Beware of spoilers for the episode in the article. Please do not continue reading if you haven’t watched the episode yet and you are not okay with being spoiled.
Lois Lane :
During the beginning of the episode Lois was told by her Doctor that her condition was improving and she was ready for her surgery , a double mastectomy.The show has always done great Lois and Clark flashbacks and this week the connecting thread was the titular red dress Clark bought for Lois , the first dress a guy ever bought for her. Lois only wore the dress once and she wanted to give away the dress early on in the episode which clearly hurt Clark because the dress has sentimental value for both of them , Clark sold his baseball trading cards so he could afford to buy Lois that dress .
Lana Lang and Lois Lane:
Lana and Lois's friendship has fallen a bit into the background of both characters storylines this season but I'm glad that we got to see them on screen together after a long while. Through their conversation we learned that Lois's issue with the red dress is ultimately because she won't look the same in it after she gets a mastectomy. So keeping the dress ultimately becomes a painful reminder of what she is losing by getting the mastectomy, which is just so sad when you think about how special that memory of Clark buying the dress for her was but her illness can affect how she feels about it. It's a very human relatable worry for Lois. Lana telling Lois "You'll still be you " was sweet , I'm glad Lana also told Lois as her friend to tell Clark how she is feeling. Emmanuelle Chriqui and Elizabeth Tulloch did a great job with their scene together.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane:
Lois’s discussion with Clark about how she feels about how the mastectomy could affect how she feels about her body and also how Clark looks at her after her talk with Lana made for a very emotional conversation. From my own research couples are encouraged to have those types of discussions together when a partner goes through something as life changing as a mastectomy. Whilst I completely agreed with Lana about Clark being the one thing Lois does not have to worry about , he loves her. Lois is human and having those nagging thoughts and worries is completely normal for her. Season 3 of the show is probably the most emotional season of the show so far. Tyler and Elizabeth have consistently delivered as performers this season.
It’s very rare to have a comic book series and a CW series at that, actually have realistic candid discussions about such serious topical issues. This season of Superman and Lois justify’s why the show should remain on air. I would totally be okay with Superman and Lois moving to HBO Max (now Max). I think probably the only other CW show I've watched in my experience that deals somewhat onsistently with topical real life issues on a regular basis was Crazy Ex Girlfriend.
Jonathan Kent and Jordan Kent:
The Kent brothers buried the hatchet after their fight last episode where Jordan ended up saying some hurtful words to his brother. I’m grateful the boys being mad at each other didn’t last too long either. Sarah forcing the brothers to hug is probably on a list of some of Sarah’s best moments on the show. We'll see how Jordan's storyline with Kyle will develop now Kyle believes there is a metahuman in Smallville.
Natalie Irons and Matteo Mannheim :
John Henry placed Natalie on lockdown to keep her from reaching out to Matteo for her own good but that rarely works with teenagers on these shows. Natalie calling out Jonathan for being a bit hypocritical after Jon basically told her to move on from Matteo because his family was dangerous was funny , Jon can date the daughter of a drug dealer who punched him and threatended his mother but Natalie can’t date Matteo. That advice should have come from someone else. After John Henry's hard headedness about letting Bruno Mannheim see Peia almost got him and Natalie kidnapped or worse. Jonathan came around and decided to help Natalie so she could see Matteo after realizing his own hypocrisy. Matteo told Natalie he loves her so I wonder how this will pan out when all is said and done, I can see a sad ending for both of the lovebirds. Natalie somehow not defending her father in her conversation with Matteo considering Bruno had just tried to kidnap John Henry earlier on in her presence was a weird writing choice though, especially since she has most likely been told Bruno is bad news. Bruno and Peia are horrible and dangerous people so sympathy is better saved for kinder people.
Matteo asked his father if he ever killed anyone and Bruno didn't answer him at all and instead deflected and used reverse psychology to guilt trip Matteo for asking such a question. Matteo clearly wants to believe his parents are good but that facade won't last long; we only have four episodes left in this season. Bruno showed Matteo his Bizarro Superman body and told his son that Bizarro Superman will be how he saves Pea’s life. I expected Bruno to set Bizarro loose in this episode but he seems to be saving that for probably launching a surprise assault on the DEO base to break Peia out once his cure for her is ready.
Fight on Mainstreet:
The Fight on Mainstreet was really great and we got to see just how dangerous superpowered beings can be. It's a miracle no civilians were hurt during the big fight except for John Henry and ultimately Atom Man who ended up dead after trying to kill John Henry and causing the incident.
John Henry Fallout:
Whilst the characters (mainly Clark) in the show came down hard on John for killing Atom man who attacked him in his home to try and kill him by the way. If John hand't taken him out when he did some civilians would have been hurt. John’s reaction makes sense for his character. John has lost everyone he has ever known from his earth except his daughter. John seeing his alternate Earth sister strapped to a bomb and almost killed this season,Bruno threatening more of his family, finding out Matteo is Mannheim’s son ( and might be using Natalie) , Bruno trying to kill John last episode in public and Bruno trying to have John Henry kidnapped by his men in this episode. John is well within his right to feel and act how he does in the episode, from his perspective it makes perfect sense. Bruno wants to kill him and he isn't giving that guy a chance to do it.
Side note I just realized Bruno and Peia are basically like the evil version of Clark and Lois. Bruno was introdued from the start as Lois’s villain and Peia seems to be more of Clark’s villain because of how powerful she is. If Peia somehow gets a cure , she will become very dangerous that creates a major problem for the DEO. Peia is a murderer so I don't see a scenario were they let her go. I do wish the show would explain how Pea has powers, especially because metahumans are rare in the shows universe.
Whilst John had the Hammer clearly capable of hurting Atom Man one wrong move and Atom Man could have killed him , this was someone who was sent to kill him and almost succeeded before Superman intervened. John's only trump card was the Steel hammer and I’m glad he used it. I consider what happened with Atom Man Self-defense. Clark telling John he always has a choice is disconnected from reality but it’s a common Superman issue, Clark always tries to save everyone but realistically sometimes you cant save everybody , some people don't want to be saved.
John Henry and Clark Kent:
John’s actions throughout the episode affected his relationship with Clark but I feel Clark as John Henry’s “friend” should try and approach it from that perspective of how John is feeling and why he is acting the way he is acting. Part of me thinks Clark is going to come down to earth when Mannheim sets his Bizarro Superman clone loose on him and it directly affects his family.
Lana Lang and John Henry :
On a lighter note the only somewhat light part of John Henry’s storyline were his scenes with Lana. Those two had a moment together when John showed up at the Mayor’s office to leave Natalie with Sarah. Lana also looked really worried about John Henry when she showed up on Mainstreet after the big fight with John, Superman and Atom Man.
Final Scene :
What a beautiful callback to the opening montage in the pilot episode in season 1 , Lois looked great in that red dress. Clark telling Lois to fly with him and the two of them floating through the air made for a visually stunning memorable scene. This show is really great at handling emotional material at times, this is definitely up there as one of my favorite scenes of the entire series.
Conclusion:
Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch potray my favorite versions of Clark and Lois together as a couple. Superman and Lois is the best depiction of the iconic comic book characters' relationship together I’ve ever watched onscreen and The Dress is an easy favorite episode in a phenomenal season. This episode is how a tv show should do a filler episode, it delivered a perfect mix of everything from drama ,romance, action to outstanding character progression as we move towards the season finale of the show and keep our fingers crossed that the season finale will not end up being the series finale.
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