[7.7/10] This is definitely a good episode, but also a bit of a weird one. It honestly feels like it should have been a season finale rather that an episode that hits eight episodes into the show’s run. We’ve barely gotten to see Superman doing his thing in Metropolis, making friends and enemies, and settling into this life, but “Stolen Memories” treats things as though Supes has been at this forever and is a totally known quantity. Lex is referred to as Superman’s old foe. He’s already good pals with the folks at Star Labs and friendly enough with the U.S. government that he’s brought into some kind of joint chiefs meeting. Hell, we even get a closing “Fortress of Solitude” tease. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly, but a lot of this episode feels a little pat, assuming things that the show hasn’t really dramatized for the audience in a satisfying way. The other side of the coin is that visually, it’s a great episode. The design of Brainiac’s ship (particularly the interiors), the cybernetic body horror of his various tendrils, and the cool blasts from its destruction and attacks, really stands out in an episode that somewhat strains to justify a good amount of its action. There’s some impressionistic sequences here (mostly involving Clark accessing Kryptonian memories and others) that are a little less ambitious than some of those we saw on *Batman: The Animated Series* but still quite good. There’s also a great deal of excitement and charge to Superman coming face to face with Brainiac for the first time. As the AI himself notes, they are, in two very different ways, the last sons of Krypton. Having Superman face off with the intelligence that went toe-to-toe with his father and perhaps helped doom his world heightens the atmosphere here. Superman doesn't get revenge exactly, but he gets to finish what his father started in questioning Brainiac, which adds a generational resonance to this. Brainiac also offers Clark the universe in some way, the chance to go explore his legacy and see the galaxy and a wider world in a way that just staying on Earth and protecting Metropolis wouldn’t allow him. He even sweetens the pot by saying that he’ll share memories of Krypton with clark, giving him a chance to experience the home he never knew in some way. It’s a tempting deal with the devil for sure. But I’m honestly not crazy about how the show taps out of it. Superman realizing that Brainiac is a killer doesn't come as any great shock, since the audience already knows that from the opening episodes. It feels like the series is trying to build some dramatic tension over what Brainiac’s intentions are when chances are, fans either already know he’s a bad bot from cultural osmosis or just from watching the series’s first episode. Still, even if Brainiac’s schtick has been done by Nomad and V’Ger before him, there’s something a little striking about his “gather up all the knowledge and destroy the place” insane mission. I also like Lex’s part in this episode. There’s a not so subtle “corporate privateering vs. governmental caution” theme in this episode, and it’s interesting to see two bad guys collaborating and wait for the inevitable fissures to form. The mutual mistrust and betrayals, and the hint that Brainiac is now infecting Lex tech is a good tease. Overall, this is a very nice follow-up to the series premiere and the Brainiac arc, but one that probably could have used a few more stories in between to better establish the status quo in Metropolis before the show threatens to disrupt it like this.