History Recap / SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E22TheLateMrKent

* ReturningToTheScene: Superman spots Detective Bowman on the street right after Clark's apartment is blown up, which points him toward the real killler.

* RiddleForTheAges: Bowman's motive for committing murder is left open for the viewer to speculate.

* NoodleIncident: Bowman's motive for committing murder is left open for the viewer to speculate.

-->'''Lois:''' ''[looking at a picture of Clark]'' I always teased him, but I had so much respect. ''[cries]'' And I liked him too, I really did. I wish I'd told him.

* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Inverted. Clark Kent's car is destroyed by a car bomb and he is thrown off a cliff into the ocean. Everybody believes that Clark was killed in the explosion, and took the only evidence of a condemned man's innocence with him, so he, as Superman, has to figure out how to catch the assailant and exonerate the innocent man before his execution, without using Clark's information or identity.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: The one time Clark tries to do something for himself ("I wanted this to be Clark's victory, not Superman's"), he ends up trapped as Superman for a while.

* LivingLieDetector: As Ernest pleads his innocence, Clark notices the steadiness of his heartbeat. Based on that, he thinks that Ernest is telling the truth and starts looking for evidence to exonerate him.

* LivingLieDetector: As Ernest pleads his innocence, Clark notices the steadiness of his heartbeat. Based on that, he's certain he must be telling the truth.

* RevealingCoverUp: Bowman's attempt to prevent Clark from digging up evidence to exonerate Ernest leads to him being implicated as the real killer and the perpetrator of the frame-up. There's no real indication that he would have been in danger if he's simply let Clark prove Ernest's innocence, even if this led to a new cold-case investigation which he could have sabotaged if necessary given his position in the police department.

* BlindWithoutEm: Fortunately, it turns out that the fisherman who saw Clark's bombed car fall into the ocean has extremely poor vision and wasn't wearing his glasses, thus providing a plausible explanation for Clark to turn up alive. [[spoiler:Lana Lang, who knows about his dual identity, claims that she'd been taking care of him while he recuperated.]]

* DeathBySecretIdentity: [[spoiler:Detective Bowman]] figures out [[spoiler:Clark Kent is Superman]] right at the end of the episode, the very moment [[spoiler:he gets executed]].

* EurekaMoment: [[spoiler:Detective Bowman]] figures out that Clark Kent is Superman [[spoiler:but is unable to use this for anything since he's seconds away from being executed by then]].

* FrameUp: Ernest Walker was framed for murder by [[spoiler:Bowman]]. [[spoiler:He was the case's lead investigator, which was how he was able to plant the evidence and make the accusation stick.]]
* FreezeFrameBonus: If you look closely at the figure in shadow as Clark drives out of the parking lot you'll notice that it's [[spoiler: Bowman]].

* HowWeGotHere: The episode starts with Clark's funeral and then it goes back to the beginning of the events that led [[spoiler:Detective Bowman]] to want him dead.

* NoodleIncident: [[spoiler:Bowman]]'s motive for committing murder is left open for the viewer to speculate.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler:"He's Superman!"]]
* ReturningToTheScene: Superman spots [[spoiler:Detective Bowman]] on the street right after Clark's apartment is blown up, which points him toward the real killler.
* RevealingCoverUp: [[spoiler:Bowman]]'s attempt to prevent Clark from digging up evidence to exonerate Ernest leads to him being implicated as the real killer and the perpetrator of the frame-up. There's no real indication that he would have been in danger if he's simply let Clark prove Ernest's innocence, even if this led to a new cold-case investigation [[spoiler:which he could have sabotaged if necessary given his position in the police department]].

* DeathBySecretIdentity: Happens to [[spoiler:Detective Bowman]] in the end.

* GreenEyedMonster: Lois is clearly displeased that Clark (according to his cover story) remembered Lana's name and phone number rather than hers when he (supposedly) needed help.

* SecretIdentity: Discussed.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: The one time Clark tries to do something for himself ("I wanted this to be Clark's victory, not Superman's), he ends up trapped as Superman for a while.

* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Clark Kent clearly would have been killed if he were a normal human, and can't reappear until Superman finds some one to explain his survival without revealing his secret.

* NoirEpisode: It's essentially a noir mystery with Superman. He even engages in a PrivateEyeMonologue throughout.

* HowWeGotHere: The episode starts with Clark's funeral and then it goes back to the beginning of the events that led [[spoiler:Detective Bowman]] to want him dead.

** Also for Clark Kent himself. At the newsroom, just before he was about to eat the pizza a co-worker left behind, he remembered that the suspect claimed to have eaten pizza at the night of the murder, which he could use as evidence to clear his name.

* FreezeframeBonus: If you look closely at the figure in shadow as Clark drives out of the parking lot you'll notice that it's [[spoiler: Bowman]].