Reviewed by: Michael Bailey
Originally Aired: June 6, 2023
WRITTEN BY: Brent Fletcher and Todd Helbing
TELEPLAY BY: Katie Aldrin and George Kitson
DIRECTED BY: Jai Jamison
REGULAR CAST:
Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman)
Bitsie Tulloch (Lois Lane)
Michael Bishop (Jonathan Kent)
Alex Garfin (Jordan Kent)
Emmanuelle Chriqui (Lana Lang Cushing)
Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cushing)
Wolee Parks (John Henry Irons)
Tayler Buck (Natalie Irons)
Erik Valdez (Kyle Cushing)
Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cortez)
Sofia Hasmik (Chrissy Beppo)
GUEST STARS:
Chad L Coleman (Bruno Mannheim)
Daya Vaidya (Peia)
Spence Moore II (Matteo)
Dylan Walsh (General Sam Lane)
Christian Sloan (Elias Orr)
Yvette Lu (Dr. Diana Lincoln)
Agnes Tong (Officer Tina Wahl)
Rating – 4 (out of 5): Once again, I’m giving an episode a four and once again it’s because the pacing was a little wonky. Nothing overt, mind you. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the episode. It just felt slightly… off.
Once again, a slightly… off episode of SUPERMAN & LOIS is still better than the better episodes of most other shows.
Anyway, if this episode did nothing else, it gave me an in-universe example of Clark Kent… Clark freaking Kent… telling John Henry, Lana, and Lois that Bazoombas (the SUPERMAN & LOIS version of Hooters) is known for their wings. An old joke about Hooters… coming out of Clark Kent’s mouth.
I love this show so much.
I wasn’t expecting that the main storyline of Bruno Mannheim and Peia and Matteo to get (more or less) wrapped up in this episode. There were moments that felt like this was the season finale, but I know that we have two more episodes, so it threw me off as a viewer, which I thought was great. The writers have been so good about keeping us guessing that putting the death of Peia in this episode and seeing Bruno surrender and cut a deal for his son makes me wonder what the heck is going to happen next.
I mean… Lex Luthor is going to happen next, but you get the idea.
Peia’s death was heartbreaking and, like everything else regarding cancer in this season, it felt authentic. To be fair, most women who die of cancer don’t have their husband try to cure them with the blood of an alternate reality Superman and that cure doesn’t work and her powers go haywire, but the final moments when Superman was telling her to let go… that felt real. And it made me cry, as did Bruno and Matteo’s reactions to her death.
John Henry came out looking better in this episode. We got to have the cool moment where he comes in and knocks down Bruno’s goons with his hammer, but we also got to see him show compassion towards Bruno, which gave him some redemption from his battle with Henry Miller. Peia may have been a killer and Bruno may have been a crime boss, but during that moment Peia was a mother and a wife that was at the end of her life. It wasn’t the time for a huge fight or to throw accusations at each other and I liked the fact that this is where the show went.
There were other things that I liked about this episode. Jordan getting x-ray vision had echoes of MAN OF STEEL but did its own thing. Kyle and Lana helping Sarah work through her depression was great as well. Kyle overreacting to Chrissy and then apologizing made me smile, as did him low key freaking out over Clark telling him he’s Superman. The cliffhanger ending of Inverse Superman escaping was the icing on the cake.
Two more episodes. I don’t want it to be over, but I can’t wait to get there.
