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Plot
Lucy surprises Lois by showing up at the Kent Farm with their family, apparently ready to make peace. Meanwhile, as Lana and Sarah cope with the aftermath of Sarah's quinceañera, Jordan becomes suspicious of Jonathan's newfound success on the football field and the tensions between Superman and Lt. General Anderson grow even more strained.
Influences
The Supermen of America series, various Superman comics detailing Bizarro World, the Rebirth Superwoman comic and Euphoria (anti-drug subplot)
Performances
Once again, the interactions between Elizabeth Tulloch and Jenna Dewan are credible and you truly believe they are feuding sisters.
Artistry
The effects work for the scene where Superman stops an avalanche is amazing.
The fight scenes between Superman and the soldiers are fantastically filmed and perfect mirrors of one another. It's also a subtle confirmation of the fact that this version of Superman has had some combat training, given he's able to fight multiple soldiers even without his powers.
Super Trivia
The episode title comes from the Ween song "Tried and True", which is played under the opening and closing scenes.
During the fight scene on Bizarro World, Bizarro Superman is shown fighting a woman who resembles Lana Lang, wearing Kryptonian armor with the House of Rho symbol on it. This could be a nod to the comics, where Lana Lang briefly became Superwoman on several occasions - most recently in a 2016 Rebirth series where she and Lois Lane seemingly acquired the powers of Superman following his death.
This episode reveals Lieutenant General Mitch Anderson's commanding officer to be a woman addressed as General Hardcastle. In the reality of Superman: The Animated Series, General Hardcastle was a xenophobic US Army General who was shamed after Superman's peaceful tactics with the Promethean saved the world. He later joined forces with Lex Luthor, leading an Anti-Superman squadron after Superman was briefly brainwashed by Darkseid. He was later shown to have connections to the Cadmus Project and was killed by the Supergirl clone Galatea.
The General Hardcastle of the Arrowverse seems to be a much more reasonable figure, quickly blaming Anderson for Superman's change in attitude and refusal to work with the Department of Defense.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Clark is brushing his teeth as he and Lois are getting dressed in the morning.)
Clark: Everything about this me is (muffled) bizarre.
Lois: Huh?
(Clark spits into the bathroom sink.)
Clark: Bizarre.
Lois: Oh.
Jordan: Are you sure it's a good idea to be playing?
Jonathan: Dude, relax. It's gonna be fine.
Jordan: What if you have an ocular discharge?
Jonathan: (cringing) Please don't ever say that word ever again.
Jordan: We need to tell Mom and Dad.
Jonathan: No! No, okay? What is with you? It's like I kept your secret all last year, and now that I have one, you want to put me on lockdown or something.
Jordan: That's not what this is about.
Jonathan: Okay, well, that's what it feels like. All right? So look, can you just... just give me this one? I finally feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be.
Jordan: (without enthusiasm) Yeah, okay.
Jonathan: I promise I've got everything under control. Fraternals, right?
(Jonathan closes his locker and leaves, Jordan still looking skeptical.)
Sam: I hate to break it to you, but being a parent never gets easier.
Lois: That could only be said by somebody who didn't have to breastfeed at 3:00 a.m.
Sam: Too much information.
Lois: Or change twins' diapers when they both pooped at the same time.
Sam: All right, point taken. Maybe it gets a little easier. It's still hard, though.
Lois: I appreciate you trying.
Sam: Anything for my girls. I mean that.
Lois: I know you do.
Continuity
The opening scene takes place on Bizarro Superman's Earth and reveals several subtle details about the other Earth.
Based on the color of the sky, Bizarro Earth has a red sun..
Bizarro Superman owns a cat.
Bizarro Superman has several piles of newspapers stacked around the Kent farm house. They are from the Daily Planet, but the writing is backwards, with the banner giving the paper's name as TENALP YLIAD
There are two pictures of Bizarro Superman's family. One of them is ripped and only shows Jordan Kent. The other has Jonathan and Lois's faces crossed out, leaving Clark and Jordan untouched.
Bizarro is shown using an inhaler of Yellow Mist. However, the cloud that comes out of it is green rather than yellow. This suggests that Bizarro can get power boosts from regular Kryptonite and, conversely, that Superman might find his power increased by processed X-Kryptonite.
Bizarro is shown to be wearing the space suit he was wearing earlier in the season before flying into space after boosting his powers. This suggests that, rather than confining him, the suit was meant to protect him when he traveled between Earths.
Bizarro is shown fighting several American soldiers in what appears to be the Department of Defense. He is confronted by a woman who resembles Lana Lang, who wears Kryptonian armor with the symbol of the House of Rho on it.
Bizarro confronts Ally Allston, whose office is apparently in the Department of Defense. He takes a pendant from her before knocking her down. This is the one he was wearing earlier in the season.
Bizarro is shown to be holding the pendant before he leaves his Earth.
Bizarro confirms that he wound up in the Shuster Mines and was weakened by the presence of the X-Kryptonite.He later says he loses strength in the presence of a yellow sun.
Bizarro says he does not share Superman's prohibition against killing and that he is not as well liked on his world as Superman is on Earth-Prime. This was why he reacted violently to the Supermen of America.
Bizarro says the pendant he took from Ally Allston is an artifact as old as time, born when the multiverse was formed and their worlds split off from one another. Paired with its counterpart on Earth-Prime, it could give the person who possesses both the power of a god.
Bizarro says that Ally Allston will almost certainly seek to send them all into oblivion.
Bizarro says he intended to destroy both pendants, but he was too weak to do so once he got to Earth-Prime. He suggests that Clark may be strong enough to manage it on Earth-Prime, but also says killing Ally Allston would prevent her from finding both pendants and merging with her Bizarro self.
Clark tells Lois what he learned from Bizarro. She points out there's no way to know he's being truthful, but what he says about Ally Allston's goals matches her teachings about becoming whole with your "shadow self."
This episode takes place the day after the events of 205.
Lois says she and Chrissy are going to do more research on the Inverse Society.
Clark says he is going to try and get the pendant from Anderson.
Superman is confirmed to have been working with the Department of Defense and the Threat Reduction Agency for over 20 years.
Anderson's CO is General Hardcastle. She blames Anderson for the fiasco with the Supermen of America and orders him to bring down the Bizarro Superman or be prepared to be stripped of his command.
Jordan says that he got freeze breath shortly after he got super hearing and that it leaves his breath feeling wintery fresh all the time.
Jonathan says he hasn't gotten freeze breath or superhearing yet.
Jordan suggests that they should at least tell Sam Lane about Jonathan's powers so they can start training together. He suggests they could call themselves the Fraternals.
Jordan spies the Yellow Mist inhaler in Jonathan's bag. Jonathan covers by saying that it belongs to Candice and that she has asthma.
Jonathan is scheduled to start in the next Smallville Crows' football game. Clark applauds him for his hard work, though Jordan points out the only reason he is starting is that Timmy Ryan, the first-string quarterback, is out sick.
Lois suggests that Clark might check on Lana and see how she is doing.
Sophie does not like eggs.
Lana reminds Sarah to write thank you notes for all her quinceañera gifts.
Sarah wants to return them after the fiasco her party became, but Lana says that is not going to happen.
Kyle did not come home with Lana and she has no idea where he is.
Sam Lane brings Lucy to the Kent farm to talk to Lois. The two start to fight over Ally Allston immediate, but Sam breaks it up and says he refuses to keep doing this for the rest of his life.
Clark attends the funeral of the two fallen Superman of America as Superman.
The blonde female hero who died is identified as Jessie Vance.
Clark talks to Jessie's mother briefly and tells her that Jessie saved his life once, referring to the fight in 202.
Jessie's mother slaps Anderson, blaming him for Jessie's death and Bizarro Superman getting away.
Superman asks to talk to Anderson privately after the funeral regarding Bizarro.
Jordan once again tries to persuade Jonathan to tell their parents about his powers, but Jonathan says he wants to just have this one game first. Jordan reluctantly agrees.
Jordan offers his support to Sarah when he sees her in class. She thanks him but says she is more worried about her mom.
Kyle meets with Lana while their kids are in school.
Kyle says his affair with Tonya lasted six months and that he had her in their house once.
Kyle denies ever having loved Tonya and says he ended the relationship with her the minute he realized how much it might hurt their family.
Lana tells Kyle to leave the house, saying she can't deal with him right now.
Sam Lane's love of military life extends to his tastes in movies. He never saw any of the Pirates of the Caribbean films but loves the Delta Force movies.
Peanut is Sam Lane's pet name for Lucy.
Superman tells Anderson that he captured Bizarro and that he needs the pendant that Tag Harris took from him s that he can destroy it.
Anderson agrees to go up the chain of command to see if he can request permission to give the pendant to Superman. However, before he can finish questioning Superman regarding the pendant and how much he learned from Bizarro, Superman leaves to stop an avalanche in Russia.
Superman is able to speak fluent Russian.
Lucy knows a lot about football and is able to discuss plays and formations with Jonathan and Jordan.
Anderson determines that Superman was in Russia.
Anderson contacts General Hardcastle and requests permission to treat Superman as a hostile combatant.
Clark meets with Lana at the diner to see how she is doing before the football game.
Lana says she can't trust Kyle and take his word that there was only one other woman.
Lana asks Clark if he could trust Lois if she confessed to cheating on him. Clark says it would depend on the circumstances but that he thinks he could still trust her and love her afterward.
Clark does suggest that Lana needs to make her decision based on what is right for her and not think about her kids or her campaign or anything else.
Lana goes to the bar where Tonya works to confront her.
Jonathan uses Yellow Mist right before the game starts.
Sam Lane set two state records his senior year when he played football. He says that Jonathan got his throwing arm.
Lois and Lucy agree that retirement has soften their father's edges.
At one point in the past, Lois and Lucy snuck out together with a bottle of their fathers rum.
Lois does not like rum and won't drink it as a result of the bad reaction she had to it that one time.
Lois taught Lucy how to step quietly in their old house so as not to wake their father.
Tonya tells Lana that she loved Kyle and thought that he loved her and would leave Lana for her but suspects now she was fooling herself.
Tonya confirms that Kyle broke off their relationship after Sarah's suicide attempt two years earlier.
Tonya tells Lana that Kyle is a good man and that he ended things the moment he realized his family needed him.
Clark hears Anderson's alarm in the middle of the game and leaves to answer it.
Lois tries to apologize to Lucy for what happened between them but Lucy becomes combative about how Lois has seen the truth now.
Lois admits there is something to Ally's beliefs, but asks how Lucy can justify drugging people against their will or blackmailing them.
Lucy leaves the game, saying she cannot deal with Lois, who she says can't admit to being wrong ever.
The Crows win their first game against the Gators in 6 years, 45 to 14.
Jonathan throws 356 years during the game.
Jonathan is officially named the new starting quarterback of the Crows.
Jordan finds out that Jonathan's promotion had nothing to do with his performance that night and everything to do with Timmy Ryan being pulled from the team after his mother caught him huffing some weird drug from an inhaler. He's also told a lot of students at Smallville High have apparently been using it.
Sam says that he ran into Mayor Dean while getting some chilli dogs for the family and complains that he wouldn't shut up.
Anderson and his soldiers ambush Superman in a hallway lit with red sun lamps/
Candice approaches Jonathan after the game and invites him to her car later.
Jordan talks to Jonathan in private and confronts him on whether or not he is using Yellow Mist.
Jonathan denies his drug use and accuses Jordan of being jealous that he isn't special anymore.
The two brothers fight briefly and Jonathan's eyes begin to glow red for a few seconds.
Sarah breaks up the fight.
Lana meets with Kyle at the firehouse and tells him that things are over. She says Kyle can pick his things up in the morning once the girls are in school and she's left the house.
Lana tells Kyle that the problem is she knows he ended his affair to save his family but she can't help but wonder if he would do the same to save their marriage.
Los and Sam notice the tension between Jordan and Jonathan, but are too focused on what happened with Lucy and Lois.
Lois tries to apologize for what happened but Sam blames himself, saying Lucy wouldn't be in Ally's thrall if he'd paid more attention to his daughters when they were young.
Jonathan tries to apologies to Jordan, but Jordan is unsympathetic.
Jordan tells Jonathan that Timmy Ryan was caught with an inhaler and that apparently the police are investigating now.
Lois gets a call from Sam, telling her that Superman is arrested for treason and his being held until he reveals the location of Bizarro Superman.
Superman is locked in the same special cell as Tal-Rho.
Location
Bizzaro World.
Tal-Rho's Fortress
The Bottom Line
Another solid episode, heavy on the sibling rivalry drama, but with a plentiful helping of superheroic action to balance it out.
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