Superman and Lois: Season 2, Episode 7 - Anti-Hero

  For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

As Superman pleads with Anderson to investigate Ally Allston from the confines of a red sun cell, Lois struggles to help Lana take the fight to Mayor Ford. Meanwhile, relations between Jordan and Jonathan strain further as Jonathan's secret is exposed to his family and Sarah seeks advice from an unexpected source.


Influences

The Supermen of America series and Euphoria (anti-drug storyline)


Goofs

After disabling the red sun filter in their cell, both Tal-Rho and Superman are able to escape their cell at superspeed. However, as shown in previous episodes of Supergirl and Superman and Lois (most notably in Crisis On Infinite Earths) a Kryptonian needs to be exposed to yellow sunlight before their powers are restored even partially after an extended period absorbing red sunlight. 


Performances

Once again, Elizabeth Tulloch steals the show, selling Lois' torment over what her sons have done and the idea that she's failed them as a mother.

The interactions between Tulloch and Emmanuelle Chriqui are also incredible. It's gratifying to see Lois and Lana discussing motherhood and their own issues with barely a mention of Clark and the friendship is well played here.


Artistry

The fight scene between the various Supermen and Anderson is fantastic.


Super Trivia

This episode was originally titled "Fallout." The same title was previously used for episodes of Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl.


Technobabble

The Smallville sheriff does not classify X-Kryptonite or Yellow Mist as a drug, but does have dogs trained to sniff the substance out.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Lois and Lana discuss Mayor Dean's strategy.)
Lois: If it was up to me, I would run your ads for free every single day up until the election, but I'm afraid that would violate every campaign finance law imaginable.
Lana: So what do I do? I mean, Dean's got the power of his office and the town gossip all working in his favor.
Lois: But you have the truth. Don't underestimate that. 

Tal-Rho: I pity you, brother. I mean, after everything you've done for humanity, to find yourself here...
Superman: Do you ever stop talking?
Tal-Rho: Cast out, imprisoned. It's humiliating.
Superman: Yes. Well, the real punishment is having to listen to you. 

Lana: Please just promise me--
Sarah: Not to smoke space drugs? Yeah, I'm not that stupid. 

Mayor Dean: But my point is this... if you can't keep control of your own family, if you don't really know what's going on in your own home, how are we supposed to trust that you'd know what's going on with all of us?
Lana: Because I love this town, George, and everyone in it.
Mayor Dean: Well, Lana... I just can't be sure, given your current situation, if we can be sure of that.
Lana: Well, I guess I'll just have to make it clear to everybody during our debates. But what should really be in question here, George, is what kind of person you are-- someone so willing to attack a member of this family during one of the most painful moments of their life.Does that sound like family values to you?

(Clark comes into Jonathan's room.)
Jonathan: You're back.
Clark: Yeah, I am, and you know what? I was not expecting to hear what your mother just told me.
Jonathan: Dad, I can explain.
Clark: Jonathan, no! Your mom gave you multiple chances to tell her the whole story, you chose not to.
Jonathan: I'm sorry.
Clark: What were you thinking?
Jonathan: I just--I-I wanted to be better.
Clark: By taking drugs? Have we taught you nothing? Have not heard a single word that either of us has ever said to you?
Jonathan: Yes.
Clark: Then, damn it, act like it. Tomorrow you will go, and you will apologize to Principal Balcomb. Then you will apologize to Coach Gaines. And after that, you will apologize to the entire football team. Your mother and I are gonna figure out how you're gonna finish out the school year, whether it's in the next town over, online, or somewhere else. And after all that, Jonathan, you and I are gonna have a long talk about all the important things I thought you already knew so that you don't ever misrepresent yourself or this family again. Do you understand?
Jonathan: Yes, sir. 
(Clark leaves. Jonathan immediately starts crying. Clearly his father's disapproval was the last straw.)


Continuity

As the episode opens, Superman is locked in the same cell as Tal-Rho.

Anderson tells Superman he will remained locked up until he reveals the location of Bizarro.

Superman says he'll gladly hand Bizarro over for trial, but they need to destroy the pendant Bizzaro had first.

Anderson says he has no intention of bring Bizarro to trial or bargaining with Superman. He also blows off Superman's warning about Ally Allston.

Sam Lane tells Lois he's still trying to work his connections to get details about why Clark has been arrested and that he's trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting with General Hardcastle.

Lois tells Jordan and Jonathan to settle whatever dispute they have themselves because she doesn't have time to deal with it.

Lana Lang came from a broken home and hoped to avoid putting her daughters through the same thing.

Sarah helps Lana with gathering Kyle's belongings and says she blames Kyle for this situation - not Lana and says Lana shouldn't blame herself either.

Lana sees that Mayor Dean has an add in the paper, billing himself as a Family Values candidate and promoting a meeting to discuss that topic.

Sarah is ignoring Jordan's calls and texts. He goes to her before their first class and tries to empathize, but Sarah says she doubts he can really understand what is going on.

Candice meets Jonathan at his locker with more Yellow Mist. However, Jonathan tells her he is done taking the drug.

While they are talking, the sheriff's office arrive with drug-sniffing dogs, apparently trained to look for Yellow Mist.

Jonathan takes all of Sarah's stash with the intention of dumping it. However, the dogs single him out before he can walk away.

Lana confronts Lois at the office regarding Mayor Dean's add.

Lois says that Dean paid $3000 for the advertisement which is far more than Lana can afford.

Lois is called about Jonathan being caught with the Yellow Mist.

Anderson puts a Kryptonite collar on Tal-Rho and threatens to kill him slowly if he doesn't tell him where Bizarro is hidden.

Lana confronts Sarah over Jonathan using Yellow Mist. Sarah denies knowing about it or using the drug herself, but she says Jordan is freaking out over it.

Sarah tells Lana that she knows Jordan means well, but that the biggest problems he has with his family is Clark wearing nerdy shorts when he's at work as a football coach. 

Lana suggests Sarah find another friend she's comfortable venting to to discuss her father.

Jonathan was caught with 20 Yellow Mist inhalers.

Jonathan denies selling drugs and claims he was going to get rid of them when he was found with them.

While the Sheriff is not pressing criminal charges against Jonathan (X-K is not technically a drug) the school is still discussing whether or not to expel Jonathan. 

Jonathan refuses to explain how he came into that much X-K.

Jordan walks in as Lois is grilling Jonathan and is asked if he knew anything about this. Jordan presumes she means Jonathan using Yellow Mist and admits he found out the night before. This is actually the first inkling Lois had that Jonathan was using Yellow Mist and not just protecting a drug dealer.

Jonathan admits to using Yellow Mist for a couple of weeks, but says he swore he'd quit after Jordan caught him with it.

Superman lies and tells Anderson that Bizarro is at 76.2 N longitude, 100.4 W latitude. This is later revealed to be the location of his old Fortress of Solitude. These coordinates would place it somewhere in Northern Russia in our world, on the land mass between the Kara and Laptev Seas.

Lois goes to Lana to vent about the situation with Jonathan.

Lana advises Lois that sometimes listening is the best thing you can do for your teenager.

Lois says Lana is a great mom and suggests she take the fight to Mayor Dean regarding his "family values' talk.

Jordan confronts Jonathan and asks if he was dealing drugs. Jonathan tells him to leave him alone.

Anderson and his team discover what remains of Bizarro's armor at the old Fortress of Solitude site. He takes this as proof that Superman has been lying to him and that all the Kryptonians are working together.

A fight breaks out between Superman and Tal-Rho, after Tal-Rho threatens to reveal Superman's secret identity to Anderson. However, this is all part of a plan to lure the guards into their cell to try and break up the fight, allowing them to get their guns and use them to disable the red-sun lamps.

Anderson tracks both Superman and Tal-Rho back to the new fortress in the Bad Lands. He goes chasing after them, despite having an order to report to General Hardcastle over what just happened.

Anderson takes a supply of Yellow Mist the Department of Defense apparently confiscated with him, along with a gun and Kryptonite bullets.

Bizzaro says that, on his world, he and his version of Tal-Rho were inseparable allies until his Tal-Rho betrayed his family and his wife tried to kill Bizarro. (While this is not confirmed directly, it is believed this might be the shadow Lana Lang seen in 206.)

Sarah meets with a girl named Aubrey at the diner in Smallville. She is confirmed to be the girl at camp whom she kissed once.

Aubrey lives in the town of Clover, which is a two hour drive from Smallville.

Sarah apologies for not keeping in touch after camp, but Aubrey says she understands the kiss weirded her out and made things weird since she had a boyfriend.

Aubrey's parents also went through a rough divorce, so Aubrey knows exactly what Sarah is dealing with.

Sarah says part of her wants to talk to Kyle, but she thinks it is disrespectful to Lana to do so.

Aubrey tells Sarah that she didn't talk to her dad for a year and it didn't help things. In fact, she thinks it made her meaner and she got into two fights that semester and chipped a tooth.

Sarah and Aubrey agree to be friends again and to stay in touch.

Jordan tells Lois he doesn't think Jonathan was selling drugs and is covering for someone.

Lois thanks Jordan and says she hopes he's right but he still isn't off the hook for not telling her Jonathan was using X-K.

Jonathan admits he started using X-K to try and keep up with Timmy Ryan because football was the one thing he could do that made him as great as everyone else in the family. He once again denies selling drugs.

Lois says she thinks Jonathan is telling the truth but she's still incredibly disappointed.

Jonathan still refuses to say where he got the Yellow Mist from, even after Lois tells him that the principal told her that he'd be expelled unless he could prove the inhalers weren't his.

Anderson fires a missile at the new Fortress and attacks the Fortress single-handed, manifesting heat vision as he uses the Yellow Mist.

Tal-Rho takes several Kryptonite bullets intended for Superman.

The hologram of Lara releases Bizarro and begs him to save her sons.

Anderson's green Kryptonite weapons do nothing to Bizarro. However, he figures out that the X-Kryptonite weakens him and begins using it like pepper spray to weaken Bizzaro before killing him.

Superman uses his heat vision to vaporize the Kryptonite fragments in Tal-Rho.

Superman takes Tal-Rho back to his cell. He says Anderson is a wanted fugitive and that he has made his peace with the Department of Defense.

Tal-Rho apologizes for hurting Jordan and Superman addresses him as "brother" after telling him that maybe someday he can apologize to Jordan himself.

According to Sam Lane, Anderson is wanted for going AWO and stealing X-K and Kryptonite weapons from Project 7734.

Sam Lane offered to lead the manhunt himself, despite being retired, since he had suggest Anderson be promoted into the position of replacing him.

Clark likes red wine and Chinese food after a long day.

Lana confronts Mayor Dean and says she doesn't think a person with family values would attack someone during one of the worst times of their life. This gets several people to walk out of the meeting with Mayor Dean after she leaves.

Sarah tracks down Kyle as he's grocery shopping and asks to talk to him.

Clark reads Jonathan the riot act and this finally causes Jonathan to breakdown crying.

Anderson goes to Ally Allston and gives her the pendant Bizzaro had.

Location

The undisclosed location where Tal-Rho's cell is kept.


The Bottom Line

Another great episode that moves all the subplots forward  and builds the drama across the board.

Superman and Lois: Season 2, Episode 1 - What Lies Beneath

  For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

It has been three months since Natalie Irons came to Earth-Prime, but Lois still can't bring herself to speak to her daughter from another world. As she throws herself into her work and building a newsroom staff for the Smallville Gazette, Clark finds himself having harsh words with General Lane's replacement at the Department of Defense, Lt. Mitch Anderson. Meanwhile, Jordan and Jonathan face drastically different problems with their respective girlfriends, with Jon moving too fast and Jordan growing apart from Sarah Cushing.


Influences

The Death of Superman (appearance of Doomsday) and the Supermen of America series.


Goofs

Despite being addressed as a Lieutenant, Mitch Anderson's military uniform has three stars, marking him as a Lieutenant General. 


Performances

Elizabeth Tulloch has a particularly strong performance playing Lois' torment regarding Natalie.


Artistry

The special effects during the submarine sequences and the earthquake near the end of the episode are of cinematic quality. It's clear the show's FX team will not be slacking off in Season 2.


Super Trivia

Lt. Mitch Anderson shares a name with a DC Comics character who first appeared during the Death of Superman storyline. Mitch Anderson was one of many civilians who was endangered by Doomsday's rampage. Mitch came to blame himself for Superman's death, as Superman came to his house to save him and his parents from Doomsday. Years later, Mitch developed magnetic powers, adopted the codename Outburst, and formed a team called the Supermen of America to honor Superman.

Apart from the name and forming a team of young people who make use of Superman's symbol, there is no apparent connection between Lt. Mitch Anderson and his comic book counterpart.

The fist that emerges from the ground in the final scene of the episode resembles the first of the Superman villain Doomsday, clad in the same containment suit that Doomsday wore in his first appearance. The showrunner later confirmed that Doomsday would be one of the season's villains.


Dialogue Triumphs

(John Henry is running through his and Natalie's cover story.)
John Henry: Your name is...
Natalie: Natalie Johnson.
John Henry: And I'm... 
Natalie: Henry Johnson.
John Henry: And we just moved here from...
Natalie: (bitterly) A planet that was totally destroyed by psychopathic Kryptonians.
John Henry: Nat, are you sure you wanna do this? Going to your old school, things could get confusing.
Natalie: Dad, I'll be fine.
John Henry: What if you run into the doppelganger of Regan or Annika?
Natalie: Then I'll pretend like I don't know that they're my best friends. Because they are not. They're not the same people. I know. The only person on this whole earth that I know is you.
John Henry: I just wanna make sure we don't attract any unwanted attention.
Natalie: (sarcastically) You mean like the same kind you get from flying around the world in steel war suit with Superman?

(Lois is telling Clark about walking in on Jonathan and his girlfriend.)
Lois: What happened is that I came home to find our not-even-old-enough to drive son in bed half-naked with Candice.
Clark: (shocked) Jonathan, come on, man. What are you thinking?
Lois: He's 15 years old and home alone with his new girlfriend. It's pretty obvious what he was thinking.
Clark: What? You mean... no, th... I never would've done that when I was his age!
Lois: Well, then he clearly takes after his mother.

Lois: Things haven't been okay for months. And I've been blaming you. And I'm sorry. Ever since you told me to say something to Natalie and I just stood there frozen.
Clark: You were in shock. All of us were.
Lois: It's more than that. She was my daughter in that other world and... seeing her standing there and calling me "Mom..." I felt nothing. And in that moment, I finally realized how my mom must have felt the day she left us.
Clark: Lois...
Lois: I've wondered how she could do that my entire life, how a mother could just...  abandon her children. And now I know. She didn't feel. She didn't feel anything. Not for me. Not for Lucy.
Clark: Lois, you can't know that for sure.
Lois: Yes, I can, Clark. And every time you ask me about Natalie or tell me to call her, it's just bringing up all of those feelings in me and all of this guilt.
Clark: You have nothing to feel guilty about.
Lois: She called me "Mom", Clark!
Clark: But she's not your daughter.
Lois: I know, but...
Clark: Lois, her mom died. And there's absolutely nothing you could've said or... or done to change that.
Lois: But I know how she felt. And she must have been so crushed seeing me look at her that way.
Clark: You are not your mother. What happened with Natalie, that's... that's a completely different thing.
Lois: I just hate this feeling.
Clark: (pulling her close) Here, come here.

Lt. Anderson: I asked you repeatedly, "Be part of my team".
Superman: What you asked for was my allegiance to America.
Lt. Anderson: And you refused.
Superman: Because I gave it to the world a long time ago.
Lt. Anderson: America needs to come first. And to them, it does. And the rest of my new team. When it does to you, come on back. I'd love to have you. Bring your friend.
Superman: I told you, he's done.
Lt. Anderson: Then they're who I'm calling.
(Lt. Anderson starts to walk off.)
Superman: Anderson. That crest you put on their suit, it's not yours to give.
Lt. Anderson: That's the most recognizable symbol on the planet. I want everyone to know that we are the good guys. Besides, America can have more than one Superman.

Continuity

The opening scene of this episode picks up where the last scene of 115 ended.

Three months pass between the opening scene and the where Season 2 officially begins with the first day of school.

Sancerre is Lana Cushing's favorite brand of wine.

As the episode opens, Lois still hasn't spoken to Natalie Irons and is trying to build a new team of writers for the Smallville Gazette.

Natalie is said to be having her first day of school in Metropolis as well.

Sarah Cushing has been away for a month, working as a counselor at her old summer camp.

Lois says that Natalie is refusing to talk to her.

Mike & John's Barber Shop is one of the businesses in downtown Smallville.

A new business in Smallville specializes in selling Superman merchandise. Kyle worries about the city becoming a tourist trap, but Lana points out it's helping save the down in the wake of Morgan Edge's actions.

Chrissy Beppo interviews a young writer named Michael who works for "The Messenger" doing copy proofing and layouts, but he mostly worked on monetizing the site. He also runs his own blog and claims to have 40,000 Twitter followers. He describes himself as the "WOAT or GOAT" guy.

Lois is not impressed by Michael and dismisses him.

Chrissy accuses Lois of having standards that are too high.

Lana has thrown herself into the campaign for Daniel Hart, who is running against George Dean for the post of Mayor of Smallville. 

Jordan asks Sarah to meet him at Atlas Pond, where they were arrested in 113. However, this time he asks for permission to be there first.

Jonathan has started dating a girl named Candice Pergande.

Jonathan is still the back-up quarterback for the Smallville High football team. He's playing at practice again, but is annoyed the coach won't let him do any pass play drills.

Clark hears a submarine in distress that causes him to leave Jonathan and Candice alone at the Kent farm. He says that he need to go to the Hubbard's farm, as Ben Hubbard asked him to check the headers on his combine.

As Superman is saving the submarine, he has some kind of fit and clutches his ears as if he were hearing something painfully loud.

The submarine that Superman saves is North Korean.

Natalie starts school at what was her high school in her original Earth. She is using the alias Natalie Johnson.

Lois finds Jonathan making out with Candice, with his shirt off, on his bed.

General Lane has been replaced at the Department of Defense by Lt. Mitch Anderson.

Anderson complaints that Superman shouldn't have saved the North Korean submarine 

Superman affirms that he protects the whole world - not just the United States.

Jonathan and Jordan are confirmed to be 15 years old.

Jordan uses his heat vision to light many floating candles at Atlas Pond to surprise Sarah.

Sarah says she's feeing crampy and asks to leave her meeting with Jordan.

Daniel Hart plans to use the settlement money Smallville was recently awarded to renovate the parks., enhance local community services and local infrastructure.

It has been five years since the teachers of Smallville got a pay raise. Hart stumbles over this point when questioned by a teacher, but Lana helps him out.

Clark talks with Kyle about his fight with Lois and how he feels like there's something she isn't telling him. Kyle advises him to let it lie.

The Metropolis Museum (aka The Met) still being repaired following the battle with Morgan Edge's army three months ago.

John Henry looks for Natalie at the museum and discovers it is closed.

Natalie left school after first period, having been unable to keep going after one of her best friends looked at her like she didn't exist.

Jordan comes home and Lois grills him about what he was doing with Sarah.

Jonathan warns Jordan that their dad is probably going to lecture them both about what Jonathan did.

Clark asks Lana if Kyle is jealous of all her work for Daniel Hart's campaign.

Lana figures out that Clark is really needing to talk about Lois not talking to him about her feelings.

Clark hears something close by, kind of like an earthquake, but different.

Kyle bought an old car and is fixing it up with Sarah.

Kyle advises Sarah to take the lead in her relationship with Jordan and be honest with him.

Lois' finally reveals to Clark that she feels guilty about not feeling anything regarding Natalie Irons and is afraid that makes her like her mother, who abandoned her family when Lois was younger.

Clark hears glass breaking and sense an earthquake is about to hit Smallville.

A water tower is crushed by the vibrations.

Clark has another fit and visions of destruction. During this, he sees two young heroes in uniforms with the S-Shield of the House of El on their chests.

Lois calls John Henry after the earthquake.

Superman confronts Lt. Anderson regarding the other heroes. He confirms they are students from the DoD school for metahumans who have graduated and are ready to serve their country.

Lt. Anderson hands his ELT over to Superman and ignores his objections about using the House of El symbol, saying that there can be more than one Superman.

Lois meets Natalie and says she would like to be friends and thinks it would be good for them to be part of each others' lives.

Sarah is also confirmed to be 15. 

Clark talks to Jonathan and Jordan about "being intimate" and coming to him if they have questions. He also tells them that they should be responsible and respect whoever they are with.

Clark confirms he was older than both of them when he lost his virginity, before warning them that Lois is going to be giving them a much stricter talk.

John Henry and Natalie agree to stay on the farm until they find a place of their own.

Clark hears a distant rumble.

The episode ends with something big trying to punch up through the earth under Smallville.

Location

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
Metropolis


Untelevised Adventures

We don't see the past three months of activity in Smallville.


The Bottom Line

A solid start for Season 2.

Superman and Lois: Season 1, Episode 9- Loyal Subjekts

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Lois and Clark begin to crack the mystery of why Morgan Edge is interested in Smallville beyond the X-Kryptonite in the Shuster Mines. Meanwhile, the DoD's Kryptonite weapons have unintended consequences that put Jordan's life in danger and lead to a reckoning between Lois and her father.

Influences

New Krypton (invasion of Earth by Kryptonian refugees)


Performances

This is another great episode for Elizabeth Tulloch, who gets to showcase Lois Lane's inner steel as she confronts Morgan Edge and her father.

Not to be outdone, Jordan Elsass gets two equally great moments: comforting his mother as she falls apart and confronting his grandfather on his own negligence. 


Artistry

The bank robbery scene is fantastic and Superman responding to the people in Spanish is a neat nod to the old Christopher Reeve Superman movies.


Super Trivia

This episode introduces Dabney Donovan - an employee of Morgan Edge who assists with the transformation process that turns people into hosts for Kryptonian minds. In the comics, Dabney Donovan was the co-founder of Project Cadmus - the think-tank that created the Superboy clone and various bits of advanced technology for Intergang.


Technobabble

The Kryptonite gas which Lieutenant Rosetti used on Superman is a biological weapon and it turns out to be communicable. Direct exposure makes Clark temporarily able to bruise and causes him to become winded. Jordan develops a cold and loses control of his powers when he sneezes.

The Jor-El hologram determines that Jordan is in respiratory distress and that his lungs are filling with fluid. Given that he can condense large quantities of air, he's also cooling it, like Clark does when he uses his Freeze Breath.

Intense heat can be used to burn Kryptonite out of a Kryptonian's body, but the process is painful.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Lois has just made a scene at one of Edge's recruitment meetings.)
Edge: Well, that was desperate.

Lois: I know what you're doing. 

Edge: Providing good jobs to a community in need?

Lois: You are putting Kryptonian consciousnesses into people's bodies. You are taking them over and giving them powers. 

Edge: And your evidence for this is... ?

Lois: Derek Powell, Reno Rosetti, Leslie. 

Edge: Oh, so two dead men and my personal assistant. I have to say, this story has holes even by your standards. 

Lois: We both know it's the truth.

Edge: In my experience, truth is rather subjective. Who do you think people are more likely to believe? A has-been slumming it at the local paper? Or the man who's giving this town the best economy it's ever known? 

Lois: These people are not puppets to be controlled by you. They have dreams. They have families. 

Edge: No one's being forced to do anything against their will. Everyone's made the same offer: the chance for a better life. (points to his ad copy) Says so right there. 

Lois: We're not publishing this. 

Edge: Then I guess word of mouth will have to suffice. You can't stop this, Lois. Perhaps it's time you use that device you have to call in your super friend?

Lois: Perhaps it is. 

Edge: Risky, though. Need I remind you where he's from? He may take comfort knowing there are others here just like him, as John Irons prophesied. 

Lois: Superman is nothing like them. 

Lois: (to General Lane) All my life, your job was your number one priority. Accepting that wasn't easy, but I learned to live with it, and somehow even grew to respect it because I believed that you were trying to do the right thing, and I honestly naively thought that once I had a family, you might change, start putting us first, but I was wrong. Knowingly and willingly endangering the lives of the people I love... I can't forgive that. So when this is over, I want you to leave and never come back. You're not welcome here anymore. 

(Jonathan walks in on Lois crying.)
Lois: I should've protected him. 
Jonathan: (sighing) Mom, this isn't... this isn't on you.
Lois: I'm your mom. My one job is to keep you guys safe, and I keep failing at it.
Jonathan: No, no, you don't.
Lois: You were almost gunned down in John Henry's RV...
Jonathan: That was my fault.
Lois: Got into a car accident.
Jonathan: That was also my fault.
Lois: I feel like I can't turn around without one of you being in mortal danger. Why is it so hard to keep you safe?
Jonathan: I don't know. Just... Just part of being a super family, I guess.

(Jonathan walks out on the porch. General Lane is there.)
General Lane: Just waiting to hear back from my team. Then we'll get everything straightened out with Jordan and your dad.
Jonathan: Little late for that, isn't it? Why'd you do it? Why'd you build those weapons to hurt my dad?
General Lane: Your father's the most powerful being this world's ever known. My job is to keep us safe, which means being prepared for any scenario, no matter how unlikely. You and I, we're not like your dad, or even Jordan.
Jonathan: He's my twin brother.
General Lane: Yes, but the minute his powers surfaced, you and him began walking two very different paths.
Jonathan: That scares you, doesn't it?
General Lane: It does.
Jonathan: You know, I think you're wrong. I think you're wrong about you and I being alike.
General Lane: How so?
Jonathan: I could never be scared of my family, no matter what powers they might have.
General Lane: Jonathan, you haven't seen the things I have.
Jonathan: Yeah, you're right. But in the end, I don't think that would matter 'cause I'd still trust them, and you'd still be a coward. 


Continuity

The opening scene shows an unseen person being led into Morgan Edge's office by Leslie Larr. This person is later revealed to be Kyle Cushing.

Lois notes that Edge was in and out of Hazel Green and Granville in weeks, so there has to be something he needs in Smallville beyond the X-Kryptonite.

Clark starts helping Lois with her investigation, as he's no longer working as a football coach.

Emily from 107 is run through the transformation process. Her full name is revealed as Emily Phan.

Emily is determined to have "complete host acceptance."

Jonathan and Jordan plan to go the talent show - Jonathan to be supportive and Jordan to play piano with her.

Lois suspects that Sarah wants to be more than "just friends" with Jordan, despite what she said, but says she'll leave it to Sarah to tell him that.

Lois asks Clark to try and get people to stop signing up for Morgan Edge's "enhancement" program, after they learn from Lana that he's looking for more recruits past the original five.

Lana reports that none of the new enhanced workers are acting strangely apart from seeming happier and more motivated.

Kyle thanks Jordan for stepping up when he failed to show up for Sarah's audition in 108.

Sarah says her father has been talking about how he's changed and is quitting drinking.

Sarah once again warns Jonathan to stay away from Tegan Wickhem.

Clark approached Emily Phan at the diner and asks how she's doing . She also reports that she's feeling better than ever.

Clark hears a bank robbery in Mexico and leaves to deal with it.

Clark can speak fluent Spanish.

During the fight, Clark becomes winded and he feels his heart beating faster than normal.

Chrissy Beppo reports that Morgan Edge just bought a ton of ads for the next paper, looking for more "enhancement" recruits.

Lois confronts Edge at his office, disrupting one of his meetings.

Edge reveals that he knows about John Henry Irons and his prophecy of what will happen. He doesn't explain how he knows this, however. (Probably it was leaked to him from Lieutenant Rosetti before his death.)

Edge also knows about Lois' device for signaling Superman.

Jonathan finally got his issue with his locker sorted out.

Jonathan approaches Tegan Wickhem and asks her out, only to be shot down. She said she was just being nice to him because he broke his arm.

Clark returns home to realize that the regular bullets of the bank robbers actually bruised him. 

Sarah starts grilling Jordan over any 'secret talents" he might have besides playing the piano.

Jordan sneezes and freezes his hand. This is the first the he uses the classic Ice Breath power.

Jordan leaves his practice with Sarah in a rush and calls his dad with his pager.

Clark has reportedly never been sick a day in his life.

General Lane says his men are working on a cure.

Sarah goes to Jonathan and asks why Jordan ran off. Jonathan plays dumb, but says he'll look for Jordan and make sure he's going to be there at the talent show that night.

Emily Phan tells Lana that there is a special process as part of the enhancement program. She says Morgan Edge told her it must be kept secret and she couldn't tell anyone - not even her family.

Lana and Emily have known each other since the 5th grade.

Lana tries to fish for more details regarding the program, only for Morgan Edge to reveal that he knows she is Lois Lane's mole.

Edge says that Lana can undergo enhancement herself or he will have her killed.

Jordan wants to go to the talent show, but his cold is getting worse.

Clark takes Jordan to the Fortress of Solitude to see about treating Jordan there.

Lois tells her father that once Jordan is well, she wants him to leave and never contact her or her children again.

Clark determines he can heal Jordan, but it will require burning the Kryptonite out of his system using intense heat rays in the Fortress of Solitude.

Jonathan comforts Lois as she wonders where she went wrong as a monther. 

Emily Phan saves both Lana and Kyle seats at the talent show.

When Jordan doesn't show up, Kyle has his guitar read and plays to accompany Sarah.

Jonathan tells off his grandfather, calling Sam Lane a coward for being afraid of his own grandson and son-in-law.

Emily Phan's daughter Avery is also in the talent show.

Emily leaves as her daughter is performing.  Kyle follows after her.

Edge sends his "Subkelts" after Lois Lane, having learned from Leslie Larr that Superman is still weak from the Kryptonite weapon.

Lana calls Lois and tells her about Emily Phan leaving in the middle of her daughter's performance.

Lana turned down Edge's offer, despite his threat, and tells Lois that Edge knew Lana was acting as her spy.

Emily Phan and another man, Jasper Townes, show up to kill Lois.

General Lane has some of the Kryptonite gas with him. He uses is to hold off the Kryptonians and Jonathan and Lois escape to the barn>

Kyle Cushing shows up and tries to attack Lois.

Jonathan repels Kyle Cushing with a red-sun energy weapon he stole from John Henry Irons' RV.

Superman arrives and the three Kryptonians flee.

Lois forgives her father for what happened.

General Lane says that from now on Lois, the boys, Clark and Smallville are his priority. 

Jordan describes freeze breath as feeling like you have a piece of wintergreen gum in your mouth all the time.

Jordan texts Sarah but she ignores his message.

Kyle Cushing returns home and speaks to Lana in private. He says he blacked out at the talent show and when he woke up his ribs hurt and he was a in a field outside town. It is here he reveals that he took Morgan Edge's offer to "better" himself.

Chrissy Beppo finds a common link between all the people who were ideal Kryptonian hosts - all of them were Smallville natives. 

Derek Powell was from New Carthage. Reno Rosetti was from Metropolis.

Leslie Larr's real name is Irma Sayers and she was from Smallville.

Another one of Edge's test-subjects was named David Fuglestad.

Clark theorizes that the large ammount of X-Kryptonite in Smallville has been radiating people for years.

Edge uses Lois' stolen pager to summon Superman.

The episodes ends with Edge revealing that he has a suit of Kryptonian armor with a unique crest and that he also has Kryptonian powers. He also addresses Superman as "brother."


The Bottom Line

While a bit heavy on exposition, still an enjoyable episode with some great character moments for Lois and Jonathan and one heck of a cliff-hanger!

Superman and Lois: Season 1, Episode 8 - Holding the Wrench

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

As Clark prepares to face John Henry Irons, he encourages Lois to reach out to her old therapist after certain facts come to light about the man they know as The Stranger. Meanwhile, Jonathan's efforts to help his mother nearly lead to lethal consequences, as Jordan helps Sarah with auditioning for the school musical.

Influences

Reign of the Supermen (origins of Steel/John Henry Irons) and New Krypton (invasion of Earth by Kryptonians)


Goofs

If The Stranger's AI is programmed to respond violently to intruders in the RV, why didn't it threaten Clark when he broke into the RV in 107? (Perhaps it only responded to certain areas, like the weapons racks, being tampered with?)


Performances

Elizabeth Tulloch nails Lois' anguish undergoing therapy in this episode and her anger at Jonathan for doing the kind of foolish thing she would do in her search for answers on a story.


Super Trivia

John Henry Irons reveals that a Kryptonite spear is his favorite weapon. This was also the preferred weapon of Lex Luthor in the comics and the weapon was later worked into Batman v. Superman.

The daughter that John Henry Irons and Lois had together in his world is revealed to be named Natalie. This is a surprise, as fans had assumed her "Nat-bug" nickname to be a reference to John Henry Iron's niece in the comics, Natasha Irons.


Technobabble

The Stranger's RV is lead-lined, preventing Superman from being able to see through it.

The Stranger's AI is programmed to allow some people besides him to have access to the RV. One of them is Lois Lane.  It reacts violently to intruders.

Lieutenant Trask's medical kit includes Sodium Pentothal, benzilate and a few other drugs General Lane can’t pronounce. Some of them are experimental.

The majority of miscarriages are caused by genetic issues - not because of the mother going through trauma.

The Department of Defense has developed several Kryptonite-based weapons, including fragment grenades, bladed weapons, aerosol sprays and biochemical gas..

The Kryptonite gas was an experimental, synthetic Kryptonite designed to invade the respiratory system, weakening a Kryptonian from the inside, leaving them vulnerable to more traditional tactics and weapons.


Dialogue Triumphs

Jonathan: Any idea what might be in here?
Lois: Not really, but your dad said it was lined with lead, so someone is hiding something.
(Lois and Jonathan enter into The Stranger's van.)
Jonathan: Classic creepermobile.
Jonathan: Exactly, so be careful.
AI: Identification required. Identify yourself.
Lois: Lois Lane.
AI: Voice authentication confirmed. Good morning, Lois.
Lois: How do you know my name?
AI: You are one of my authorized users. How can I help you, Ms. Lane?
Lois: Um, what can you tell me about John Henry Irons?
(There is a hydraulic noise from the next room, as a bed folds up into the wall revealing a computer console. The screens on the console have a default screen saving picture which seems to show John Henry Irons, in uniform, getting a medal.)
Lois: (grabbing Jonathan's shoulder as she takes the lead) Careful.
Jonathan: What is that?
(The two walk into the room and look at the computers.)
Jonathan: Whoa. That was easy. 

Lois: I don’t really look back with regret. I reflect, or… But I don’t usually regret, but this?
Dr. Wiles: Is it possible you’re being too hard on yourself?
Lois: No. I was enraged. You have no idea the things that I said.
Dr. Wiles: I read your articles, your critiques. Let’s just say I know what your words are capable of.
Lois: I can go full scorched Earth, and if that is my intention, you deserve it. But this person didn’t. I think that sometimes, words cut so deep that they forever change how you see a person. And I don’t know how fix this.

Lois: We’ll figure this out. We’ve been in similar situations.
Clark: Learning that the man who’s trying to kill your husband is your other husband from another world? It kind of feels like new ground to me. 

(Jonathan is sitting at the dinner table. Lois is standing over him, incredibly angry. Clark is hanging back, but not looking much happier.)
Lois: Are you out of your mind? You don’t go snooping around some guy from another world’s murder van!
Jonathan: I mean, I… I thought it was safe earlier.
Clark: Jonathan, nothing is as it seems with this kind of stuff.
Lois: I said I would go back in there with you. What were you thinking?
Jonathan: I just thought I’d look around.
Lois: Without me? Jonathan, what were you really doing in there?
Jonathan: Mom, even I knew how upset you were earlier about what we saw in there, and then that crazy hammer thing that he made, I thought that maybe I could go in there and I could look for…
Clark: Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on. You were looking for weapons?
Jonathan: Dad, you and Jordan basically are weapons. I am the only one in this house that is completely unarmed. 
Clark: Jonathan, your mother and I will protect you.
Jonathan: Really?
Clark: Yes!
Jonathan: Because I was one second away from being dead, and Mom couldn’t do anything, and you? You almost didn’t even make it in time.
Lois: Jonathan, look at me. Look at me!
(Jonathan turns his head to look at her.)
Lois:  I let you come with me because I trusted you. I trusted that you were responsible enough to know what’s at stake, to know how dangerous this all is!
Jonathan: So now you don’t trust me?!
Clark: Okay, let’s calm down.
Lois: (shouting) You knew there was a risk! I know you did, and yet you went in anyway, alone, behind my back! What… to find weapons? You almost died, not because you were unarmed, because you were reckless and stupid! And if you had died, the only person that would’ve been to blame is yourself. Get out of my face! 

(The Stranger stands over a helpless Superman, having just killed Rosetti. He holds a spear with a Kryptonite head.)
The Stranger: On my world, we had our own 7734. Out of all the weapons I used to kill Kryptonians, this was my favorite.
Superman: I’m not your enemy.
The Stranger: I figure, why take the chance? 
(The Stranger raises the spear, ready to strike as General Lane and his men sweep into the room, with Lois right behind them.)

General Lane: Drop the weapon now!
Lois: (running in front of the soldiers) Stop!
General Lane: Hold your fire! 

Lois: You wanted to see me? Here I am. 

The Stranger: You should go, Lois.

Lois: I’m not going anywhere.
(Superman coughs.) 

The Stranger: Suit yourself.
(The Stranger gets ready to thrust the spear again.)

Lois: John, I know about Natalie! I know what happened on your world, to you, and to your family. 

The Stranger: Then you know why I have to do this. 

Lois: Please. Please, I see the anger in your eyes. It’s covering something I can relate to: the torture that comes from wondering if you failed, if there was something you could’ve done to save them, but there wasn’t. If there had been, you would’ve found it! They’re gone, and it’s not your fault, but it’s not his fault, either. 

The Stranger: You don’t know what’s coming. 

Lois: John, our worlds are different. Our Superman is good. He would never turn on us, ever.

The Stranger: How can you know that? 

Lois: I know. And if you kill him, an innocent man, a hero, what does that make you? 

(The Stranger hesitates but finally steps back and drops the spear.)

(General Lane has just finished describing all the Kryptonite weaponry the DOD developed.)
General Lane: You should know it was my sincere intention none of this would ever be deployed.
Superman: Sam, I want to save you the trouble of lying to my face.
General Lane: I hope for the best, but it’s my job to prepare for the worst, even when it comes to you. I am sorry you had to find out like this.
Superman: Trust goes both ways.
General Lane: I know. And I know I have some work to do to regain yours.


Continuity

Lois sees a psychiatrist at the Department of Defense office her father works in. We find out later in the episode her name is Dr. Wiles.

Dr. Wiles agreed to see Lois, even though she is not enlisted, as a favor to General Lane, as her husband was a cadet along with Sam Lane when they were going through military school and she credits him with keeping her husband from getting kicked out twice.

Lois speaks of losing her temper with someone and being afraid she's going to hurt them more than she already has.

Clark has informed Coach Gaines that he, Jonathan and Jordan are taking a break from football for a while. He's not happy but understands and has asked Jonathan and Jordan return their uniforms as soon as possible.

Clark is working on fixing the truck which Jonathan and Jordan bent out of shape. Jonathan tries to help Clark, offering him a wrench, but he uses his powers to handle everything.

Clark leaves to go to the DOD as Superman to assist with the interrogation of The Stranger.

Lois says she is going to investigate The Stranger's RV to see if she can learn more about him.

Jonathan asks if he can help Lois with the RV, since he didn't feel like he could help much with the truck. She agrees.

Lana is working on a list of small businesses in need for a new assistance program Morgan Edge is sponsoring.

Kyle specifically asks about the leadership program Lana was working on. She lies and says they had enough people. Kyle specifically tells her to mention his name if they decide to expand it.

Sarah reveals she was asked to audition for the school musical by Jess Kriker - the daughter of a Mr. Kriker selected for the leadership program. Sarah says Jess hasn't talked to her since the third grade.

Kyle offers to play the guitar for Sarah to sing to at her audition.

Jordan runs into Sarah as he's returning his uniform. 

Sarah reveals that she has major stage fright. She can perform with a choir, but can't stand all the attention being on her.

Jordan sympathizes and says he used to play piano and did recitals as a kid, but it got to be too much because of his anxiety.

Jordan says he'll stop by the auditions to offer moral support.

The Stranger thinks back on his romance with Lois and his daughter giving him a bracelet before he went to face Superman.

The John Henry Irons of Earth-Prime was an Army Ranger who served two tours in Afghanistan. Upon leaving the military he went into the private sector and made a name for himself as a mechanical engineer. He died six years earlier under mysterious circumstances. 

Superman asks The Stranger if his life was different on his Earth.

The Stranger recalls flying his ship as his Superman was attacking him, while he was trying to fly away towards something.

The Stranger reveals that the Superman of his Earth was a hero up until he joined with an army of invading Kryptonians and that what happened on his Earth is starting to happen on Earth-Prime.

The Stranger refuses to answer any questions until he is allowed to speak to Lois Lane.

Lois and Jonathan go through the personal photos on The Stranger's computer. They seem to suggest a background similar to that of the Earth-Prime John Henry Irons, with photos showing him working on a drafting table, in a factory, in uniform, playing football, graduating and, eventually, photos of him with his Lois Lane and their daughter.

The Stranger reveals that Superman killed Lois Lane on his world and that she was his wife and the mother of his daughter.

Lois and Clark discuss the pictures she found and what The Stranger told him over the phone.

Los makes reference to the events of Elseworlds and how she and Clark have had to clean up the mess caused by an evil version of Superman before.

Clark offers to come home so they can talk in person. Lois says he doesn't need to do that.

Lois offers to come and talk to The Stranger, even though she doesn't want to. Clark thinks maybe he can empathize with him without it coming to that.

Lois tells Jonathan she wants to take a break before going back into the RV.

Kyle once again pushes Sarah to audition for the musical, having gotten a lot of sheet music so she can pick out a song.

Lieutenant Trask is an interrogator on General Lane's team who has apparently tortured people in the past. Before turning The Stranger over to him, General Lane decides to talk to him personally, since they were apparently allies on his Earth.

Jonathan goes back into the RV on his own. After looking at several pictures of Natalie Irons (who he comments seems cool) he stumbles across the video of the other Lois Lane being killed by Superman.

Jonathan breaks into the Stranger's weapons locker. This triggers the defenses of the AI, who tries to kill him. 

Lois calls Clark with her signal device when she realizes where Jonathan is and that she is locked out of the RV. Clark is barely able to get there in time to protect Jonathan from a lethal safeguard, which he destroys.

Lois shouts at Jonathan for being stupid after he admits he was trying to find The Stranger's weapons thinking maybe he could use them to protect himself.

Leslie Larr approaches Kyle. She tells him Morgan Edge was disappointed he elected not to take part in the executive program and that Morgan Edge had specifically asked about him.

Kyle confronts Lana about how she lied to him. Lana covers by saying that Leslie Larr is mistaken and that Morgan Edge doesn't tell her everything, despite Kyle's insistence she's basically his right hand.

General Lane tries to win The Stranger over by warning him about Lieutenant Trask. This doesn't work, however, as The Stranger says his General Lane would never torture or drug a prisoner. 

The Stranger tells General Lane that he died a hero on his world and that Superman killed him.

Flashing forward to Dr. Wiles and Lois' meeting, Lois finally tells Dr. Wiles that the person she yelled at was Jonathan. She doesn't give the details beyond him being stupid and nearly dying.

It is revealed that Lois had a miscarriage roughly 18 months after she had Jordan and Jonathan. She lost the baby - a girl she was going to name Natalie, after her father's mother.

Lieutenant Rosetti kills Lieutenant Trask and reveals himself to be one of Morgan Edge's subjekts.

Jonathan goes to the school looking for Jordan, when Jordan is ignoring his texts. He finds him at the auditions, getting ready to watch Sarah.

Kyle doesn't show up to play with Sarah. This leads Jordan to volunteer to play the piano for her instead.

Sarah sings Amos Lee’s “Little Light”

Like Derek Powell in 105, Lieutenant Rosetti is unable to totally control his power.

The Stranger knows the layout of the DOD facility and which section of the base Lieutenant Rosetti is taking him - Sector 5.

Sector 5 of the base houses a Research and Development lab that is developing Kryptonite weapons. The lab is room 7734.

The base is put on lockdown as Superman goes to apprehend The Strange, not knowing that Rosetti has gone rogue.

Rosetti releases a Kryptonite gas to fight Clark.

Clark is able to use the weapons against Rosetti, who is weakened by Kryptonite as much as he is.

The Strranger kills Rosetti with a Kryptonite spear. He is about to kill a weakened Superman, when General Lane and his men arrive. 

Only the fact that Lois asks him not to kill Superman and her assurance that he is not a killer in this world keeps The Stranger from killing Superman.

Rosetti was a third-generation military man who never showed any signs of being superhuman. This leads Clark to think that The Stranger is telling the truth and that maybe Derek Powell was right about Morgan Edge transferring alien sentience into human hosts.

Lana listens in on Leslie Larr speaking to the executive training program.

Sarah confronts Kyle about his not being there for her.  He defends himself by saying he had gotten some bad news about a job offer and had to blow off some steam.

Sarah tells Kyle she should never promise her anything.

The Stranger is set free and goes back to his RV.

Lois apologizes to Jonathan and explains that she was venting over the grief she thought was past from her miscarriage. She promises to teach him how to deal with the fear of being vulnerable and says they have to stick together as the two extraordinary humans in a family of superpeople.

Superman says that The Stranger being released is a show of trust, given that they believe there is a war coming with Edge's Kryptonians and they need all the help they can get.

The Stranger says that just because he let Superman live doesn't mean he's ready to fight by his side. Superman says he understands but that if he changes his mind, he can contact Lois.

Upon reentering his RV, The Stranger tells the AI to erase the profile for Captain Luthor and to start a new one for John Henry Irons. He also asks the AI to shut down for a bit, as he wants to drive on his own for a while.

The Bottom Line

An amazing episode and probably the best bit of acting from Elizabeth Tulloch to date.

Superman and Lois: Season 1, Episode 4 - Haywire

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

When a threat of legal action leaves Lois unable to publish her expose of Morgan Edge's business dealings, she reluctantly turns to Clark for help in appealing to the people of Smallville as the proposal granting Edge control of the city's mines comes up for a vote. Unfortunately, Clark is already feeling torn in two directions between his new job as an assistant football coach and General Lane's demands of his time. Meanwhile, Jordan and Jonathan have their own problems with a teammate who seems to have powers of his own.


Influences

The Superman comics of Jack Kirby (use of Morgan Edge and references to Intergang) and John Byrne (use of Thaddeus Killgrave), the pre-Crisis Supergirl comics (mention of X-Kryptonite) and the Smallville series (high school slice of life themes, Kryptonite giving humans powers)


Performances

Any fears that Lois Lane would be reduced to being a damsel in distress or the mama bear in this series were obliterated by Elizabeth Tulloch's performance in this episode. Here, we see the full fury of Lois Lane that was briefly teased in earlier appearances.

While not give as much screen time this week, Jordan Elsaas continues to portray Jonathan Kent with an amazing level of compassion balanced out by his clear discomfort at suddenly being an outcast after being popular in Metropolis.


Artistry

The special effects work during Superman's fight with Killgrave is spectacular and of cinematic quality.

The effects work for Tag's superspeed is also notable and the direction plays up the body horror aspects of his power going out of control.


Super Trivia

General Lane asks Clark to escort the prison transfer of a mad scientist named Thaddeus Killgrave. In the comics, Killgrave was a Superman villain, who first appeared in Superman Vol 2 #19 in July 1988 and was created by John Byrne. He is most famous for having built a nuclear bomb for The Joker, who used it as part of a plan to terrorize Superman. He was also employed by Intergang.

In the comics, Thaddeus Killgrave had dwarfism.

The Arrowverse version of Killgrave is of normal size, but slight and shorter than average. He is played by Brendan Fletcher, whom Arrow fans may recognize as Stanley Dover.

Mention is made of Intergang still being active. In the comics, Intergang is one of the DC Universe's most powerful crime syndicates, with agents operating on a global scale. The show's mention of Intergang is the first sign of their existence on Earth-Prime.

Chrissy Beppo makes reference to Lois not being as good at editing as she is at writing. This is a running gag, first appearing in Superman: The Movie, which has migrated into other media and the comics.

Mention is made of a special school for metahuman teens that the Department of Defense is aware of, if not actively running. This may explain why the special school for metahumans proposed in the Season 3 finale of Black Lightning never materialized - it already existed and was so top secret even the US Congress didn't know about it!

The final scene reveals that Morgan Edge has been looking for X-Kryptonite and finds it in the Shuster Mines. In the classic Supergirl comics, X-Kryptonite was a Kryptonite variant which Supergirl accidentally created with an experiment to fashion a Kryptonite poisoning antidote. The piece she worked with developed the ability to temporarily give Kryptonian powers to Earth creatures rather than weakening Kryptonians. It was this piece of Kryptonite that changed Linda Danvers' cat Streaky into a Super-Cat.

The exact properties of X-Kryptonite in the Arrowverse are not described in this episode, but it is speculated Edge has been using it to empower various test subjects, including Leslie Larr. It may have other properties, such as raising the dead, as Edge specifically mentions resurrecting an army.


Technobabble

Thaddeus Killgrave is able to create a temperature-sensitive synthetic polymer resin that resembles chewing gum in the sink of his prison cell. Highly mercurial at an atomic level, it explodes upon contact with the precise vibration of a ticking wristwatch. In short, a plastic explosive that can use an unconnected clock as a timer.

According to the video footage of the keg explosion, there was a yellow phosphorescence present apart from Jordan's heat-vision blast. It's suspected this may have triggered Tag's metagene.


Dialogue Triumphs

General Lane: How could you not tell me?
Lois: What? That he’s good at football?
General Lane: He’s not. The kid’s a buck twenty soaking wet, never played a down of tiddlywinks. Now he’s T-boning players twice his size? He has powers, and you didn’t tell me.
Lois: All right, well, it’ll probably never even happen again. Bottom line, he doesn’t have powers. We just wanna keep an eye on him.
General Lane:That’s why you moved to Smallville?
Lois: No… well, yeah, sort of. 
General Lane: And now he’s playing football? Mistake. The Kent family needs to fly under the radar. 
Lois: My sons need to live their lives. Dad, Clark and I can handle this.
General Lane: Clark? How is he helping? By coaching the team?
Lois:  He’s involved, which is a hell of a lot more than you ever were.
General Lane: I don’t like his priorities changing.
Lois: It’s called being a father.

Lois: (sweetly) Clark? Gorgeous husband, love of my life, really, and my dear, personal champion, a tiny favor to ask.
Clark: Does it have anything to do with your dad?
Lois: No. He’s in national security mode. It has to do with the assembly. I was thinking that since my article was shredded and I can’t technically speak out about Morgan Edge, the next best thing would be to have Smallville’s favorite son show up and say some words on behalf of justice.
Clark: Okay. Well, when you put it that way, yeah, I’ll be there.
Lois: Great. Now if you’ll excuse me, I just found out Edge is at the mines.
Clark:  Whoa, you’re gonna go confront him after he sent a guy to attack you?
Lois: Look, Edge thinks he has me up against the ropes. If I show up out of nowhere, knock him off balance, maybe I’ll pop something loose.
Clark: If you wait, I can go with you.
Lois: No, I got it. You have practice. I can handle myself. 

Morgan Edge: Ms. Lane. Have you come to take a tour of our facilities?
Lois: Yeah, after what happened in New Carthage, I would rather not follow you into a dark tunnel.
Morgan Edge: Whatever could you be insinuating?
Lois: Look, I’m kind of bored with the whole “faux-British accent, billionaire at a football game trying to fit in” con job.
Morgan Edge: I can assure you, my accent is genuine. I was raised in…
Lois: (cutting him off) Oh, my God. Who cares? Let’s just lay it out on the table. First, you changed my story. Then, you sent some goon who almost killed Sharon Powell. Now you have your minion threatening my career? Let me tell you how this goes. You sue me, I countersue. Your records get opened up in discovery, and that doesn’t end well for you or your brand name.
Morgan Edge: My, my. You have thought this all through.
Lois: Why Smallville? There’s other towns, other mines. Why are you going to all this trouble?
Morgan Edge: That’s curious. I was about to ask you the same question. World-renowned journalist, short-listed for the Pulitzer twice. And you move here with your unemployed husband and two adolescent boys. It seems like there must be something here that’s very important to you. Maybe I’ll find out what that is.
Lois: Is that a threat?
Morgan Edge: Well, I could offer you your old job back, on the condition you play by the rules, but let’s be honest, you’ll never work at the “Daily Planet” again. You’re past your prime, playing a high-stakes game with a losing hand. You should fold while you still can.
Lois: Actually, I have one more ace to play. I’m bringing it with me to the town assembly. Maybe we can talk more then. For now, I’m done with you, unless this creep show has anything to add?
(Lois stares down Leslie Larr.)
Lois: I didn’t think so. 

Clark: Babe, I’m so, so sorry I missed the vote.
Lois: I know. It’s okay.
Clark: No, it’s not. And you’re covering.
Lois: Don’t super-spy on my pulse rate or whatever you do.
Clark: You clench your jaw when you’re mad.
Lois: I’m not mad.
Clark: Well, you should be. I said I was gonna be there, and I wasn’t.
Lois: Clark, can we not do this right now? I’m not in the mood!
Clark: I just want to apologize. And I want you to know that I…
Lois: Babe, I don’t need an excuse. I know you have an excuse. You’re Superman.
Clark:  Lois...
Lois: Okay, fine. I’m mad! And I know it’s irrational because I understand that there were lives at stake, but this was so important to me. And we lost the vote, by the way, and now I’m feeling guilty for wanting you to do something you said you would do. (sighs) When we started dating, I knew what I was getting into. And I don’t get mad about you missing date nights or anniversaries or family dinners because of some idiot with a nuke, but lately, with everything that’s going on with the boys and my dad constantly in your ear, it feels like I’m really far down on your list of priorities.
Clark: (stunned) Is that honestly how you feel?
Lois: Right now, in this moment that I might regret tomorrow, yeah, I do. 

Denise: You know, we miss you so much at cheer. 
Sarah: Well, you know, I just needed more time for… drugs and alcohol.

(Jonathan knocks on Jordan's bedroom door. Jordan is sitting on his bed holding an icepack to his jaw.)
Jonathan: You good?
(Jordan shrugs as Jonathan walks in and sits next to him on the bed.)
Jonathan: Jordan, what, uh, what happened to Tag…
Jordan: (tiredly) Don’t try to tell me it wasn’t my fault. You saw the video. My heat vision, it gave Tag those powers…
Jonathan: No, that’s not how it works.
Jordan: Yeah, you don’t know that.
Jonathan: You’re right. I don’t. I don’t know how or why any of this is happening, okay? And the truth is, um… I’ve honestly been really jealous about all of it. And I’m sorry about that, but, Jordan, look, I do know this. You would never hurt anyone. Ever. So whatever happened, it was an accident, okay? It was an accident. 


Continuity

As the episode opens, Morgan Edge is watching the Smallville High football game with some of the city leaders, including Kyle Cushing.

Kyle Cushing used to play football in high school.

The grandstands at Smallville High School's football stadium were built in 1948.

Edge extends a dinner invitation to Kyle and Lana when he learns that Lana is an employee of his bank.

General Lane shows up to watch the game unannounced. He was not aware that Jordan was playing football now or that Clark had taken a job as an assistant coach.

Jordan's nickname among the other players is Shortstack.

Jordan is given the game ball and credited with winning the game for his team.

General Lane claims the military is afraid of Superman and he's the only thing keeping them in check.

General Lane says that Superman's absence in Metropolis has been noted and that big organized crime groups like Intergang are getting bolder.

General Lane says that they are transferring all the high-risk inmates out of Metropolis Penitentiary because everyone thinks Superman isn't there anymore. He asks for Clark to act as an escort for the transfer as a show of good faith.

One of the prisoners being transferred is Thaddeus Killgrave - a psychopathic genius who hates Superman.

General Lane offers to stay for the weekend to pitch in around the house.

Tag Harris, who broke his arm in 101, is bitter about Jordan's success and not being able to play.

Tag Harris comes from a poorer family than most of the football players and is bullied because of it.

During the dinner with the city leaders, Morgan Edge spends most of the night talking with Lana and suggests he can improve her career prospects if she's agreeable.

Lana graduated magna cum laude from Stanhope College and could have gone anywhere but came back to Smallville. 

 Lana says that got into finance to help people but it seems the only people she helps now are shareholders.

Leslie Larr shows up at the Smallville Gazette office with a copy of Lois' former contract with The Daily Planet, which she claims has a clause that prohibits her from writing anything for a competing paper that reflects negatively on her former boss (i.e. Morgan Edge) or speaking against him publicly.

Chrissy Beppo is forced to pull Lois' expose of Edge, not having the money to fight his lawyers.

After getting home from the celebration at the local diner, Tag Harris begins to have a spasm while trying to scratch under his cast where his arm will not stop vibrating.

Jonathan is a little jealous of Jordan's success, but Clark reminds him that he can still shine as an offensive player.

Lois goes to confront Morgan Edge at the Shuster Mines, having learned he's there getting at tour.

Lois asks Clark to speak against Edge's proposal at a city assembly. He agrees to do so.

Lana is upset that Kyle didn't even notice Morgan Edge was making her uncomfortable.

Lois was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for journalism twice.

Tag Harris has another spasm at school in the bathroom, which Jonathan Kent notices.

Thaddeus Killgrave uses a special explosive to escape from the prison caravan.

Tag removed his cast and claims his arm is now fine, several weeks before when he should have healed.

Jonathan tries to tell Clark about what he saw, but Clark has to put the conversation on hold to deal with Killgrave's escape.

Killgrave leaves behind a digital device warning Superman that he'll see him soon.

General Lane returns to Washington, but before he goes he tells Jordan and Jonathan they should be mindful about burdening their father with problems they might be able to solve themselves.

Jonathan and Jordan decide to go to a party being thrown by one of their teammates, Wellnitz, because Jonathan wants to check up on Tag. Jordan says he'll text Sarah Cushing about getting a ride with her.

Clark fails to make it to the Smallville town assembly meeting because of his searching for Killgrave after his escape..

Lana invites Lois to a girl's night out at a local bar.

The Smallville city council vote to grant Morgan Edge EneCorp exclusive rights to the Shuster mines.

According to Sarah, Wellnitz is a casual drug user.

According to Lana, Kyle actually respects Lois for speaking her mind, for all he does to rile her up.

Lois says she admires how Kyle feels about Smallville.

Lana tells Lois that Clark changed completely after meeting her, becoming more confident and self-assured. She credits her for that.

Jordan says he hasn't had an anxiety attack since joining the football team and he actually likes playing the game and being good at something other people praise him for.

Tag accidentally breaks a chair after cutting his hand and having another speed-spasm.

Jonathan and Jordan chase after Tag when he runs off from the party.

Killgrave and a group of Intergang members confront Superman at Glenmorgan Square in Metropolis with a sonic blaster.

Tag begins to spasm and vibrate uncontrollably and Jordan and Jonathan debate using the ELT to call their dad for help, based on General Lane's warning earlier. 

Jordan tries to hold Tag steady but is blown back by his vibrational powers.

Clark hears the ELT go off and  that inspires him to create a shockwave of his own with his hands, knocking down the Intergang members and giving him time to melt Killgrave's blaster.

Clark carries Tag into the upper atmosphere where the thinner air helps calm him down and regain control.

Jordan blames himself for what happened to tag, but Jonathan tells him he knows he would never intentionally do something to hurt someone.

Tag is being looked over by doctors at the DOD. 

There is a special school for kids with superpowers overseen by the American government. The exact number of students attending it is classified. 

Jordan and Jonathan tell Lois and Clark about General Lane telling them not to bother Clark with all their problems.

Lana and Kyle seem to mend their fences.

Clark sets up a dinner date night for himself and Lois in the Kent barn, but has to leave partway through because of a situation in Malawi.

General Lane tells Lt. Rosetti to establish a new protocol called Project 7734 on a secure line.

Morgan Edge is searching for a substance called X-Kryptonite, which exists in abundance in the Shuster Mines.


Untelevised Adventures

Clark leaves during his date with Lois to deal with a situation in Malawi.


The Bottom Line

A fantastic episode that puts the focus on Lois, but still gives us a fantastic Superman fight and gives the boys some great character moments too.

Superman and Lois: Season 1, Episode 2 - Heritage

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

 As the family adjust to life in Smallville and Lana Lang Cushing invites them to a cook-out to welcome them to the small town, Lois continues to wage war upon Morgan Edge. Meanwhile, the Stranger seeks out an unlikely ally, even as General Lane and Clark continue their search.

Influences

Injustice: Gods Among Us (idea of evil Superman taking over the world), The Death of Superman (black Superman costume), Superman: New Krypton (reference to Project 7734) and Superman: The Movie (general appearance of Jor-El hologram)


Goofs

The Fortress of Solitude seen here doesn't resemble the one pictured in earlier episodes of Supergirl. (It's appearance may have been changed after Crisis.)


Performances

Any worries that Elizabeth Tulloch wouldn't be given anything to do as Lois Lane are blown away by this episode. Here we see Lois Lane, defender of the innocent, unwilling to take Hell from anyone but ready to give it back in spades to anyone who dares cross her.

It's au understated moment, but Jordan Elsass gets a great delivery on the line where Jonathan tells Lois that they both left their lives in Metropolis as Lois is trying to lift her son's spirits regarding everything he lost in moving to Smallville for the sake of his brother. Jonathan is immediately established as wise beyond his years, clearly recognizing his mother is also trying to convince herself they've done the right thing given her own career setbacks in coming to Smallville.


Artistry

Again, the special effects work is of cinematic quality, with the fight between The Stranger and Superman being of particular note.


Super Trivia

Clark's description of how he made the Fortress of Solitude is taken directly from Superman: The Movie.

The hologram of Jor-El refers to Kryptonopolis being the second largest city on Krypton and the center of the House of El. This is taken directly from the Superman comics. (Kandor was the largest city on Krypton, until it was shrunk and stolen by Brainiac.)

Lois' research into Morgan Edge's dirty business dealings leads her to investigate the city of New Carthage. In the comics, this is a college town in upstate New York, where Dick Grayson went to college at Hudson University.

Chrissy Beppo's name is a nod to Beppo the Super Monkey - one of the many Super Pets that Superman had in the Silver Age of Comics. Beppo was a Kryptonian monkey who was used in a test rocket Jor-El made before sending his son to Earth. He later made his way to Earth and gained the same enhanced abilities as Krypto the Super Dog and Kal-El.

Smallville Mayor George Dean is played by actor Eric Keenleyside. Keenleyside had a role in the pilot episode of Smallville, playing Chloe Sullivan's father. Sadly, his scene was cut. 

One of General Lane's underlings is named Rosetti. This may be a nod to Colonel Reno Rosetti - a member of the Human Defense Corps, which was a group established by then President Lex Luthor to end America's dependence on non-human superheroes.

One of the small towns Lois says Morgan Edge ruined was named Granville. This was the name of a small Kansas town in the television series Smalllville which housed a secret lab used to study Kara Zor-El's ship.

Captain Luthor gives General Lane a dog-tag with the number 7734 on it, as he claimed to be a friend of General Lane on his Earth, where they both fought Kal-El of Krypton together. This is a nod to Project 7734 - a group led by General Sam Lane in the post-Crisis DC Comics Universe, which was a secret US Military imitative devoted to defending the Earth from alien invaders. 


Technobabble

The device Lois and General Lane use to summon Superman is called an ELT.

General Lane was able to use a residence identifier to track Captain Luthor's ship.

The explosion of Captain Luthor's ship is strong enough to knock Superman out of orbit.

Jor-El speaks of the photo-nucleic effect that Jordan caused (i.e. his heat vision) being insignificant. 

Captain Luthor has a robot duplicate that is as well armored as he is.

Captain Luthor's drone deploys a sonic projectile weapon capable of knocking back an entire squadron of soldiers.


Dialogue Triumphs

Lois: (voice-over) What can you say about leaving a place you loved? All the memories? All the experiences? It can be heartbreaking... until the excitement takes over. Because you soon realize you get to make new memories. Have new experiences... And best of all... Fall in love all over again.

(Clark is wearing a heavy winter coat. He hands Jordan a similar coat.)
Jordan: Why do we need these big winter jackets? Are we flying somewhere?
Clark: Kind of have to. Hold on, okay?
(Jordan smiles as his father holds him and looks him in the eyes. Suddenly the two jet into the air and a small sonic boom is heard. Jonathan looks up at his brother, clearly jealous.)
Jonathan: How come he gets to go flying with Dad and I have to go to school? 

Lois: At least we have the radio.

(General Lane and Clark are out on the porch of the Kent farm house. Night has fallen.)
General Lane: Sure is quiet out here... simple.
(There's a long pause. Clark says nothing but he seems to be bracing himself.)
General Lane: You still looking for the simple life? 'Cause those days are gone, Clark... long gone.
(Clark says nothing. He's too polite to argue.)
Clark: (starting to turn away) Let me know when you find the ship-

General Lane: (cutting him off) Why'd you move the family here? You took Lois away from where she needs to be, hurt Jonathan's football chances. Jordan's got no chance of fitting in with kids here. Must have had a hell of a reason. 

(Clark says nothing, clearly uncomfortable with the direction this conversation is going.)

General Lane: You told the boys you're Superman! 

Clark: Couldn't lie to 'em anymore. 

General Lane: You sure as hell could. 

Clark: Sam... 

General Lane: You have any idea what you just did? You ruined their childhood, Clark! I've seen the toll this life's taken on Lois over the years. She never says anything to you, but I know! Now you're gonna put the boys through that same hell? 

Clark: This is gonna keep my family together. 

General Lane: No, Clark. It's gonna tear it apart.

Clark: Your dad knows that we told the boys. He figured it out the other night.
Lois: What'd he say?
Clark: Oh, you know, just that we're making the biggest mistake of our lives.
Lois: (smiles) See, now I know we're on the right track.
Clark: (chuckles, as he looks at Lois's laptop) What's that?
Lois: It is about an article I am working on about Morgan Edge.
Clark: Edge?
Lois: (protesting) He was at the Smallville city council meeting last night.
Clark: I thought you weren't getting involved?
Lois: Well... yes, but then he started spouting this BS about helping the town. Morgan Edge is not here to save Smallville, Kansas. He's here for cheap labor because people are desperate, just like he did with New Carthage and Hazel Green and Granville. He is eating these small towns from the inside out.
(Clark motions to the chair. Lois gets out of his way so he can look at what she has.)
Clark: Thank you. (reading outloud)"Morgan Edge is a corporate vampire". You remember that Edge owns the "Planet"?

Lois: So?
Clark: So he's not gonna let you publish this!
Lois: You know what, babe? You do your Superman stuff, and I will do my Lois Lane stuff.
(Clark raises his hands in surrender and takes the seat next to Lois, smiling, clearly in love with how she gets when she is angry.)
Lois: I'm serious, Clark. I'm getting this gut feeling that this is one of the reasons I was supposed to come to Smallville. I am not going to let Morgan Edge destroy this town like he did the others. 

Lois: Jonathan... you're a really great brother, you know that? I know how much you gave up by saying yes to coming here. Your whole life's in Metropolis. Your girlfriend's there. Your entire identity is there, but you said yes to coming here anyway 'cause you wanted to help your brother.
Jonathan: (shrugs) You and I both had lives we left behind.
Lois: Yeah. 

(Morgan Edge is holding a meeting of Daily Planet executives. Lois Lane walks up to him, ignoring the other people in the board room and the fact that Edge is talking.)
Morgan Edge: Let me make this very clear. Either the website gets more clicks, or various people sitting in this room will...
Lois: You rewrote my story.
Morgan Edge: I merely corrected what was wrong.
Lois: So just to confirm, we can't do any actual reporting here anymore, correct?
Morgan Edge: Ms. Lane, I won't have my paper printing this kind of nonsense.
Lois: That's what I thought.
(Lois drops an envelope on the desk before Edge and turns around to walk out.)
Morgan Edge: What's this?
(Lois stops and turns around.)
Lois: That is the best writing I have done since you took over.
(Lois walks past a female reporter on her way out.)
Female Reporter: He's going to crush you.
Lois: Let him try.

Lois: (voice-over) What can you say about leaving a place you loved?  You hope it made you who you are... Challenged your beliefs...Pushed you out of your comfort zone...And gave you the strength to demand better... So you're prepared for what's to come. 


Continuity

Jonathan never got a copy of the Smallville High School football team playbook, which he was meant to study before his first practice.

The head coach at Smallville High is named Gaines.

Jordan is taking two AP classes (he wanted to take more) and was put in Spanish instead of French.

Clark decides to keep Jordan home from school until they learn more about his powers.

Jonathan is still trying to maintain a distance relationship with his girlfriend, Eliza.

Captain Luthor attacks a black market weapons' dealer in Moldova searching for Kryptonite. He says that he hasn't had any and can't get anymore.

Captain Luthor's armor and suit are apparently powered by Kryptonite.

Clark takes Jordan to the Fortress of Solitude.

Sarah notices Jordan is missing.

Sean, Sarah's boyfriend, taunts Jonathan about not getting the playbook and warns him that Smallville High School already had a quarterback. 

One of the other lead football players is named Timmy.

Clark confirms that the crystal Jordan found was a Sunstone and that it is basically a flash drive containing all the information that is known about Krypton, as well as an AI interface based on the personality of Jor-El.

Kryptonopolis was the second largest city of Krypton.

As Lois works in a local diner, she sees a woman watching her from a distance.

Lois runs into Lana and Kyle. Lana invites Lois and her family to a cook-out at her place at 7 pm the next evening.  

Lois learns there is a city council meeting that night and that the mayor and Kyle have some big surprise planned. This is later revealed to be Morgan Edge coming to speak in person about his plans to revitalize Smallville.

According to Jor-El, Krypton's destruction was brought about by the natural resources being exhausted and war breaking out as people fought over what was left. It is suggested, but not stated outright, that advanced weapons may have triggered the destruction of the planet. 

Lois takes Jordan and Jonathan with her to the city council meeting.

General Lane comes to talk to Clark in person about The Stranger.

Sarah is also at the city council meeting. Jordan lies and says he was feeling better when Sarah asks why he's there. Sarah also apologizes for not stepping in to help Jonathan with the whole playbook situation. 

Lois sees the woman who was watching her at the meeting. She strikes up a conversation and learns that she is Chrissy Beppo - a writer with the Smallville Gazette. 

The mayor of Smallville is George Dean.

General Lane disagrees with Clark and Lois' decision to tell their children that Clark is Superman.

General Lane has an aide named Rosetti. 

Captain Luthor is sighted in Mongolia, where he is shown to be searching for Kryptonite.

Morgan Edge says his plan with bring 600 jobs to Smallville.

Lois questions Edge on his numbers and notes that his plans for New Carthage missed their target job creation numbers by 50% and paid below a living wage.

Edge admits the mining project in New Carthage underperformed, but that was not his fault.

Again, Captain Luthor claims that Superman destroyed his planet. 

Captain Luthor plants a bomb on his ship and sends it toward a city to force Superman to allow him to escape.

Jonathan asks for a chance to show he can run a play at football practice. Unfortunately, he is sabotaged by the other players.

Clark tells Lois about what her father said.

Lois tells Clark that she's working on an article on Morgan Edge and the other small towns he's ruined, including New Carthage, Hazel Green and Granville.

According to Jor-El, Jordan is not 1/100th as strong as Clark and his ability to hold solar radiation is vastly inferior to Clark's. He says there is no way, based on his tests, that Jordan can reliably replicate Clark's powers.

Kyle Cushing says he looked into the New Carthage situation and blames the failure on people trying to unionize and demanding a wage that prevented Morgan Edge from making a profit right off the bat. He claims that what Edge is offering is short-term sacrifice for a long-term gain.

While at the cookout at the Cushing house, Lois realizes that her article on Morgan Edge was rewritten without her permission into a puff piece praising him.

Captqain Luthor attacks the Department of Defense.

Captain Luthor claims to have been a friend and ally of General Sam Lane on his Earth. He gives General Lane a dog-tag, shaped like the House of El seal, with the number 7734 engraved on the back.

The Captain Luthor that attacks the DOD is revealed to be a drone.

General Lane admits that the DOD has a secret stockpile of Kryptonite that it gathered to stop people from using it against Superman.

Clark tells Lois about the secret Kryptonite stockpile.

Jordan apologizes to Jonathan for not thanking him for agreeing to move for his benefit. 

Jonathan promises to help Jordan figure out what's going on with his powers.

Clark gives Jordan a signal device of his own and tells him he can start going to school.

Lois goes to Metropolis and presents a letter to Morgan Edge. It says two words: I QUIT.

Lois takes a job with the Smallville Gazette. She discovers that Chrissy Beppo is the editor; not just a writer. She agrees to run Lois' article about Morgan Edge as it is.

Captain Luthor begins planning the construction of a new battle suit. His AI tells him it will take time to get the proper materials, but it seems this world's version of Kal-El is not entirely like the one from his, so they have time to prepare.

The final scene of the episode shows a memory of Captain Luthor fighting a Superman in a black suit, similar to the one worn by the evil Superman of Elseworlds.


Location

Moldova
Mongolia - Siberian Taiga Region
Washington DC - Department of Defense


The Bottom Line

Another solid episode that does better by Lois Lane than the pilot. 

Superman and Lois: Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

As Superman, Clark Kent can do nearly anything, but even he finds it hard to balance work, family and saving the world. In the wake of Martha Kent's death, the family travel to Smallville to discover a community in need of heroes and not the kind that wear tights and a cape, as Lois begins investigating a corrupt billionaires connection to some shady land deals and Superman must contend with a Stranger who seems to know all about him.


Influences

Action Comics #1 (several nods to Seigel and Shuster and a tribute to the cover), Superman: The Movie (Clark's background in the Arrowverse, nods to Richard Donner and the general style), Superman For All Seasons (Clark's line about his mom making his costume), the 1978 Firestorm comic (nod to Hudson Nuclear Power Plant) and The Mandalorian (last scene of The Stranger returning to his ship and removing his helmet without letting the audience see his face.)


Goofs

It seems a bit weird that Lois found out about the fire at Shuster Mines from a TV news broadcast rather than by getting called by the Smallville sheriff or some other local authority first. (Presumably the sheriff didn't know how to get a hold of Jonathan and Jordan's parents since they weren't local and Jonathan and Jordan were too shocked to think of calling their parents?) 


Performances

Tyler Hoechlin faced a difficult task stepping into the cape of Superman on a regular basis at a time when passions are burning hot regarding other actors not being given a chance to play the role in another movie or their own television series. It was a burden he shouldered well, however, and his performance here strikes the narrative heart of who Clark Kent is perfectly.

Elizabeth Tulloch made the most of her limited screen time in her previous appearances as Lois Lane and she does the same here. While Lois is largely a background player in this pilot episode, Tulloch perfectly captures the ferocity of the character as she has to be held back from going after the man who fired her husband and the fire chief giving her the usual talking points about what the liberal media believes about small town folks.

Jordan Elsass has a tricky task playing Jonathan, the more together of the Kent boys. He manages to turn Jonathan into a character who may tease his troubled brother, but will be damned if anyone else tries to hurt him.

Alex Garfin faces a similar challenge in portraying Jordan Kent without going over the top in  portraying his anxiety or his anger when he learns about how his parents have been lying to him all his life. 


Artistry

Across the board, the special effects works is of cinematic quality and it sets a new standard for what superhero shows can do.


Super Trivia

Different versions of Superman's origins have had him acquire his powers at different points in time. The Silver Age comics had him flying around as Superbaby and accidentally causing mischief and serving in the Legion of Superheroes as a teenager. More recent retelling have had Clark's powers manifest when he was a teenager. In the case of the Arrowverse, Clark's powers manifested when he was a toddler and he was told about his alien origins when he was 6.

The opening montage reveals that the Arrowverse version of Pa Kent died of a heart attack when Clark was a teenager. The death of his foster father is often a formative moment in Clark Kent's life, teaching him humility and that there are some things even his power cannot prevent. The most famous instance of this was in Superman: The Movie, where Clark was helpless to get his father to a hospital in time to save him.

The costume Superman wears in his first public appearance features a slightly different version of his classic S-symbol, with yellow on a black background. This is a nod to the costume Superman wore in the animated shorts made by Fleischer Studios in the 1940s.

Superman lifting a green car is a visual nod to the cover of Action Comics #1.

Superman's line where he thanks a boy who complements his comment and says his mom made it for him is taken directly from the story Superman For All Seasons.

Clark is guided around the Daily Planet newsroom by an older man on his first day at work. While not identified in the episode, the credit confirm this is Perry White - the long-suffering Editor-In-Chief of The Daily Planet.

When Lois meets Clark for the first time, she asks if Lombard told him to wear a tie to work. This is a nod to Steve Lombard; a former professional American footballer turned writer/editor for the Daily Planet sports department. A boisterous braggart who was fond of practical jokes and thought himself something of a ladies' man, Lombard was a frequent supporting cast member of many Superman comics. Despite his boorish behavior, he did prove himself to have a heroic spirit on several occasions and Clark Kent did consider him a friend.

While warning Clark about Lombard being a prankster, Lois notes that he is good for getting box seats to the Meteors. This leads Clark to note that he loves baseball.  In the comics, thee Metropolis Meteors are a Major League Baseball franchise and part of the National League. The name has also been applied to Metropolis' NFL (American football) franchise.

Jonathan and Jordan Kent mark the first time Superman has fathered twin sons in any medium. He did have twin daughters, Jane and Carol, in the reality of Superman: Secret Identity.

Several versions of Superman's son have been named Jonathan after Clark's adoptive father. In the DC Comics Rebirth reality, Jonathan Kent became Superboy for a time, traveled into the future to be part of the Legion of Superheroes, and returned to the present on the cusp of manhood, not quite a Superman. His destiny following the Dark Nights: Death Metal event has yet to be determined. 

At one point Lois walks past a bank of monitors, one of which broadcasts a story about Superman investigating an explosion at Ace Chemical. This is the name of the chemical factor responsible for transforming The Joker and Harley Quinn into their crazy selves.

Another of the monitors reports on Superman helping a new space shuttle get into orbit after the mounting mechanism broke. This is a neat twist on Superman's first public appearance in 1986's Man of Steel #1, where Clark stepped in to prevent an experimental space plane from crashing. Many Superman origins stories since then have tied Superman's first appearance to his rescuing astronauts. The scene also acts as a subtle reminder that Superman often works just to help people rather than only fighting criminals or averting natural disasters. 

The role of General Sam Lane has been recast for Superman and Lois. Dylan Walsh has taken over the role from Glenn Morshower, who played the role in Supergirl Season 1.

The new post-Crisis General Lane is drastically different from his original counterpart, who was truer to the comics. In the comics, General Lane was a xenophobic man, fearful of aliens, who disliked Clark Kent as being too weak for his daughter.

The new Arrowverse version of General Lane has a more friendly relationship with Clark, planning fishing trips with him and his sons, and calling upon Superman to deal with various disasters.

Both General Lane and Lois are revealed to have pager-like devices that can generate a high frequency alarm only Superman can hear. This is a nod to the classic Superman signal watch, which Superman made for his pal Jimmy Olsen, so he could call Superman whenever he found himself in trouble.

The shot of Superman lifting a giant iceberg seems to have been stylistically inspired by a scene in Superman Returns where Superman lifted an island full of Kryptonite crystals.

Lois makes reference to an editor named Foswell. This is a nod to Samuel Foswell; another Daily Planet editor from the Superman comics.

When Clark checks up on Jordan, he's playing the video game Injustice 2 - a real world video game featuring many DC Comics heroes and villains. (Tellingly, Jordan is playing as the Mortal Kombat character Raiden and beating up Superman, who he feels is boring.) This is not the first time Injustice 2 has appeared in the Arrowverse, as the game was a favorite of Felicity Smoak and William Clayton and the two played it in A606.

A slate board in the Kent kitchen has a note about calling Dr. Donner. This is a nod to Richard Donner, the director of Superman: The Movie.

The board also has a note to call Seigel and Shuster. This is a nod to Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster, the writer and artist who created Superman in 1938.  Tellingly, the phone number starts with the digits 193-8.

When Lois and Clark first arrive at work, they run into a co-worker whom Lois addresses as Max. This is likely meant to be George Maxwell "Max" Taylor - a longtime editor at the Daily Planet in the comics.

When Lois asks Max what is wrong, he indicates a man named Thorpe who is cleaning out his desk while two security guards watch him. This man is probably meant to be Ronald "Ron" Thorpe; an editorial writer for The Daily Planet who was also a major supporting player and friend of Lois and Clark in the comics.

The role of Morgan Edge has also been recast for Superman and Lois, though Edge does not appear in the flesh in this pilot episode. Adam Rayner will be taking over the role from Adrian Pasdar, who played Morgan Edge during the first half of Supergirl Season 4.

In the comics, Edge was a greedy media mogul who bought the Daily Planet and reassigned Clark Kent to work the broadcast news division of his network, Galaxy Broadcasting System. Though Jack Kirby originally intended to reveal Edge to be a crime boss in the employ of Intergang, the editors of DC Comics elected to keep Edge around as a human adversary and eventual ally to Clark Kent. Post-Crisis, Kirby's original plans were brought to fruition by other writers and Edge became a corrupt businessman in the same mold as Lex Luthor, though one backed by alien interests.

The previous Arrowverse version of Edge was a Trumpian figure; a real estate magnate who tried to buy Catco Worldwide media to stop them from reporting on his crimes. He was thwarted after Lena Luthor bought the company to spite him.

The new Morgan Edge is closer to the original Kirby intent for the character, being a corrupt media mogul who has begun branching into other businesses. It has yet to be seen if he will be a secret crime boss as well. 

The doctor who calls Clark Kent about his mother's stroke is named Dr. Frye. This was also the name of Smallville's town doctor in Superman: The Movie.

The Arrowverse version of Lana Lang is a bank manager who still lives in Smallville and is married to the local fire chief. As with most versions of Superman's background, Lana Lang was Clark Kent's first girlfriend. In a marked difference from most of the modern comics, where Lana Lang was also the first person to learn about Clark Kent's powers apart from his parents, the Arrowverse version of Lana Lang doesn't know that Clark Kent is Superman.

A banner in Clark Kent's old bedroom makes reference to the Smallville Crows; the mascot of Smallville High School, which was first revealed in Smallville.

The Kryptonese language used by the Stranger utilizes the Kryptonese alphabet created for the comics by editor E. Nelson Bridwell. This is a different Kryptonian language than the one utilized in the DCEU, which was created for the movie Man of Steel.

General Lane makes a sarcastic reference to there being a phone booth somewhere in Metropolis that Clark can use to change his costume if The Stranger shows up while he's tending to his mother's affairs. This is a nod to how Superman used to modestly change into his costume in the classic comics.

Lana Lang makes reference to a friend named Pete whom she and Clark went to a Soul Asylum concert as teenagers. This is a nod to Pete Woods, who was Clark Kent's childhood best friend in the comics. 

The reference to Clark being a Soul Asylum fan may be a clever nod to their most popular song, "Runaway Train." Superman is often associated with trains, being "more powerful than a locomotive"' according to the opening of The Adventures of Superman. Superman racing trains or saving trains is a common test of his skills and he did both in Superman: The Movie. The song is also a fair summation of Clark's attitude in this episode, as the song's singer describes feeling uncharacteristically depressed by the changes in their life and that things are going out of control, like a runaway train. The music video for "Runaway Train" is also notable in that it was used to showcase pictures of missing children and led to 26 missing minors being rescued.

When Jordan and Jonathan discover the ship that brought their father to Earth in the Kent barn, a crystal emerges from the ship when Jordan touches it. This is likely a Sunstone - a particularly Kryptonian crystal used as a power source and a construction tool.

Clark confirms that in addition to the classic super-haring and enhanced vision, he also has a sense of super smell. He tries not to use it too often, however, with two teenage boys living in his house.

The truck which Clark lifts to prove that he is Superman is the same model as the truck lifted by a baby Kal-El in Superman: The Movie.

Artist Joe Shuster gets another nod, with the Shuster Mines outside Smallville being named in his honor.

The battle between The Stranger and Superman starts at the Hudson Nuclear Power Planet. This is also the name of the facility where a nuclear reactor accident transformed Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein into the hero Firestorm.


Technobabble

Superman is unable to see through lead with his X-Ray vision.

After his battle with Superman, The Stranger ways he must improve the  tactile function and speed of his armor to have any hope of beating him.


Dialogue Triumphs

Lois: You're worried about Jordan.
Clark: I tried talking to him last night, but he was pretty upset.
Lois: Well, if he knew where you really were... your parents told you about your real heritage when you were six.
Clark: That was... that was different. I lived on a farm. I had powers.
Lois: You don't think Jonathan's got something?
Clark: Test at the Fortress said it was unlikely.
Lois: He's about to be starting quarterback at one of the most competitive high schools in the nation... as a freshman.
Clark: Yeah. Doesn't mean he has powers.
Lois: Have you seen him throw a deep route?!

(Kyle Cushing has been praising Morgan Edge and his plans to revitalize Smallville.)
Lois: Morgan Edge ruins everything he touches.
Kyle: What's he ruined?
Lois:  He is single-handedly destroying the Daily Planet.
Kyle: People quit reading that paper 'cause, uh, you reporters can't keep your politics to yourselves.
Lois: Edge's companies prey on struggling communities. He busts up unions. He barely pays a living wage. I don't understand how he can keep fooling people.
Kyle: Oh, you mean us dumb, backwards, small-town folk?
Lois: No, no, that is not what I meant.
Kyle: I know what you meant. See, people like you, you look at Smallville, and you think of the past, and you feel a little bad for us, right? People like Morgan Edge, though, now, see, he looks at Smallville, and he sees the future.
Lois: It's not a future I would wanna live in.
Kyle: It's a good thing we don't have to worry about that anymore, now, do we?

Lois: When we were dreaming about having a family, it didn't look like this, did it? Didn't have lost jobs or... Teens with severe anxiety or... Parents gone too soon. No one ever dreams about the problems, but every life has them. Even the extraordinary ones.

General Sam Lane: When you wanted to get married, I tried warning you. You may have fallen in love with Clark Kent, but you married Superman. And Superman doesn't get to have a normal life, no matter how much you want one for him. Or yourself.

Clark: Why would my mom want me to come home just to sell the farm?
Lois: I don't think she wanted you to sell it. I think she wanted you to save it.
Clark: How? You know, we're not exactly flush with cash, especially after getting fired.
Lois: I don't know yet. But those reverse mortgages weren't because the bank was feeling generous. You may have super strength and super hearing, but I have super smell, and those loans don't smell right.
(There's a long pause. Clark smiles.)
Clark: I do have super smell, by the way. I just don't use it very often, you know. Not with two teenage boys in the house. Kinda gross.
(Jonathan and Jordan emerge from the barn, rushing the truck looking very upset.)
Lois: Two very upset teenage boys.

(Clark has just revealed his secret identity to his sons.)
Lois: When your father first told me, I didn't understand either.
Jordan: I understand. I understand all the excuses. All the times you were gone, you lied to us. You both did.
Lois: He was saving lives, Jordan.
Jordan: That doesn't make it less true! You lied to protect his secret. All the things I've been feeling. You made me think I was crazy. They put me on pills!
Lois: Your mental health has nothing to do with who your...
Jordan: And how do you know that? I'm half human, half whatever the hell he is!
Clark: Do not yell at your mother, okay? This is not her fault. I'm the one that didn't want you to know.
Jonathan: Why?
Clark: Because I knew what kind of burden it would be if you both had powers. Or worse, if one of you had them, and the other one didn't.
Jordan: You think he's the reason we survived yesterday.
Jonathan: (confused) What are you talking about?
Jordan: Go on, Dad. Go tell Superboy here why he's really so perfect.
Lois: We thought your athletic talents could be latent abilities starting to emerge, and then yesterday...
Clark: The only way that both of you survived that accident is for at least one of you to be like me.
Jordan: You wouldn't have it any other way, would you, Dad?
(Jordan turns around and starts to walk away. Clark tries to follow after him.)
Clark: Jordan!
Jordan: Don't try to talk to me, all right? You may have been sent here to be some hero, but you sure as hell weren't sent here to be a father.
(Jordan keeps walking. Jonathan plants himself between Jordan and Clark and shakes his head.)
Jonathan: Just leave us alone.

Clark: Everything I do with the boys just... seems like it blows up in my face. Is Jordan right? A... am I a bad father?
Lois:  Clark...
Clark: Cause right now, I... It feels like it's my fault that this is all falling apart.
Lois: Your life falling apart doesn't mean you're special. It means you're human.

The Stranger: Aren't you curious how I know so much about you, Kal-El? Like me, your home was destroyed. (voice growing angrier) You were sent here as an infant to a world where you'd spend your whole life trying to prove your worth, convince yourself you were one of them. But you're not! You're still that scared, lost child, desperate for the love of people that will never accept you!
(A piece of Kryptonte emerges from The Stranger's gauntlet.)
The Stranger: And the only remnants of your real home... Kryptonite... make you sick.
(The stranger stabs Clark in the chest with the Kryptonite shiv. He begins to fall to Earth.)
The Stranger: Dust to dust. Superman.

(Jordan watches Sarah walk off. Jonathan walks up.)
Jonathan: (jokingly) Well, that didn't look like a total disaster. (seriously) All right?
Jordan: Yeah, yeah, look. Um, Jon, about the powers, uh...
Jonathan: It's all good.
Jordan: Huh?
Jonathan: Yeah. Powers are overrated anyways. Plus this just confirms what I've known to be true all along.
Jordan: Yeah? 
Jonathan: Yeah. My skills on the field are legit.

(The Stranger enters into a complex spaceship. He begins speaking to an artificial intelligence.)
The Stranger: We need to improve tactile function and speed if I'm gonna end this.
AI: We also need Kryptonite. That was the last of your supply.
The Stranger: Then we'll have to go get some.
AI: I'll install the upgrades to your armor right away. Captain Luthor.


Continuity

Clark remembers the day he came to Earth and the first time he saw the faces of his adoptive parents.

Clark's powers manifested when he was a toddler and he threw a toy rocket through a corner of the Kent farm house.

Jonathan Kent died of a heart attack while Clark was a teenager, while attending a harvest festival.

Clark's first grade teacher was named Lois Hannigan,

In a retcon from S509, Lois and Clark got married and had kids far earlier than in the Pre-Crisis Arrowverse. As the pilot opens, Jonathan and Jordan are both 14 and about to start their freshman year in high school.

Clark describes Jonathan as an easy child, always happy and always smiling. A born athlete, he was capable of breaking a rope with a football at a young age.

Clark describes Jordan as a challenging child, prone to fits and night terrors. He was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder a year earlier and is taking medication to treat it. 

Superman averts a nuclear meltdown, following what is described as the second attack on a nuclear facility by an unseen figure who cracked the cooling tower.

Clark hasn't told his sons he is Superman for fear of them not being able to keep the secret. Lois disagrees with him on this, thinking it's better they be honest.

Jonathan has a girlfriend named Eliza.

Jonathan has become the starting quarterback for his high school: something that is quite unusual for a freshman player, as they usually aren't allowed to be on the varsity teams.

Clark missed his therapy session with Jordan due to some unnamed disaster.

Clark was the team manager of the high school football team in Smallville and was duct-taped to a tractor.

Clark is fired from his job at the Daily Planet. Lois blames this on billionaire Morgan Edge, who bought the Daily Planet and has been slashing its budget and slowly phasing out the real journalists and replacing them with click-bait writers. 

Martha Kent dies of a stroke.

At the funeral, Lois and Clark talk to a farmer named Branden, who sold his farm to Oberlee Foods the year before.

Lana Lang is married to Kyle Cushing - the fire chief of Smallville.  They have two daughters, Sarah and Sophie.

Jordan and Jonathan remember playing with Sarah a few summers earlier when they spent the whole summer on the Kent farm.

Kyle Cushing is apparently jealous of Clark's friendship with Lana. According to Sophie, her father got mad when she saw Clark on his wife's Facebook page.

Sarah gives her phone number to Jordan, not Jonathan, astounding them both.

Sarah is a member of the Future Farmers of America

Clark has barely aged since high school, according to Lana.

According to Kyle, more and more people are abandoning Smallville: something that annoys him and something he holds against Clark, who left Metropolis to become a reporter and never came back.

Morgan Edge has apparently made a proposal to the town council of Smallville to buy up their old coal mines and retrofit them to become an alternative energy center.

Kyle views Edge as a great man who sees the potential of small town American while elitist reporters see them as backward places full of hicks.

Ma Kent keeps her wi-fi router hung up in a high point in the barn.

The boys were forbidden from going into the barn on the Kent farm when they were kids.

Clark reveals that before his mother died, he heard her whisper "Come home," but he's not sure what she meant except it wasn't to get him to come to her before she died.

Jordan accidentally upends a collection of steel pipes trying to reset the router. He and Johnathan emerge from the pile with mild concussions but nothing broken. 

General Lane tells Clark that they found two microscopic engravings, both written in Kryptonian, at both of the nuclear sites that were attacked by a figure they identify as The Stranger, who only appeared as a blur on one bit of video footage. Clark translates the inscription as reading "You are not a hero, Kal-El." This indicates that The Stranger knows Kryptonian and his Kryptonian name, which is not widely known information.

Lana reveals that Martha Kent mortgaged her farm to help out other people in Smallville who were in need, as the local bank began offering reverse mortgages to senior citizens at the peak of the farming crisis. The people she helped included the Gordon Family and Margie Kelton.

Lana tells Clark and Lois they can either repay Martha's loan or accept a buyout for the remaining value of the Kent farm.

Jordan and Jonathan discover the rocket that brought their father to Earth in the Kent barn.

Jonathan and Jordan learn their father's secret and are upset about being lied to about it.

Clark has to leave to confront The Stranger at the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant.

The Stranger knows that Superman can't see through lead, which was why he targeted nuclear facilities: to be sure of being able to observe Superman without being seen.

The Stranger claims to have a history with the Last Son of Krypton where he is from and that his world was destroyed, leaving him as the sole survivor, much like Superman and Krypton.

Jordan goes to a rave at Shuster mines with Sarah.

Sarah recognized that Jordan was on medication and advises him not to drink a beer.

Sarah is also on medication and in therapy after stealing some of her mother's pills a year earlier.

Jordan tries to kiss Sarah, just as she's seen by her boyfriend, Sean.

A fight breaks out. Jonathan tries to protect Jordan, but is jumped by several people.

In a moment of panic, Jordan manifests heat vision and blows up the keg. 

The Stranger stabs Superman with a shiv made of Kryptonite, sending him falling to Earth.

Superman is able to pull the shive and stop himself from crashing into a car.

Lois starts investigating the last six years worth of Smallville Community Bank activity.

Only one student is injured by the exploding keg - a football player named Tag Harris, whose arm is broken.

Jordan admits that he was the one who saved Jonathan by covering him up during their accident. 

Clark promises he will be there from now on to help Jordan control his powers and deal with his anxiety.

Lois discovered that Morgan Edge's company, Galaxy Holdings, took over Smallville Community Bank and started offering up the reverse mortgages that started ruining the town.

Sarah and Jordan agree to stay friends.

The family decide to move to Smallville.

The final scene reveals that The Stranger is a Luthor.


Untelevised Adventures

The montage glosses over most of Superman's early career and how he and Lois fell in love. 

The episode does not make mention of Lex Luthor or Supergirl, presumably so as to be more accessible to new viewers by not burdening them with the history of the Arrowverse or how Superman and Lois' life was changed by Crisis on Infinite Earths.


The Fridge Factor

While Lois never comes off as incompetent, the pilot does focus more on Clark and his emotional state than hers, making her seem like something of a supporting character rather than an equal partner.


The Bottom Line

Apart from not giving Lois Lane much to do as we're introduced to Clark and their sons, this is as perfect an introduction to these characters and the Arrowverse as could be hoped for. With any luck Lois will get more time to shine in future episodes.