Hereafter (2)

Season 2, Episode 20, Aired
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Episode Summary

Superman finds himself on a devastated future Earth with the man responsible - Vandal Savage.
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Fan Episode Reviews (3)

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  • The team responsible for Justice League work their magic once again.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By bfrazier, Mar 08, 2009 Report Abuse
    I'm writing this review in response to JLUmember1's review. Obviously this episode of JL failed to connect with this reviewer in some way. SpikeTbear gives a great recap in his review, so I'll review another aspect.

    Superman may be the most famous superhero in the world, but he get's a lot of flak from some people. They say "He has every superpower" and "He's invulnerable so he's not really risking anything" compared to superheroes like Flash or Batman. This is true. Superman's doesn't risk his life every time he fights, although kryptonite has the potential to kill him. Superman is a hero for a different reason: He does the right thing. He makes the right choices at the right times, even when thousands or millions of lives are on the line. That includes using his powers for good rather than evil, even though it would be easy for him to succumb to the temptation (as shown in the episode A Better World). Superman stands for justice, even when it's not the easy way out and doesn't result in personal gain.

    Knowing all this, the writers adapted a well-known Superman storyline for this show. Now we see Superman without his powers, struggling to survive in a hostile environment. Guess what? He's still a hero. He battles the elements, carnivorous wildlife, grief, hopelessness, and terrible odds to get back to his friends. It would have been easy for him to give up along the way or even die if he hadn't fought well enough. But he didn't. He triumphed in the end. With his powers he's a superhero. Without them, he's still a hero. To the core.

    That's what this episode is about. If you watch it and still don't get it, don't fret. I can recommend some excellent television shows that are light on actual storytelling and heavy on mindless action and dimensionless characters. But that's not what Justice League is about.moreless

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    2 0

  • The Best Episode of Justice League

    10
    "Perfect"
    By SpikeTbear, Feb 05, 2009 Report Abuse
    The Bottom Line: "Classic"

    The Best Episode of Justice League ...Continue
    The second part of the episode Hereafter is completely different from the first. This episode reveals that Superman is not really dead, but in fact transported away to a future, desolate world that he later realizes is Earth. It focuses on Superman surviving in the wilderness for perhaps months as he journeys toward a Justice League com-link signal. Superman's resourcefulness leads us to believe that he may actually have been a boy scout.

    Superman meets a very different Vandal Savage, who as we know is immortal. Having survived for the past 30,000 years, Savage has learned to cope with the fact that he was responsible for killing everyone on Earth. His character is remarkable, having become a philosopher in his countless millenniums of life. He has realized that his quest to rule the world was pointless, and instead tries to rebuild what is left.

    Savage had, at one point, tried to make a time machine, but what he could build with his limited resources only allowed a limited type. He could only travel to a point in the past where he did not already exist. However, Superman was already dead in his present, so he would happily make the journey. He and Savage work together to build the machine. Superman goes back and prevents Savage of the past from destroying Earth. Savage sees the Earth from 30,000 years in the future as it would have been if he had not destroyed it, and thanks Superman just before disappearing from existence. (It's pretty optimistic, if you ask me, assuming that humans will still be alive so far in the future.)

    This is a superb episode, the finest example of the kind of creativity and genius I have come to expect from Timm and the other guys who continually make exceptional work for the DCAU.

    I especially love science fiction-type shows, which are captured well in just about every episode of Batman Beyond. But my favorite superhero will always be Superman, and giving him this awesome time-travel storyline resulted in an epic, classic story. My favorite of the whole Justice League Series, which deserves much more praise than it has received.moreless

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    3 0

  • This was the worst episode ever!

    3.2
    "Bad"
    By JLUmember1, Aug 20, 2005 Report Abuse
    I thought that this epside was terible. I can't beleive I watchted the entire episode! The episode focused way to much on Superman. What happened in the battle. This episode was painful to watch and I will never watch this episode agin. I enjoied part one but I think this episode was the worst thing I ever saw! And, what happened to Vandel at the end, since he is imortle, the League couldn't have defeated them. Also, why didn't Supergirl help the League. or a side kick I'm sure that they would call in help if Savage started killing the heroes. It had a lot of loose ends that weren't tied up.moreless

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    0 11
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Trivia: Superman has Flash-endorsed energy bars in his trunk. Edit
    • Trivia: We learn that Superman's user code is 02. Edit
    • Superman has his "S" logo intact when he is first seen at the end of the first part, while lying partially under a slab. This logo now appears ripped at the start of the second half; presumably the missing part is the portion that Batman picks up in the first installment. Edit

  • Notes

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    • Phil Morris reprises his role as Vandal Savage. Edit
    • The second half of "Hereafter" is based upon the classic Superman story "Under a Red Son". Episode writer Dwayne McDuffie wanted to adapt it to Superman: The Animated Series, but the opportunity never presented itself. Edit
    • The entire League appear in this episode. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Superman: What happens to you? Vandal Savage: Redemption if I'm lucky...don't worry about me. Go back to your friends. Do what you do best. What you were born to do - save the world... Edit
    • Vandal Savage: Your funeral was lovely. It was on all the networks...I used to have the DVD... Edit
    • Wonder Woman: I love the beard. Keeping it? Superman: Not a chance. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Visual: A book by Plato among Savage's collection
      In Savage's bookshelf, we can see one book by Plato, one of the most influential classical Greek philosophers, which supports the idea of Savage's redemption -- he is now an intellectual, rather than a megalomaniac. Edit
    • Bugs:
      The big bugs/hive motif is pretty common in sci/fi, but these bugs strongly resemble the "infantry" Bug aliens of Starship Trooper (especially in the legs and gait). One might also draw comparisons between this ep and the anime Blue Gender where a cryo-tube guy wakes up to a giant bug infested earth. Edit
    • Superman with a Hammer Superman wielding a hammer, wearing a beard, and having a red cape gives him more then a passing resemblance to Thor, the Norse god of Thunder and superhero over at Marvel Comics. Coincidentally or not, Avengers/JLA #3 came out the week before this episode aired, and the cover of Avengers/JLA #4 also has Superman wielding Thor's hammer. Edit

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