Plot summary: Superman has to think outside the box in order to defeat Parasite, the victim of a chemical accident that allows him to drain the life force and powers of his victims.
Notes and Trivia
Episode: 6 (S1.E6)
Original Air Date: September 21st, 1996
Directed: Dan Riba (3)
Written: Robert Goodman (1)
Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD & Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD. (4)
Music: Kristopher Carter (3)
The original version of Parasite was created by Jim Shooter at around 14 years of age (while under contract with DC!!!) after learning about parasites in biology class. Rudy Jones was the second and most popular of four comic versions.
As far as I can ascertain, the ability to mimic voices when draining victims was a creation of this episode and then was folded into the comics about a year or so later.
Mel Winkler also played Inspector Bill Henderson in the pilot of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, similar to Bruce Weitz in ‘Fun and Games.’
Speaking of Henderson, he was modelled on Morgan Freeman’s character from Se7en.
Recap
At STAR Labs, Superman tests out a couple of suits made of a titanium-lead alloy that protect him completely from the effects of Kryptonite.
Down in the loading bay Rudy Jones, an anxious janitor with gambling debts, helps a shady crook named LeBeau steal some dangerous chemicals. Superman begins to give chase, but has to save security guards from a chemical fire instead.
During the escape LeBeau’s driving causes the purple goo to spill all over Rudy in the truck-bed. Rudy screams in pain and pleads for help, but LeBeau just dumps him down by the river and speeds away.
A few hours later a cop encounters the monstrous Rudy, who is now able to drain living creatures of their life force… and then do a perfect impression of them. He steals the cop’s car and drives off.
Investigating the scene the next day, Clark learns of LaBeau’s whereabouts from the police and arrives just in time to stop Rudy draining him to death as revenge.
Rudy thus turns his attention to the Man of Steel, able to drain enough of his power to wipe the floor with Supes and then flies off, declaring himself the new Superman.
Clark visits the cop Rudy attacked in hospital and learns she’s now feeling A-OK, which lines up with his own recovery, and Parasite’s strength beginning to wane because it’s all temporary.
Rudy attacks Superman again (aware of his secret identity thanks to absorbing memories from his victims), keen to get another dose. He overpowers Clark and keeps him tied up for a week of regular feedings to power his crime spree.
Frustrated by the lack of investigation, Jimmy Olsen steals a press pass and pokes around Rudy’s old janitorial space at STAR Labs where Superman is able to lead him to his precise location by tapping S.O.S. on the pipes.
Parasite returns to feed but Superman dons one of the new armoured suits, which protect him from being drained. Rudy accidentally drains some Kryptonite and is rendered catatonic and imprisoned in a special cell.
Best Performance
A lot of people were solid in small roles, such as Robert ‘T-1000’ Patrick as LeBeau, Mel Winkler as Henderson, Victor Brandt as Professor Hamilton and even Tasia Valenza as the cop that gets drained by Parasite. But I can’t in good conscience give the nod to people who speak so little.
I just don’t think Brion James fits as Parasite whatsoever. It feels like he should be more monstrous or pained post-transformation, instead of the more generic cocky greaseball thing he had going on. Every time he spoke in the episode it took me out, when it’s meant to be the biggest performance in the episode.
So I suppose I’ll reward series lead Tim Daly for the first time. I think he’s been decent in every episode so far, but he’s no Kevin Conroy. Actually this might be one of his weakest outings so far, but there was nobody else leaping in to take it away (Dana Delaney was barely in it), so on account of his work selling Superman’s weakness after being drained, let’s go with him.
Episode Ranking
The drawback of the ‘Villain Spotlight’ type of episode that worked so well time and again in BTAS, is that when the villain isn’t very interesting the episode suffers as a result. Parasite is a fine enemy for Superman to have to overcome as a physical challenge… in a story that’s actually about something, as Clark can’t risk getting too close to him. But there’s not enough of a compelling character under the hood to sustain structuring an entire episode around him.
I did like that they incorporated STAR Labs into it so heavily one episode after they were integral to studying Kryptonite, picking up where they left off with an Anti-Kryptonite protective suit which also served to block Parasite during the climax. It’s not quite as elegant as the two-fold callbacks of the previous episode, but it’s something at least. It also gave some play to Jimmy Olsen, whose role has been tiny so far. His idea to check out STAR Labs again was what saved the day, but his boss wouldn’t hear any of it so he stole credentials and went rogue. Good for him!
Given a common criticism of Superman is he’s simply too powerful, it also made sense to deploy a power-draining villain, and while that villain isn’t very exciting, it did still facilitate some good ‘Superman In Trouble’ moments, and even when Clark got free at the end he was still at a power disadvantage so had to beat Rudy with his intellect. They didn’t really play it up as much as they perhaps could, but obviously with Superman’s powers come his weaknesses, so contact with Kryptonite wiped Parasite out and won the day.
I don’t think anything here was bad, just a little too dull for me. I guess the dangling hook that there’s a villain out there that knows Superman’s secret is something for future… but the entire fiction breaks when he doesn’t tell everybody that’ll listen IMO. (Also spoilers but they’re totally going to bullshit their way around the whole thing!)
- Fun and Games
- The Last Son of Krypton
- A Little Piece of Home
- Feeding Time (NEW ENTRY)
Rogues Roundup
Parasite (Brion James) (first appearance)
I know it’s comic accurate, but I don’t love that Parasite can fly after absorbing power from Superman, and I like even less than he can perfectly mimic voices in the immediate aftermath. But hey! That shouldn’t cost him any points.
I did like him figuring out that Superman’s chattiness was a sign of renewed confidence, and then draining him for a second to verify Jimmy had helped. This is the kind of thing TV bad guys rarely pick up on so it was nice to see that subverted.
Overall I get what they were going for with his dynamic personality shift, turning from an anxious loser to an overconfident bully when he gets a taste of power. But I just couldn’t connect with him emotionally even though I felt sorry for him in the moment of transformation, as LeBeau caused the accident and then callously left him for dead. They seemed to be setting up more of a horror movie monster post-transformation… but he instead turned into a pretty generic villain.
I’ll put him in the middle as he had a more fully realised ‘deal’ than the current bottom three, who were all supporting or secondary characters, but he would need a more sophisticated second appearance to compete with the bigger characters.
- Toyman
- Lex Luthor
- Brainiac
- Parasite (NEW ENTRY)
- John Corben
- Mercy Graves
- Bruno Mannheim
The Matt Signal 
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