Superman & Lois season 2 premiere review: “What Lies Beneath”

Superman & Lois is back folks, and it has not skipped a beat! The season 2 premiere is jam-packed with everything we could have asked for: drama, tears, action, and a return to the Kent family that we all love and adore…although things aren’t exactly flowers and butterflies for them at the top here.

When we last saw Lois (Bitsie Tulloch), Clark (Tyler Hoechlin), Jordan (Alex Garfin), and Jonathan (Jordan Elsass), they were contending with the arrival of John Henry Irons’ (Wolé Parks) daughter, Natalie (Tayler Buck). Her arrival results in an awkward interaction when she mistakes Lois for her mom when in reality, the Lois from her Earth is dead.

It’s a bit traumatizing for everyone, especially Natalie, who thought she managed to survive the multiverse collapsing and find her mother and father. Lois is not herself after this encounter, and the premiere episode spends a lot of time on her trying to reckon with these feelings.

There are plenty of things going on in other parts of Smallville during the season 2 premiere, and we’ll catch you up on all of them in our review! SPOILERS ahead!

Superman & Lois face family problems

We time jump three months into the future where we find Lois distanced, angry, and bitter. It’s strange, because she is usually the voice of reason and the person who keeps everyone together. But it appears that whatever happened the day she met Natalie really rattled her, and now she’s taking it all out on her family.

Clark is doing the best he can, but he is Superman and has things to do and people to save. It’s tough seeing this side of Lois and Clark because they usually present such a united front. On the other hand, their real-life problems are what makes Superman & Lois such a special series.

Throughout the episode we see Lois struggle and snap at everyone around her. It starts at home with the boys and Clark and then carries into her work at the Smallville Gazette, where she’s supposed to be running things with Chrissy (Sofia Hasmik). That isn’t going as well as they’d hoped, and Chrissy is clearly getting frustrated.

Will Lois get over this hump? Tune in to find out.

Superman doing Superman things

Meanwhile, Clark must attend to his Superman duties, which this week includes saving a bunch of people in a submarine many continents away. At the time he rescues these folks, Clark doesn’t  know who they are. He soon finds out from a very annoyed Lieutenant Mitch Anderson (Ian Bohen), who says the submarine Superman saved was actually North Korean. Lt. Anderson asks, or rather demands, that Superman pledge his loyalty to America and America alone, and leave the rest of the world to fend for themselves.

That isn’t really Superman’s style. Saving people is what he does, and the command of Lieutenant isn’t going to rattle him. He’s Superman, after all!

Naturally, this defiance comes back to bite Superman in the butt later. Random earthquakes began happening all over Smallville, and when Superman tries to figure out the source of the problem deep within the mines, he finds himself weakened. I don’t know if it’s Kryptonite or something else, but this also happened to him when he saved the submarine. His face lights up and he falls down in pain, so there is definitely something strange afoot.

While we’re on the topic of strange, while down in the mines, Superman believes he sees two individuals with the Superman logo on their chest. Thanks to his super hearing, he links it back to Lt. Anderson. Apparently, Superman’s refusal to devote himself to America led the Lt. to start a “Superman of America” program where people are trained to do what Superman does.

Um, that’s so not okay.

This is not going to end up well for anyone. And side note, does Lt. Anderson not realize that the iconic Superman “S” belongs to the original Man of Steel and him alone?!

Natalie and John

In the three months since she arrived on this Earth, Natalie is not doing well. She hates it there, she learned that this Lois is not her mother, and she harbors a lot of resentment towards her father for all of it.

Teens have dealt with less and acted worse so I don’t blame Natalie. John is doing the best he can by putting her into school in Metropolis, but nothing is really helping him get through to his daughter.

Lois isn’t initially ready to help either because she’s sorting through her own feelings, so it’s all just a big emotional rollercoaster. I’ve said this time and time again, but the human element of Superman & Lois is done so incredibly well. We get the action and villains, but we also get to see how someone could potentially deal with a bizarre life like this. It’s fictional but the emotions and feelings are not. I love that about this show so much!

Luckily, by episode’s end, Lois has an epiphany and realizes why she’s been feeling so distanced and upset. She confides in Clark and tells him that the first time she saw Natalie, she felt zero emotion and she knows that Natalie felt it too.

Lois can’t stop beating herself up for not comforting Natalie, and for realizing that this is exactly how her mother must have felt when she left her and Lucy behind. It’s a lot to deal, but at least she’s making progress.

We finally see Lois go and meet John and Natalie, something she had been avoiding over the last few months. Natalie isn’t too excited to see her, but Lois does what she does best and talks to her. She may not be her mother nor would she ever try to be, but Lois does want to be Natalie’s friend and make her a part of her life. It’s a sweet moment between the two, and it’s refreshing to see Lois go back to being the person we love.

And in that spirit, Lois offers John and Natalie a place to stay while they figure out living accommodations in Smallville. They’re going to be sticking around for a bit, and I’m hoping that this brings the family together rather than apart.

The Cushings, Jordan and Jonathan

As far as the Cushing family goes, there are some updates: Sarah (Inde Navarrette) comes back from camp, but she’s acting very weird towards Jordan, which makes me wonder if she met someone else there. I mean, who rejects a date with the guy who lit all these candles in the pond by the bridge? Poor Jordan. He even used his heat vision to light those candles up, but Sarah just asked if they could go home because she “wasn’t feeling well.” Something suspect is going on here, but I’m sure we’ll find out what it is soon enough. But she better not hurt Jordan…or else!

Kyle (Erik Valdez) and Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui) seem like they’re doing better. Lana has been working on a local campaign and spending a lot of time with the candidate, which has Kyle feeling a bit jealous. But worry not, Lana takes *care* of that insecurity really quick.

After a strange date with Sarah, Jordan comes home defeated and a bit down. Unluckily for him, Lois is still in a bad mood, even more so because she caught Jonathan in his room making out with a girl. She keeps pushing Jordan to tell her what happened with Sarah, and when he refuses, she gets angry.

Jonathan isn’t as rattled as he could be by Lois’ wrath, but it makes for a funny moment later when Clark has to come and give the boys “the talk.” I love the father-sons dynamic on this show; it’s always so fun and honest. Parents, take note of Clark Kent’s parenting skills!

…Is that Doomsday?!

I mentioned earthquakes in Smallville earlier in this review, and that something has been affecting Superman. Well, we get a very, very quick glimpse at what could be behind all that.

Very deep in the mines of Smallville, something is shaking and cracking: I believe that would be Doomsday himself! There may have even been a glimpse of a green glove, another clue that it is him.

Superman & Lois just upped the ante with that reveal, and I don’t know what to do with myself, folks!

The Superman & Lois season 2 premiere was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed what they did here; it sets a very strong foundation for the rest of the season. It had the perfect mix of everything and filled us in on what everyone has been up to since season 1 ended.

I’m interested to see where this whole “Superman of America” thing is going. The family dynamics were fantastic, and I’m always here for more of that. Everyone is starting to mature. I want to see more of this, especially when it comes to this new dynamic we have between the boys and Natalie.

There’s a lot more still to come (Doomsday?!), and I can’t wait to see how this season plays out.

Until next week, folks!

Grade: B+

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