Episode 38 39
Apokolips...Now! Part I and Part II
It’s the epic battle we’ve been waiting for. The invasion of Earth by Darkseid. Darkseid’s biological son Orion raised by High Father of New Genesis, arrives to warn Earth of his invasion plans. We get a nice backstory about Darkseid’s goals to find the Anti-Life Equation and how Orion and Kalibak were traded so New Genesis and Apokolips would have peace.
Maggie Sawyer of the SCU is injured and on hospital rest which puts her partner Dan Turpin in charge of the pending chaos. We meet Maggie’s lesbian partner from the comic book which in the 1990s was super controversial. The show just says she’s a friend but anyone who knows the comic is fully aware of the relationship. The show just never outright states it. These things upset people in the 1990s, it’s tame by today’s TV standards. Great job pushing the envelope.
Meanwhile, Darkseid uses Bruno Manheim to blow up a nuclear power plant and while Superman and Orion are distracted by another attack. Orion leaves Superman a call buzzer if Darkseid attacks again. Orion returns home. After Manheim succeeds in his mission Darkseid leaves him to die in the explosion. The bomb goes off and is going to burn through to the core of the Earth. It will create fire pits similar to the planet Apokolips because Darkseid has serious feels about planetary temperature. Superman tries to call Orion but the button is broken.
Superman is able to cool off the explosion on his own and stop the catastrophe. Darkseid launches the invasion via Metropolis. Superman is tired from saving the planet so Darkseid shows up and captures him. Dan Turpin becomes the figurehead in a resistance against the invasion. Superman is in chains and Darkseid thinks it will break the people’s spirits. Dan Turpin rallies the people to resistance. Superman breaks free of his bonds and is about to go head to head with Darkseid when Orion and friends show up and say Earth is under the protection of New Genesis. Darkseid backs down but kills Dan Turpin before he lives. Superman is ultra pissed off and tries to attack Darkseid but he warps away so Superman destroys his tank.
Some notable moments which probably don’t ring true in today’s society is how willing people were to fight against the invasion. Superman claims Earth doesn’t bow to dictators when there’s countless countries ruled by them. Humans would rather die quick in battle then slowly under Darkseid’s oppression, another statement which is questionable in this modern day. A solid sentiment for Superman though.
The death of Dan Turpin is truly shocking. The creators wanted to kill Superman’s parents but the network basically said no, so the creators chose Dan Turpin. It’s the driving force in why Superman actually hates Darkseid. The only villain who actually gets him angry when stuff is going down. There’s two different versions of the funeral scene. One has a bunch of Jack Kirby (the creator of New Gods and a ton of other comic characters) creations at the funeral. Apparently there were legal issues associated with it so it was replaced with generic people. The HBO Max version has the original funeral. The DVDs have the corrected version. It’s unclear what the legal issue was. Lawyers like to make life complicated. Dan Turpin’s character design was similar to Jack Kirby who had died in 1994 but since the creators were using so many of his characters for their story and he was so iconic in comics, the dedication seemed fitting.
A great two-parter with a wonderful payoff. One of the best Superman episodes. It’s a shame the show isn’t as well loved as BtAS when it had some truly epic episodes in its own right.
Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com
