Superman & Lois review: “Through the Valley of Death”

Superman & Lois returns after a three-week hiatus as Superman tries to break free of Morgan Edge’s control and return to his family.

Superman & Lois returns after a three-week hiatus, and it did not disappoint. Without wasting a single minute, the series jumps right into the aftermath of Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) falling into the hands of Morgan Edge, aka his evil brother, Tal-Rho (Adam Rayner).

In order to protect his family, Superman made the ultimate sacrifice and handed himself over to Edge, who has plans to create the ultimate army of evil Supermen. This is precisely what John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) was afraid of, and why he came to this Earth hoping to kill Superman. Of course, this world’s Superman is anything but evil, but with some intense mind control via the Eradicator, Edge can make it happen.

Hoechlin stands out in this week’s episode as Superman grapples between good and evil. It looked like a tough performance to pull off , but he did it with *ahem* flying colors.

As Superman shifts towards the dark side, Lois (Bitsie Tulloch) looked to John Henry Irons, whom Clark had asked Lois to contact in case of emergency. Funny how we thought he’d be the villain of the season and he’s anything but.

Let’s get into the details. Beware SPOILERS ahead!

Superman & Lois without Superman

With Superman captured by Edge, the Kent family is in disarray. Lois, Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) have no idea where Clark has gone, and the simple fact that Superman is missing is enough to send them into a downwards spiral.

Lois’ father, General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh), tries to comfort his daughter during this trying time while the boys try to figure out a game plan to find their father. Jordan is hopeful that he can rely on his super-hearing to track Clark, but he’s not entirely confident he can pull it off again. But if it means finding his father, he’s willing to push his limits and try.

Meanwhile, back at Edge’s Fortress of Solitude, we see Superman being subjected to cycles of torture that involve implanting a Kryptonian consciousness inside his head. He’s fights as hard as he can to resist the process. Clark is a fundamentally good person, which is why he can resist Edge’s efforts and maybe foil his plans. But when we learn that Edge is hoping his half-brother’s mind is taken over by General Zod, it changes everything.

When all odds are against him, Superman continues to relentlessly fight against the control of the Eradicator and flies away for a brief moment. But he’s too weak to make it very far, so he cries out to Jordan hoping his super son can catch the sound of his voice. And he does!

Operation Find Superman

Jordan tracks down Superman, but Edge finds him first, and gives Jordan a frightening warning. He knows he’s listening in, so Edge makes sure to say that Superman will no longer be Superman once they find him. He will be someone else, something else.

Jordan and Jonathan rush to tell Lois what Jordan has learned. When they arrive, however, they find that John Henry Irons is already there to help. He’s coordinating with General Lane on how they can stop Superman. Wait, what? Stop Superman? You mean, stop Edge?

It appears the focus is more on making sure Superman’s evil persona doesn’t wreak havoc on the world rather than helping to save him from Edge’s clutches. And as it turns out, General Lane has a whole barrage of Kryptonite-based weapons that he could use to kill/stop Superman. Bro, that’s your son-in-law!

According to Irons, there is only one thing that can stop evil Superman: a red solar missile that only he can design. But he needs some technology from A.R.G.U.S. to recreate it. Enter John Diggle.

Operation Save Superman (sort of)

Lois isn’t on aboard with her father’s plan and thinks there’s another way to go about this. However, John feels that if Superman asked Lois to reach out to him for help, it means that he wanted John to put an end to him…permanently. I just think John really wants to kill a Superman so he’ll accept any excuse to do it.

John Diggle stops by (hello, David Ramsey) to bring the tech from A.R.G.U.S., unaware that it’s going to be used to build a weapon that will bring down Superman. Once he talks to Lois, they realize what is going on and attempt to stop it.

Papa Lane and John aren’t willing to listen, so Lois takes matters into her own hands by talking to Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez). If anyone can understand what being taken over by a Kryptonian consciousness feels like, it’s Kyle. He shares that a person does have some control over the situation and can fight back if they have the will.

Lois is hopeful John will listen to her when she provides him with this new information. She also tells John that Superman is actually Clark Kent, hoping that John will realize that he’s not just a superhero to Lois, but her husband and the father of her children. Sorry not sorry, John doesn’t budge on his decision at all.

A son’s desperate plea

Where Diggle and Lois failed, Jonathan manages to succeed. He’s seen the footage of John’s homeworld and the evil Superman murdering Lois Lane, and he’s even seen John’s daughter. He knows John is a father first and foremost, and he uses that to appeal to his better nature.

Clark is an amazing father too, and he deserves to live. John is resistant at first, but ends up listening to Jonathan when he says there is always another way to do things. Is it me or are the kids on Superman & Lois incredibly wise? Sure, they whine a lot, but they’re dropping truth bombs and knowledge left and right.

His intentions changed, John heads off to find Superman, who by now has been taken over by Zod. Once again, Hoechlin does an incredible job honing in on the villainous side of this Superman. A battle commences and continues until John knocks Superman down and manages to get Clark to resurface for a moment.

Clark begs John to kill him, which is exactly what John said would happen, but instead of firing the solar missile at him, John stands down. It looks like Lois and Jonathan’s words had an impact on the guy!

Fight, Superman, Fight!

Instead of attacking, John pushes Clark to fight against the other consciousness and use his strength to get back to his family. Using memories of them, Clark finally pushes Zod right out, freeing him from the shackles of mind control once and for all.

Together, he and John fight Edge, who per his holographic father’s instructions takes the Eradicator and flies away. He keeps going right up into space with John and Superman on his tail. Irons uses the missile to stop Edge and destroy the Eradicator.

Mission accomplished, Edge captured. All is great, right?

The family gathers together to celebrate Clark’s return and to thank John for his help. John exits the family reunion and while all seems well, it isn’t.

At the Department of Defense, where Edge is being held in a Kryptonite-powered cell, we learn that he still has control over his powers. When he tries to use his heat vision on the Eradicator before John tried to blow it up, it seems he transferred it into himself.

This can only spell trouble for Superman and the Kent family. In fact, I dare to say the madness has only just begun.

Superman & Lois does it again in a solid episode filled with action, excitement and a lot of plot development. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: it’s the best superhero show on The CW. Everything about it is just so much better than the other series, and I love where the story is going in this first season.

Superman & Lois is rapidly nearing the end of its freshman season and a lot is still at stake. Will Edge succeed in his mission to take down Superman? And will John Henry Irons ever return? Tune in to find out!

Grade: B+

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