'Superman & Lois' : The CW TV Series

[Frontier]

Seeing Superman in a support group dealing with people who have loved ones with cancer was pretty surreal, yet powerful. It's true that Clark with his invulnerability and alien physiology kind of struggles dealing with human mortality and fighting things that he can't fight as Superman, which puts him in a real bind when it comes to dealing with Lois' cancer.

It's kind of hilarious that the show finally remembers Sophie just in time to do an episode about how she vanishes and thinks no one in her family cares for/remembers her. Or that Jon can relate when he's treated like an afterthought by his family (and the writers). I guess they have a surprising amount to bond over.

RIP Deadline. I'm not sure if he deserved better, but his daughters sure did.

Not often we get an episode focused on Sarah and Jon, but they play off each other quite well.

Well, Kyle and Chrissy keeping their hot and heavy relationship a secret finally blew up in their faces. Lana's not going to let Kyle live that one down.

Lois I think it's less Clark refusing to believe the villain in your life exists and more that he just refuses to believe you might lose...which is very Superman, but sometimes he can be a little too idealistic and optimistic.

Jordan acting so cocksure and like he's ready...I mean, I get it, I just feel like he's setting himself up for screwing up and having to live with that as cocky and daring as he is. He did help his dad but he also got hit too, though he seems to take it in good spirits.

The way the woman kept talking about her husband, I was starting to suspect it was Manheim, but I wasn't expecting Lois' cancer buddy to be Onomatopoeia. So basically Manheim is doing this to save his wife. They're basically an evil counterpart to Superman and Lois.
And I expect both of them to bite it by the end of the season, especially with Lex on the way.

Although she must be an amazing actress to have gone along with Lois so well and keep it on the down low that she is directly involved in the stuff Lois is investigating and not acting at all suspicious, even when softly defending Manheim.

Jordan's suit is...well, it's not the most amazing suit the show has dished out.

Jon went from firehouse scrub to accepted recruit all in a day! It helps that he basically helped the Chief with his daughter.

[Anarchist]

Y'know, Jonathan 2.0 is growing on me. I wasn't convinced at first, but his scene with Soph was pretty sweet!

[Jon Clark]

Y'know, Jonathan 2.0 is growing on me. I wasn't convinced at first, but his scene with Soph was pretty sweet!

If I didn't keep getting the cheap soap trope that Jon will wind up the third point on a triangle with Jordan/Sarah, those scenes would be great. Love the idea of Jon becoming a "big brother" to Sophie since both of them have siblings with too much stuff going on.

[j9ac9k]

- While realistic, Beppo lying to Lana while performing her duty as a journalist, reminds me of how she gave Lois a hard time before. It's good they didn't drag out them being a secret, but Beppo dropped the ball as a journalist of integrity while Kyle dropped the ball as a father.
- My initial theory was that Onomatopoeia was Manheim's daughter suffering from an illness (similar to MCU's Ghost and Bill Foster), so when whatstername asked Lois out to lunch I figured it was her. But she's the wife, not a daughter. I'll give myself hald a credit for that one.
- I hope this isn't a case of the writers intentionally making a character less intelligent than they should be to pay off something later, but Jordan's training seemed to just be about fighting. With the flood situation and Clark's "there are things worse than being hurt" I imagined the "worse thing" is making a mistake because of inexperience and someone else being seriously injured or killed. His training should involve knowing how to properly weld things with his heat vision, or how to properly break into a building without collapsing it on people, or how fast to fly when carrying an injured person, etc. Real practical, emergency response stuff. If they show Jordan screw up and hurt someone now without showing Clark training him at all on those situations just to "surprise us" that the real lesson is about how your mistakes can hurt others, then I will be disappointed.
- Once again, the real strength of this storyline is involving us in something really personal to Clark as a man and giving him a problem he can't just punch or throw into the sun. It may be unfair, but I can't help but think how this is so much better than all the Barry/Iris melodrama/crises when they put her life in jeopardy.

[daBronzeBomma]

Thoughts on #SupermanAndLois S3E06 "Of Sound Mind". Spoilers follow ...

1. We're back after only a 1 week hiatus.

Hopefully these hiatuses stay at only 1 week if they need to happen again this season (last season's FIVE-week hiatus murdered the show's buzz and momentum).

2. They really captured how Superman would react to group therapy for loved ones with terminal illness.

Clark wouldn't be naturally able to handle the concept of giving up or letting go to anyone in need, especially his own family. The most basic principle he has to is to never ever give up. Which works great for a superhero work but is way more complicated for a spouse trying to be helpful. This is a being who doesn't get sick and can't easily relate to estate planning.

2. Lois felt like a bit less of the focus this episode, which is OK.

She was more reacting to everyone here: to Clark, to Jordan, to new cancer-buddy / hospital-pal Pia. I liked that she was thinking about what would happen if she didn't make it.

I'm more convinced now that they're not going to macguffin a cure for her. IMO she'll most likely beat cancer into remission and she'll forever be a survivor after.

3. Jordan got his most expansive episode yet.

He donned a "Supersuit" that looks like something out of American Alien graphic novel / Man of Tomorrow animated movie.

Loved the training sequence where it showed he'd been fighting hologram versions of Bizarro, Atomic Skull (deep cut), Equus (super deep cut), and Mechano-Man (no idea at all).

He also saved his dad (kinda wish Clark didn't need so much saving on this show), or at least gave him a fighting chance against his attackers. And now we know that he has a stronger resistance to Kryptonite than Clark.

4. Jonathan seems at his most cut-off in this episode.

He's the rookie volunteer firefighter getting the softest hazing from Kyle. He's the only one of his family who is "not a big deal". I didn't even know he was back in school after the XK debacle. He got a chance for some shine here with Sara.

5. Sophie was handled well, especially since she's literally not present in most SAL episodes.

Everyone on the show and in the audience seems to forget about her. There really just isn't room for her to be a developed character in a show this crowded.

6. Kyle and Beppo.

I'm good with their now-official relationship as it's making both characters more interesting (and Kyle less of a grouch).

7. RIP Deadline..

What was the point of Superman rushing the dying Deadline to Bruno Mannheim's office, just to then fly him to a hospital only to have him die there? I'm missing something here.

8. Onomatopoeia is NOT Darlene Irons.

I'm genuinely surprised. Everything prior felt like a setup to reveal that JHI's sister was the masked supervillain. Instead Onomatopoeia is ... Lois' cancer-buddy Pia? Who happens to be Bruno Mannheim's wife (she must have kept her "maiden" name)? And she also killed this world's JHI?

9. If Matteo's parents aren't Bruno Mannheim and Onomatopoeia, I will be impressed.


10. No John Henry, No Nat. Again.

Boo and boo! That's at least two episodes (and 3 weeks) now of no John Henry or Nat. The Irons' are my second favorite duo after the titular characters. Really dislike their extended absence.

11. Really wish they hadn't released that Luthor teaser if Lex wasn't going to even be teased this episode. Feels like a bait and switch.

Bottom line: good ep, but there's only 13 episodes this entire season, we're close to the halfway point and there's just been so much setup that has to be yet to begin to be resolved in the next 7 episodes.

Grade: B-.

[Frontier]

- While realistic, Beppo lying to Lana while performing her duty as a journalist, reminds me of how she gave Lois a hard time before. It's good they didn't drag out them being a secret, but Beppo dropped the ball as a journalist of integrity while Kyle dropped the ball as a father.
- My initial theory was that Onomatopoeia was Manheim's daughter suffering from an illness (similar to MCU's Ghost and Bill Foster), so when whatstername asked Lois out to lunch I figured it was her. But she's the wife, not a daughter. I'll give myself hald a credit for that one.
- I hope this isn't a case of the writers intentionally making a character less intelligent than they should be to pay off something later, but Jordan's training seemed to just be about fighting. With the flood situation and Clark's "there are things worse than being hurt" I imagined the "worse thing" is making a mistake because of inexperience and someone else being seriously injured or killed. His training should involve knowing how to properly weld things with his heat vision, or how to properly break into a building without collapsing it on people, or how fast to fly when carrying an injured person, etc. Real practical, emergency response stuff. If they show Jordan screw up and hurt someone now without showing Clark training him at all on those situations just to "surprise us" that the real lesson is about how your mistakes can hurt others, then I will be disappointed.
- Once again, the real strength of this storyline is involving us in something really personal to Clark as a man and giving him a problem he can't just punch or throw into the sun. It may be unfair, but I can't help but think how this is so much better than all the Barry/Iris melodrama/crises when they put her life in jeopardy.

Although in fairness Lana also pawned Sophie off to Sarah, though I guess it was more justifiable from her perspective because she has a job as the mayor while Kyle was off to see his new girlfriend.

[j9ac9k]

Although in fairness Lana also pawned Sophie off to Sarah, though I guess it was more justifiable from her perspective because she has a job as the mayor while Kyle was off to see his new girlfriend.

And Kyle doesn't have custody, so him getting a chance to spend more time with her should mean more. But, yeah - everyone overlooked her, which was the point. Great scene though with her and Jon.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Felt like Clark was acting a little out of character, but I don't blame him for reacting the way he did. I think every Kent is going to go through a lot of emotions.

I still think it was a mistake for this show to create Sophie. At least they were able to do something with her. I expect her to vanish for the next few episodes.

Loved the Onomatopoeia revelation! They did kind of telegraph it with her talking about Mannheim and the good he's done, but that just makes the reveal feel both natural and surprising.

I'm looking forward to seeing Lex, but that teaser gave me Kingpin vibes. Plus I hope this version brings something different than Cryer and Welliver did.

If I didn't keep getting the cheap soap trope that Jon will wind up the third point on a triangle with Jordan/Sarah, those scenes would be great. Love the idea of Jon becoming a "big brother" to Sophie since both of them have siblings with too much stuff going on.

I really don't want to see Jon and Sarah in a relationship.

- I hope this isn't a case of the writers intentionally making a character less intelligent than they should be to pay off something later, but Jordan's training seemed to just be about fighting. With the flood situation and Clark's "there are things worse than being hurt" I imagined the "worse thing" is making a mistake because of inexperience and someone else being seriously injured or killed. His training should involve knowing how to properly weld things with his heat vision, or how to properly break into a building without collapsing it on people, or how fast to fly when carrying an injured person, etc. Real practical, emergency response stuff. If they show Jordan screw up and hurt someone now without showing Clark training him at all on those situations just to "surprise us" that the real lesson is about how your mistakes can hurt others, then I will be disappointed.

That's true. Maybe Jordan has already learned control of things like his heat vision and strength control under ideal circumstances and now Clark wants to make sure he can control himself in stressful situations.

What was the point of Superman rushing the dying Deadline to Bruno Mannheim's office, just to then fly him to a hospital only to have him die there? I'm missing something here.

Maybe this'll be the key to taking Mannheim down. It also makes Mannheim look more like a bad guy, if there's any doubt to that.

[Captain Smith]

The moral ambiguity of Mannheim is a little forced but interesting. Clark faced with a problem he can't punch is interesting. As said before, I think pulling some superscience fix for Lois is a bit insulting to real world suffers of breast cancer. At best, she should go into remission.

It's a touch boring to see, once again, Kryptonians forgetting their speed powers. Both Kal and Jordan should have eliminated their opponents quickly rather than the typical standing there to get clobbered. Clark - weird woman with known powers, perhaps I should speed away to get distance or clobber her at speed. No, just stand there. Jordan, hit each of them in their noggin with a Kryptonian punch at super speed. Oh, well, that's an old complaint.

[j9ac9k]

It's a touch boring to see, once again, Kryptonians forgetting their speed powers. Both Kal and Jordan should have eliminated their opponents quickly rather than the typical standing there to get clobbered. Clark - weird woman with known powers, perhaps I should speed away to get distance or clobber her at speed. No, just stand there. Jordan, hit each of them in their noggin with a Kryptonian punch at super speed. Oh, well, that's an old complaint.

So far it's not as bad as when the Flash would do it all the time - instead of taking out the villain before they knew what hit them, run up to them for a chit-chat and introduce yourself then let them take their shot at you. Barry never learns. (unless it's an unimportant character)

[tabo61]

Awesome Bruno Mannheim flashbacks.

[Frontier]

As the season ratchets up, Lois' cancer worsens, and the Kents are left to reel with this fact in their own ways...though the boys are getting hit especially hard with it.

I was honestly surprised that Lana seemed to be treating Chrissy treating Kyle like it was water under the bridge, though Sarah was in full jerk mode towards her for dating her dad, though I'm glad they managed to patch things up. Then Lana is left feeling a little self-conscious seeing how well Sarah and Chrissy get along (I guess it helps that Chrissy is closer to Sarah's age comparatively).

Although I do wonder how Sarah would react to her mom and John Henry Irons hooking up. Those two are definitely getting very chummy as this season goes along.

I was honestly thinking Peia was innocent up until she got cancer and became involved in Bruno's experiments, but I guess it makes more sense she was as much a career criminal as him and was one of the top enforcers of Intergang even when they were younger adults in love...this was basically like an evil version of the Clois flashbacks in season 1, showing how these two came together, Bruno as a dreamer who wanted to run Suicide Slums and improve it his way and Peia as the woman who just couldn't resist him. How did she get her powers though?

The irony that Lois' instinct to question Peia about Bruno was right on the money and she is nowhere near as innocent as she looks...only for their friendship and the fact that Peia is basically being interrogated while under Chemo that makes her second guess herself. Though Lois' genuine friendship got through enough for Peia to give the game away (though Clark would've probably told her anyways). I'm curious how Lois will react to finding out she's Onomatopoeia.

When in doubt, rely on Clark Kent! Clark finally gets to strut his journalism skills for once! And he manages to get at Manheim and figure out what's going on in a way Superman never could.

Chrissy being a stoner is, like, the least surprising thing about her at this point. I think she mentioned her dad before but it seems like she went through a divorce with her parents and their new dating lives just like Sarah is.

There's the funny kind of overprotective dad and the bad kind of overprotective dad...John Henry Irons dipped too much into the latter. Although the whole "Mr. Johnson" thing reminded me that they're using assumed identities on this Earth.

The Manheims are truly a loving, sweet, couple together. Shame about all the human experiments and crimes they've committed in their attempt to build up Bruno's power base and cure his wifes' cancer. It doesn't seem like their sympathy for the Manheims is going to stop them from trying to bring the operation down though.

Matteo really is a sweet, nice, guy...and of course in the same episode that really solidifies his relationship with Nat, it turns out he's Manheim's son. I'm sure that won't blow up terribly. I did think it was kind of funny how they kept him obscured by shadows as if the audience couldn't tell it was obviously him by the voice since we'd heard him for a good portion of the episode. Also it was hilarious how he brought up JHI meeting his mom knowing his mom had tried to kill him and also was involved in killing his doppelganger on this Earth. Irony!!!

So did they kill Boss Moxie and frame Lex so they could take his resources and use it for themselves? Or maybe they did it because Lex wouldn't deal with them. I guess that gives Lex an excuse to get involved with them once he gets out of prison as much as his beef with Superman.

Jon Kent going completely against the House of El creed in terms of not believing in Hope. I'm aghast! Although bringing up his grandparents' death was a bit of a low blow.

Lana acting like people are moving on too fast when she seemed completely over Kyle and ready to be done with him a few episodes ago.

Wow, I think that's the biggest Clark and Jon moment we've gotten all season, let alone the first time in a long while. Although "you're every bit as Kryptonian as your brother," it would be nice if the show actually addressed that more.

No one in Smallville will ever know the mayor and her daughter set off random (and technically illegal) fireworks.

[Captain Smith]

Interesting episode and the show has more depth than the latest Superman movies. One nuance. Can the Fortress tech help Lois? Not clear. I wonder if X kryptonite might be used for something (although this is fix I don't like). Clark - if Fortress tech worked we would have to offer to everyone and that seemed a problem.

Why - give away his secret identity? It's probably known that Lois and Superman are friends, so that might not be the case.

I still like Lana better than Lois. Lois even admitted she doesn't have friends because she isn't that attractive a personality.

I feel for Jon. His angst on being human is well played.

[Anarchist]

This show really keeps me on my toes. Very interesting character dynamics going on here.

Also, when Peia said that Jon and Jordan look so much alike, it is true, the new Jon looks far more like Jordan than the old ones does, right?

[Frontier]

This show really keeps me on my toes. Very interesting character dynamics going on here.

Also, when Peia said that Jon and Jordan look so much alike, it is true, the new Jon looks far more like Jordan than the old ones does, right?

I don't disagree.