Superman & Lois
These two episodes could definitely have served as season finale. They wrap up a lot of the season's ongoing storylines, so I'm very interested to see what the actua last two episodes of the season is going to bring us. Let's get to it.
"Collision Course"
Jordan Kent: "Well, I gotta hand it to you. Many people have tried, but you're the first person to actually rip Superman's heart out."
Jonathan Kent: "yeah, yeah, okay."
Lois finishes her last round of chemo and after she heads to the DOD to talk to Peia and attempt to get her to tell Lois her story in her own words for the sake of Matteo. While Lois is there, Clark is attempting to spend time with the twins, but they blow him off to go to a kegger. Things take a turn when the police show up and Jordan has to use powers potentially revealing his existence to a suspicious Kyle. Peia is hesitant to tell Lois that she and Bruno framed Lex Luthor for the death of Boss Moxie, but Matteo's sudden appearance may sway her.
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| I hate this kid. |
Has Jordan Kent entered the pantheon of worst television characters ever? Has he joined Xander Harris? I feel like with this episode he may have. Like, if you were on the fence or you were apologizing for Jordan's behavior because he was a teenager, I feel like this episode would be the tipping point. Jordan just keeps doing the same thing over and over again when it comes to his relationship with Sarah. Sarah has been very clear about what their relationship is and yet, Jordan can't stick to the boundaries that she has set. I love that Sarah immediately calls out Jordan's ridculousness. He is clearly jealous of her talking to Junior. He definitely tries to railroad himself in to the conversation and then gets mad when he's not welcomed in and storms off. Then he tries to play the victim and Sarah calls him right out. If Jordan can't be friends with Sarah, then he just needs to accept that. He's not being a nice guy or a good guy by saying he's fine with them being friends and then acting like this. He's even jealous when Jonathan says that Sarah texted him about the party.
Then, Jordan saves Junior and Sarah from a car crash when she's drinking and driving, which is great, but then he dilly dallies at the scene and gets seen which is extremely sloppy, especially since Jonathan just told him that Kyle was thinking that Smallville had a vigilante. Again, I get he's a teenager, but come on. He's so stupid and awful all the time. There are other teens on this show and tey aren't as bad as Jordan. I just hate everything about him. I want to shave his head. He annoys me so much.
Speaking of Kyle, this episode we saw all the women in his life gaslight him. First Chrissy, when he suggests that she investigate this potential vigilante for the Gazette. Chrissy is intimates that he is crazy and then Sarah does the same thing when Junior is telling Kyle he saw someone fly off after they were saved. I do enjoy that "Superman & Lois" has really examined what it means for people to have to keep Clark's secret and the toll it takes. First we saw it with Lois and now we are seeing it was Lana, Sarah and Chrissy. I feel like it gets touched on and then kind of swept away but they really go all in here and I appreciate that. That being said, I'm glad that they don't drag this out and Clark reveals he's Superman to Kyle at the end of the episode when Kyle shows up to accuse Jonathan of having powers.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Lana being mayor subplot. She meets with the governor of Kansas, Kerry Wexler, who is impressed with the job Lana is doing. Lana hopes to follow in her footsteps but that maybe goes to hell when Sarah is arrested and charged with a DUI post party. Chrissy tries to stick up for Lana, but I'm not sure Wexler really cares what Chrissy says. Chrissy is just a slut fucking Lana's ex who was critical of one of her bills. Do politicians really remember random small town newspaper editors that disparage them or their policies? Don't answer that.
It's nice to see Peia and Lois together again, hearkening back to the first half of the season before they knew who each other really were. It's nice to see Lois back in reporter mode. I know some folks might see it as a little underhanded or manipulative for Lois to use Matteo to get Peia to give her an interview, but I don't really see that way. I think Lois is coming from a genuine place as the mother of teenage boys. If she was in Peia's place, she would want to try to control the narrative, even from beyond the grave and that is what Lois feels like she's doing for Peia. We dive into the murky morality of putting Lex away for crimes he didn't commit even though he's done far worse. I didn't realize that Lex had been in prison for over a decade which makes the prospect of him getting out even more terrifying. He's a Lex who's been hardened by prison. It's not going to be great for Superman when he gets out.
Bruno Mannheim turns his son into a criminal which is not shocking. He gives Matteo cufflinks loaded with his "cure" which Matteo uses on his mom once he's alone with her. They seem work and Peia is able to escape using Lois as a hostage until she's safely away. But something tells me that this "cure" is going to end up snake oil.
Grade: B+
"Complications"
Lana Lang Cushing: "Who would've thought Bazoomba's would make me cry?"
Its the day of Lois's double mastectomy and conditions are not optimum. Peia is still on the loose and using her sound powers to send Superman on a number of wild goose chases across the globe. The day of her surgery, Jordan discovers a new power and Peia's powers go out of control. Can Superman stop Peia and make sure his wife's surgery doesn't end up killing her?
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| He's listening... |
I know we began the last recap by ragging on Jordan, so why don't we begin this recap by doing the exact same thing. Lois is getting ready to have her surgery and Jordan starts to have a panic attack in the OR. It turns out that part of the issue is that his X-ray vision is coming in. I feel like that this is a callback to "Smallville," when Clark would get a new power at the most inopportune time. I can appreciate that, but like, it just feels like this is another situation where Jordan is making something about him. And I know what some of you are thinking, he has anxiety and depression, blah, blah. I get it. I do. And the scene of Jonathan calming him down was kind of sweet. But I still don't like him. Or this. Or the fact that his mom is going into surgery and he pulls this. And him stopping that canister from exploding in the OR doesn't make me like him anymore.
I really enjoy "Superman & Lois" and I like how a lot of the time they do their best to try to veer away the formulaic things that genre shows like this can fall victim, too. But, alas, they aren't immune to those formulaic plots and the plot of a main character's surgery being threatened by the main character's nemesis is just something the writers of this episode couldn't resist. The issue with this is that we never really feel like Lois is any danger or that she isn't going to pull through. There's no real tension so it all kind of falls flat.
The same can be said for the "cure" that Bruno promises Peia. From the moment that Matteo injects her, you know that it's going to fail and something bad is going to happen. And you get the feeling that Peia knows it too, particularly the look that she has at the beginning of the episode when the Mannheim's are making their plans to escape. Peia is a really tragic character. She doesn't really get a chance to say good-bye to Bruno or Matteo before she goes on a rampage through downtown Metropolis. Superman is able to get through to her and flies her into the upper atmosphere where her powers end up killing her.
I have to say, I really enjoyed the quieter moments of this episode. Lois had said that she was going to have Bazoomba's for her last meal before surgery and by God, she did. It was lovely to see the people who love Lois coming together to celebrate her. Lana crying over Bazoomba's. And Clark really earnestly believing that people enjoyed Bazoomba's because of the food. We also check in with John Henry and Natalie. I kind of had forgotten all about them. Natalie is still head over heels for Matteo and ends up helping him.
Kyle takes Clark's confession really well. You can tell that he is ecstatic to know Superman. I'm not sure why they didn't just tell Kyle in the first place. Kyle is initially pretty upset with Chrissy because of the lying and gaslighting, but forgives her pretty quickly and apologizes to her for being upset? That's wild. Get you a man who will apologize to you when you are clearly in the wrong and you know, gaslighting him. All joking aside, Kyle is kind of the MVP in this episode. Sarah is not doing great. She's spiraling after the events of the last episode and Lana is worried that she might attempt suicide again. But Kyle is really upfront with her when it comes to sharing all his bad decisions and how he hit rock bottom. I love that and think that more parents should do that and it seems to help her.
On another series, this episode could have been a season finale. It feels like the main conflict is wrapped up. Bruno Mannheim is in DOD custody. Matteo is cleared. Lois is on the road to recovery. I'm glad that it wasn't though because this episode was kind of meh all in all. Luckily, we still have two episodes left and it looks like Bizarro is back and I have a feeling we'll be seeing Lex Luthor soon.
Grade: B
Next up, Lex Luthor prepares to be released from prison and Smallville gathers to watch a meteor shower.
What did you all think? Could you have seen these two episodes ending the season? Are you glad that it didn't? Let me know in the comments.
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