SUPERMAN & LOIS 1×07 “Man of Steel” Review

Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch who return as the titular characters. They will, in turn, be joined by Emmanuelle Chriqui as Clark’s ex-girlfriend, Lana Lang, Erik Valdez as Lana’s husband, Kyle Cushing. Dylan Walsh will portray Lois’ father, General Sam Lane. Jordan Elsass and Alexander Garfin also co-star in the series as Superman and Lois’ sons, Jonathan and Jordan Kent.

Synopsis

Clark struggles to help Jordan who is grappling with a new power. Meanwhile, Lois enlists Clark’s help which leads to a surprise encounter.  Arrow’s DAVID RAMSEY directs.

Review

Wow, this show continues to blindside us!  Much like the character of Superman himself, this show continues to rise higher and higher. Far beyond any of the other so-called Arrowverse shows have been able to achieve in the past 8-9 years. 

This was very much an ‘Alt Lex’ episode where we finally get some answers as to his origins and what happened in his universe before he found himself on Earth Prime. So despite his AI system calling him by his title of Captain Luthor, he is actually someone completely different. 

Throughout the episode we see glimpses of his past where he was married to his universes Lois Lane, they had a daughter and lived a normal life until one day his Superman along with other Kryptonians raged war with the human race.  JHI and his family went into hiding and began working on a power suit capable of killing the Kryptonians and stopping their reign of terror.  This was to be used by his universe’s Lex Luthor who we never actually see. Everything changes however when Lois goes on live TV to announce their weakness of Kryptonite to help give humans a chance against their enemy, an evil Superman appears behind her and kills her on live TV to the horror of JHI and their daughter.  
Now what led to him using the suit himself and ultimately ending up on Earth Prime is still unknown but we now know his drive and desire to stop Superman and this potential future from ever happening.

On the other side of the episode we have Jordan dealing with his Super Hearing and the agony it causes him.  Clark tries to teach him to hone the skills but it is proving much more difficult to handle so he is forced to stay off from school until he can.
The slow development of his Kryptonian powers has been quite a highlight for me personally.  In Smallville when Clark developed new powers he quickly adapted to them with only minor issues, however Jordan struggles in a more ‘realistic’ sort of way and is rightfully scared of the powers he is gaining. 

When the story comes together in the final moments as the main highlight of the week, the truth is revealed to Clark that the mysterious ‘Marcus’ was in fact the mysterious stranger who attacked him in the start of the show. To then blindside us with the reveal that he is John Henry Irons who in the comics goes by the name Steel (the episode title was a minor giveaway we all clearly missed).  Using a mix of power draining red solar flares and his new enhanced hammer he manages to get the edge over Supes’ but just in the nick of time the Super sons smash through with their dads pick up and send Steel flying, ultimately saving their Dad, quickly followed by Lois.  

Gotta love it when a family comes together to help each other out right?

Where this leaves Steel now in the hands of the DOD remains to be seen but I’m very much looking forward to where this eventually leads.  Will the finale have him working with the DOD and teaming up with Superman and his family against the knock off Kryptonians that Morgan Edge is creating?

Verdict

I say it with each review and I mean every word, Superman and Lois is by far the best Superhero TV show on television at the moment and the strongest show in the Arrowverse lineup since its first creation back in 2012.  It took me and many others by surprise with the Captain Luthor / Steel twist and gave us more touching moments between the Kent/Lane family.

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