic concept is nonsensical as can be and maybe not utilized to its full extent, it's still worth watching. I certainly enjoyed it.
- sssuperman-dot-com
- Sep 4, 2015
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