Superman and Lois – Broken Trust review – S1 E6
It’s been too long since I’ve been excited about watching anything from The CW Verse. Broken Trust fortunately doesn’t shatter that with the return of Superman and Lois after an extended hiatus.
Trust is an important element when it comes to these CW Verse shows. As Clark mentions later in this episode, once that trust is broken it’s gone. For Arrow it was the moment when Felicity looked Ra’s al Ghul eye to eye and smack talked him with no repercussions. With The Flash it was The Thinker arc after Barry’s arrest. Legends of Tomorrow’s original format never recovered after wasting the Justice Society tease and so on.
Superman and Lois seems determined not to fall into the pitfalls of crappy clichés, dumb subplots and annoying characters. It makes watching the show a little nerve-wracking as all of the elements for the show to quickly fall into a sea of mediocrity are right there — this series has 30 supporting characters! — and it still delivers every episode.
Jordan had to worry about his powers spazzing out and keeping his emotions in check before he unleashes them in the least opportune moment. I gave the show a ton of grief for making Superman’s comic book prepubescent son an angsty mood teenager (and a twin), but the writers are actually handling it right.
It helped dramatically that Clark wasn’t just rolling over and being super cool dad bud but an actual authoritative figure that demands his sons’ respect. This was something that occasionally felt lacking in earlier episodes and it’s an appreciated improvement.
Tag beating down Jordan until Superman arrive, which set up one of the episode’s terrific Superman showcase moments as he stopped a train from going off the track. We’re always good for at least one thoughtful use of Superman’s powers and this played out very cool.
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Jordan has some long withheld issues with being picked on and treated like he’s different. He didn’t appreciate the Tag beat down and doesn’t want to get benched by Clark for some headaches just as Metropolis comes in town. You can tell there’s some COVID-19 restrictions with the football game scene, but at least they tried to make an effort to make it look respectable.
Clark chews Jordan out after some taunting after a big block. I like that. After a cheap shot, Jordan can’t keep his heat vision in and Clark has to run in and absorb it. Then he gets on Jordan again for not being upfront with him. Thattaboy Clark! Sometimes you’ve gotta put these kids in check.
I keep getting worried that Marcus Luthor is one character too many, but he’s serving a valuable role in giving Lois her own subplot and agenda as she’s trying to get the lowdown on Morgan Edge’s shadiness. Since they saw Smallville go under with the latest financial crunch, Kyle and Lana aren’t really in a position to help out even after Edge makes Lana the head of his Smallville branch.
Lois doesn’t trust Marcus or Kyle and Lana with her theory that Edge is responsible for Tag and other people getting powers from the mine. Or the wilder notion that Edge is The Stranger? Either way I appreciate that Lois has an involved and complex subplot that’s all her own.
Marcus and Lois get into the mine where he shows her Kryptonite X, the worst kind. Lois doesn’t get to test that theory as Edge’s bodyguard attacks them. Good thing Marcus has some impressive tech to give them time to escape. Being a sensible and logical person, Lois wants nothing more to do with this guy who is clearly lying it up as he goes along.
The boys hang out with some of the bad influences for an afterparty while Clark goes to track down Tag, who’s essentially friendly kidnapped Sarah so he can share his suspicions that Jordan somehow gave him these powers. Superman listens in on the city and hears some other conversations, including someone else talking about their powers(?!?) before tracking Tag just ahead of Gen. Lane’s crew.
They’ve got Kryptonite tasers and Superman is pissed. Angry Superman was a nice unexpected bonus tonight. And even pissed off Superman is still incredibly calm. Tyler Hoechlin really has all the core elements down of Superman. If he were Henry Cavill size, it would have been a no-brainer to ditch the series and just let him star as Superman fronting WB movies for the next decade plus.
Jordan can’t rein his emotions in, but Jon tries to stop him from doing some real damage to the lead Metropolis bully. That doesn’t end well for poor Jon, who needs a cast and probably won’t ever get full range of motion in his hand again. Bye bye third string NFL QB career.
Of course maybe this sets in motion Jon becoming Jordan’s Lex Luthor? I dunno. There’s a lot of fun possibilities with this series and everything is viable and on the table since the writers have done such a great job so far.
Jordan has to decide to tell Sarah the truth even after she gives him the opening. I think he made the right call in holding off on that while also adding another layer to the young Superboy premise.
After Sarah got abducted and it possibly having something to with Edge’s involvement, Lana wants to know what’s up with the mine. Again, perfectly reasonable motivation for characters behaving the way they do easily outweighs the number of characters.
Course we might be one short as Jordan has a seizure and Clark rushes him off to the Fortress. Unless Clark added a Purple Ray during the hiatus I’m not sure how that will help him.
Broken Trust brought Superman and Lois roaring right back to pole position in the CW Verse with another high quality episode filled with good character beats, action and plot progression.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: The CW