Superman: The Animated Series, Season 1, Episode 11: My Girl
I really like this episode. I'm not entirely sure why, but the show does give Lana and Clark a ton of chemistry together, yet simultaneously sledgehammering in the fact that Clark and Lois has to be the OTP because Lana has been friendzoned. Yet the two maintain a very amicable friendship with each other throughout the episode and it's honestly just so pleasant to watch. There's really no reason not to have Clark hook up with Lana (or Lois, if that's where they're going for) other than to save it for another episode, but eh, whatever. Shipping wars isn't something I want to delve into.
So let's talk about this episode. It's interesting, really, to have an episode that doesn't revolve around the supervillain of the week, and instead has Lana try and spy on her boyfriend Luthor and inform Superman, telling him of all the shady shit Luthor's doing. Luthor isn't stupid, though, and thanks to Mercy he finds out things like Lana and Superman meeting, or Lana obviously spying on Luthor, so when obvious breadcrumbs are picked up by the relatively inexperienced Lana, Luthor ends up giving the kill order. The main plot, with the disintegration gun and the weapons smuggling and the final fight scene at the lead smelting factory, is serviceable but not memorable, with very forgettable guest stars in the jewel thieves and Luthor's business partner. What's memorable are the relationships between Superman, Lana, Luthor and Mercy.
Let's talk about Luthor and Mercy in this episode, yeah? The episode portrays Luthor as actually feeling sorry for having to let Lana go, first with the justification that he likes intelligent women and having her overhear some things won't matter, but forces himself to get rid of her once Mercy proves that she's in league with Superman. Luthor's voice acting and body language is depicted very well as someone who has to be ruthless but doesn't want to accept it, and his palpable anger towards Mercy, the bearer of bad news, goes a long way to giving some semblance of humanity to this chessmaster. Mercy, likewise, is a bit more fun in this episode. She's not just Luthor's kung fu chaffeur, but there are some indications that she's actually jealous of Lana, going out of her way to stalk Lana even before Luthor gives her the order, and having that satisfied smile when Luthor gives that angry kill order.
Clark and Lana are well-portrayed too, and it's always nice to see Clark in a state where he's not in constant hero mode and shows a little of the awkward vulnerability that is Clark Kent even when he's in Superman mode. Lana Lang is someone who's seen Clark grow up from a kid to an adult, and she knows Clark in and out so there's a nice, noticeable dropping of the over-awkwardness of Clark Kent and the super-heroic gravitas of Superman, a nice middle ground of Superman's two personas where he can simultaneously show off his heroicness while still stay a little geeky and awkward.
It's also an episode that delightfully pushes the limits of the censorship, sneaking a fair amount of innocent-sounding double entrendes. "Everything's real, boys..."
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