Superman & Lois review: “Loyal Subjekts”

Superman & Lois gives fans exactly what we’ve been hoping and waiting for: Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois (Bitsie Tulloch) teaming up. Sure, they’re always working together, but with Clark taking a break from football coaching, he’s able to help Lois out lending a hand with the Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner) mystery, which takes a drastic turn this week.

With each passing week, the Kent family dynamic continues to solidify and I’m loving every second of it. Watching Jordan (Alex Garfin) get more and more comfortable with his superpowers has been a treat. But the real MVP of the Kent family is Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) who has really stepped up to the plate despite all the changes in his life.

That newfound maturity has brought him very close with Lois, since neither of them have powers. Add in the villain roaming about Smallville converting people into Kryptonians and you have an episode with a lot of layers. Let’s get into it.

Is Superman losing his powers?

Not exactly. During Superman’s confrontation with John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) in last week’s episode, he was exposed to a synthetic Kryptonite gas. This week, Superman realizes he’s still dealing with the side effects of the gas when he flies off to Mexico to stop a robbery from happening.

At first, the bullets hitting him aren’t don’t cause any harm, as per usual, but after repeated shots, he starts to waver and get weak. It’s completely unexpected, he is knocked out. Luckily, he’s still Superman and manages to get up and save the day. But something is definitely off, and we can all point the finger at General Lane (Dylan Walsh), Superman’s father-in-law. He failed to mention that he had a barrage of Kryptonite weapons at his disposal for a “just in case” situation.

While Superman recovers quickly, it turns out the effects of the gas transfer over to Jordan, who is way sicker than his dad. In fact, at school, he’s sneezing out literal shards of frozen ice and comes down with a flu that shows no signs of improving.

Lois is pissed at General Lane for endangering the lives of her family members. It seems like it’s game over between father and daughter, at least for now. Side note: I’ve loved seeing Tulloch display Lois’ angry and defensive side over the last couple of episodes of Superman & Lois. She’s a protective mama bear and there is no way anyone is going to mess with her family, even if that someone is her dad. Tulloch has done a wonderful job of showing a different side of Lois that we’ve never quite seen before.

Jordan and Sarah

Jordan realizes something is really wrong with him when he sneezes out ice while helping Sarah (Inde Navarrette) prepare for the school talent show. And to think, they both seemed to be catching feelings! Can’t Jordan ever catch a break?

Jordan has no choice but to call on his father as his condition worsens. By the time they get home, his lungs have begun to freeze as well, so instead of waiting for General Lane to provide an antidote, Clark takes Jordan to the Fortress of Solitude.

The A.I. Jor-El reveals that the only way to help Jordan is by burning the Kryptonite out of him. It’s something that Clark has had to do many times before, but watching Jordan get bombarded with laser beams is frightening.

Garfin’s acting has really improved over the course of Superman & Lois, and I think we got to see some of his best work this week. Having to pretend scream like that can’t be easy, but he did it convincingly!

Lois takes on Morgan Edge

Meanwhile, Lois looks further into Morgan Edge and it’s more intriguing than I thought it would be. Now that Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui) is helping Lois out, everything about this story is more exciting.

Morgan Edge puts out a new ad for Edge Enercorp, seeking more participants for the leadership program Lana is running. Lois is livid and confronts Morgan to call him out. She knows his endgame and is aware that he is transferring the consciousness of Kryptonians into human hosts via X-Kryptonite.

He obviously denies it but immediately takes action against Lois, activating a handful of his pseudo-Kryptonians to go and kill her at the Kent farm. Lois and Jonathan are attacked by Edge’s goons, but luckily General Lane swoops in to save them with the Kryptonite gas.

Jonathan and Lois make a run for it, and unbeknownst to Lois, Jonathan pulls out John Henry Irons’ guns that he took from the RV and shoots them at the Kryptonians. In an unexpected plot twist, Kyle (Erik Valdez) shows up and reveals that he too is a victim of Morgan Edge’s designs.

Superman arrives in the nick of time and saves his family, but the attackers have already escaped by then. This includes Kyle, who returns home confused and lost, which confirms to Lana that Morgan Edge got to her dear husband as well.

Clearly, there is way more than meets the eye when it comes to Edge’s plan. With the help of her editor, Lois realizes that Edge is in Smallville for a very specific reason. All the town’s residents have been exposed to X-Kryptonite for years, which makes it easier to convert them.

The truth about Morgan Edge

The episode ends on a very fun cliffhanger after Superman meets up with Edge in a desert. When Superman arrives, we see Edge wearing a black suit…a black Kryptonian suit that is. He didn’t turn himself into one, however, because’s he a real Kryptonian who came to Earth at the same time as Kal-El.

And if that isn’t interesting enough, Edge reveals that’s he’s Superman’s brother! This just became a family affair, for reals.

Superman & Lois gave us an epic episode this week. I’m enjoying the Morgan Edge/X-Kryptonite arc, and now that his true identity has been revealed, things are going to get very, very interesting.

Rayner’s addition to the cast as a secondary character is welcome; he plays the villain so well. I’m excited to see how the rest of the season plays out and how Superman will deal with the reveal that Edge is actually his brother.

Grade: A-

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