TV Review: Superman and Lois Season 1 Finale

Superman and Lois Season 1 Episode 15 “Last Sons of Krypton”

Director: Tom Cavanagh

Starring: Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabet Lulloch, Jordan Elsass, Alex Garfin, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Michele Scarabelli, Fred Henderson

Rating: TV-PG

Spoilers follow:

Like Clark Kent himself, Superman and Lois is constantly working to balance the two sides of its identity, those being the superhero blockbuster and the family drama.  Several episodes, especially the earlier ones, tended to focus more on one of these sides than the other but the best installments (which upon my first viewing of the season I would say are the pilot, “Broken Trust”, “Holding the Wrench”, and “A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events”) manage to present both at once.  “Last Sons of Krypton”, the first season finale, isn’t quite as good as any of those but it also manages to synthesize the distinct identities, presenting impressive spectacle that packs significant emotional impact thanks to how well developed the cast has been over these fifteen episodes, even if some smaller storylines come to rushed conclusions due to the show’s insistence on delivering an upbeat ending.

The penultimate episode ended in pretty much the most dire way possible, with Morgan Edge/Tal-Rho (Adam Rayner), Clark’s half-brother, abducting Jordan (but not before he told Sarah he loves her!) and using his Eradicator powers to transfer the mind of his ruthlessly evil father, Zeta-Rho (A.C. Peterson), into his nephew.  When we pick back up Clark, Lois, and John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) are searching desperately for Jordan, with the former eventually screaming his son’s name from orbit, which Jordan responds to.  Unaware his son is possessed, Clark flies down to save him, finding him beside some kind of lake of lava, which doesn’t wind up being significant (but does add to the aesthetic.)  Zeta-Rho attacks Clark, although Jordan does occasionally exert enough willpower to wrest control back, if only for seconds at a time.  I was a bit concerned how Alex Garfin could believably be made to look like any kind of physical threat to Tyler Hoechlin but the visual effects artists once again knock it out of the park.  Zeta’s blows appear sufficiently powerful and the fact that we know Clark doesn’t want to hurt his son adds an extra degree of intensity to the fight (that said, Peterson’s voice coming out of Garfin is still kind of goofy).  Plus there’s a shot of Zeta dragging Clark across the lava that’s just really cool.  While his father keeps Superman occupied Tal-Rho returns to Smallville, imbuing six DOD soldiers with the consciousnesses of the Kryptonian Defense Council, who then leave with him.  Tal begins combining his Eradicator powers with the X-Kryptonite in the Shuster mines to launch his and his fathers’ final attack.

Although reluctant to let his family get directly involved, Clark eventually agrees with Lois that he needs her and Jon’s help.  The two of them prepare to try to free Jordan, with Lois hoping that her experience helping him deal with his anxiety will help her do so while Clark and John Henry, who has tricked out his hammer with as much red solar power as he can muster, take care of Tal and the Defense Council.  During a brief fight Clark and John Henry manage to incapacitate Zeta/Jordan long enough for the latter to fly him back to Lois and Jon.  Lois uses the memory machine Zeta and Tal used on Clark to enter Jordan’s mind to try and free him while Jon stands guard armed with one of John Henry’s hi-tech guns.  Lois finds Jordan in a mental projection of his room, terrified as Zeta continues to take more and more control over him.  As Lois reassures him that he can fight through this Zeta gets his body loose in the physical world and attacks Jon, who also pleads with his brother to come back.  Jordan eventually does get free, of course, and while the moment he does is heartwarming thanks to Bitsie Tulloch, Alex Garfin, and Jordan Elsass it does feel like it comes about a bit easily.  I like that the series brought back the focus on Jordan’s struggle with mental health but that story had been largely absent for so long that his success here wasn’t as rewarding as it could have been if his anxiety played a larger role in the entire season.

Meanwhile Clark and John Henry battle the Defense Council while Tal juices up with X-Kryptonite from the mines, using this and his Eradicator powers to implant Kryptonian minds into humans on a large scale, essentially making Earth a new Krypton.  Tal’s increased powers results in widespread damage, including explosive energy blasts causing chaos in Smallville.  John Henry throws his supercharged hammer at Tal from space, neutralizing his Eradicator powers, although Tal survives, saying that he only wanted a family before he’s presumably taken captive.  Clark and John Henry definitely cut through the Defense Council quicker than expected, which undercut the threat they posed somewhat, but all the sci-fi/action elements of the series have been so well thought out to this point that I think one moment in which the message is essentially “he’s Superman, he’s with Steel, they’re badass, let’s move on,” has been earned.  Plus there is the fact that the Defense Council don’t have the experience using the powers they get on Earth that Clark does, though this goes unremarked on.

While the conflicts are ended a bit easier than expected, the show still manages to get sufficient tension out of them.  The most tense moments come when both Kyle and John Henry came close to sacrificing themselves.  Kyle selflessly rushes into a burning building, without any equipment, to save a woman trapped inside.  John Henry’s suit runs out of power and he plummets to Earth before being caught by Clark.  It’s a testament to how suitably dramatic the episode was that I genuinely believed both of them could die, even if Kyle always seemed more at risk due to not being a famous comic book superhero.  The choice to have them both survive is certainly a safe one (the whole finale generally plays most everything on the safe side) but everyone’s been through enough suitably heavy development this year that the first season didn’t need such a major death to have sufficient weight (and the fact that I or anyone else actually cared whether or not Kyle died highlights how the show has made him a more sympathetic character lately.)  Plus not everyone made it out, as the lovely little funeral the Kent family has for the Jor-El AI from the Fortress (which Tal destroyed a few weeks ago), reminds us.  This features some especially touching work from Tyler Hoechlin, as Clark remarks that of all the things Jor-El did for him, the best was just being his dad.

A lot of the supporting character arcs are wrapped up in quick succession during another town barbecue at the Cushings, which is part of the reason some of them feel a bit rushed.  Kyle gets his job back after proving his heroism to the town and Lois uses her severance money from the Daily Planet to invest in the Gazette so she and Chrissy (Sofia Hasmik), can run it as business partners.  Having both of these job-related stories get happy resolutions out of nowhere was definitely forced but they weren’t ever the most promising plots so it’s not a big deal and again it all goes to giving the episode a feel-good vibe, which is enjoyable.  This is Superman, after all.  We don’t necessarily need financial realism from it.  More potentially problematic is Sam Lane’s decision to retire from the DOD to be more present for Lois and the rest of his family.  Sam’s had a nice arc in the last few episodes that’s highlighted how he needs to reappraise his priorities but jumping from that to completely ending his military career is drastic and could create more issues for the show in the future.  First off, the Arrowverse has a recurring problem of supporting characters becoming directionless after they move away from their original purpose, so that’s a risk.  In addition, this means that someone else will be taking over the DOD, who inevitably won’t be as close with Clark as his father-in-law, which will most likely lead to tension between Clark and the government, which is a bit too common a theme in Superman media lately.  Still, the show’s earned enough goodwill from me for me to look optimistically to these characters’ futures despite these concerns. 

The boys’ stories for the year finish by setting up their romantic futures.  A scene at the barbecue suggests that Jon is going to try to build a genuine relationship with Tegan (Kayla Heller), despite the rocky start they got off to.  After asking Jon why Tal would take Jordan, which he avoids answering, in the kidnapping’s immediate aftermath, Sarah puts this concern aside, and when Jordan assures her that his declaration of love was genuine she tells him that she loves him too.  That said, it definitely seems like Sarah will be the first of the Cushing family to find out about the Kents’ super secrets, unless Lana’s suspicions were raised by working closely with Superman.

Lois and John Henry’s stories come to the strongest finishes.  Although John Henry received an offer to take over the DOD, he plans on leaving Smallville to start building a new life, explaining to Lois that he sees now that she and her doppelganger are truly different people who just look exactly alike and that being around her is too painful.  Lois states that she just wants him to be happy and they say their farewells, with Tulloch and Wolé Parks doing great work together as usual.  But as John Henry is packing to leave the Kent farm a ship crashes onto the property, out of which steps his daughter, Natalie (Tayler Buck).  John Henry embraces her, with Parks delivering the perfect mix of heartbreak and joy.  The Kents look on, completely stunned, especially Lois and Tulloch’s eyes say it all, capturing the profoundly confusing assortment of emotions stirred up by a stunned Natalie calling her mom.  This twist wasn’t entirely unexpected, as we never actually saw Natalie’s death, or the supposed destruction of her and John Henry’s Earth, but it’s still an exciting hook to set up the next season, promising strong development for both Lois and John Henry.  Hopefully it leads to some exploration of Clark’s feelings about his and Lois’ miscarriage and more world building about the other Earth as well.

It may be safe, but overall “Last Sons of Krypton” is a compelling and satisfying end to Superman and Lois‘ delightful first season.  This series has done a great job of modernizing the Superman mythos in a way that stays true to the essence of the characters and the ever present theme of family ensures that there is genuinely emotional substance blended into the comic book shenanigans.  It’s not just a great superhero show, it’s great television in general and I can’t wait to see what it has in store for the future.

Notes:

• Lois sets Chrissy up with an interview with “Superman” to debrief the town on all the craziness that’s been going on.  Charmingly humble as ever, Clark asserts that the people of Smallville were the real heroes, reassuring them that things will look up.
• The identity of Tegan’s father, who is in prison in Central City, is left unknown for now.  I can’t tell if that bit of backstory is really setting up a Flash crossover or if it’s just a small acknowledgement of the wider Arrowverse, like David Ramsey’s cameo as Diggle.
• Speaking of crossover potential, as great as the twist about Parks playing John Henry, not Lex Luthor, was, can we please get Jon Cryer to reprise his Supergirl role either as Earth-Prime’s Lex or the version from John Henry’s Earth?