Superhero?: Could've been a contender

SPOILER!

This post contains details from the fifth episode
of Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

I realize this recap is later than usual, but it's taken me this long to get past the disappointment of the latest elimination, and ... and ...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY, GOD, WHY?!?!

... sorry ... let's carry on, OK?

So, early during the morning the heroes were alerted to Dr. Darks' latest plot - killing all electricity in Los Angeles and bringing the city to a standstill. To keep this from happening, the heroes had to go to a power station and individually remove the fuses powering Darks' device.

Of course it wasn't going to be easy, and our favorite cable network-supervillain had the foresight to make copies of the stolen secret files containing the heroes' personal information. Tipped off to the groups' phobias, Dr. Dark hid the fuses in a dark, cramped room at the end of a pipe filled with spiders, snakes and other creepy-crawlies.

Which briefly sends Whip-Snap over the edge, something she'd been showing a propensity for with distressing regularity. I understand people deal with frustration and stress in different ways, but no one wants to see their superhero freaking out.

Still, she got herself together and got her fuse, with everyone else eventually following and completing the challenge with just seconds to spare. This might've been dramatic, but d'you know what was even better? It's a tie, between the part where The Defuser got stuck in the pipe (briefly) and when Parthenon shrieked like a little girl during his part of the challenge.

Oh, who am I kidding? It was when Parthenon let loose with his coquettish scream - that ought to be a flashback scene in every episode from now on!

OK, let's sum up the rest of the episode: As a reward for saving the city, the heroes are sent to a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, while the group is talking to some kids The Defuser screws up by giving them one of his weapons; c'mon, does Batman give street urchins smoke bombs and Batarangs? (Robin doesn't count.)

Later, the heroes have to face Dr. Dark again when he breaks into Stan Lee's broadcast to reveal their foibles, quirks and - in the case of Whip-Snap - past, possibly criminal, behavior. Apparently she had some ex-boyfriend trouble once and as part of a night that ended with her causing a scene outside his house, she ... er ... stole a friends' car. Whip-Snap used the word "confiscated," but whatever you might want to call it, Stan was not impressed. He also didn't seem to be so hot on the idea that Parthenon has a "pirate room" in his house, that Hygena fantasizes about dancing burlesque, Hyper-Strike screwed up an act and was fired, or that The Defuser once got so drunk he clumsily (and accidentally) destroyed a public restroom.

I don't know what the problem was - it sounds like the basis of a typical Marvel team-book to me.

Finally, it was time for someone to go, and Hygena (neurotic slowpoke), Defuser (overbearing micro-manager), and Whip-Snap (breakdown artist) were on the chopping blocks. Sadly, and in spite of my high-hopes, Whip-Snap wasn't able to pull herself together enough to prove her potential and was eliminated!

It's too bad: Her heart was in the right place, but Whip-Snap just couldn't secure her own place on Superhero. I still think she had the potential to go all the way, or at least to the final two, but her obvious spirit couldn't overcome her weighty self-doubt in time. In spite of that, though, I would have liked to have seen her stay for one more round - you could almost see the hero emerging in Whip-Snap and of the entire group, she deserved a second chance.

Current favorites: The Defuser, Parthenon