Superman and Lois – Tried and True review S2 E6

It’s really too bad The CW didn’t decide to move ahead with its Lana Lang series. Good thing they had Superman & Lois on standby so they could make the happenings of Lana’s family life as important as that of Superman and Lois Lane.

S&L is at a weird place. It feels like watching three shows at once and only being truly invested in one. Oddly enough, that’s the one featuring the title characters.

The writers have worn me down on everything with Kyle, Lana, Sarah and the youngest daughter who gets one or two lines an episode. It’s really the writers’ fault. Lana and Kyle could have just been the cool other couple on the show that hang out with Clark and Lois to offer a little bit of normalcy. They didn’t need to be essential characters with long-running subplots that deal with Kyle cheating years before the show started. 

Who cares? The fact that so much screentime was wasted on Lana still trying to decide if she’s going to divorce Kyle was frustrating. Her entire family could vanish from the show and it would only improve it. That’s not the ideal take on the “grounded couple.”

Lana’s soap opera drama would be enough, but the silliness with Jon doping to get powers so he can be a better football player is also tiring. It’s a bit more forgivable since it’s occurring in the Clark and Lois household, but it still feels like goofy forced teen drama.

One of the best parts of the comic book version of Jonathan Kent (both pre- and post-Bendis) was he acted like Superman’s kid. That meant he didn’t do shady stuff like cheating to get an advantage. He was a good role model. In an all too cynical and jaded generation, Jon has been very refreshing.

The show’s version of Jon isn’t groundbreaking or interesting. He’s just like every other teenager in a CW show. He’ll do something stupid. Learn a lesson and move on to the next bit of foolishness.

I realize it’s a function of the writers not knowing how to make a good wholesome kid entertaining and having a show on The CW, which encourages this predictable teen behavior. 

Jon gets the starting QB nod as the former starter got caught doping. Jon’s thrilled about this opportunity and thanks to his power assists, lights up the record books. But he’s not real proud of himself for cheating yet lashes out at Jordan. The writers have walked dramatically back from the Season 1 portrayal of Jordan being on the autism spectrum, haven’t they? Maybe getting superpowers really is a cure for everything?

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Gen. Lane tried to get Lucy and Lois on the same page with an impromptu visit to the farm. We’ve only really seen the sisters sniping back and forth with each other, so it was nice to actually see them enjoying time together. Of course, it doesn’t end well as Lucy and Lois have a blow up over Ally’s Inverse theory. Both are coming off overly unreasonable and unwilling to meet in the middle. In other words, it felt very realistic.

And the performances by Elizabeth Tulloch, Jenna Dewan and Dylan Walsh did an excellent job of selling the dysfunctional family dynamic. 

Also not shocking? The Superman (and Clark) scenes consistently deliver. Maybe this stretch of episodes wouldn’t feel so frustrating if there was a better Superman and Lois ratio compared to the other characters in the show called Superman & Lois?

Superman and his AI mother talk with Bizarro about his Earth. In a nice touch, he’s got a cat instead of a dog. Side note, the music on these comic book shows lately has been annoying. Songs from the 70s and early 80s really only work in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. They sound way too old to use in these action sequences like they’re doing something bold and outside the box. 

Bizarro actually fought a superpowered Lana before snatching his Allie’s pendant. This was to stop her from merging with her other self on Superman’s Earth. 

Anderson’s supervising officer is not happy with his performance. In fairness, his track record has been awful. At the funeral for the first round of super soldiers, Superman gets all the love from the family members and Anderson gets physically slapped to go along with the verbal slap down from earlier.

Figuring Superman won’t ever be a real partner to him, Anderson decides on a new strategy. Trap Superman in a red light chamber and have his soldiers beat him down. This is always the sticking point when the military deals with Superman. Are they really siding with their commanding officer over the guy that’s saved the planet countless times?

This scene was a nice inverse to the opening Bizarro scene. Even though it was stuck with lousy music too. Anderson gets the debilitating shot thanks to a Kryptonite bullet. If Superman won’t say where he’s holding Bizarro, Anderson is considering him a traitor to the US. Is Superman a US citizen though? Details, details. 

We’re at the point where if Superman and Lois aren’t in a scene it’s largely fast forward material. When they are, it’s going to lead to some good to really good scenes. It’s just too bad it’s starting to need a filter to get to the enjoyable parts of the show. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

Photo Credit: The CW

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