Superman and Lois – Truth and Consequences review SE11
Recent developments of Superman and Lois haven’t exactly been encouraging. And with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ms. Marvel airing with decidely less problems, they became the priority. Truth and Consequences didn’t make feel that great about returning to S&L with any kind of optimism.
As usual, the problem with the episode is its ridiculously heavy teen-focused prism. It’s almost like everything that happens has to get filtered through their perspective or how it affects them. Not the grander scope of the world being in danger, or a new invasion set to arrive.
To make this further clear, I’ve got negative interest in watching Jordan bemoaning Sarah breaking up with him, Jon’s superpower envy, Jon’s drug dealing hottie girlfriend, Sarah unsure of her sexuality, Nat hating everything about this Earth or Sophie… Well, Sophie’s not bad because she has the exact amount of screentime a child/teen needs on Superman and Lois.
Superman saves Jon from getting merged with his Bizarro version and now Jon’s getting Bizarro Jon visions. Bizarro Jon is a mouthful, let’s just call him BJ. Yup, definitely could have worded that one better.
Although he zooms off as Superman, he changes into Clark and slow walks to BJ. That allows for Lana to run into him where she mentions he’s been gone a month. This is shocking to Clark since he figured he was just gone a day.
Clark has Lois catch him up on everything he missed including Lana winning the election and Jon covering for his drug-dealing girlfriend. Jon tries to flip it on Clark by saying he kept being Superman a secret for 14 years. The Kent kids sure are acting like punks this episode.
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BJ goes to see Sarah. Did he confuse Sarah and Candice somehow? Nope, he just decided to go after Lana and kidnap her since they were teammates in Bizarro World.
Lois chats with Sarah about boys for a bit before Sarah mentions running into Jon, who she doesn’t know is actually BJ. In the year 2022, Lois somehow forgets this amazing device called a cell phone and tells Clark that Lana might be in danger after she drives home. The boys get all emotional over this discussion. Jordan since Lois talked to Sarah and Jon because he questioned why Clark didn’t stop BJ. Fair question.
It’s always annoying when writers create a scenario that goes against common sense simply to throw in some forced drama. Clark not speeding through as Superman and taking BJ to a government facility, or his fortress was the most logical action. And clearly the quickest. Instead, he goes for some Wild West stare down simply because that lets the writers create some more Kent family turmoil.
Jordan having a meltdown over Lois talking to Sarah is the worst. And it’s even worse when Sarah comes over worried about what happened to her mom and he’s basically begging to talk about his feelings. This is awful.
I’m reaching the point where I’d rather watch a Steel show because at least his teenage drama sidekick would be a lot easier to take away from Lois. John Henry’s working on a device to stop BJ but needs more energy. Rightfully thinking the cave portal is a stronger source, he and Nat head there only to encounter Bizarro Lana. BL trashes Jon Henry although Nat is somehow able to make her retreat.
Why is Lana so calmly talking to a kid who knocked her out and has her in chains?
Lois thinks Clark’s secret is ruining their lives. Jon has another vision, but it’s…well, bizarre that Lois would know the location of something before Clark. Again, Superman takes a slow stroll over to BJ instead of just quickly striking against him. There’s a litany of excellent Superman comics that show Superman fighting a formidable villain without having to act like an idiot to make them come off as a threat.
Superman knows BJ is twisted and evil with powers that rival his own. There’s zero point in trying to talk him off the ledge. He needs to be stopped first and then reasoned with later…if possible. Naturally, BJ’s set up a trap with all of this random Kryptonite he happened to find? Ah yes, it’s just so Jordan can fight BJ. This is terrible.
Why does Superman and Lois want to do the next generation DC 5G so bad instead of just focusing on its cool characters? Jordan beats down BJ, but can’t remember how to fly allowing Superman to get a little shine from saving them. That’s something that Superman could have done about 45 minutes ago.
Hilariously, Lana is all about inviting Superman inside for some…coffee before he reminds her that her kids might want to know how she’s doing. If only the writers could forget the kids as easily, Lana.
Back at the garage, John Henry goes with the obligatory parent speech to Nat that’s her father and he should be the one protecting her. Nat responds in cliche kind reminding him she’s not a little girl anymore. I say the writers should just write Clark, Lois, Lana and John Henry out of the show and devote all the screen time to Jon, Jordan, Sarah and Nat. Those ratings would be killer.
Jordan fully planned to out his secret to Sarah in his letter. Clark decides he’ll tell Lana the truth. It’s a great scene since Tyler Hoechlin can make this awful scene work. I hate how these shows have to kill off the whole secret identity angle all the time. It just goes against common sense and is more of a terrible writer workaround.
That was harsher than I expected. This episode is marking a bad turning point for Superman and Lois and transforming it into yet another mediocre DC CW series. It was a run ride while it lasted.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Photo Credit: The CW