'Superman & Lois' : The CW TV Series

[Material Flux]

"She's a Parasite!" There we go. ​
Honestly Ally feels more scary than Bizarro at times because she feels more real in as far as a cult leader who controls and manipulates people through words, almost like an evil Lois. And she's really hitting Lois where it hurts.

Ally is scary precisely because she can manipulate people, while Bizarro is a scary because he's this unknowable monster. I very much like how they have these two different villains sharing space.

"Inverse" - like how Bizarro speaks in reverse? Are these "other selves" Ally talks about related to Bizarro World? Are people connecting to their Bizarro incarnations?

I'm thinking that Ally is connecting people to their pre-Crisis selves somehow. Lucy may have vestigal memories from that time, which could be the cause of the hole in her life she mentioned feeling. She certainly seemed to be doing much better back then, so I can understand why this universe would feel unfulfilling.

Although I guess the original sin is that Lois didn't use the fact that she apparently did see something when she overdosed, Lois Lane obscuring the full truth for personal reasons.

She was overdosing, I wouldn't take anything she said about that experience as something worth listening to.

I'm not sure how I feel about Chrissy going to Ally about Lois. I get she has trust issues but it feels like she stopped giving Lois the benefit of the doubt a while ago.

Hopefully she's trying to do a double cross.

[KabutoRyder]

Cliff notes:

Jordan being trained by Sam Lane…hmm wondering how this will work out. Im sure that secret training won’t blow up in their faces.

Lois’ sidekick going Stockholm already….dang…

Jon huffs some X-K…wondering with his storyline, how it will come out, because we know it will….does the other kid dime him out, does he dime out Jon’s GF who then flips on Jon? Anyway it shakes down I think a long term storyline possibility could be his football career goes down in flames because of the drug use and fallout, so he has to figure out who he is in a world where he does not have football, does not have super powers…I could be thinking too much into it but I think it would be a good storyline as for the purpose of this series I want Jonathon to remain with no powers.

John Henry in his shite suit gets wrecked again…will they fix the suit, will Nat wear the suit? Hmm…

Lucy is full on working with the cult lady…I hope she goes down with her in the end rather than Lucy being saved and redeemed.

And Bizarro wrecking the Supermen of America, loved it. Kinda wondering how Anderson will blame Clark for it.

[Frontier]

Seems like Anderson blames Clark for not telling them that Bizarro was an evil version of him. Though Anderson was the one who didn't bring Clark in when they found out where Bizarro was (Not that he really promised he would).

[RobinGA]

I'm not that scared of Ally. She looks like a smarmy tupperware saleswoman to be honest.
Chrissy has been a little annoying this season to be honest. I have confidence in Lois she can take them.

I'm not sure how much Superman knows this is Bizarro. He certainly has made it sound like this is his first
time tangling with him. I found that a little hard to believe. But maybe post-crisis a lot of interactions have
been written away.

[daBronzeBomma]

Thoughts on #SupermanAndLois (SAL) s2e4 "The Inverse Method". Spoilers follow ...
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1. (Re)Introducing Lucy Lane!

We get Jenna Dewan "reprising" her role as Lois' younger sister ... although this Lucy seems to have nothing in common from her earlier CW incarnation.

This show wants to have its cake and eat it too: it'll never acknowledge Supergirl but it will reuse actors from that show. I'm actually perfectly OK with this.

2. Ally Alston: she's a "Parasite"!

Hey, hey, Ms. Lane, you're either straight up giving away the game right there or pulling another misdirect (like when you mentioned the word "Doomsday" just prior to the Bizarro reveal). Tread lightly with these buzzwords.

Parasite or not, Ally does radiate a very quiet but very real aura of danger. That scene in the diner when her henchmen suddenly stood up all at once was effective.

3. Jordan attempting some (very) amateur sleath superheroics at that store was entertaining: honestly didn't know if he was going to confront the shoplifters or do nothing. Instead he threaded that needle really well ... except for not noticing the security camera.

4. Don't know anything else about her, but I already like this Denise more than Jonathan's previous or current shady girlfriends.

5. Was really hoping that I was right about Jonathan only asking his pusher gf for drugs as a good ruse for his secret investigation.

Wrong. It's exactly what it looked like: Jonathan consumes the drugs simply get better at high school football. Have a bad feeling I know where this storyline is going.

6. Here for the Clark & John Henry BFF vibes.

For someone as generally likeable as Mr. Kent, he sure doesn't have many close friends. In fact, outside his family, I'm not sure this Clark HAS any close friends. Lana doesn't know the secret, and while Nat does, she isn't exactly close to Clark for multiple reasons.

To this point, neither Kara nor Jimmy Olsen even exist on the show. Bruce and Diana aren't showing up here. And there's no Krypto so far

So, I'm happy with this glimpse of their male bonding ... even if it does remind me just a little bit of Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson.

7. This episode was the opposite of Lois' shining moment.

One defeat after another for Ms. Lane here. She got disowned by Lucy, got outfoxed by Ally, is about to have her professional rep greatly tarnished by one podcast, and may have lost a friend in Chrissy.

Also, blonde-wigged Chrissy looked a lot like disgraced Smallville actress Allison Mack (played Chloe) ... that feels intentional.

8. Deep down, I knew Good Kyle wasn't going to last. If Good Kyle has been hiding an affair that Drunk Kyle had from Lana all this time, he really ain't so good.

9. Alright, let's get to the main event: Bizarro!

The first fight: Bizarro showing up at the Kent Farm and brawling with Clark and John Henry was awesome! Loved the action and SFX were good (if not necessarily great: some parts were a bit too CGI heavy). Kinda cool to see Clark and John Henry battle Bizarro in their civilian duds.

The second fight: Bizarro fighting (and killing most of) the Supermen of America teen soldiers was darker than I thought they'd go.

Superman fighting Bizarro in the arctic(?) was clearly visually influenced by the Man Of Steel movie.

Poor Steel really was in no shape to attend the battle, and Bizarro caused him serious head trauma. I hope he isn't sidelined for too long. Totally felt Nat's pain and anger at Clark here.

10. Sam Lane agreeing to train Jordan behind Clark's back is going to be a very mixed bag. Secrets rarely help.

Bottom line: Lots of stuff happening in this episode, and most of it wasn't good for our heroes (but nearly all of it was very watchable).

Fyi, SAL goes on hiatus due to the 2022 Winter Olympics. Back on 2 weeks from now.

Grade: 8.5 /10.

[Anarchist]

Good episode all around. We're in for a 3 weeks break now, sadly.

[j9ac9k]

I'm betting that Jonathan only bought the drugs from his g/f so he could bring it to his dad or whomever to get it tested for X-Kryptonite. He's always had a good head on his shoulders and I don't think being overlooked by his team is enough to drive him to drugs.

Oh well, I was wrong about that one. Oh Jon... I'm not upset, I'm just disappointed...

[regnak]

In the real world you have to be drunk stoned or crazy to believe what someone sees because of an overdose is real. Chrissy is the one who should have a substance abuse problem.

[Agent Z]

In the real world you have to be drunk stoned or crazy to believe what someone sees because of an overdose is real. Chrissy is the one who should have a substance abuse problem.

The issue isn't necessarily that what Lucy was credible but rather:

a) By leaving this information out, it can be argued that Lois was trying to manipulate the narrative because of a personal agenda.

b) The reveal that Lucy was Lois's anonymous source also adds to the idea that Lois had a personal agenda against Ally.

c) With all the strange things that happen in this universe, Lucy may not have been hallucinating from a drug.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Bizarro is just as scary and threatening as Doomsday would've been.

A new side to Jenna Dewan's Lucy Lane than playing "The Other Woman" on Supergirl. I liked her performance. Not Lucy per se, but the performance. Poor Lois.

Jon is actually using those drugs?! And here I expected better of him.

Sam Lane is such a cool grandfather! Looking forward to seeing him train Jordan.

I have never been a fan of armored heroes having an onboard AI, but it was kind of important that we know just how much risk John Henry was taking.

As for Kyle...what the heck is wrong with this guy? He cheated on Lana Lang? Who does that?!

My takes on the overall future of SAL (at this moment):

1. The show will only last 4, maybe 5 seasons tops, and that's by design. It will end when the boys graduate from high school.

Will Jon ever develop powers? Will Chrissy ever get turned into a monkey?

Jordan thinks he is in love. How cute. What is the over/under on how many episodes it is until Sara is tearfully returning the necklace or leaving it on the doorstep/mailbox/wherever for Jordan to find when they break up.

Sarah is going to find out her father cheated on her mother and there may be a separation/talks of divorce. Sarah will have a personal crisis and break up with Jordan. So like...three episodes?

I'm not sure how I feel about Chrissy going to Ally about Lois. I get she has trust issues but it feels like she stopped giving Lois the benefit of the doubt a while ago.

I don't really blame her for it. Lois is too close to be objective in this case, so Chrissy has to see things for herself.

6. Here for the Clark & John Henry BFF vibes.

For someone as generally likeable as Mr. Kent, he sure doesn't have many close friends. In fact, outside his family, I'm not sure this Clark HAS any close friends. Lana doesn't know the secret, and while Nat does, she isn't exactly close to Clark for multiple reasons.

To this point, neither Kara nor Jimmy Olsen even exist on the show. Bruce and Diana aren't showing up here. And there's no Krypto so far

I can't remember if it was this show or on the Flash, but apparently, Clark and Lois and Barry and Iris have done the double-date thing off screen.

[Frontier]

Will Jon ever develop powers? Will Chrissy ever get turned into a monkey?

I see I'm not the only one who noticed Chrissy's last name...

[Captain Smith]

Jon taking drugs works for me if you know the real world of high school kids and athletics nowadays. The social pressure is tremendous. Also, the DC world being functionally a bag of jello compared to your brother and dad must be very depressing and ego depleting.

Cheating on Lana - again that is not unknown, we see folks cheating on beautiful wives all the time if they feel some uncertainity or lack of strength in the relationship.

Lois is a bit obnoxious, her air of superiority as super duper big city reporter isn't going to hold up in the boonies.

Clark - do us a favor and violate your principles and fly that cult leader nasty woman into the sun one afternoon. Just to shut Lois up.

Love Bizarro as a villain so far. Clear that the only help would be Kara but that's not going to happen. Barry would be useless.

Best DC show since early Arrow. Naomi is horrible. Legends is a clown show.

[90'sCartoonMan]

I see I'm not the only one who noticed Chrissy's last name...

In the entirety of Superman's 80+ year history and all the names they had to choose from and Easter Egg potential, they name her "Chrissy Beppo"? That remains one of the most baffling things about this show.

Cheating on Lana - again that is not unknown, we see folks cheating on beautiful wives all the time if they feel some uncertainity or lack of strength in the relationship.

It's definitely a thing that happens and not out of the realm of possibility, but it puts Kyle's judgment into serious question.

[Nate Grey]

It's definitely a thing that happens and not out of the realm of possibility, but it puts Kyle's judgment into serious question.

Until more evidence surfaces, I'm gonna assume its a like father like daughter situation and Kyle and the bartender only kissed before he thought better of it. It's still bad, but still better than full on bumping uglies bad.

[Frontier]

Considering Kyle's drinking problem, I can see him making some bad decisions because he was under the influence (the bartender definitely seemed to act like their relationship was a little more than just a kiss).