Season 3 of My Adventures with Superman begins with a literal cold opening where Superman and Supergirl return to the arctic Fortress. Supergirl is carrying a metallic cylinder, and she goes off on her own to another chamber to make peace with her father.
It turns out this cylinder contains the last remnants of Brainiac, who Superman and Supergirl defeated last season. Brainiac was responsible for raising Supergirl up until Superman rescued her last season. The Brainiac AI is still functional and more than willing to taunt Supergirl, and he insists she’s still her father’s daughter.
Superman, meanwhile, is taken aback by the robot stewards who have sprung up to take care of the Fortress. The Chief Steward wants to make sure Superman is honoring his Kryptonian ways, but Superman is more concerned for Supergirl’s well being.
Despite the heavy tone of the opening, there is a happier scene following the intro. It’s Halloween on the Kent Farm, and our heroes can focus more on interpersonal relationships. While Kara is very taken with the festivities and spending time with Jimmy, Jimmy confesses to Lois that he fears the day when Kara discovers how big the world is and outgrows him. Clark and Lois’s relationship is strong, but they have some doubts too. Clark has been researching a place for them to live, even keeping in mind the kids they will raise, while Lois doesn’t want to rush things.
Sam Lane is also at the farm. Although he says he’s retired, he is working for the Pentagon. He is quick to tell Lois about a Kryptonian Bio-Tech program called Project Caliban that was developed alongside Cadmus. It’s not long before Lois, Clark, Jimmy, and Kara go off to investigate.
The facility appears to be abandoned, but it also looks like a facade. The four of them discover a pathway deep below ground which leads to the real experiments. After doing some digging, they learn that Project Caliban collected Kryptonian tissue samples from Zero Day for cloning experiments. After escaping a beast, the four of them enter another chamber full of Kryptonian flora.
They find a scientist identified as Dr. George Otto Binder buried under a tree, and a Kryptonian clone attacks them while a flying drone observes. This is the clone designated B-1Z, and rather than fight it, the four flee into another chamber.
This chamber has Earth trees as well as children’s toys. A recording of Dr. Binder instructs its student to be kind. While Supergirl is transfixed by the recording, Superman flies off to help what ends up being an attack drone. Lois believes that the facility was shut down because the clone was too dangerous, but Supergirl realizes it wasn’t conditioned to be a weapon (like she was).
Superman protects B-1Z from the drone. When it begins a self destruct sequence, Superman flies the away from B-1Z and takes the brunt of the explosion. The facility acknowledges that it has been compromised and floods all the chambers. B-1Z saves the unconscious Superman and brings him outside. As Lois, Jimmy, and Supergirl exit, B-1Z jumps away.
Back in Metropolis, Clark and Lois pass out candy. Clark is dressed as Superman and is amused that a trio of children are dressed as a bird, a plane, and Superman. B-1Z wanders the streets of Metropolis as Dr. Binder’s encouraging words echo through his mind. A friendly child hands him a lollipop, which makes him smile.
The final scene takes place in Lexcorp, where Lex Luthor has been going over the Project Caliban drone footage. Lex was the one behind Project Caliban, and he tells Slade Wilson that it was a failure. Lex’s next plan involves Hank Henshaw. When Slade points out Henshaw needs machines to breathe, Lex thinks that’s perfect.
As far as season premiers go, this was a solid one. The opening scene feels a little disconnected, mostly because Kara/Supergirl seems so unburdened by her identity crisis in the rest of the episode, but it is a good reminder of who she is. This Kryptonian clone may be called “B1-Z”, but it’s clearly this show’s version of Bizarro (which is confirmed by the end credits and the fact that he is also voiced by Jack Quaid).
Kara identifies her and Jimmy’s Halloween costumes as June Robbins and Ace Morgan of the Challengers of the Unknown, DC characters that date back to 1957. While it’s not stated, Lois appears to be Dr. Victor Frankenstein and Clark is Frankenstein’s monster. There is a stronger Frankenstein parallel with B1-Z. Not only is he a science creation made from deceased people, him getting a lollipop from a little girl is similar to a scene from the 1931 Frankenstein movie where the monster befriends a little girl. Project “Caliban” is named after the creature in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, another famous slow-witted subhuman character.
The scientist educating B1-Z is Dr. George Otto Binder. He is named for Otto Binder, who co-created Supergirl in 1959. Otto Binder and George Papp created Bizarro in 1958.It’s possible that more than just a remnant remains of Brainiac. The Chief Steward in the Fortress is played by Michael Emerson, who voiced Brainiac, and his desire to honor Kryptonian ways could be the beginnings of a Brainiac resurgence.
Both the opening and closing credits of the show have been changed for this season. The intro inserts Kara and some new villains. The first two seasons of My Adventures with Superman had photographs (presumably taken by Jimmy during the episode) over the end credits. Here, we have Clark telling Lois, Jimmy, and Kara all the things he would rather be doing on Halloween than investigating this new mystery, which would have taken place right before they all go down the stairs into Project Caliban.
