Reviewed by: Michael Bailey
Originally Aired: November 18, 2024
WRITTEN BY: Brent Fletcher & Todd Helbing
DIRECTED BY: Michael Cudlitz
REGULAR CAST:
Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman)
Bitsie Tulloch (Lois Lane)
Michael Bishop (Jonathan Kent)
Alex Garfin (Jordan Kent)
Michael Cudlitz (Lex Luthor)
GUEST STARS:
Wole Parks (John Henry)
Tayler Buck (Natlie Irons)
Tom Cavanagh (Gordon Godfrey)
Yvonne Chapman (Amanda McCoy)
Nikolai Witschl (Milton)
Samanta Di Francesco (Candice Pergande)
Kelcey Mawema (Denis Olowe)
Benita Ha (Doctor Ko)
Anna Van Hooft (Producer)
David Parent (Tailor)
Daisy Torme (A.I. Device)
Rating – 5 (out of 5): (SPOILER WARNING! THIS REVIEW REVEALS KEY MOMENTS FROM THIS EPISODE OF SUPERMAN AND LOIS)
Despite the big action pieces towards the end this was a quieter episode compared to the rest of the season, and I think it was the smartest move the show could make.
After an episode without Lex (presumably to give Michael Cudlitz time to prepare to direct this episode) Lex returns sans facial hair and rocking some mighty fine threads. I didn’t mind the beard at all. I thought it separated Superman and Lois’s Lex from the other live action versions on a physical level and made this version more of its own thing, but the change in appearance heralded a change in how Lex was going to go about his revenge party, and I absolutely loved it.
It makes perfect sense that a Lex that spent seventeen years in prison would come out angry and that anger manifested in a very physical performance on the part of Cudlitz. Lex was angry. All of his movements were big, even when he was just standing there and staring menacingly at people. Then he got into that fight with Clark and was pretty soundly beaten, which meant a change in approach was necessary, hence the shave and abandoning the “I’m on my way to attend the Sturgis rally” look.
While the debate with Lois was great, it was everything leading up to it that I loved about this episode. The literal suiting up scene. The first interview with Godfrey. The scene where Lex is quietly losing his mind over there not only being people in his space, but those people are absolute slobs, and he probably wanted to murder every single one of them. It all spoke volumes for Lex as a character and you saw all of that in Cudlitz’ physicality. He’s trying to regain control of his life by crushing his enemies and everything around him feels like it is out of his control. It’s only Amanda McCoy that is able to talk him down and, in the end, he managed to do far more damage to Superman and Lois in one interview than in all of his time in Smallville.
It was so Lex Luthor.
The romance between Lex and Amanda is so stilted, but that’s rather the point. This Lex isn’t suave. He’s awkward. The abuse he suffered as a child has left him unable to relate to people on what could be considered a normal level, so him kissing Amanda at the end didn’t feel normal. I liked that. It was more “show, don’t tell” and the best way to handle this part of the plot.
There were a lot of other things to like about this episode. Jon and Jordan dealing with the sudden fame of being outed as Superman’s kids and Jon having to deal with the temporary break up with Candice felt very real and I’m glad the show is dealing with what happened in the previous episode. I absolutely love the “quick changes” that they are doing when it comes to Clark becoming Superman. The shot of him flying through the window and suddenly being in costume looked so great, as did the super speed shot of him catching the brick. John Henry giving Clark the bad news that he will eventually lose his powers and the follow up to that with Clark telling the boys were more examples of how this show excels at humanizing these characters without changing them.
Milton Fine finally appearing was great as well. I was kind of pulling for Tom Cavanaugh to play the character, but he looked like he was having an absolute ball playing Gordon Godfrey, so I got over that quickly. Changing Brainiac from an alien from Colu to a computer genius was a bold move, but like every other change this show has made it work for the universe it is set in. Plus, we got a Gus Gorman reference out of it from Nat, which was my favorite deep cut from the episode.
Two more episodes and everything is flux. Milton is in play. Amanda has made her move. Lex is back on offense, albeit in the form of Machiavellian string pulling and it looks like he’s getting his power armor.
Two more episodes.
I am still not ready.
Like everything else in the show, the suit actually makes its full circle. The suit was actually “borrowed” the from LuthorCorp of his Universe and refitted by John and Natalie. Since the AI originally programmed for Luthor, it can be inferred that Lex had originally designed and built the suit with the intention of taking on Superman at some (only for that Superman, now possessed by General Zod, to kill him). John programs the suit with a profile named “Captain Luthor” and manages to escape and takes on the Superman of this Universe. Now, the suit has been pilfered by… Read more »
Great episode! I love how they dealt with the repercussions of no more secret identity and Clark’s fight with Lex. I didn’t like either of those things when they first happened, but both were used well in this episode. Very well done!