Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 6: Broken Trust

Sorry this review's so late guys, but it was unavoidable. The CW's still airing all three of their shows that I watch at the same time, making it nearly impossible to keep up.Add in the typical work & life demands on my time, and you get a late review. I'll eventually catch up, but it's gonna take a while.

This week on Superman & Lois... the series finally returns after an eight week absence! Apparently there was an untimely Covid outbreak among the cast & crew that shut down production for a couple months. Hopefully everyone's healthy and things are back to normal.

This is yet another very strong episode, which, as its title suggests, examines the issue of trust and the faith we place in one another. 

Broken Trust also gives us a fascinating look at how the various superpowered characters balance their strength with their intense emotions. All through the episode, Clark, Jordan and Tag Harris are given cause to lash out and use their powers in anger. It's interesting to see how they react and handle their situations.

Elsewhere, we also get a small bit of progression in the Captain Luthor story, as Lois realizes he's far more than a fellow journalist. Kyle's betrayed (sort of) by Morgan Edge, and Clark's shocked to discover that General Lane has a contingency plan to stop him by any means necessary. Yikes!

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
Picking up right where we left off last time, Tag attacks Jordan on his way home. He savagely beats Jordan, saying he knows he caused the explosion that gave him his powers, and demands he undo it. Jordan activates his ELT and Superman appears a second later.

Tag gets scared and runs off at super-speed. Superman follows, but Tag runs in front of a train to escape. The train tries to stop, but ends up derailing. Superman grabs the train and sets it back on the track, but by then Tag's long gone.

Back at the Kent house, Lois treats Jordan's injuries. He says Tag knows he gave him his powers, and may know that he's super as well.

Lois tells Clark that whatever Morgan Edge is doing in his recently purchased mine is somehow giving random people Kryptonian superpowers. She vows to find out how he's doing it. She also wonders if Edge is the mysterious Stranger that's been attacking Superman.

The next day, Clark tells Jordan that due to his injuries, he thinks he should sit out the big game against Metropolis. Jordan begs him to let him play, as he wants a chance to play against the jerks who bullied him all his life. Clark says he's afraid Jordan doesn't have his powers under control, but eventually relents and agrees to let him play.

Elsewhere, Edge attends an opening ceremony for the new mine. Afterward he offers Lana a job as the head of his Smallville Revitalization Program. Kyle's visibly pissed that Edge passed him over for the job, since he's been championing the mine since the beginning.

Lois is also at the ceremony, staring daggers at Edge. She's approached again by Marcus Bridgewater (aka The Stranger, aka General Luthor), who asks if she's found a way to get into the mines to see what's going on. She says not yet.

At school, Sarah sees Jordan's injured face and wonders what happened. She tells him she'll be at the big game to watch him win. Just then the bell goes off, and Jordan grabs his ears in pain as his eyes begin glowing red. He runs to the restroom, and Jonathan follows and manages to talk him down. Jordan makes Jonathan promise not to mention the incident to Clark, as he'll make him sit out the game. Jonathan reluctantly agrees to clam up.

Lois goes to see Kyle & Lana, and asks for their help to get into the mines. She says she's sure Edge is up to something shady, but needs proof. They refuse, since Lana's working for Edge now and can't afford to jeopardize her new position.

General Lane calls Clark and says Tag was spotted in Metropolis, and he's planning to put the "monster" back in its cage. Clark is shocked by Lane's attitude, and reminds him that Tag's just a scared and confused teen. Lane says he's going to deal with the threat his way.

Kyle says he wants to take Lana out the next night for a fancy dinner to celebrate their good fortune. She balks, saying they'll never find a sitter for Sophie in time. Sarah offers to miss the game and babysit her sister. Outside, Tag spies on Sarah through the window. So I guess he's back in Smallville now?

The next day, Clark accompanies the football team to Metropolis for the big game. He uneasily notices Lane has dozens of DOD soldiers stationed in the stands. Jordan's disappointed when he finds out that out Sarah's a no-show. He then sees he'll be playing against Cutter, a Metropolis player who used to bully him. He tries to take him out, but the ref's whistle triggers his super-hearing, distracting him long enough for Metropolis to score— as well as injure the Smallville quarterback.

Coach Gaines is then forced to put Jonathan in as quarterback. Cutter taunts him as well, but this time Jordan knocks the bully on his ass. Clark pulls Jordan aside and tells him to dial it down a notch or twelve.

Back at the Kent farm, Marcus shows up with two inspector passes that'll get him and Lois into the mine. She asks where he got them, but he refuses to say. The two dress in coveralls and drive to the mine, where they're able to easily slip past the guard.

Elsewhere, Sarah & Sophie are arguing over what to watch on TV. Sarah answers the door and finds Tag there. He says he needs her help, and starts vibrating uncontrollably. Sarah's freaked out by this and slams the door. Tag busts it open, accidentally throwing Sarah backwards and knocking her out.

At the game, Cutter & the other Metropolis players pile onto Jordan during a play. He begins losing control again as his eyes start glowing red. Clark sees him and runs over, telling him to try and calm down. Jordan says he can't hold back his power, so Clark cups his hand over Jordan's eyes and tells him to blast his heat vision into his palm. Somehow, no one sees this.

Back in Smallville, Kyle & Lana return home. They get worried when they can't find Sarah, and Kyle checks their surveillance cam.

After the game, Clark & the boys are staying in a Metropolis hotel. Clark asks Jordan if his powers have been acting up before now, but he denies it. Jonathan pipes up and says it's happened before. Clark's angry that Jordan lied, and says he needs to be careful about showing his powers.

Just then Lana calls Clark, and asks if Sarah went to the game after all. He says he didn't see her, then overhears Kyle as he recognizes Tag on their security camera. He orders the boys to stay put in the hotel room and takes off.

Meanwhile, Lois & Marcus are sneaking around in the mine. Marcus pulls out a high-tech laser tool (?) and and cuts a hole in a wall. Inside he finds a cache of X-Kryptonite, which he says is the rarest form. Just then Leslie Larr, Edge's personal assistant, barges in and attacks the two with her heat vision. They barely manage to dodge her beams in time. They run down a tunnel, and Marcus uses another piece of tech to blast Leslie and knock her out. The two then flee from the mine.

Back at the hotel room, Jonathan & Jordan's teammates show up and want to party. Jonathan says Clark ordered them not to leave, but Jordan convinces them it'll be OK. Jonathan reluctantly goes with them.

Superman hovers over Metropolis, listening in on the entire city. He eventually hones in on Tag & Sarah's voices. He swoops into Tag's hideout, and tells him he's just there to help. He hears General Lane's troops coming, and tells Tag & Sarah they need to come with him now.


Meanwhile, Jonathan, Jordan and the other Crows are messing around in a parking lot. Suddenly Cutter and the Metropolis team show up and begin giving them crap. Cutter gets in Jordan's face and asks if he gets his strength from steroids. Jordan's powers begin building up as he starts to lose control. He clenches his fist and throws a punch right at Cutter's face. At the last second, Jonathan tries to block the blow, which ends up shattering the bones in his hand.

The DOD troops break into the hideout, and start firing on Tag. Superman zips in front of him, and is hit with several Kryptonite shards. Superman falls to his knees, and his eyes begin glowing as his anger grows. He pulls the shards out, then marches over to the commanding officer and orders him to stand down. The soldier orders the others to lower their weapons.

Later at the DOD, Superman tells General Lane he never dreamed he'd use live rounds on a kid. Lane justifies himself by saying his job is to protect the American people by any means necessary. Just then Superman hears Jordan signaling, and rushes off.

Back in Smallville, Lois follows Marcus to his RV, and asks where the hell he got his futuristic tools and weaponry. She also says she checked their passes, and found they were well-done forgeries. She demands to know who he really is. He says he can't tell her, but is trying to prevent something bad from happening. Just then Clark calls about Jonathan, and Lois rushes off.

Sometime later, Jonathan says his arm will be in a cast for the next six to eight weeks, meaning he'll miss the rest of the football season. Jordan tries to apologize, but Jonathan tells him to save it and goes to bed. Clark tells Jordan he knows he's sorry, but "with great power comes great responsibility."

Clark says when he first came to Metropolis, people were scared of him, and it took a long time to gain their trust. He says every time he uses his powers, that trust is tested. Like it was earlier that night.

Lois then tells Clark that she was almost killed at the mine, and says something's up with Marcus. She vows to find out who he really is.

The next day Sarah tells Jordan that Tag thinks he somehow gave him superpowers. Jordan plays dumb and says he doesn't know what Tag's talking about. Sarah tells Jordan that he can talk to her about anything, and he says he knows.

Lois visits Lana, and tells her about what happened at the mine. She says she thinks there's a connection between Edge and Tag's powers. Lana says she'll help Lois investigate Edge— but warns her not to let Kyle know about it.

Later Jordan whines to Lois, saying he thought his powers would bring him closer to people, but they're just driving everyone away. Just then he goes into convulsions and collapses. Lois calls for Clark, who says he needs to get Jordan to the Fortress Of Solitude, stat. He flies off with his son at full speed.

Thoughts:
• How long before Tag figures out Superman's secret identity?

At the beginning of the episode he's beating the crap out of Jordan, who whips out his ELT device and presses it. Five tenths of a second later, Superman shows up!

Later in the third act, Tag accidentally injures Sarah. Unsure what to do, he takes her to Metropolis, where he's been hiding out. Sure enough, Superman shows up there as well.

About the only possible conclusions are that Superman's really his friend Jordan's father, or the Man Of Steel is stalking him for some reason!

• I loved the whole "Superman Saves The Derailing Train" sequence, in which he uses his heat vision to soften the buckling track and flatten it out again. Awesome!

It was sort of a high-tech callback to Superman The Movie, where he saved another train by actually using his body to fill in a missing chunk of track!

• So is Tag an orphan? If not, then where the hell are his parents? I get that the producers may not have wanted to deal with two more actors during the pandemic, but Jesus Christ! At no time are they even mentioned! How hard would it have been to throw in a line about how much his parents are worried about him?

At this point it appears that Superman's more concerned for Tag's welfare than his parents are. It's an odd and unnecessary omission.

• At one point Lois & Clark discuss Morgan Edge and his new mine:

Lois: "Whatever gave Tag those powers came from those mines, and now he wants to extract more of it and make more Derek Powells. What if you went there?"
Clark: "I flew over the mines. I scanned the tunnels. I can’t see inside. They’ve lined them with lead fiber."

Wow! Did Edge really line the ENTIRE mine? That's gotta be a lotta lead! Seems like that'd be pretty dangerous for anyone working in there as well.

Also, it Clark really wanted to see what was going on inside the mine, why screw around with flyovers? We've seen before he can move faster than the human eye can see. Why not just zip past all the workers & security, take a quick look around and then zoom back out while everyone's blinking?

• During breakfast, Jordan's super hearing starts going haywire as it magnifies every tiny sound and gives him a splitting headache. The producers do an amazing job of depicting this— not only do they use an ear-piercing sound effect, but they flood the screen with a bright and annoying lens flare.

It's VERY well done, and almost gave me a headache watching it. Finally, an actual GOOD use for a lens flare! Are you watching, JJ Abrams?

• Poor Kyle. Always a bridesmaid, and never a bride.

At the opening of Edge's new mine, he thanks Kyle for drumming up support for the project. He then says he needs someone to lead Edge Enercorp's Smallville division. Kyle can't stop smiling as he obviously thinks he's offering him the job.

He's then immediately blindsided when Edge gives the position to Lana instead...

Which causes Kyle's face to fall as he realizes he's just been had. I actually felt bad for the guy here!

I may be reading wayyyyyyy too much into this, but... does Kyle represent a disillusioned MAGA supporter? 

Back when trump first ran for prez, he assured the nation that he'd create jobs, restore industry and replace our ailing health insurance system with something "tremendous."

Clearly that was all bullsh*t, er, I mean empty rhetoric, as he never intended to do any of those things. As a result of that, many of his former zealots are finally starting to become disillusioned, as they realize they were duped by his corruption and lies.

It's not hard to see Edge as a trump analogue and Kyle as one of his diehard believers. If this is really what the producers were doing here, then kudos!

• At school, Jordan tells Jonathan he resents Clark trying to make him sit out the big game, saying, "I know he's just looking out for me, but he thinks I'm made of glass."

Again, I'm probably reading way too much into this, but I kind of wonder if his mention of glass is a subtle reference to Unbreakable? In that film, Bruce Willis played David Dunn, who was basically a non-costumed, indestructible Superman. He was opposed by Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, an evil genius with extremely brittle bones who called himself "Mr. Glass."

• Not a nitpick, but an observation: At one point Lana's looking at a website to try & find a babysitter for her youngest daughter. So... is that really a thing? Is there really a "Babysitter Tinder" now, where you can search for one online? I've never had to hire a sitter in my life, so I honestly don't know. If it is a real site, then that's actually a pretty good idea!

• It's been established many times on the show that Smallville is located somewhere in Kansas. But where's Metropolis on this Earth? I always assumed it was the Earth-Prime equivalent of New York City, and indeed the Official Arrowverse Wiki says that's where it's located. 

If that's true then, why are Jonathan & Jordan talking about playing in the big game against Metropolis? Why the hell would a football team in a podunk town like Smallville travel 1,400 miles to New York state for a game? Clearly the two cities must be a lot closer on this world.

Is it possible Metropolis is somewhere in Kansas as well? The state's only about 400 miles wide, so the two cities couldn't be farther apart than that. Clark & the boys get a hotel room after the big game instead of driving back home that nights, so I guess it's possible.

Another clue that Smallville & Metropolis must be relatively close: Tag beats up Jordan in Smallville. The next day General Lane spots him in Metropolis. Later than same day, Tag's back in Smallville, standing outside the Cushing home and spying on Sarah.

Granted, Tag's now able to run at speedster velocity, but he's not a god. The two cities must be relatively close if he's able to zip back & forth between them at will.

• At the start of the big game, we get an establishing shot of Metropolis High. If you look over to the extreme left, you can see the football field where the action's taking place. Note the row of massive skyscrapers just behind the field.

Unfortunately, once we cut to a closeup of the field, those high-rises have all mysteriously vanished. In fact if I didn't know better, it looks like they filmed the game in the middle of a Vancouver suburb! Clearly those buildings should have been visible from nearly every angle.

• Behold the massive post-Covid crowd in the stands! I get it, but Jaysis, this is supposed to be the biggest game of the season for both schools, and there're barely fifty people in attendance! Couldn't they have CGI-ed a few more bodies into the stands?

• Nice Attention To Detail: After Tag abducts Sarah, he takes her to his hideout in Metropolis. She looks around and sees a pile of discarded running shoes.

Those are all Tag's, as his newfound speedster powers cause the soles of his shoes to melt from friction. Well done, producers!

Of course I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask where he's getting all these shoes. I supposed he must be stealing them at super-speed as well?

• I love the moment when Superman hovers over Metropolis, searching for Tag & Sarah. He just quietly hangs there, basically eavesdropping on the entire city until he hones in on the voices of the two people he's searching for. Cool!

• I also loved the scene in which Superman confronts the DOD soldier who's firing live rounds at Tag, and orders him to stand down. He fires up his heat vision and comes thissssssss close to frying the soldier, but eventually manages to compose himself. It's a powerful scene, and perfectly illustrates the constant struggle Superman must face every day to keep his enormous powers in check.

Best of all, at no time did Superman snap anyone's neck in anger, as he did in the detestable Man Of Steel. Are you watching, Zack Snyder? THIS is how Superman should be portrayed. As a demigod who could easily destroy us all, but would never think of it due to his integrity and strength of character. 

It's perfectly fine for Superman to have feelings of rage and anger, as it actually gives the character some much-needed humanity. He just needs to mindful and not recklessly act on those feelings.

• At the same time the Tag drama's going on, Jordan & Jonathan are being confronted by Cutter and his Metropolis teammates. Cutter relentlessly provokes Jordan, causing him to throw a superpowered punch at him. Jonathan intervenes at the last second, getting his hand broken in the process.

So... does Jonathan have super powers as well? He'd kind of have to, if he can stop Jordan's atomic punch in mid-swing like that. Seems to me like his hand should have gotten crushed between Jordan's fist and Cutter's skull.

To be fair, they try to justify the action by having Jonathan brace his arm with his other hand, but I ain't buying it. Earlier in the episode we saw that Jordan can use his fist to dent a hardwood log. Yet somehow Jonathan literally stops his brother's punch 100% dead. I don't see any way that could happen unless Jonathan's got powers too.

Credit Where It's Due: I did appreciate the cool "shockwave ripple" effect that travels up Jonathan's arm when he absorbs the force of the blow.

• The DOD takes Tag away, hauling him off in meta-dampening cuffs. So where'd they get those? They look just like the ones STAR Labs uses over on The Flash. Did Cisco Ramon patent the cuffs and sell them to various law enforcement & military agencies? Maybe that's how STAR makes its money and manages to stay open!

• After they escape from the mine, Lois demands to know who Marcus really is. In particular she mentions the security badges he produced out of nowhere, saying, "I sent a photo to a friend of mine, and she said it’s one of the best forgeries she has ever seen."

Well... yeah, that was the point, right? He forged a badge that looked identical to the real thing so no one would question them. I don't get why she's so shocked by that.

• Lois tells Clark about her adventure in Edge's mine:

Lois: "I got into the mine, with the help of this supposed journalist, Marcus Bridgewater, and he led me to something called X-Kryptonite. Have you ever heard of that?"
Clark: "X-Kry–No. No. Wait. Back up. What do you mean you almost got killed?"
Lois: "Leslie Larr came after us. Turns out she has powers, too. She tried to heat vision us, and then Marcus zapped her with this, like, high-tech ray gun."
Clark: "Why? Why does a journalist have a ray gun?"

A couple things here:

First of all, Clark acts like he's never heard of X-Kryptonite before. That's interesting, as it played a big part in past seasons of Supergirl. You'd think his cuz Kara might have mentioned it to him in passing at some point.

Once again, it's things like this that convince me that this show takes place in its own separate world, and isn't part of the Arrowverse.

Secondly, Clark wins the Best Line Of The Week Award for "Why does a journalist have a ray gun?"

• By far the best part of the episode came late in the third act, after Jordan accidentally injured his brother and Clark lectured him about the importance of trust.

Clark: "That anger you felt that made you want to use your powers the way you did tonight, I have those feelings, too."
Jordan: "You do?"
Clark: "Yes. But I keep them in check. Otherwise, I risk losing the trust of the very people I’ve sworn to protect. When I first showed up in Metropolis as Superman, there was a lot of talk about what the world should do with someone who had powers like mine. And it took me a minute to realize that other people were more afraid of what I could do than I was. So what I had to do, more than anything, was earn their trust, prove to them that, no matter what, I would never use my powers to hurt them. Twenty years later, every time I use my powers, that trust is tested, every time. Just today, in fact. The thing about trust, Jordan– once you break it, it’s take a lot longer to heal than a wrist."

Now THAT'S a speech!

It's particularly interesting to see how differently Clark and Jordan handle their identical powers. Clark could easily level an entire city, but his age, experience and wisdom prevent him from ever doing so. 

Compare that to Jordan, who lacks the physical, mental and emotional maturity to restrain himself. It's often easy to forget that teens aren't yet equipped to control themselves the way an adult can.

It's a fascinating and original take on the subject, and pretty deep for a superhero show!

If I had one small complaint, it's that Jordan seems to need to learn this same lesson over and over each week. Let's hope it finally sticks soon.

That small glitch aside, this one minute scene is better by far than the entirety of all the DCEU movies to date. It's clear that the writers here understand the character of Superman, what he stands for and how he should be portrayed.

Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 5: The Best Of Smallville

This week on Superman & Lois, we get what may be the first filler episode of the series.

That's not necessarily a bad thing though! There's plenty going on in The Best Of Smallville, but the most of it is quiet, character-driven stuff rather than flashy, action-packed plot points. If this is what passes for filler on this show, I'll gladly take it!

Much of the episode features flashbacks to Clark's youth, where we see he was a typical teen asshole. I guess even Kryptonians aren't immune to that sort of behavior!

This week gives us a much needed glimpse into Captain Luthor's background, as we not only find out yet another reason why he hates Superman so much. We also learn more about his personal life, including the surprising identity of his late wife.

Last week I said I felt bad for Jonathan, as his life has become notably worse since moving to Smallville. I predicted it was only a matter of time before he exploded. Welp, this week it happened! And much sooner than I was expecting.

That's all I've got in the way of introductions (ironically, the better the episode, the less there is to say about it). Let's get to the episode!

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
At the Kent farm, Clark's excited for the upcoming Harvest Festival, and desperately tries to get his family to share his enthusiasm. They're all pretty meh about it— especially the boys— but Clark insists they'll love it. Jonathan says his girlfriend Eliza is coming to visit from Metropolis, and he might bring her.

Later at school, Sarah asks Jordan to take her to the Festival. Just then Jonathan gets a call from Eliza, who dumps him long-distance. Bummer.

Meanwhile, Chrissy Beppo calls Lois and says to get to the Smallville Gazette pronto. Lois arrives and sees Sharon Powell there with her son Derek— who she reported missing a couple weeks ago. When Lois asks the very squirrelly-acting Derek what happened, he says he was injured on the job and blacked out. The next thing he remembered was waking in a church in Stanton County.

Sharon seems to buy Derek's flimsy story, but Lois reminds her that a superpowered goon tried to kill her in a motel room a couple weeks ago. Sharon says the important thing is she got her son back, and the two make a hasty retreat. Chrissy tells Lois that the Powell's story is full of holes, and Lois agrees. She says they'll figure out what's going on together.

Unknown to Lois, Captain Luthor watches her from across the street. He tells his AI that wherever Lois is, Superman's never far behind.

At the Community Center, Lana's taking donations from townspeople for the Festival. Sharon & Derek enter and donate some men's clothing. Derek complains of a headache and excuses himself. He enters a back room, where he calls Leslie Larr, Morgan Edge's personal assistant. He says he desperately needs to see her.

Just then Derek's eyes glow red, as we realize he has heat vision. He runs around in pain, inadvertently incinerating the ceiling of the room.

Elsewhere, Clark goes through his mother's old things. He finds a small wooden box, which triggers a flashback to his teen years. Teen Clark is getting dressed for the Harvest Festival, as his mother Martha ("WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?") enters and asks him if Lana Lang is still seeing "that Kyle boy." Suddenly Teen Clark hears a burglar alarm and speeds off.

Teen Clark— wearing a ski mask as a disguise— confronts two men loading a truck with electronics. A third robber with a shotgun approaches from behind, but Clark easily disarms him. Another shoots at Clark, but he slaps the bullet away. Realizing they're in way over their heads, the robbers put their stolen goods back.

In the present, Clark hears a fire alarm and speeds to Community Center, which is now blazing away. He uses his x-ray vision and sees Kyle inside with another firefighter. Just as the two men are about to be crushed by burning debris, Clark sneaks in and uses his super-breath to put out the fire. Kyle looks around in confusion, unsure what just happened. As Clark leaves, he sees Sharon Powell standing outside the Center, looking for someone.

Back at the farm, Clark tells Lois the fire destroyed all the donations. He also says he saw Sharon at the Center, and Lois figures she was looking for Derek. The boys come home from school, and Jordan tells them that Jonathan got dumped.

Lois drives to the Center, where Kyle's cleaning up. He tells her his fellow firefighter Mitch was severely injured in the blaze. She shows him a photo of Derek, and he vaguely remembers seeing him exit the rear of the Center. Suspecting Derek had something to do with the fire, she calls Chrissy and tells her to find Sharon for questioning. Just then Luthor approaches Lois and introduces himself.

Cut to the two of them at the diner. Luthor, who claims his name is Marcus Bridgewater, tells Lois he's a big fan of her work. He says he was impressed with her piece on Morgan Edge (?), and may have a way to get into his newly revamped Shuster Mine in Smallville. Unimpressed, Lois gives him her card and says to call her if he finds any concrete info.

At the Gazette, Chrissy's rounded up Sharon— who's upset that Derek left so soon after she finally got him back. She says he sent her a text saying "he needed some space." Chrissy asks to see the text, and slyly uses the phone to pinpoint Derek's location.

Jordan tells Clark he's leaving to take Sarah to the Festival. Jonathan's still smarting from his dumping, and tells Clark he hates Smallville. Clark asks him to give it time, as he's sure things will work out. Jonathan says he wants to move in with friends in Metropolis and storms out.

This triggers another flashback, as Martha tells Teen Clark it's too dangerous for him to play vigilante. He says that was his father's rule, and it's been a year since he died. He says he's here for a reason, and it's to be more than just Clark Kent. He then storms out of the house.

Back in the present, Kyle comes home late and tells Lana about Mitch. She hugs him and realizes he's been drinking. He wants her to stay home, but she says she has to get to the Festival. Sarah offers to fix him dinner before she leaves. She hands him a plate, and he starts creepily singing her favorite childhood song. Clearly uncomfortable, Sarah tells him to stop and leaves.

Elsewhere, Jordan's at the Festival, waiting for Sarah. Jonathan joins him, but ditches him when a couple of his friends approach. They share some alcohol, and Jordan asks if that's a good idea. Jonathan laughs and goes off with his drinking buddies.

Meanwhile, Chrissy drives to the location she got from Sharon's phone. There she spots Derek nervously waiting for someone. As she watches from the shadows, Leslie arrives and she and Derek kiss. He tells her he started the fire, and she says she can fix him.

At the farm, Clark stares out the window and has another flashback. Martha enters Teen Clark's room and says she knows he's meant for bigger things. She gives him a wooden box (the same one Adult Clark still has) and tells him to open it. Inside is a red crystal his father found in Clark's spaceship. She says she doesn't know what it does, but it might be the key to him finding his purpose.

Sarah meets up with Jordan at the Festival and apologizes for being late. When he asks if something's wrong, she says she's having a rough night and doesn't want to discuss it. They go off to consume mass quantities of unhealthy Festival food.

Chrissy follows Leslie & Derek to an abandoned building. Inside, Leslie puts him into a large cylindrical contraption, which bathes Derek in yellowish energy.

Jordan & Sarah sit on a hay bale eating. He says he's starting to like Smallville, but Sarah says it's not as nice as he thinks. She's just about to open up to him when Jonathan comes by with his asshole friends. He makes fun of Jordan because he's on a date. This angers Sarah, and she tells off Jonathan and his pals to piss off before storming away.

Jonathan snaps out of his alcoholic haze, realizes what he's don and apologizes for wrecking Jordan's date. Jordan says it's OK as he takes his brother to get some water. Unfortunately they run into their parents, who see Jonathan's clearly drunk.

Just then Lois gets a call from Chrissy, who fills her in about Derek. Clark overhears and zooms away.

Leslie pulls Derek out of the machine and asks if he feels better. Suddenly Superman crashes through the ceiling and confronts the two. Derek inexplicably tells Leslie to protect the "asset," and flies out of the building. Superman chases after him.

Elsewhere, Luthor's in a ratty RV, monitoring the town. His AI says she's detected Kryptonian flight patterns, and he takes off to intercept them.

We then get a big action setpiece as Superman chases Derek through Smallville's farmlands. Derek tries to distract Superman by igniting barns and silos with his heat vision. Derek then tries to lose him by flying low through a cornfield. Derek turns and tells Clark that Leslie resurrected him. He then calls him by his Kryptonian name of Kal-El, and says he's no longer alone.

Just then Luthor arrives, pulls out a large, high tech gun and fires a missile at the two men. It detonates, causing Superman & Derek to crash to the ground far below. Superman tells Derek he can help him. Derek says he's already dead, then grimaces in pain as he's consumed by flame and turns to ash.

Sometime later, Jonathan apologizes to his parents. Clark says it's OK this once, as he understands what he's going through. He says when he was a teen he also realized he needed to leave Smallville in order to become someone. He regrets leaving though, as he missed a lot of time with his mother. He asks Jonathan to give the place a little more time.

Clark then gives Jonathan the wooden box. He's puzzled though when he opens it and finds it's empty. Clark says the box is the gift, as his father gave it to his mother, and she gave it to him.

After the boys go to bed, Clark tells Lois about Derek. He says his situation seems similar to that of Tag, who inadvertently gained superpowers when Jordan's heat vision manifested itself.

The next morning, Clark & Lois return for the second day of the Festival. Lana excitedly tells them that Morgan Edge wrote a huge check to replace the donated goods that were destroyed— and then some. She then unveils a bench that's been dedicated to Clark's mother Martha Kent.

This triggers one last flashback, as Teen Clark sits on a bench with Martha, waiting for the train. She watches sadly as he boards it and leaves to find his purpose.

Back in the present, Clark tells Lois he was incredibly selfish to leave his mother when he did. Unknown to either of them, Luthor watches from a distance, then returns to his RV. His AI reminds him that the Lois from this world is NOT the one he married (!). He angrily hurls the device across the room.

Jordan meets up with Sarah again. She apologizes for her outburst the night before, and tells him she wants to take things slowly.

Later that night, Jordan walks home in the dark. Suddenly Tag appears, wearing some sort of uniform. He demands to know what Jordan did to him, and begins savagely beating him with superpowered blows.

Thoughts: 

• At the beginning of the episode, Lois fixes breakfast while Jonathan & Jordan watch a news report featuring their Dad. Note that the report mentions a recent increase in Superman activity.

In the previous episode, General Lane complained that Superman wasn't spending enough time in Metropolis lately, which was emboldening the criminal element. He begged him to make an occasional appearance over the city, to give the impression he was still around and on patrol.

Could the "uptick" this week be a response to Lane's plea?

• Clark tells Lois and the boys that the Harvest Festival's a tradition that goes back to 1949— the year Smallville was founded. 

Wait, what? The town's only seventy two years old? That seems reeeeeeally new. I'd have thought it came into being much earlier than that, like in the 1800s. If it really was founded in 1949, that was probably AFTER Clark's adoptive parents were born! I guess it was all just unincorporated farmland before that.

• At the Community Center, Derek's newly acquired powers begin causing him intense pain. He calls Leslie Larr (Morgan Edge's right hand woman) for help. Oddly enough, when he phones he says, "Miss Larr, there's something wrong."

That's strange, because in the third act we see Derek and Leslie snogging away like there's no tomorrow! It looks for all the world like they've known each other long enough to start a relationship. So why the hell's he still calling her MISS Larr?

• Not a nitpick, just an observation: This week the title screen doesn't appear until the NINE minute mark!

• Nice Attention To Detail: Clark has a flashback to his teen years, when he foiled a burglary at a local electronics store. When he confronts the crooks, we see they're loading a truck with bulky, picture tube TVs— which they describe as "real high-end equipment!" How times & technology have changed.

As fun as this detail was, I'm not sure the timeline adds up though. Back in Pilot, I did some simple deduction and math and decided that Clark is most likely 39. That means he was born (or I guess arrived on Earth) in 1982. Based on dialogue in this episode, it appears he's 16 in these flashbacks. That would mean they take place in 1998.

The first large flat screen TV debuted in 1997. It cost $15,000 though (!), so it was likely out of the reach of most Americans, and probably not widely available in stores. So there's a little wiggle room here for picture tube TVs to still be considered "high-end." Not much though!

• It's interesting that Clark wore a better disguise as a teen than he does as an adult.

• Teen Clark's played by Dylan Kingwell, who's made appearances on other The CW shows such as Supernatural and The 100. He does a pretty good job here, and actually looks a bit like a younger Tyler Hoechlin.

• A couple weeks ago Jordan made an El Debarge reference, while Jonathan mentioned Morrissey. I was impressed that two teens in 2021 would have even heard of such singers from the 1980s.

This week Clark mentions 1970s power band REO Speedwagon, a reference which flies completely over Jordan's head. So which is it, writers? Are the kids familiar with 20th Century music or aren't they?

• Kyle rushes into the burning Community Center to save his fellow firefighter Mitch. Just when it looks like the two men are gonna perish in the blaze, Clark zips in, puts out the fire with his super-breath and zooms back out before anyone can see him. Kyle's gobsmacked, as he sees the rubble's inexplicably covered with frost.

Could this be the beginnings of a "Kyle Suspects Clark Has Powers" storyline?

• In the aftermath of the Community Center fire, Lois is approached by Captain Luthor, who pretends to be a fellow reporter. We then immediately cut to the two of them getting coffee in the diner.

Seriously? A couple episodes back, Lois' car was blown up by one of Morgan Edge's goons. Clearly someone out there is gunning for her. So why's she so nonchalant about this total stranger who showed up out of nowhere?

• At the diner, Lois & Luthor chat:

Lois: "So you’re a reporter?"
Luthor: "That’s right. Marcus Bridgewater."
Lois: "Sounds vaguely familiar. Politico?"
Luthor: “Reuters. Mainly do business coverage, focusing on big tech. I have a background in engineering. I used to work at LutherCorp."
Lois: "Lex Luthor, the only human being worse than Morgan Edge."

A couple things here:

First of all, this episode finally confirms there is an actual LEX Luthor here on whatever Earth the show's set. If this really is Earth-Prime (and I'm still not 100% convinced it is), then they're talking about the Lex Luthor seen over on Supergirl.

Secondly, Captain Luthor blatantly lies to Lois' face, giving her a fake name and claiming to be a reporter from Reuters— among many other falsehoods. Surely he knows she could easily fact check any one of these fibs in five minutes or less?

Now that I think about it, maybe Luthor's AI did a quick search for black Reuters reporters, found one named Marcus Bridgewater, and he assumed his identity in case Lois decides to check?

• Luthor/Bridgewater says he was impressed with Lois' piece on Morgan Edge (?) Wait, is he talking about the one she wrote for The Daily Planet? The one that was heavily edited and redacted by Edge himself? Why would he be impressed with that puff piece?

• Unhappy with the way things have turned out in Smallville, Jonathan tells Clark he wants to go back to Metropolis and move in with some friends. It was established in Pilot that Jonathan (and Jordan as well) is only fourteen. Did he REALLY think his parents would let a minor his age move into an apartment full of unsupervised teens?

On the other hand, such a thing isn't unheard of in this family. At the end of the episode we see that Martha Kent let Clark leave Smallville "to become something more" when he was only SIXTEEN! Is that even legal? Can a parent just let an underaged teen go off on their own like that?

• What the hell's going on between Kyle and Sarah? He comes home after boozing it up with his fellow firefighters and collapses on the couch in a drunken stupor. Sarah brings him a sandwich, and as she turns to leave he orders her to stay. He then starts creepily singing a song from her childhood to her. Sarah looks extremely uncomfortable throughout the incident, and finally yells for him to stop as she bolts from the room.

I'm assuming she's so upset here because she hates seeing her Dad getting pass out drunk. This is confirmed later on when she encounters a drunken Jonathan at the Harvest Festival, and really lays into him.

There's a second way to interpret this scene though, one that's far more unpleasant and disturbing. When Kyle's singing to Sarah, there are some subtle but definite signs that hint a little at... molestation. Which would certainly explain why she was so repulsed by him.

I honestly hope that's not the case here, and she's just upset at his drinking.

• During one of Clark's many flashbacks, we see Martha give him a wooden box containing a red crystal.

When he asks what it is, she says, "Your father found it in the pod when you arrived. I don’t know what it does or what it’s for, I just— I just know it belongs to you. And it might be the key to figuring out what your future is." The crystal then glows with a brilliant red light when he picks it up, suggesting he's somehow connected to it.

I'm betting he likely used this crystal to construct his Fortress Of Solitude, ala Superman The Movie. Although in that film, Clark's crystal was green, not red. Not sure why they changed the color here.

We saw this crystal a couple weeks back in Heritage, when Clark brought Jordan to the Fortress. He called it the "Sunstone Crystal," and used it to generate an alien YouTube video on the history of Krypton.

• This week we see Chrissy recklessly risking her life in pursuit of a story. I have a feeling her attempts at emulating her idol Lois are gonna get her into real trouble. Maybe even killed!

• In the previous episode, Morgan Edge discovered a vein of X-Kryptonite in the old Shuster Mine. As I stated in that review, X-Kryptonite is from the comics, and has the ability to temporarily give non-Kryptonians powers that are identical to Superman's. 

Obviously it does the same thing here on the show. Edge somehow built an X-Kryptonite-fueled chamber, which gives subjects superpowers. That's definitely what happened to Derek, although it's unclear why his resulting powers were so erratic, and required frequent booster treatments to stabilize them.

• Superhero Landing! OK, this one doesn't appear to be the traditional three point one, but I'm counting it anyway.

• When Superman confronts Leslie & Derek, he inspects the chamber and sees it contains a glowing yellowish-orange power source. Derek tells Leslie to "protect the asset" and then flies off.

I assume the "asset" here is the X-Kryptonite. Note that it apparently doesn't doesn't have any negative affect on Kryptonians, as Superman safely stands right next to it.

• In the third act, Superman chases Derek through the skies of Smallville. At one point Derek uses his heat vision to set a barn on fire as a distraction, so he can get away. Sure enough, Superman stops long enough to put out the blaze with his super-breath.

And then two tenths of a second later he LITERALLY CRASHES THROUGH THE BARN, causing even more damage than the fire did! What the hell? Why put out the fire only to make things ten times worse?

• In the wrap up, Clark tells Jonathan he's not going to punish him for his underage drinking— this one time. Wow. He's MUCH more forgiving that MY Dad would have been in that situation. Maybe that's one of Superman's lesser known powers— super-leniency.

• WHY DID YOU SAY THE NAME OF THAT BENCH!?

• More Nice Attention To Detail: Clark flashes back to the day he left Smallville as an underaged teen. In the background we see a newspaper rack featuring The Smallville Gazette's logo on it. Well done, Prop Department!

• Clark reflects on how he selfishly left his mother all alone when he was sixteen. He then tells Lois, "And now we’re at the point where our own kids are talking about leaving home. It feels like they were just born."

Wait... was that a subtle joke on the part of the producers?

At the beginning of Crisis On Infinite Earths Part One, we see Clark & Lois living in Argo City with their newborn son Jonathan. Emphasis on newborn and son (singular).

Then at the end of Crisis On Infinite Earths Part Five, Lois calls Superman and tells him to get is ass home and deal with his sons— plural. Somehow the events of Crisis retroactively caused Clark & Lois to have twins— fourteen years earlier than they originally did!

So in a sense, Clark's line about it feeling like the boys were just born is true, as the writers made this fundamental change just a year or two ago!

• This week we find out another reason why Luthor hates Superman so much. He was actually married to Lois on whatever Earth he's from. Then at some point Superman killed her, thus fueling Luthor's rage. Interesting.

• In this episode we get our best look yet at Luthor's helpful AI device.

I can't help but notice that it looks a LOT like a modified infrared security camera! Right down to the ring of lights circling the central lens!

• Poor Jordan. His first date with Sarah's interrupted and ended by his muscle-headed brother & his drunken posse. Then later when he tries to get back with her, Sarah tells him, "I think I could really just use a friend more than anything else.

Ouch! That was uncalled for. Cue Rod Serling saying, "Jordan Kent has just entered... The Friend Zone." 

• At the end of the episode, we see Jordan walking home along a dark, deserted country road. Suddenly he's attacked by his former teammate Tag.

First of all, Jordan's grinning like an idiot as he walks. Why the hell's he doing that? As we saw a few seconds earlier, he just got friendzoned hard by Sarah. I don't see anything to smile about here.

Secondly, Tag's wearing a distinctive black & yellow uniform, complete with a crest on the left breast. If you'll recall, in the previous episode General Lane said Tag had been sent to a "special school" for kids with abilities like his.

At the time I said that sounded a LOT like Professor Xavier's School For Gifted Youngers over in the Marvel Universe— an institution whose alumni included the various X-Men.

In fact the uniform Tag's wearing is VERY similar to the one's worn by Xavier's students in X-Men: First Class! Coincidence, homage, or are the producers trolling the fans here?

Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 4: Haywire

This week on Superman & Lois (Man, I keep trying to call this show Lois & Clark!), we get another surprisingly well-written and enjoyable episode. Keep up the good work, production team!

Haywire's quite a busy episode, as there are at least seven different storylines going on at the same time (!). Holy crap, that's a lot! Somehow the show manages to effortless juggle them all and give them room to breathe. It's an impressive feat, and I honestly have no idea how they did it.

Most of this episode feels like setup for storylines that won't pay off till much later. I'm actually fine with that! I don't mind setup as long as it's entertaining and compelling.

I'm continually amazed at the writing on this show. The characters feel like real people rather than cardboard cutouts. Even better, their dialogue feels genuine and authentic, like things actual people would say. 

I especially enjoy the relationship between Clark and Lois. It feels very... mature, for lack of a better word. The two of them actually listen to one another, as each of them make very compelling points. For a comic book show, it's surprisingly deep and adult.

Compare that to other Arrowverse shows like The Flash, where characters pout and sulk because that's the only way the writers know how to create melodrama.

On the character front, there's no Captain Luthor this week, but we do finally learn not Lex Luthor, er I mean Morgan Edge's plan, and why he's so interested in Smallville's mine. We also get a possible new Big Bad in Thaddeus Killgrave, an obscure character from the comic.

In the teen department, this week Jonathan's friend Tag gets a lot more screentime, which means he's gonna play a bigger role later in the season.

I actually feel bad for poor Jonathan here, as he's definitely had his life turned upside down lately. Not only was he forced to leave the friends and fame he made for himself in the big city, but then he finds out his brother has superpowers and he doesn't. Even worse, his brother's now using those powers to push him out of the spotlight and become the star of the football team. It's only a matter of time before Jonathan's had enough and justifiably erupts. 

And General Lane divulges that the military's secretly terrified of Superman and what he might do if he ever went rogue— which prompts him to reveal he's not the trusted ally we thought he was.

They did this same plot in the execrable Man Of Steel movie, but it's a hundred times more logical and subtle here than in that ham-fisted excuse for a film.

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
Six years ago in Saskatchewan, a convoy of military trucks drives through the night as meteors fly low overhead. Morgan Edge is in the lead truck, and orders the group to stop at the edge of a crater. Everyone gets out and looks down into the massive hole, where they see a glowing red object. Edge says the resurrection can now begin.

In the present, Kyle Cushing & Mayor Dean are showing Edge around at a Smallville High football game. Morgan takes a long, hard look at Lana coaching the cheerleaders, and Kyle mentions she's his wife. Edge immediately says that Kyle & Lana should have dinner with him soon. Kyle, who fanboys Edge, happily agrees.

Lois & her editor Chrissy Beppo sit in the stands, glaring at Edge. Lois doesn't buy his "Man Of The People" schtick, figuring he's drumming up support for his mining project. Lois' father General Lane unexpectedly joins her in the stands.

On the sidelines, Coach Gaines sends Jordan into the game. Jordan's nervous, realizing that actually playing is a lot different than practice. Clark, who's now an assistant coach, tells him he'll do fine. Jordan plows through the line and knocks an opposing player twenty feet, which allows Sean to grab the ball and score the winning touchdown. In the stands, a stunned General Lane looks at Lois and asks if there's anything she'd like to tell him.

Later at the Kent farm, Lane tells Clark & Lois it's obvious that Jordan has superpowers, and letting him play football will only call undue attention to the family. Clark says it's his and Lois' decision, not Lane's.

General Lane says the military is terrified of Superman and what he might do, and that he's the one who keeps them in check. He says now that Clark's moved to Smallville, Superman hasn't been seen over the skies of Metropolis lately. That's causing criminals to become bolder and more active. As a result of this, the government is moving dangerous inmates such as Thaddeus Killgrave to less visible prisons.

Lane begs Superman to spend more time in Metropolis. Clark refuses, saying his family's now his top priority. Lane then says if that's the case, he's spending the weekend with them.

At the diner, the football team congratulates Jordan. Jonathan, Sarah and Tag Harris watch from afar. Tag's envious, as his broken arm (which was injured when Jordan first manifested his powers a few weeks back) keeps him from playing.

Elsewhere, Kyle & Lana have dinner with Edge. While Kyle chats with the Mayor, Edge brazenly flirts with Lana. He says he's aware of her excellent college records, and says she could be so much more if she left Smallville. He offers to help her "reach her potential," which makes her visibly uncomfortable. She politely declines his offer.

At the Smallville Gazette, Chrissy gushes over the article that Lois wrote about Edge. Just then, Edge's personal assistant Leslie Larr barges in. She says even though Lois quit the Daily Planet, her contract with them prohibits her from working for a rival paper for a given period. Chrissy reluctantly cancels Lois' story, saying she can't risk a lengthy and expensive lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Tag comes home and goes up to his room, where he stares longingly at a past trophy he won. Suddenly his broken arm begins vibrating alarmingly.

The next day Clark's running plays with the boys. Lois asks him to go to the Town Hall meeting that night to speak out against Edge. She figures hearing the truth from Smallville's favorite son would carry more weight than if she said it. He agrees, and Lois says she's going out to the old Shuster Mine to confront Edge.

At the Town Hall, Kyle & Lana set up chairs for the big meeting. Lana's pissed with Kyle because he didn't say anything when Edge was hitting on her. Kyle says Edge didn't do anything wrong, which makes Lana even madder. She says she was clearly skeeved out by Edge's advances, and Kyle didn't even notice.

Lois arrives at the mine and confronts Edge & Leslie. She tells Edge if he sues her, she'll counter-sue and then his records will be revealed in court— something she figures he'd like to avoid. Edge figures there must be something important to her in Smallville, and vows to find out what it is.

At the high school, Coach Gaines lectures the team. Tag leaves and hurries to the restroom, where his arm begins vibrating again. Jonathan follows to see if he's OK. Suddenly the cast on Tag's arm shatters. Clark hears it and investigates.

In Metropolis, a prison convoy carrying known terrorist Thaddeus Killgrave rumbles through town, as it transfers him to another facility. The creepy Killgrave tries to chat with his guards while chewing what appears to be gum. He spits it on the wall of the truck, causing it to explode (!). In the confusion, Killgrave's men attack the convoy and free their leader.

Back in the restroom, Jonathan tells Clark that something's wrong with Tag. Just then Tag emerges from the stall and says he cut off his cast and is fine. Suddenly Clark gets a distress call from General Lane, tells Jonathan he has to go and flies off.

Superman arrives at the aftermath of the explosion, but discovers Killgrave's long gone. He finds a small drone, which plays a recording of Killgrave saying he'll see him soon.

Back in Smallville, the Town Hall meeting begins. Kyle says Morgan Edge has kept all his promises and they should vote to allow him to revitalize the Shuster Mine. Lois waits anxiously for Clark to arrive, but he's a no-show. The people overwhelmingly vote in favor of Edge's proposal, with Chrissy being the only dissenter.

Back at the farm, General Lane packs up to return to the Department Of Defense. He tells the boys that Superman is the most important force for good on the planet, and warns them not to waste his time on teen drama.

Clark arrives and apologizes to Lois for missing the meeting. She says the vote was important to her, but she understands he has obligations and feels bad for being angry. She says that between the boys and the world, she's starting to feel a little neglected. She then tells him she's going out with Lana to have a drink.

Jonathan, Jordan & Sarah go to a party at a friend's cabin. Tag's there, and everyone's amazed that his arm is OK. He begins drinking heavily. Sarah tells Jordan she feels bad for Jonathan, since he's no longer the popular kid. Jordan says he'll survive.

Tag's hand begins vibrating, and he ends up breaking a table. This starts a fight, which Jonathan & Jordan try to break up. Tag runs off into the woods.

Superman goes to the DOD, where General Lane says it's nice of him to show up. They detect Killgrave at Glenmorgan Square in Metropolis. Superman rushes to the scene, where he confronts Killgrave. The terrorist fires a sonic blaster, which instantly incapacitates Superman. Each time he tries to get up, Killgrave blasts him again, rendering him helpless.

The boys follow Tag into the woods, where they see him vibrating unnervingly. Jordan somehow makes the incredibly intuitive leap that he did this to Tag when he used his heat vision several weeks ago. Jordan tries to calm Tag, and holds his arm still. It works at first, but then Tag starts vibrating even more violently. Jordan's thrown backwards, and Jonathan uses the ELT to signal their father.

In Metropolis, Killgrave still has Superman on the ropes. Suddenly Supes hears the ELT and springs into action. He lets loose with a mighty clap, created a massive shock wave that knocks Killgrave & his men on their collective asses. He melts the blaster with his heat vision, radios Lane & tells him to pick up Killgrave & his thugs and zooms back to Smallville.

Superman sees Tag in distress, so he grabs the kid and flies him high into the air, where the thin atmosphere knocks him out.

The next morning, Lane returns to the Kent farm. He says they found traces of a yellow phosphorous in Tag's body, which caused his vibrational episodes. Lane says Tag must have inhaled the substance after it was atomized by Jordan's heat vision (meaning it really was his fault after all!). The boys ask what's going to happen to Tag, and Lane says he's being sent to Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters, er, I mean a "special school" where he'll learn to control his abilities.

Clark wonders why the boys didn't signal him sooner. When they indicate their Grandpa told 'em not to, Clark & Lois become furious. Once again Lane says Superman owes a debt to the world, and his family comes second. Lois tells him if he keeps ragging them on the subject he's no longer welcome in their home. Lane leaves in a huff.

That night Clark calls Lois to the barn, where he's set up a special romantic dinner. He says her "neglected" comment got to him, and he wants to make it up to her. Of course just as they sit down to eat, they're interrupted by a call from Lane. He tells Clark there's a situation brewing in Malawi, which will become a priority in an hour or two.

Lois smiles and tells Clark to go. He zooms away as she blows him a kiss.

At the DOD, General Lane looks at the dog tag that Captain Luthor gave him a couple weeks ago. He makes a secure call to a subordinate, and tells him to start a new top secret protocol labeled "Project 7734"— the same number as on the dog tag.

Elsewhere, Edge uses a high tech device to scan the Shuster Mine. It beeps, and he nods to Leslie. She uses her superstrength to punch a hole in the rock, revealing a small chamber filled with multicolored crystals. Edge says there's enough X-Kryptonite inside to create an army.

Thoughts:

• In virtually every location shot in this episode, it's steadily raining as everyone's walking around under umbrellas.

And on the rare occasions when it ain't raining, we can see the ground's a soupy, muddy mess.

Now that I think of it the same thing happens in every Arrowverse show. Hey, that's what you get when you film your shows in the fourth rainiest city in all of Canada. Vancouver gets an average of 168 rainy days a year, for an annual total of 57"!

• General Lane stops by the football game, ostensibly to see his grandson Jonathan play. He's shocked when he sees that Jordan's not only playing instead, but effortless mowing down players twice his size.

I love Lane's side-eyed look at Lois, as he asks her, "Something you wanna tell me?"

• After the game, the perpetually sweaty Coach Gaines congratulates Jordan for singlehandedly winning the game (even though Sean actually scored the winning touchdown).

Is... is that really supposed to be a shirtless high school student there in the foreground? I guess it's not totally outside the realm of possibility, but... I definitely didn't look anything like that back when I was sixteen. You couldn't have hit me with a handful of corn!

• Morgan Edge, who's taken an undue interest in Lana, invites her and Sean to dinner. There he unconfortably corners Lana, revealing he's cyber-stalked her as he hints he can help her career— for a price of course.

Edge: "I glanced at your file. Graduated magna cum laude from Stanhope College. Wide variety of clubs, extracurriculars, travel plans. You could’ve done anything you wanted, and yet, you chose to come back here where your options were… somewhat limited."

Lana: "Smallville’s home. I like it here."

Edge: "Certainly. Perhaps you can find something more worthy of your unique gifts. If you want to make a real impact, I can be a resource."

I may be really reaching here, but this scene reminded me somewhat of 1987's Metropolis 900 Miles, a backup tale written and drawn by John Byrne in Superman Vol. 2, #9.

In that story, Lex Luthor stops by a roadside diner and takes an unhealthy interest in a waitress named Jenny— despite knowing she's married. He offers her one million dollars if she'll go to Metropolis with him and be his consort for one month. 

She's appalled of course, and flat out refuses. Luthor then tells her that everyone has a price, and points out the limited options offered by her current situation. This causes Jenny to reevaluate her life, and she realizes Luthor's right.

In the end it's revealed he had no intention of going through with the deal, and was simply playing a sadistic, psychological game with Jenny for his own twisted amusement.

There are numerous differences here, as the scene's between Morgan Edge and Lana, not Lex Luthor and a random waitress. I still feel there's a similar underlying tone between the two scenes, as an amoral, filthy rich industrialist offers his attentions to someone less fortunate.

• This week's Big Bad is Thaddeus Killgrave, who's described as "a psycho genius who became radicalized from hating Superman."

Killgrave's a fairly obscure character from the comics, where of course he looked completely different. He was created by writer/artist John Byrne, and first appeared in 1988's Superman Vol. 2 #19.

I'm wondering if Byrne used Killgrave to mock former Marvel Editor In Chief Jim Shooter? Byrne had a long-standing beef with Shooter back in the day, and in later years often created villains who resembled his former employer. 

Shooter stood 6' 7" and had an unruly mop of hair in his younger days, so the diminutive, bowl cut-sporting Killgrave might have been a not-so-subtle ironic jab at him.

• Funniest Scene In The Episode: Clark tells Jordan to go long, and lobs him an easy pass. He awkwardly fumbles the ball around for a few seconds before ultimately dropping it, prompting Clark to quip, "Eh, that's why he plays defense." HAW!

I have a feeling Tyler Hoechlin must have improvised that line. You can even see Jordan Elsass, who plays Jonathan, trying to stifle a laugh as well, and he actually glances offscreen for a second, presumably looking at the director to see if he's gonna yell for another take.

I just realized this show features an actor named Jordan who plays the brother of a character named Jordan. I'm sure that never gets confusing at all!

• I LOVED Lois' conversation with Edge when she confronts him at the mine— especially her exasperated "Who cares?" line.

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."
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."
Edge: "I can assure you, my accent is genuine. I was raised in…"
Lois: "Oh, my God who cares?"

• During practice, Coach Gaines lectures the team and criticizes Tag for getting injured. Tag gets upset and storms out, followed by Jonathan, who goes to see if he's OK. Clark then follows the boys to check on them.

Seriously? What are the odds that a hothead like Gaines would passively watch three people— including his Assistant Coach!— get up and leave during his rant and not say a word about it?

• There's an unintentionally hilarious moment in the episode involving Jonathan and his pal Tag. Coach Gaines upsets Tag, causing him to run to the restroom and lock himself inside a stall. Jonathan follows to see if he's OK. Inside the stall, Tag's powers begin manifesting, causing his arm to vibrate uncontrollably.

Yeah, maybe don't film a scene involving a teen boy and rhythmic, vibrating noises coming from a restroom stall!

• General Lane sends a signal to Clark, alerting him that Killgrave's escaped. Based on Lane's signal, Superman's military codename is apparently "Bishop 6." I have no idea of the significance of that moniker, or what it might mean.

• Superhero Landing!

Actually we get two this episode. And yes, I'm gonna do this every time they happen!

• Lois attends the all-important meeting at the Smallville Town Hall. Notice anything familiar about the building?

Yep, the sign on the front is identical to the logo from the long-running Smallville series! Cool! 

Just looking at that title screen I can hear the theme song in my head! "Somebody saaaa-yaaaaave meeeeeee!"

• Clark promises Lois he'll come to the Town Hall meeting, but misses it due to his Superman duties.

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. 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: "Is that honestly how you feel?"
Lois: "Right now, in this moment that I might regret tomorrow, yeah, I do."

I loved this scene between the two of them— especially the part where she's mad at him for missing the vote, then made at herself for getting mad when she knows he had a good excuse. And then when she said she felt like she was at the bottom of his list of priorities— ouch!

It was a well written, and very adult conversation, and much deeper than I've come to expect from Arrowverse shows— and superhero projects in general. That's why I like this series so much— the characters speak and react like real, actual people. 

Compare that to recent episodes of The Flash, in which every episode features Barry running off to sulk by himself whenever things don't go his way. It's like night & day.

• Lois does the responsible thing and takes a Lyft to her gal's night out with Lana, so she won't drink & drive.

Apparently Smallville's big enough to have Lyfts!

• Lois meets Lana at a bar for drinks, where they drown their collective sorrows. Now there's a dangerous combination for Clark— his wife and his ex together!

It's a fun character-development scene, but it definitely didn't pass the Bechdel Test, as the two of them do nothing but talk about their respective husbands the whole time. 

• Subtlety, thy name is Superman & Lois! 

When Superman chats with General Lane at the DOD, there's a large, very obvious American flag in the background between the two men.

I'm assuming this was placed there as a not-so-subtle commentary on how both men see their jobs. Superman is under no obligation to save the world, but does so because it's the right thing to do. 

Lane's motivation is somewhat similar, except he's far more extreme. Due to his military background, he sees his service as a sacred honor and duty.

• The DOD gets a hit on Killgrave at Glenmorgan Square. Superman rushes to the scene, where he finds a long armed thug waiting for him

Oddly enough, in the long shot we can clearly see eight or ten regular, everyday citizens hanging out in this square after dark— while an armed psychopath nervously paces back & forth. So no one noticed him standing twenty feet away?

Then once Killgrave arrives, he starts blasting away at Supes with a high-tech sonic weapon. For no good reason, these people all nonchalantly stand and watch the spectacle unfold. Did it never occur to any of them to maybe run away from the supervillain who's powerful enough to fell Superman?

• Killgrave's sonic weapon is so powerful it causes Superman's ears and surrounding flesh to begin glowing red hot. Not sure how that would happen, but whatever. Admittedly it looked cool (as well as painful!).

Hopefully this weapon is somehow exclusively keyed to Superman's ears or sonic frequency or something. Because if it's not and ANYONE can hear it, then all those people standing around watching him get attacked are gonna have a really bad day!

• Tag's clearly suffering from "Jittery Modern Horror Movie Spasm Syndrome," a condition that first popped up in 1990's Jacob's Ladder. It's characterized by rapid fire head movements and vibrating body parts.

• So Tag knows the Kent family's secret now, right? 

Once he starts "glitching," he runs from the party into a nearby woods. Jonathan & Jordan follow, and when they see the state their friend's in, they very loudly say:

Jordan: "I think I did this to him."
Jonathan: "What? What are you talking about?"
Jordan: "The bonfire, the party. I think my heat vision caused an explosion and it affected him somehow."

Jonathan: "Okay, well, look, you can run that theory past Bill Nye later, all right? Right now, we need Dad, Jordan."

Jordan: "Remember what Grandpa said? Dad’s too busy saving the world."

Additionally, right after Tag knocks out Jordan, Jonathan yells "Dad" into the ELT several times before Superman swoops in to save the day.

Note that Tag's standing less than twenty feet away during all these outbursts. There's no way he didn't hear them, and it's inevitable that he's gonna figure out that Jordan has superpowers and Clark's really Superman.

On the other hand, Tag was a little busy spasming out during his attack, so maybe he wasn't paying attention to anything that was being said. Stay tuned to future episodes to find out if he realizes the truth.

• Once Jordan's knocked out, Jonathan realizes he's in over his head and signals his Dad with the ELT.

I'm still trying to figure out just what ELT stands for. I even went to the trusty Arrowverse Wiki site, but wasn't any help. I assume the E probably stands for "emergency," but that's as far as I can get. Emergency Lois Transmitter, maybe?

• After hearing Jonathan's ELT signal, Superman zooms to the scene. He grabs the glitching Tag and flies him into the upper atmosphere, where he passes out in the rarified air. He then pauses for a moment to strike a dramatic pose before rushing Tag to a hospital.

Maybe I'm reaching again, but that shot reminded me a LOT of the cover of 1986's Crisis On Infinite Earths #7— in which we see Superman holding the lifeless body of Supergirl. Coincidence, or deliberate homage?

• In the wrap up, General Lane gives the boys an update on Tag's condition.

Jordan: "Did they say I did this to him?"

Lane: "I had a team analyze that cell phone footage. Your heat vision caused a blast, but there was another material present… a yellow phosphorescence. We think that may have triggered the boy’s meta-human development."

Phew! I was afraid they'd come up with a stupid explanation for Tag's powers!

The adults try to convince Jordan he didn't give Tag his destructive powers, as he got them from an unknown chemical substance. But that doesn't change the fact that Jordan's heat vision atomized the chemical. Meaning that he DID cause Tag's powers to develop after all!

Ah, but there's more to Tag's situation:

Lois: "What your grandpa’s trying to say is that he’s gonna go to a special school for kids with these sorts of abilities."
Jonathan: "Wait, there’s a special school for kids with powers? That’s pretty cool."
Jordan: "No, it’s not. How many of these kids are there?"
Lane: "That’s classified."

OK, I know this is the Arrowverse, but when I heard this line I couldn't help but think of the X-Men, and Professor Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters from the Marvel Comics and movies!

Actually it's not an MCU shoutout at all, as I think it's a reference to Black Lightning. Over on that series, the ASA (American Security Agency) conducted experiments to create metahuman children, for the purpose of weaponizing them. Long story short, Black Lightning exposed the ASA, causing a Congressional committee to shut them down. The metahuman kids were then placed in a special school which would cater to their needs and teach them to use their special abilities.

If the school Lois is talking about is the one from Black Lightning, then it's one of the few (maybe the first) mentions of any of the other Arrowverse shows on this series, and proof that Superman & Lois isn't taking place on its own special Earth.

• Stung by Lois' comment that she feels neglected, Clark sets up a lavish date night for the two of them in the barn. Of course seconds later they're interrupted by a Superman call. Lois tells him it's OK, and he zooms off. As he does so, his backdraft extinguishes several candles.

I'm probably reading wayyyyyyyy too much into this, but... was this scene a metaphor for Clark & Lois' relationship? Do the candles Clark inadvertently blew out represent one more broken promise to Lois, as her love for him fades a bit? Is this scene a subtle hint of an upcoming "Marriage On The Rocks" storyline?

Or is a cigar sometimes just a cigar, and the candles went out because Superman moves fast?

• Back in Heritage, Luthor handed General Lane a dog tag that read either "HELL" or "7734," depending on which way it was held.

I noted that the 7734 thing is actually a comic book reference. In the Superman comics, General Lane founded Project 7734— a team of operatives devoted to protecting Earth from rogue Kryptonians who threatened the planet. The team consisted of Doomsday, Metallo and Reactron. I wondered if we'd eventually see something similar here on the show?

Welp, turns out the answer is yes! At the end of the episode, General Lane's upset that Superman wants to live a normal life instead of devoting every waking second to saving the world. Feeling that Superman might actually turn on him, Lane initiates Project 7734— just like he did in the comics!

It's doubtful the Project will be just like the comic version, as so far there's no Doomsday, Metallo or Reactron on this show. But I assume it's still meant to combat and protect against a rogue Superman.

• In the tag scene we finally find out why Edge has such a keen interest in Smallville's old Shuster Mine— the thing's lousy with deposits of X-Kryptonite. When Edge finds it, he chortles, "We now own the rights to this land, which holds enough X-Kryptonite to resurrect an army!"

So what's X-Kryptonite, you ask? It first appeared way back in 1960's Action Comics #261, in which Supergirl accidentally created the substance. It had the ability to temporarily give Superman-like powers to non-Kryptonians. I assume the live action version seen here does the same.

So how does Edge know about X-Kryptonite and what it can do? That's a good question. One I hope will be answered in a future episode.

• So Edge finds a cache of X-Kryptonite, which he plans on using to create his own superpowered army. When Leslie points out he'll have to find enough willing candidates, Edge says, "Oh, I'm not concerned. As you know, I have an eye for talent." Note that edge does everything but turn to the camera and wink as he says his line. 

So earlier in the episode, Edge aggressively hit on Lana, implying that he recognizes raw talent when he sees it. Was that just a coincidence, or are these two scenes connected? He... he's not planning on giving Lana superpowers, is he? I certainly hope not, as that would be the stupidest plot development possible!