#quite a lot of stas is watching clark get punched in increasingly creative ways

[blorb-el]

STAS episode recommendations! for people who do not want to watch the whole thing but want to enjoy the JL/JLU arcs with full context.

there’s 4 main arcs set up in STAS that are relevant for the rest of the DCAU: Brainiac and Lex, Apokolips, Cadmus, and the World’s Finest coming together. Here are the twelve episodes relevant to those plot threads.

1. last son of krypton (3 parts): technically skippable, mostly your standard superman origin story but pretty well done, with some genuinely excellent details; part 1 is most relevant, establishing Brainiac as a Kryptonian AI, which was original to this series, and its hatred towards Jor-El and the House of El.

2. stolen memories: Brainiac returns, beginning its long interaction/rivalry with Lex Luthor, and an important emotional moment for Clark as he learns for the first time real information about Krypton beyond the short recording his parents left for him.

3. tools of the trade: Introduces Dan Turpin, the Jack Kirby tribute detective, and his crusade against Intergang and its Apokoliptic weaponry.

4. brave new metropolis: Lois enters an alternate universe where fascist Superman and Luthor have joined forces to rule Metropolis. Not directly connected to the aforementioned arcs, but this theme will obviously return in JL/JLU.

5. ghost in the machine: Brainiac has trapped Lex in his basement and forces him to build it a new body. Sets the tone for their relationship going forward, which comes to a head in JLU.

6. world’s finest (3 parts): you know it. batman and superman team up because the joker is hired by lex luthor to kill superman. it slaps. end of story.

7. apokolips...now! (2 parts): possibly the best episode of the series, the Apokolips arc comes to a head as Darkseid invades Earth and Clark loses in more ways than one.

8. little girl lost (2 parts): Clark finds the last survivor of Argo, another planet in Rao’s orbit. Kara In-Ze, the DCAU Supergirl, is eager to join the neverending battle, but her very first outing brings her face to face with Darkseid as Clark is captured by the Furies.

9. where there’s smoke: the first hints of the Cadmus arc. Clark investigates a shadowy organization that may be trying to create or control metahumans. technically skippable, but Clark rules in this episode.

10. knight time: when Bruce Wayne mysteriously disappears, Clark teams up with Robin to impersonate Batman and find him.

11. the demon reborn: Ra’s al Ghul and Talia capture Superman in order to carry out a dangerous plan. Batman to the rescue.

12. legacy (2 parts): the finale of STAS, the climax of the Apokolips arc, and a critical inciting incident for the Cadmus arc. Darkseid captures Clark before the story begins and brainwashes him into attacking the Earth.

Episodes that have little to no bearing on the above-mentioned arcs, but which nevertheless slap and you should consider watching anyway under the cut:

- the late mr. kent: probably the best standalone episode. when Clark tries to prove a death row inmate’s innocence, he’s targeted for assassination, and has to figure out how to clear the inmate’s name without revealing how he survived a car-bombing.

- mxyzpixilated: the imp from the fifth dimension comes to torment Clark, who gets to show off his quick wit. Along with the late mr. kent, some of the best characterization.

- speed demons: A charity race between Superman and the Flash (Wally West), who do NOT get along at first, is interrupted by the Weather Wizard. The best superhero team up in the series with someone not named Batman. other teamups include in brightest day with Kyle Rayner Green Lantern, the hand of fate with Dr. Fate, and a fish story with an Aquaman who is not quite JL Aquaman but close. but those are all worse than speed demons. watch that instead.

- the main man (2 parts): Lobo, who is a riot, is hired by The Preserver, an organism who wants to preserve the last specimens of their kinds, to capture Clark for its zoo.

- the way of all flesh: Metallo’s introduction, an excellent standalone story that shows off Lex’s manipulative abilities while also featuring some genuinely pathos-filled dialogue as Metallo loses his senses.

- identity crisis: a tour de force for Tim Daly as he voices Clark and the flawed, Frankensteinian, sympathetic clone Bizarro.

Episodes which cannot in good conscience be grouped in with the above on account of they are not actually good, but which are kind of fun regardless:

- warrior queen: maxima, a forward, brash dictator, decides to kidnap Superman, whom she deems the only man in the universe powerful enough to be her husband. it’s just pretty brainless fun tbh

- father’s day: Kalibak plots to take down Superman to earn his father Darkseid’s regard, while Jonathan and Martha visit Metropolis; Darkseid and Clark come face to face for the very first time. Technically relevant to the Apokolips arc but skippable, mostly on here because it has delightful boomer Kents and sets up the Kalibak/Orion/Clark parallels. It’s also very transparently how Clark works in the DCAU, in that he is so incredibly bad at fighting until something reminds him he’s Superman instead of a pea brain dummy and then he wins the fight in 30 seconds.

- unity: Kara and Clark have to fight a classic small-town horror alien invasion set in Smallville, which has targeted among others the Kents. my thesis is if you’re going to have the Kents alive in your setting you better DO something with them, and while this is...an...odd thing to do with them it’s for sure better than having them sit around and dispense apple pie wisdom and nothing else the entire series. also i like alien invasion horror.

@allgremlinart here u go sorry it’s so long lmao