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.
Introduction :
The most prominent storyline in this week's episode was the father-daughter dynamic between Lex and his daughter Elizabeth Luthor (portrayed by Elizabeth Henstridge from Marvel’s Agents of Shield tv series who has directed a few episodes of Superman and Lois and directs this week’s episode) which interestingly parallels Lois's own relationship with her Dad with how the Lane's didn't always see eye to eye for quite a long time and they stopped talking, the difference being that General Sam Lane wasn’t a bad guy and everything he did seemed to be more about protecting his family.
Lex and Elizabeth :
Lex on the other hand, unlike General Lane is selfish and seems to be set on sticking to his old ways. His ex-wife was right about Lex being selfish. When Elizabeth finally mustered up enough courage to see her father and give him a second chance after Lois told her that Lex was going to harm her family if she didn't. Lex showed exactly how selfish he is as a person.
Elizabeth is six months pregnant and she doesn't want to let her father back in her life if he isn’t willing to change because whilst she knows the charges Lois publicised weren't true (he was framed by Bruno Manheim) Lex has done a lot of other bad things. She even goes as far as asking Lois why she can't just find other charges against her Dad. Lex’s lack of accountability for his own actions only makes Elizabeth close up even more, Lex has main character syndrome. Even if Lois hadn’t published the stuff that sent him to prison, he was still doing a lot of other things that would have created the same result. Lex fails to see that his actions ultimately are why he was a perfect scapegoat for Bruno Manheim.
Lex’s Traumatic Past :
We also got to learn a bit more about Lex’s past this episode particularly his abusive relationship with his mother and how that shaped who he was as a person in his adult life. Whilst this makes Lex easier to understand as a character it doesn't garner him any sympathy because he has actively chosen to do many horrible things so he isn’t the victim he claims to be anymore.
Superman Lives :
Lex also discovered along with the rest of the world that Superman is alive and he decided to pay a visit to the farm. Superman flew to meet him on the road where they had a stern conversation. Lex blames Lois but he also hates Superman for arresting him at his daughter’s school. Lex has no sense of accountability, it’s almost like he has made himself a victim because in his mind he was punished for the wrong crimes but not the ones he actually committed.
Lois’s decisions this episode seem to circle back to her being worried about Clark fighting Doomsday again due to his heart transplant surgery health issues from last week’s episode. She also isn’t sure how Clark’s body is reacting to the human heart transplant since he is an alien. I agree with Lois that Clark should definitely take being Superman easy since Doomsday killed him the last time they fought. Clark does seem to be slowly coming to terms with not being as strong as he used to be this week. He also pays a visit to his mother at the Fortress of Solitude, Lara puts him through a VR sequence where he studies his fight with Doomsday which was pretty cool.
The Kent Boys :
Jordan has taken a backseat this season and ends up being saddled with being the one to come up with excuses to tell Candice to explain Jon’s mysterious disappearances since Jon is apparently now Lois’s superspeed transport machine. I forgot that John and Candice were still together after it seemed like the writers wrote her character out of the show last season so I didn't really anticipate or care about her return since I thought they tied up that plot nicely. Candice as a character mostly just supports Jon’s story but doesn’t play an important role on her own beyond being a typical love interest. I’m glad that they didn't drag the reveal Jon has powers more than this episode though if Candice is going to be around more. The decision to have Jordan tell Candice made sense since Jordan has been through a lot of drama with Sarah, Jordan learned that keeping that secret didn't end well for him and Sarah and he doesn't want his brother to experience the same thing.
Romantic relationships on the show except for Superman and Lois have historically been shaky and very dramatic which might explain my bias against Jon and Candice having couple drama because it reminds me of how messy Jordan and Sarah got in older seasons. The drama also distracts from more time being spent on the Kent family dynamic which is why most fans are still tuning into the show after four seasons.
The episode circled back to the Kent boys' friend Denise who was one of the people who saw Doomsday leave Superman’s body in the Smallville town’s square during the season premiere. Denise figured out the Kent's connection to Superman after witnessing their reaction to seeing Superman's body, she knew that Superman was the boys Dad. She told Jordan and Jon that she wouldn’t tell anyone else about Superman's secret identity.
Lois's Plan :
Lois initially wanted to reunite Elizabeth and Lex to try and use Elizabeth to get Lex to leave her family alone. When Lois realised that it might not work she decided to come up with a stronger plan B which still made use of Elizabeth as a distraction whilst she set her sights on something Lex wouldn't expect, Doomsday. Lois used her father's beacon device to summon Doomsday to her location so she could confirm her suspicions (that Doomsday is a mutated version of Bizarro Superman). Lois figured it out when she looked into his eyes (Doomsday has the same eyes as her husband). This allowed Lois to appeal to whatever humanity that she felt was still left inside of Doomsday by appealing to his love for his wife (Lois's doppelganger alternate self).
Lois convinced Doomsday to fly away from the earth, essentially taking off Lex's biggest weapon from the board. Lex is resourceful but this should take him down a notch a bit and is a win for team Kent. The only way to stop Lex besides Superman killing him off might be to trap him in the phantom zone or alternatively choosing the poetic route of having Doomsday return to earth to kill Lex who is his creator.
Verdict :
This week's episode was written by Adam Mallinger. Overall a solid budget friendly hour of the show that will potentially have interesting ramifications going forward. I wonder how Lex is going to level the playing field with the Kent’s since he's going to have to deal with three superpowered superheroes between Superman, Jordan and Jon without his most powerful weapon (Doomsday).
Rating:
1. Story: 7/10
2. Visuals: 7/10
3. Sound: 7/10
4. Performance: 7/10
5. Overall: 7/10
Join me weekly for more reviews of the fourth and final season of Superman and Lois on the CW.
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