If you look at its actual content, this SHOULDN'T be a very good episode. The story is simple and a fair percentage of this episode consists of clips from other episodes, with some stock footage thrown in the mix too for even more padding. It's very easy to tell this episode was made as cheaply as possible.
And yet...it's actually still really enjoyable. I mean, this is hardly the best the show can offer or anything, but at the end of the day, it was entertaining and satisfying. Sometimes, just seeing Superman getting down and doing some crime-fighting is all you really need. In this season of the show, Superman actually beating up criminals usually only takes up a very small part of the episode, and it was almost kind of cathartic to see all those little criminal-punching bits strung together into one whole. And in general, for me, it's just impossible not to love George Reeves' acting as a Superman who is so serious about fighting crime, which was clearly displayed here. The simple story was enjoyable too, with just enough tension and twists to make it interesting.
An unfortunate bit is that not having much story doesn't mean that the story that exists always makes sense. It was extremely weird that they had the criminals learn Superman's secret identity, and then do nothing with it other than just to contact Clark so he can contact Superman (which, in later episodes, is something which many characters do on a regular basis without even knowing Clark is Superman - they just know they're friends). It's just not made an issue of at all. Apparently, these criminals just know Superman's secret identity, but it doesn't effect anything. In fact, I'm not even clear on whether or not Superman knows that they know his secret identity. Very odd to bring up a plot point like that and not resolve it. That was probably my least favorite part of the episode, but the fact that it's not really THAT bad a thing should show that this is a good episode overall.
And yet...it's actually still really enjoyable. I mean, this is hardly the best the show can offer or anything, but at the end of the day, it was entertaining and satisfying. Sometimes, just seeing Superman getting down and doing some crime-fighting is all you really need. In this season of the show, Superman actually beating up criminals usually only takes up a very small part of the episode, and it was almost kind of cathartic to see all those little criminal-punching bits strung together into one whole. And in general, for me, it's just impossible not to love George Reeves' acting as a Superman who is so serious about fighting crime, which was clearly displayed here. The simple story was enjoyable too, with just enough tension and twists to make it interesting.
An unfortunate bit is that not having much story doesn't mean that the story that exists always makes sense. It was extremely weird that they had the criminals learn Superman's secret identity, and then do nothing with it other than just to contact Clark so he can contact Superman (which, in later episodes, is something which many characters do on a regular basis without even knowing Clark is Superman - they just know they're friends). It's just not made an issue of at all. Apparently, these criminals just know Superman's secret identity, but it doesn't effect anything. In fact, I'm not even clear on whether or not Superman knows that they know his secret identity. Very odd to bring up a plot point like that and not resolve it. That was probably my least favorite part of the episode, but the fact that it's not really THAT bad a thing should show that this is a good episode overall.