Superman and Lois – Anti-Hero review S2 E7
On the positive side, Chrissy was sidelined this episode. But that was only so Sarah and Lana could get more screen time. Seriously, CW please just announce a Lana and Family spin-off. I’ll even promise to watch the season premiere.
The frustration, as it’s been for the past few weeks, is that the Superman, Lois and Family storylines are actually really good. And at the same time, the Lana family drama is becoming increasingly more fast forward worthy.
Superman finds himself stuck in the same containment cell as his brother, Tal-Rho. Anderson figures if Superman won’t give up Bizarro’s location, maybe the threat of losing his brother will make him talk. This is an odd strategy considering Superman has put Tal in custody twice and he’s actually struck his son. But Superman does offer some intel…just the location of the Fortress of Solitude instead of Tal’s Fortress in the desert.
It’s probably too early to be worried about S&L turning Morgan into the ever present villainous sibling that gets forced into episodes a la Batwoman’s Alice, right? Alice’s usefulness on the show ended after Ruby Rose left. In that case it was some extenuating circumstances and the producers could feel some sort of obligation to keeping Alice on. There’s no such need for Tal-Rho however so hopefully he doesn’t become a character crutch.
The Krypton orphans stage a smart prison break, which would have been even better if Captain Cold and Heat Wave cameoed as two of Anderson’s guards. Nod when you get that reference. Anderson’s so annoyed and stressed he’s going to lose his command he takes some of the X-Kryptonite. This has certainly been mass produced, hasn’t it?
At Tal’s fortress, Bizarro mentions that he and his brother were tight until Tal’s wife came between them. That was his Earth’s Ally, right? This would explain a lot.
This conversation doesn’t go too far as Anderson blasts through armed with a gun that shoots Kryptonite bullets and Kryptonite gas. I’m confused why the Kryptonite doesn’t also affect Anderson and anyone else who uses the XK. Seems like if you get the powers you should also get the weaknesses. Superman and Tal can’t beat Anderson so Bizarro has to enter the chat.
Anderson tries to shoot Superman, but Tal dives in front to take the bullets. While Superman saves Tal by zooming him up to the sun, Anderson kills Bizarro. I’m fine with a super soldier being a match for Kryptonians, but he needs a weakness just like them otherwise he’s a spam antagonist.
Superman returns to find Bizarro dead and takes Tal back to his holding cell. Why in the blue heat vision of Bizarro would Superman trust these guys? They literally just had him in custody for not playing along with their rules and threatened to kill his brother! And don’t go with the whole “they were just following Anderson’s orders.” That’s wild.
An arrest has been issued for Anderson so at least he’s clearly established as the main powered bad guy the rest of the way now.
More Lana family drama with a long pointless scene of Lana and Sarah taking Kyle’s stuff to the garage. Sarah is ignoring his calls, but in fairness Kyle is calling during school.
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Lana is upset that the mayor is running a campaign on family values. Well…the guy has a point, Lana. How are you gonna handle Smallville’s trash pickup if your home life is so messy?
Jordan comes off like such a weird creeper. In one sense, he really pulls off awkward teenager well, but he’s almost over the top into uncomfortable.
Candice brings a full bag of super drugs for Jon. It’s wild how she just brought a full bag to school out in the open. Naturally at that moment, the sheriff comes through with a drug-sniffing dog.
Jon decides to play hero and take the drugs so Candice won’t get in trouble. I love how the immediate reaction scene is not Lois talking to Jon, but Lana talking to Sara. Methinks the writers have their priorities out of whack. If only Sarah had a friend to talk to about her issues…
Now, we get Lois chewing out Jon. The school should absolutely expel Jon, who thinks it’s a smarter play not to tell Lois about Candice. One good thing about the show is that Lois actually gets to act like a real mother instead of a coddling chump who gets run over. Lois vents to Lana, a far better use for Lana in the series as opposed to a main, feature character.
Wait, scratch that. Lana still gets to have her big moment confronting Mayor Dean, calling him out for putting her family on blast. Like no one else in Smallville is thinking Lana needs to get her home life straight before running for mayor. And do candidates dealing with a separation typically get elected over the incumbent? As Gorilla Monsoon would say “highly unlikely.”
Sarah calls up her summer camp flame, Aubrey (Djouliet Amara). Now here’s a twist. She’s black. It’s clear Aubrey makes Sarah’s heart go all-a flutter in a way that Jordan never could. I’d be completely happy if Sarah hooked up with Minority LGBT+ Cliche #7 if it meant Sarah would appear less. At this point, Sarah is rivaling Clark for screen time on the show.
Clark has his talk with Jon and this was some credible parental rage here. Like Lois, it’s nice to see Clark go off like he needed to in this situation. And Jon crying afterwards was very well deserved.
For the final scene, Anderson somewhat predictably comes to Ally, asking if she can help him decipher the pendant. Good to have the bad guys united now.
Similar to the last few weeks, the show is fine when the main plots are confined to Clark/Superman, Lois, Jon and Jordan. Four main characters is more than enough. Adding another family of three characters is way too much. At least the Kent family scenes are carrying the weight.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Photo Credit: The CW
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