Superman: The Animated Series (TV Series) Feeding Time (1996) User Reviews

Feeding Time... ...Superman versus Parasite. Round one!

[David_del_Real_Reviews_in_IMDb · 8/10 · 9 November 2017]

Parasite is the kind of villain who gets his powers one day, and somehow learns all about how to use them immediately, and also, somehow his body transforms itself in a kind of a suit. While superheroes often last days, months or their complete teenage years to learn to use their powers, villains learn overnight, I guess that is one of the advantages of being the bad guy in a series, everybody wants to see action soon so your training goes faster.

Parasite is also the kind of character (can happen to both heroes and villains) whose personality is changed completely along with his body. From a complete introvert to the worst case of extrovert in the case of the Parasite. From a timid janitor to a ruthless villain. If you are into DC and the whole superhero phenomenon, you already know that a timid or insecure person can be such a great start for a story, maybe because most humans tend to feel oppressed and victims of injustice at one point of their existences or another. Just the adventures of Batman and Superman have maybe a couple of dozens like "The Joker's Favor", "The Man Who Killed Batman" and of course, this adventure : "Feeding Time".

Designed to be a villain who could get into trouble not exclusively to the "Man of Steel" but practically to any superhero by stealing his abilities, this will not be, of course, the last time we see him. Finally, one of my favorite parts of the episode is having Jimmy Olsen, a person not only without Kryptonian strength but also someone who normally lacks a good recognition for his work, saving the day against one of the most difficult rivals of the most famous superhero.

Thanks everyone for reading!

IMDb Review by David del Real. November 2017. Mexico City. Mexico.

Exciting episode and a great villain intro

[sssuperman-dot-com · 8/10 · 9 April 2019]

Superman: The Animated Series is a quality show, though in my opinion not a particularly visionary take on the character and has more shortcomings than it may appear to at first glance. That said, there are times when it is extremely good and comes close to being the ideal Superman, and this episode is perhaps one of those instances. It introduces the supervillain Parasite into the DC Animated Universe and shows him to be a compelling foe, as well as providing an exciting story with action, peril, and drama.

We are introduced to our villain before he is transformed - when he is just a pushover-y janitor for STAR Labs named Rudy Jones. He tries to help steal some dangerous chemicals from the lab, but instead ends up doused with them and turns into a being that can absorb energy from any living being by touching them, and in doing so also gains that being's knowledge and thoughts, as well as the ability to impersonate their voice. Rudy decides that, from now on, he'll be the one pushing people around. This puts him in conflict with Superman, obviously, and with his power set, Rudy is a formidable foe, and by absorbing the Man of Steel's powers, he becomes even more of a menace to Metropolis.

The only saving grace is that Parasite's power absorption is temporary, but this pushes Parasite to go to greater lengths to keep himself "fed". When Clark is alone in his apartment, Rudy ambushes him - since he gains the knowledge of beings whose energy he absorbs, he knows Superman's true identity. After draining Superman's powers again, he imprisons him underneath STAR Labs, planning to continuously come back to him to re-absorb power anytime the effects begin to wear off. Thankfully, help comes from none other than Jimmy Olsen, who cleverly hypothesizes where Rudy might be hanging out. With Jimmy's help and some cleverness of his own, Superman manages to defeat Parasite.

What's so great about this episode? Well, a lot of things. One of the fundamental reasons why it's strong is because Superman is challenged in a believable way. This show understands the importance of giving Superman a challenge, but unfortunately, sometimes it goes about doing so in a way that just makes Superman look strangely weak. Here, though, it makes perfect sense considering Parasite's powers.

However, it goes beyond just Parasite's powers in and of themselves - it's also what he does with them. The fact that this episode didn't shy away from putting Superman in a truly vulnerable position - Parasite knowing his secret, kidnapping him, and potentially keeping him in the STAR Labs basement forever - gives it a lot more power than if it were just another story where characters punch each other. You actually feel like Superman is vulnerable, and almost touchingly human. The moment where he says that his co-workers will realize he's missing and come looking for him really gets me. In that moment, it's like we look beyond the "super"-ness of the character and just see a human being in a desperate situation, not even seeming to be thinking about the secrecy of his identity. It's moments like these where the distinction between Clark Kent and Superman melts away and Superman feels like one of us.

Beyond that, I really love that Jimmy gets a chance to shine and that he's shown to be clever and willing to dive head-first into situation, as well as the action, especially when Superman is not at his full power yet and needs to be clever to defeat Parasite. I also like Rudy's personality and how he still comes across as a relatively normal (if evil) person and not as an over-the-top supervillain with crazy goals. Plus, the animation in this episode is quite nice and has a lot of great facial expressions.

That said, it's not perfect. Rudy's voice actor sometimes seemed rather under-expressive, which may have been intentional, but I didn't like it. In fact, it kind of took me out of it at times. Overall, though, it was a great episode and a great introduction to a new character that I would readily recommend.

Very Good Episode, Featuring 'The Parasite'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 13 June 2007]

A new villain introduced here wasn't a bad guy to start the episode - just a regular guy, a janitor working in a warehouse. In fact, a security cop refers to him as "wimpy Rudy Jones." Rudy's nasty friend, however, gets the janitor to help him steal two drums of toxic waste- type material and Rudy, in the getaway, gets drenched with the stuff. He then turns into some reddish-purple-colored creature who is thrown from the trunk while the driver races off.

The toxic goo turns Rudy into "The Parasite," a creature who gets stronger when he touches other people. When he grabs them, he has the power now to hear their thoughts and knows what they know. He "feeds" off them, hence the "parasite" label. The first victim is a female cop. He knocks her out, answers the police radio knowing just what to say to imitate her voice perfectly and then drives off. Soon, he goes after the other thief, the mean guy who abandoned him. He clues him in (and us at the same time) on what's happened to him with this physical-mental change in his body. While he's in the middle of punishing that guy, Superman intervenes....and the fun really starts as "Rudy" grabs Superman and transforms the latter's power into him.

Rudy successfully handles Superman and flies off proclaiming to be "the new Superman in town." That scene was very cool, as is the rest of the episode as good ole Rudy - the "thing" as some news anchor calls him on TV - terrorizes the city of Metropolis. The worst is yet to come because since he now has Superman's thoughts, meaning he knows Clark Kent is Superman.

Without divulging how this dilemma is faced, suffice to say the whole episode was very good, the second-best I've seen so far in the first six shows. Not only was Rudy interesting - and had some funny dialog a couple of times - but the artwork in here was spectacular. This was the best color and drawings I've seen thus far.