After last week's double elimination on Who Wants to be a Superhero?, the potentials head downstairs to discover their lair has been ransacked and their "secret identities" stolen from the safe.  The Defuser, naturally, takes the lead and orders everyone not to touch anything.  Whip-Snap, for reasons unclear, breaks down and says she can't handle this anymore.  It's weird, because you sometimes forget that there are real people competing on this show, even though they're almost always in character.

Also missing is Stan Lee's first pencil, then the main man gets on the big screen and tells them something else was stolen: a $50,000 check for the Friends of the Urban Forest charity from Stan's good friends at Esurance.  It's quite obvious the supervillain they'll be battling today is overt product placement.  Agent Erin Esurance, the pink-haired animated figure from the Esurance commercials, gives them their assignment: head to the boardwalk and intercept a courier passing the identities.

The trick is they need disguises, so Agent Erin Esurance orders them to procure three articles of clothing (shirt, shoes and pants) from total strangers in 15 minutes.  You know, like superheroes are always doing.  Anyway, Hyper Strike is particularly good at this, doing backflips for pants.  Hygena is in a bit of a pickle, because she hates grime, and wearing someone's dirty clothes isn't exactly her idea of fun.  The Defuser is a bigger guy, and has difficulty finding pants to fit him, so a pair of women's bloomers will do.  The best is probably Whip-Snap, who gets pants from a guy about three times her size, and it looks like she's trying to put a tent on her legs.

During the challenge, a woman runs up to each of our superheroes and says her daughter is missing.  They all help out, though Basura is very wishy-washy about it, focusing instead on getting clothes.  If you're dressed in a costume and a woman runs up to ask for your help on this show, it's a safe bet it's a challenge and not a serious plea for assistance.  Also. it may just be me, but Basura's cleavage seems to be growing each episode.  The show isn't live, but I'm certain there's going to be a wardrobe malfunction every time she's on screen.

After getting the clothes, Agent Erin Esurance tells them to find a person in blue jeans and ask them a coded phrase about wanting the person's ears.  Eventually, Parthenon wins and gets back their secret identities.  Back at the lair, Stan Lee offers him a prize: a phone call home.  But he also must choose someone else to get a phone call home as well.  Parthenon interviews each person.  Hyper Strike wants to call his girlfriend, and you can almost see Parthenon's face fall to discover Hyper Strike doesn't play for his team.  The Defuser and Hygena both have spouses they want to talk to.  Basura and Whip-Snap pretty much take themselves out of the running, since they don't have families.

Hygena is chosen, and we're treated to phone calls between Parthenon and his partner, Derek, and Hygena with her husband.  Again, it's weird thinking these are just normal people whenever they drop the superhero facade for even a second.  During mission reports, we discover that The Defuser pretty much has issues with everyone.  He thinks Whip-Snap is still not being completely open and Hyper Strike is still in his shell.  The dude is in a sleeveless, skintight onesy and doing backflips in public, how much more out of his shell do you want?

At eliminations, it's basically what you'd expect.  The Defuser is called down for not working well with others.  Basura is called down for essentially ignoring the mother looking for her kid.  Hygena is called down for letting her dirt phobia hinder her performance.  I'd say Whip-Snap belongs there too for having way too much baggage and self doubt, but whatever.  It's obvious from the moment Basura hesitates to help the mom that she's going home, and she does.

Meanwhile...Dr. Dark has Stan Lee's pencil, and used it to somehow extract Stan Lee's DNA.  It's preposterous, but if we get an evil Stan Lee doppelganger next episode, I'm all for it.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of Sci Fi Channel)