Plot summary: I’m seeing double, FOUR Superman’s! Oh, no, just two. Sorry. There’s another… bizarre… Superman flying around and Clark is naturally pretty confused.
Notes and Trivia
Episode: 19 (S2.E6)
Original Air Date: September 15th, 1997
Directed: Curt Geda (5)
Written: Joe R. Lansdale (story) (1) & Robert Goodman (story & teleplay) (3)
Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD & Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD. (12)
Music: Kristopher Carter (6)
Tim Daly joins a long tradition of Superman actors also playing Bizarro. This was also done by Danny Dark, Dean Cain, George Newburn, Tom Welling, Nolan North and Tyler Hoechlin.
Lex Luthor acquired the DNA necessary to create Bizarro in the episode ‘A Little Piece of Home‘ during the T-Rex battle sequence.
While he maintains story credit, Joe R. Lansdale struggled so much with writing for Superman after his contributions to BTAS that Bob Goodman had to step in and take over.
Recap
Superman saves a child on on his way to a high speed police chase. Lois Lane is in hot pursuit of the cop cars but has to slam on the brakes, which sends a familiar looking man tumbling off a cliff.
Supes saves the man, who is revealed to be none other than Clark Kent, who, like the audience, is extremely confused. ‘Superman’ gives them a gentle safety lecture and then asks Lois on a date and flies away!
Clark excuses himself and flies off, confronting ‘Superman’, whose skin is beginning to flake, revealing bright white patches. Both demand to know who the other is and the malting version gets violent.
The tussle leaves the imposter’s entire body ghostly white, with dark patches around his eyes, and his posture and manner of speech begin to degrade. He punches Superman and then flies away.
Fake Superman flies back to his benefactor, Lex Luthor, who via discussion with his science team reveals to us that this is of course a clone. Superman’s alien DNA complicated the process so his body is breaking down.
Mercy Graves labels the increasingly feral clone ‘Bizarro’, who doesn’t take kindly to being told he isn’t really Superman and flies away in a rage.
Clark and Bizarro keep tangling, first as Bizarro wreaks havoc on the city while trying to prove he’s the real Superman, and then at his intended date with Lois, which turns into a kidnapping.
Bizarro takes Lois to Lex’s hidden lab, where she discovers even more clones in vats. Lex explains how he acquired Superman’s DNA and then starts a self-destruct timer, intending to start over now he’s been rumbled.
Bizarro freaks out and starts trashing the place, trapping them inside and removing the ability to stop the countdown. Luckily Superman arrives and carves them a path to escape.
Lois needs more help escaping, and when Bizarro sees Superman rescue her he finally grasps the truth and sacrifices himself to buy them more time. Lois says he IS a hero. Aww.
Best Performance
Doubling up his role was a pretty solid way to force me to give this award to Tim Daly. I assume that was their goal when writing this show when I was 7 years old. The messed up part is I don’t even think he was very good! Bizarro is a tricky role due to the silly nature of his speech patterns, and trying to sound both sincerely confused and vaguely menacing while talking like a child is very hard to thread the needle on. His work as Clark and Superman is probably better here to be honest, trying to hide how shocked he is to be confronted by ‘Superman’ when he’s with Lois, exaggerating his good nature a little when Bizarro is passing at the start of the episode, and then his general bemusement with meeting a clone of himself.
Lex’s role is relatively small. Clancy Brown is still good (he doesn’t know how not to be) but it’s just clearly a bit of an afterthought of an appearance for him.
Episode Ranking
As openings go, this is pretty difficult to top for shock factor. It’s a cute card to play and one they can only do once, but they did it well, as it’s pretty clear it’s Clark tumbling out of the car but you aren’t fully sure until ‘Superman’ makes the save. It’s also very handy for helping Clark keep his secret going as there are now multiple witnesses the two have been in the same place at the same time.
Unfortunately it’s a big pile of nothing from that point on. Aside from a couple of cute moments of Bizarro misinterpreting situations so that his ‘help’ creates more danger (such as forcing a bridge closed again when a ship is trying to pass through), it’s extremely paint by numbers. Bizarro am confused. Lex was behind it and will keep trying. Superman saves the day. Bizarro isn’t evil after all but has to die regardless.
Truly I don’t know if I can muster up any more than that to say about it. The fights are nothing. The voice work isn’t anything to write home about. Lex’s lab is kinda cool? Blehhhh. I am once again left believing it’s worse to be boring than bad, so will be placing this in last place on account of a total lack of sauce.
- Livewire
- Fun and Games
- The Last Son of Krypton
- Stolen Memories
- The Prometheon
- Tools of the Trade
- The Main Man
- Blasts from the Past
- The Way of All Flesh
- My Girl
- A Little Piece of Home
- Feeding Time
- Speed Demons
- Two’s a Crowd
- Identity Crisis (NEW ENTRY)
Rogues Roundup
Bizarro (Tim Daly) (first appearance)
It’s a little weird that his costume changes during his fight with Superman, with the colour draining and even the chest logo becoming an entirely different one. Artistic licence, I guess? That or it’s just a low-care episode in general…
They also opted to ignore how he generally has some degree of inverted powers, from weakness to the sun (a possible unwritten explanation for his degradation), drawing strength from Kryptonite, and swapping around heat vision and cold breath for cold vision and heat breath. I guess that keeps things simpler, but you’re kinda limiting the gimmick in the process.
Anyway, while I understand the theoretical appeal of mirror matches, I think I have a lower tolerance for them than average. DO something with the evil clone that enriches the original by comparison. They obviously land in a place of sympathy for the big lug, as he truly believed he was Superman and died a hero in the end, but I’m not 100% convinced they earned that. At best I just feel bad for him and don’t think he’s a villain at all. I SUPPOSE that tiniest slither of emotional journey keeps him out of the very bottom of the list. Sorry, Darkseid.
Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) (seventh appearance)
It’s been a while since Lex did anything but cameo in an episode, and to be honest this isn’t really much of anything either. Superman clones are Lex 101, and it’s obviously stone cold that his plan is to leave them all to die so he can start over, but I just don’t really feel anything.
Many may wonder how I can only have him in third place. Well. If not for how strong he was up to now, this appearance would knock him down a few spots. I’m beginning to fear I’m waiting for a signature episode that may never come. He’s been a wonderfully written and performed character, but as I’ve said before, he’s more of a series regular than a true villain most of the time. Not that he isn’t evil or often the one behind everything, but there’s just been a bit of a lack of depth, and I assumed we’d reach truly lofty heights in due course. Meanwhile Livewire and Toyman may benefit from only appearing once each and being almost perfect in those appearances. Lex has shown up so many times and you can’t be on top form every time out… sooooo… sorry!
- Livewire
- Toyman
- Lex Luthor (–)
- Brainiac
- Metallo
- Lobo
- The Preserver
- Parasite
- Bruno Mannheim (and Intergang!)
- Kanto
- Mala & Jax-Ur
- The Prometheon
- Bizarro (NEW ENTRY)
- Earl Garver
- Mercy Graves
- Darkseid
- Weather Wizard
The Matt Signal 
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