"SuperDad" Superman & Lois Recaps: "Closer," "Uncontrollable Forces" & "In Cold Blood"

 Superman & Lois

Welcome back! It feels like we just finished "Superman & Lois" season 2 and we are ready for season 3. I am extremely excited to be back covering this show. This may be a controversial opinion but I will stand by it. I think "Superman & Lois" is the best CW superhero show. This is a hill I will die on. It's the most consistent. The best acted. The best written. If it would just get rid of those damn teenagers it'd be perfect. I'm happy that the CW renewed it for season 4 even with the Nexstar takeover and I am curious how things will work since they fired most of the cast aside from the Kents. But, that's for next season. Let's dive in to the first 3 episodes of season 3.

"Closer"

Lois Lane: "I think I want more."

Clark Kent: "Driver's tests?"

Lois Lane: "Kids."

It's been 27 days since Ally Alston to merge the two worlds and things are slowly going back to normal. Jordan and Clark are training at the new Fortress while he and Lois are enjoying Tal's various beautiful homes around the world. The twins are getting ready to turn 16. Lana and Kyle are finalizing their divorce. Things take a turn when a superpowered ex criminal shows up in downtown Metropolis that could have a connection to Intergang. At the same time, Lois thinks that she might be pregnant.

Atom-Man?

When a show is as heavily serialized as "Superman & Lois," a season premiere has a lot of things it needs to do. It has to update viewers on all the things that have happened since the end of the last season and it has to do a lot of setting up for what is to come in the current season. It can be a little boring because its a lot of table setting so the show has to way to take that and actually make it exciting. And I think for the most part this premiere does that.

Lois and Clark are canoodling in Tal's villa. They are reconnecting after the Bizarro World debacle. I think that Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch have so much chemistry and its so clear here. You can feel the love between the two of them. The show pulls a bait and switch with the couple here. It feels like Lois might be pregnant due to all the villa boning that the two of them have been doing. And throughout the episode they find themselves coming to terms and even looking forward to the idea of potentially becoming parents again. The episode pulls the rug out from under us and from Lois when at the end when Dr. Irons tells Lois that she's actually not pregnant and has her come back in for more tests. I didn't think that Lois would end up being pregnant but I thought it would just be a false alarm. And it would maybe launch her into a new direction and it definitely does, just not in the way I think a lot of viewers expected.

Jordan and Jonathan are doing teen stuff. Michael Bishop joins the cast as the new Jonathan Kent and I have to say, I think he does a great job. He's pretty seamless and he actually looks like he could be related to Jordan which is a nice change. Jonathan's main plot point in this episode is taking his driver's test so he can drive his new tricked out truck from Uncle Tal. It's a fine little fun note and I did love the flashes of Lois freaking out while she was driving with Jonathan. Jordan is working with Clark to train using his new powers. I liked him trying to taunt Clark and Clark immediately showing him why he's Superman. Jordan is still trying to go out and save things on his own no matter how much Superman tells him to stop. I feel like that is going to be a recurring theme with Jordan this season.

Lana and Kyle are working on getting divorced. Lana is doing mayoral stuff including dealing with black mold at the high school. I don't know a ton about black mold, but I feel like they are very blasé about the whole thing. Is it not as big of a deal as I think it is? They are definitely setting up a romance between John Henry and Lana based on the way the camera lingers on them chatting at the twins' birthday party and Kyle and Chrissy fuck. I actually really like the pairing of Chrissy and Kyle. I wasn't sure if I would be into it, but I feel like they are so different, but it would work. 

John Henry and Nat are dealing with Sam Lane who shows up claiming he wants to get to know his alternate Earth granddaughter by taking her to see a horror movie. I love Nat's love of horror movies. I hate horror movies but Nat's enjoyment feels really realistic and I love that. Sam, of course, has an ulterior motive for wanting to take Nat out. He wants her to join the DOD academy and both the Irons aren't happy about this. Sam does realize that he was an ass, but we will see if that results in a change of behavior. You never know with Sam.

"Superman & Lois" does great with action and this episode doesn't disappoint with Superman and the newly powered up Atom-Man's fight throughout Metropolis ending in Hob's Bay. Henry Miller was one of the first criminal's Superman put away and he's shocked to see him out and also powered up. He has powers similar to the Man of Steel's. I am always really impressed with the effects on this show especially for a show that is on the CW. We get an appearance from a mysterious woman who has a mask that looks like a butthole that causes some psychic effects on Superman. And until we know her actual name, I will be referring to her as Butthole Mask. It feels like she maybe shoots Miller but there are no shells or bullet wounds and when Superman returns his body is gone. It is taken to an Intergang warehouse, where Intergang head, Bruno Mannheim, has Dr Aleister Hook revive him somehow. 

This is all in all a solid premiere that foreshadows, what I think will be, another great season. Just one thing, did anyone else get like early '00's American Eagle commercial during that party montage with the acoustic guitar music?

Grade: B+

"Uncotrollable Forces"

Clark Kent: "Well, in that case, did you know that Tal also has a villa in Bali?"

Lois Lane: "Mmm."

Clark Kent: "And home spa, three-tier Infinity Pool overlooking the ocean. Rumor is he bought it off Michael Bay."

Lois Lane: "That is not a selling point."

Lois, Clark and Chrissy continue their investigation of Intergang, learning that Judge Reagan gave Miller a compassionate release. The reporters think that she may be in Intergang's pocket, which is seemingly confirmed when she is visited by Intergang thugs and is ready to jump off the roof of the courthouse. The teens of Smallville head to a party in Metropolis. Lana and John Henry are targeted by Butthole Mask after she murders George Dean. All the while, Lois is wrestling with a secret regarding her health.

He's always listening...

I am just going to say this and I may have said it before, but it bears repeating. Elizabeth Tulloch deserves an Emmy. I know she'll never get one, because the Emmy's would never reward an actress who is on a superhero show that airs on the CW, but it doesn't change the fact that she 100% deserves one. I have spent a lot of time in these posts praising her and I am going to do it again, because she does some of her best work here. The silent montage at the beginning. I love face acting and Tulloch gives a master class in face acting. Her body language is so good throughout the episode as she hides her news from the people that she cares about. When she finally comes clean about her diagnosis in a last ditch attempt to stop Judge Regan from jumping, if you aren't crying along with her, then I really don't know what is wrong with you. I was a mess, especially when she collapses into Superman's arms, who just watched and heard the entire confession. Longtime readers of these recaps know that I'm not a huge fan of the Kent brothers but man, just when I stopped crying, I started again when they hugged their mom on either side.

We get our first extended scenes with the man who feels like he will be this season's "Big Bad:" Bruno Mannheim. He's masterfully played by Chad Coleman who I am most familiar with from his role playing Fred Johnson on "The Expanse." I have to plug "The Expanse." It's a great show. If you've not watched, you definitely need to. He was also on "The Wire" and "The Walking Dead." It's difficult to be a non powered individual and go toe to toe with Superman and Mannheim does it. That is a huge credit to Coleman. He verbally smacks down the Man of Steel. He talks about how Superman doesn't really save the people of Hob's Bay and that he is more of a superman to them than Superman is. You can tell that Mannheim is really hitting Superman where it hurts. I'm really excited to see Coleman and Superman face off throughout the rest of the season.

In the last episode, Lana was confronted by former Smallville Mayor George Dean about her moving funds to help pay to have the black mold removed from the school. It was pretty clear that this had something to do with the Intergang situation and that is confirmed when he's killed by Butthole Mask while on the phone with Lana. Dean's last words about the "pride of Smallville" lead John Henry and Lana to the town seal where they find a flash drive. They are attacked by Butthole Mask and the flash drive is stolen before they can figure out what is on it. I like that they are working on connecting te Intergang mystery to Smallville and I'm interested to see what Dean was up to.

This is a common theme but I really hate the teen portions of this episode. Every time the setting shifts to the party in Metropolis I found my attention wandering. I don't care about Eliza inviting Jonathan and kissing him. Or how that's going to impact his relationship with Candice. I don't care about Sarah and Jordan navigating being friends and fleeing from douchey rich kids after Jordan freezes the one rich kid's truck. I love Nat, but I don't even care about her working on being a normal teenager. I'm sure it has something to do with my age, but I am just always ready for them to get back to the good stuff. 

We do get a brief check in with the revived Henry Miller who isn't doing great. And Butthole Mask lets Mannheim know that John Henry Irons is still alive.

Grade: A-

"In Cold Blood"

Lois Lane: "Don't worry about it."

Chrissy Beppo: "You keep saying that, and I keep worrying."

Lois tells the important people in her life about her stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer diagnosis. She is determined to continue investigating Bruno Mannheim and Intergang even at the expense of her health. She continuously misses her chemotherapy treatments much to the dismay of everyone else in her life. Lana and Sarah are at odds about her lying and going to the party in Metropolis and Jonathan deals with his truck being stolen by his girlfriend's dad.

Lana dealing with the fallout of the slap.

Welcome back to Elizabeth Tulloch is amazing and the main reason to watch this show. This episode begins with a montage of Lois telling the important people in her life about her diagnosis. Even though these scenes are virtually dialogue free, you have to give it up to everyone involved because they are extremely impactful. The performances. The music. It all comes together really well. The most impactful is when Lois tells Sam. You see Lois doing something a lot of folks do when they are diagnosed with a disease like this. They become the comforter of their loved ones. It's the most clear when Lois tells Sam and he breaks down. This is a side we haven't really seen of the general and it broke my heart when Lois put her hand over his. Lois continues to be the rock. The strong one. Even with this life threatening diagnosis hanging over her head.

I don't think that it comes as a surprise to anyone that Lois is more concerned with hooking her "white whale" Bruno Mannhiem than making it to her chemo appointments. You have to feel for Chrissy each time Lois shows up where she's not supposed to be and Chrissy has to deal with that guilt. She is sharing that guilt with Clark who gets dressed down by Sam when he finds out Lois missed her first appointment. It's hilarious to think that anyone could stop Lois from doing what she wants to do and she doesn't want Clark to ignore people's cries for help because of her. Lois's reasoning makes perfect sense. She doesn't want to be a victim. She knows what is going to happen to her eventually and she doesn't want to start out that way.

Chrissy and Lois investigate abandoned medical facilities that Intergang had been using. They find bags of blood in the last one and they have to have Superman and John Henry intervene. Not only do they have these mysterious blood bags, they also have Kryptonite weapons that they use to almost take out Superman. Based on the powers that Henry Miller displayed in the premiere, it isn't a huge shock that the blood belongs to Superman. But how are they getting it? What is their overall plan. This is all yet to be revealed and I'm really interested to find out what Intergang has planned.

The Lang/Cushings are still navigating their new normal. Jealousy rears its ugly head when Sarah tells Kyle about John Henry installing the new security system. And Lana is not pleased when Kyle comes to check up on her under false pretenses. There are no right or wrong sides here which I enjoy and Sarah is caught in the middle. I was legit shocked when Lana slapped Sarah after Sarah said that she wasn't surprised that Kyle cheated on Lana. That was low, but I'm anti hitting kids and Lana is clearly mortified with what she's done. One thing I had thought last year was that this divorce thing was happening a little too cleanly, well clearly things are going to get messier this season and I am here for it.

I guess we need to talk about the truck stealing subplot. Candice's deadbeat dad steals Jonathan's truck and makes it extremely obvious that he is going to do it. This guy is a terrible criminal. He makes a skeevy remark about the truck and then it goes missing. It's clear he took it. I did get a chuckle when Natalie, Jonathan and Jordan all deduce it right away despite Candice's surety that her dad is innocent. Not sure why she would think that. He was having her deal X-K like two months ago show time. Everything else about this I don't enjoy. We really are expected to believe that these kids are going to infiltrate this chop shop and get away with it? Even with one having superpowers? Nah. I was rolling my eyes most of the time. And as always, the teenagers drag down what is otherwise a solid episode.

Grade: B+

Next up, Clark and John Henry are butting heads and the men in Lois's life are having a difficult time letting her make her own decisions.

What do you all think? Was this a solid start to the third season? Do you think there's a better CW superhero show than "Superman & Lois?" Let me know in the comments.