Review: SuperMansion “Virtual Reality Bites”

Does the show deserve its stellar cast? Find out in this review.

Spoilers Below

The League of Freedom returns to Crackle in this premiere episode of season two. Still reeling from the aftermath of season one’s final battle, SuperMansion takes the time this episode to reestablish the characters’ relationships and emotional states as we last left them. After a succinct setup, the show hits the ground running with its central conflict for what’s to come.

Just as the main characters are direct comments on popular and well-established superheroes, Supermansion’s return echoes the beginning of Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the characters are left to deal with the consequences of their culminating battle. This episode reflects this in its opening scene. The character’s introductions are brassy and cinematic, just like a good franchise strives to be, and it’s followed up with a high-energy new title sequence. It gives the audience a chance to really cheer for these guys.

‘Virtual Reality Bites’ starts with another attack on Groaner, the Joker-Riddler hybrid villain who featured prominently in season one. He had also struck up an unlikely friendship with Black Saturn, who is now dismayed to find they are back to being enemies, all relationship growth lost. Jewbot, American Ranger, Cooch, and finally Rex Titanium join in to fight, showing that The League of Freedom is still here and intends to stay, despite growing citizen protests regarding the safety of its leadership.

Something I’ve loved about the series so far is that we get to constantly see the fun side of superheroes – the side that audiences always want more of and are often starved for –  without sacrificing action or super-ness. This episode proves that this will not be a lost element this season. In fact, we may be seeing even more. All the villains of story lines past have banded together in their defeat. De facto leader Dr. Devizo has seemingly left them without a plan and no villainy gigs to pay their bills.

Meanwhile, members of The League are also struggling with the consequences of their mighty win last season and the death of their teammate, Brad. I miss Brad, and I’m surprised that so far, the show has committed to leaving a pillar of its ensemble cast to rest in peace, when it would be so easy to invoke superhero rules and bring him back to life. It does provide a chance to see how those closest to Brad, namely Cooch, deal with grief. Under the guidance of upstanding patriot, American Ranger, she turns to the Church.

While we didn’t see as much situational comedy as in episodes past, instead laying some solid structural groundwork, Cooch and Ranger filled in some of that absence. Their quest for Cooch’s baptism is similar to the B-plot of ‘A Shop in The Dark’, which showed the team’s inability to carry out a grocery shopping trip. Sometimes a superhero’s exceptional qualities are also what isolates them from a normal society.

In fact, everyone is searching for something in this episode: Cooch for eternal salvation and American Ranger the smugness and satisfaction of guiding her there, Black Saturn for the lost company of his frenemy turned enemy again, Rex Titanium for the incriminating files that will most likely propel this season’s story arc forward, and Jewbot for mystery of what could Rex could possibly be hiding. While everyone takes steps toward their goal, they all leave only more confused about the repercussions of their actions. That is, all except Cooch, who wasn’t really looking for salvation in the first place. She just needed a way to properly mourn her former love and proper equal, Brad.

On the other side of the alignment chart, the villains are struggling to recuperate after their recent loss. Unsurprisingly, their leader, Dr. Devizo, is taking time to regain strength to come back at The League with full force, revealing himself to be the mastermind behind Rex’s condemnatory data breach. Taking more of an emotional hit, Lex Lightning is dealing with new motivations for evil, having elevated from villain to super-villain after Rex officially denounced her as his daughter.

I’m excited for this season. I hope it continues to stretch further past jokes based solely on the characters’ most obvious traits, super or otherwise.