Season 2 episode 6 “Conner Kent escapes from Cadmus Labs and emerge into the world for the first time as a free agent. With Krypto in tow, Conner’s search for the truth about his past leads him to Lionel Luthor (guest star PETER MacNEILL), Lex Luthor’s father, and Cadmus geneticist Eve Watson (guest star GENEVIEVE ANGELSON). Eve informs Conner of his true heritage and sends him on a path of self-discovery, examining his own identity and inherent impulses. In a moment of question, Conner chooses to act heroically and finds himself face-to-face with the Titans.”
What Was Good?
1. The episode takes us back to the post credit scene of the finale in Season 1. We see new footage of Subject 13 or Conner escaping from Cadmus Labs. We also get a tease of how brutal he is by putting four lab techs in critical condition. The episode in itself was a flashback because we saw what Conner was up to while the Titans were fighting Deathstroke and Dr Light.
2. We are also introduced to 3 new characters with them being Dr Eve Watson, Mercy Graves and Lionel Luthor. Dr Eve Watson seemingly the head genetic researcher in charge of creating Conner. Mercy Graves is working for Lex Luthor and Lionel Luthor is a old man who can barely survive on his own living in Kansas.
3. Now let’s talk about Conner himself. The episode is a origin story about him and his rise to be a hero. The episode stood out to me because it truly showed how heroes can stand on there own and felt like a completely new tone to what the other Titans episodes have felt this season and last. Conner is just like Clark in the sense that he wants to help people like it’s his personal duty to however with him being like a child he tries to steal a shirt with the Superman “S” on it but having no money he sets off to find some, he comes across a attempted robbery but stops it as well as taking the purse himself.
4. This next point caught me off guard, while I knew we’d get some sort of Lex mention I didn’t realize to what we would get. We didn’t get to see Lex in person but Lionel did give us a description of this universe’s Lex when he was a child. Lex was arrogant, insanely smart and missing his moral compass. This reminded me of how we got Bruce Wayne mentions in Season 1 until we got some sort of Batman stand in. Who knows, we might get Lex in Season 3 since Bruce was mentioned in Season 1 and cast in Season 2.
5. Short but we good point… Krypto the Superdog. I’ll say no more but this dog impressed me.
What Was Bad?
1. The episode dealt with how Lex has remembered his childhood by being abused and hit by Lionel. These memories carried over into Conner and this made Conner nearly strike Lionel but he stopped. I like to think the Clark side of the DNA made Conner stop.
Holy Shit Moment
1. Conner and Lionel are speaking about Lex’s childhood when the agents bust into Lionel’s home and point guns and hit Lionel causing Conner to get angry and use his powers to protect Lionel and kill the agents. Krypto used his heat vision to destroy a gun. This scene alone was incredibly done and showcased Conners powers.
2. Eve takes Conner to show him the real Lex and to essentially change his mind about meeting him. She takes him to a abandoned Cadmus Lab to show Conner what Lex really did by trying to make clones which Conner see’s the clones of him and this enrages him.
Eve tells Conner to go be him and not to use his powers and to run and stay hidden. Conner heads into San Francisco and this is when he chooses to be a hero by saving a falling Jason then when they introduce themselves Conner gets shot by someone and Krypto gets taken.
The Verdict
This episode felt completely different, in action, in tone, even dialogue felt different. Completely took a risk to give Superboy an entire episode. The backstory of Conner was incredibly to see and I hope this leads to Lex Luthor being cast.
Rating: 9.5/10
