Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 4: Obsession
Definitely not a big fan of this particular episode. I definitely approve of the increased Lana Lang screentime in this one. She's sassy and her role as someone keenly aware of Superman's double life makes her an amazing foil to the Man of Steel, and while the show has one of the most well-written adaptations of Lois Lane ever, Lana is just so charming that it's honestly criminal that episodes like this that star Lana are few and far between.
Sadly, I'm just not that big of a fan of the episode. I'm not sure if it's just the sheer creepiness that Toyman built a life-like doll of a fake-Barbie doll, gave her a personality and essentially life, all to become his 'companion'. There's a veneer of sexual assault and abusive relationships over it all, only disguised by the fact that Toyman keeps referring to Darci as a 'playmate', while the episode itself really likes to focus on fanservice-y shots that really like to highlight Darci's figure. I suppose being creepy is the whole point of Toyman, but his prior (and subsequent) iterations would tend to revolve more around the fact that he's a grown man obsessed with toys and childhood as opposed to being a creepy pervert.
Darci herself isn't the most likable of characters, either, even counting the fact that her allegiance isn't super-clear and her motivations are muddied. I'm not quite sure why she attacks Lana and tried to burn the entire building down, in one case, although I guess one could make the argument for the fact that she's just really confused about life in general? I dunno. I just plain don't like Darci.
What this episode does well in spades, though, is the visual flair. One of the most memorable and amazing scenes in this episode is Superman showing up in Lana's office while everything's burning, and he just claps his hand. Between the animation and the impressive sound mixing, it just really sells the fantasy of Superman being so goddamn strong that a single clap manages to emit enough force to put out the fire.
We also get a couple of cool action scenes, with Superman fighting the robot cowboy and the robot spaceman being a fun one, as well as the weirdly awesome giant kangaroo that tries to bop Superman in the face. What this episode lacks in being not-creepy it certainly more than makes up with visual flair.
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