Superman & Lois S2: Spoilers, Discussion, & Speculation

[JAK]

S&L was one of MAX’s biggest hits apparently, I posted an article about that somewhere back in the thread.

Oh, cool!! I will go find that, thanks!

But YJ has apparently been a big hit as well and that show’s future is still uncertain.

Weird. You'd think that TV and movie universes could co-exist if they aren't stealing each other's thunder.

I think it comes down to whether Zaslav wants everything back in the DCEU again, all connected to each other. If so then he may simply cancel everything outside of the DCEU regardless of whether they are hits or not. Glimmer of hope for those wanting the show to persist is that DC asked them to set the show outside the Arrowverse and I doubt they’d bother doing that if next season is supposed to be the last. Personally I think the show will run until the next Superman movie, whatever form that takes, simply so they can still have a live action Superman product out there.

Good point - here's hoping that's the case. Honestly, DC has so few hits with it's largest properties besides Batman that they really should let anything that's working keep working. We'll see, but if he does kill the show and the DCEU remains in relative shambles, he'll just be another in a long tradition of WB heads not having a clue. Here's hoping he's not that.

[daBronzeBomma]

Thoughts on #SupermanAndLois : the season 2 finale "Waiting For Superman" (s2e15), the 2nd season as a whole, and the show overall and its future. Spoilers follow ...


1. I kinda stopped doing these SAL reviews for a while mainly because I'd forget when the show was coming back from one of its many planned or unplanned extended hiatuses this season, and then real life got in the way and lost interest in posting about an episode weeks after it aired. But this season finale was worth posting about, IMO.


2. Sun-dipped Superman! Probably my favorite power-up for Clark, mainly because it's just so damn cool. "Hey, I need to get back into the fight, so just throw me into the fucking sun, and then I got this".


3. Ally Alston aka Parasite got defeated too easily after being hyped for most of the season as an unstoppable reality-warper.

Who knew the key to stopping her was simply for Superman to gain MORE power than she could absorb?

4. On this show, cheating is apparently far more unforgivable than murder.

Exhibit A: Lana still not forgiving Kyle.
Exhibit B: Tal-Rho going full hero, being fully embraced by Clark, and getting to live his new best life on Bizarro Earth.

5. For a show called "Superman And Lois", this season really felt more like "Superman And Lana".

Not in the dreaded love triangle way, but there was way too much focus on Lana, mainly because it seemed to come at the expense of Lois. Lana got a solid storyline, whereas Lois spent this season just emotionally (over) reacting to her various family members. Not a trace of the World's Greatest Journalist to be found.

6. This was probably Nat's best episode. Or at least her best scene. She finally called Jon and Jordan her brothers, and they recognized her as part of their family. I want more of this sibling bonding of the "Triplets" next season.

7. The four most tired Superman stories are his origin, him turning evil, him losing his powers, and him dying/resurrecting. I sincerely hope this is it for Clark losing his powers for any extended time on this show.

8. I really hope they improve both Clark and John Henry's suits.

Give Tyler Hoechlin the S-curl and put the golden S-shield back on the cape (and please lose the weird "muscle paint" on the costume). Give Wole Park his hexagonal S-shield, a better helmet, and something resembling a cape (red wings?).

9. We finally got our answer to the Arrowverse question, tho not exactly nor directly in the episode itself.

Showrunner Todd Hellbing just officially acknowledged that Superman And Lois takes place on a completely different Earth than any of the Earths that had the Arrow, Flash, or Supergirl. Which makes sense. Weird that it took him 2 full seasons to admit it tho.

10. Season 3: Bruno Mannheim and Intergang!

Glad the show is moving away from Rogue Kryptonians and into more Earth- bound fare. I sincerely hope they ignore the New Gods connection (this show simply doesn't have the reach for Darkseid or Mongul).

Also, really glad that the new Fortress will see the whole family in there to visit Hologramma Lara.

Bottom line: I nitpicked the hell out of this episode, but I did enjoy it. I sincerely hope HBOmax gets this show once the CW is sold and that they film the entire season before airing the season premiere. Show deserves better.

Grades
Episode: 8/10
Season: 7/10
Overall Show: 8/10

[Frontier]

Thoughts on #SupermanAndLois : the season 2 finale "Waiting For Superman" (s2e15), the 2nd season as a whole, and the show overall and its future. Spoilers follow ...


1. I kinda stopped doing these SAL reviews for a while mainly because I'd forget when the show was coming back from one of its many planned or unplanned extended hiatuses this season, and then real life got in the way and lost interest in posting about an episode weeks after it aired. But this season finale was worth posting about, IMO.


2. Sun-dipped Superman! Probably my favorite power-up for Clark, mainly because it's just so damn cool. "Hey, I need to get back into the fight, so just throw me into the fucking sun, and then I got this".


3. Ally Alston aka Parasite got defeated too easily after being hyped for most of the season as an unstoppable reality-warper.

Who knew the key to stopping her was simply for Superman to gain MORE power than she could absorb?

4. On this show, cheating is apparently far more unforgivable than murder.

Exhibit A: Lana still not forgiving Kyle.
Exhibit B: Tal-Rho going full hero, being fully embraced by Clark, and getting to live his new best life on Bizarro Earth.

5. For a show called "Superman And Lois", this season really felt more like "Superman And Lana".

Not in the dreaded love triangle way, but there was way too much focus on Lana, mainly because it seemed to come at the expense of Lois. Lana got a solid storyline, whereas Lois spent this season just emotionally (over) reacting to her various family members. Not a trace of the World's Greatest Journalist to be found.

6. This was probably Nat's best episode. Or at least her best scene. She finally called Jon and Jordan her brothers, and they recognized her as part of their family. I want more of this sibling bonding of the "Triplets" next season.

7. The four most tired Superman stories are his origin, him turning evil, him losing his powers, and him dying/resurrecting. I sincerely hope this is it for Clark losing his powers for any extended time on this show.

8. I really hope they improve both Clark and John Henry's suits.

Give Tyler Hoechlin the S-curl and put the golden S-shield back on the cape (and please lose the weird "muscle paint" on the costume). Give Wole Park his hexagonal S-shield, a better helmet, and something resembling a cape (red wings?).

9. We finally got our answer to the Arrowverse question, tho not exactly nor directly in the episode itself.

Showrunner Todd Hellbing just officially acknowledged that Superman And Lois takes place on a completely different Earth than any of the Earths that had the Arrow, Flash, or Supergirl. Which makes sense. Weird that it took him 2 full seasons to admit it tho.

10. Season 3: Bruno Mannheim and Intergang!

Glad the show is moving away from Rogue Kryptonians and into more Earth- bound fare. I sincerely hope they ignore the New Gods connection (this show simply doesn't have the reach for Darkseid or Mongul).

Also, really glad that the new Fortress will see the whole family in there to visit Hologramma Lara.

Bottom line: I nitpicked the hell out of this episode, but I did enjoy it. I sincerely hope HBOmax gets this show once the CW is sold and that they film the entire season before airing the season premiere. Show deserves better.

Grades
Episode: 8/10
Season: 7/10
Overall Show: 8/10

Everyone knows anything against Lana is the greatest crime in the universe .

[Jeffrey2]

I have issues with the suit. The cape is wrong -see avatar for how it should be done. The bodysuit looks weird at times on Tyler. The belt is way too understated which makes Tyler's torso look disproportional to his body. The suit should be more form fitted in the waist and crotch area. Finally, the colors are too muted.

It'd be nice to see an alumnus from a previous Superman project guest on S&L. I recently saw an interview with Stacy Haiduk who played Lana in the 90s Superboy series. She said she'd love to guest on a Superman TV series, but no one has asked. Superboy featured actors who'd played in the George Reeves TV series and other earlier Superman projects. Stacy or Gerard Christopher (who played Clark/Superboy) would make for very special guest stars.

Smallville may be too confining for the show. If it gets a fourth season maybe move the family to Metropolis? The future after season 3 is not certain for Flash or Superman and Lois given Nexstar's desire to gear its shows to an older demo. I'd feel more confident about the show's future if it were moved to HBO Max but it doesn't look like that will happen. I've heard the Smallville set was rented for only 3 years and that Tyler may want to focus on his film career so who knows. I don't think it has anything to do with Zaslav as he came after that. Maybe they were hoping to get 3 years and if they got more they'd rent the site out for additional time.

[Vordan]

This is cute

[Frontier]

This is cute

I want "Miracle Monday" to be an every season thing from now on...

[9th.]

I'm really not a fan of Lois telling Chrissy. She's only known her for like a year and it's not her place to know. It's also not Lois secret to tell.

[Vordan]

I just remembered something: you know what work recently featured Intergang in a big way?



You know who else was introduced in that book, wiping out a small rural town no less?



Blanque would make for a great overarching Season big bad as long as they played him as a “horror villain”. Think something out of Stranger Things where you don’t know what the hell this guy’s deal is, all you know is he’s a massive threat. Keep him as an unsympathetic monster who indulges in murder in contrast to Tal and Ally being sympathetic and not wanting mass slaughter and I think S3 could recover from S2’s missteps.

I'm really not a fan of Lois telling Chrissy. She's only known her for like a year and it's not her place to know. It's also not Lois secret to tell.

If it gets Chrissy off Lois’ back I’m ok with it lol.

[Frontier]

I just remembered something: you know what work recently featured Intergang in a big way?



You know who else was introduced in that book, wiping out a small rural town no less?



Blanque would make for a great overarching Season big bad as long as they played him as a “horror villain”. Think something out of Stranger Things where you don’t know what the hell this guy’s deal is, all you know is he’s a massive threat. Keep him as an unsympathetic monster who indulges in murder in contrast to Tal and Ally being sympathetic and not wanting mass slaughter and I think S3 could recover from S2’s missteps.

Now that you mention it, not the first time small-town Kents have had dealing with Intergang. I'm expecting another villain twist.

I think it's a stretch to say Ally was sympathetic by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe if they'd developed her more.

If it gets Chrissy off Lois’ back I’m ok with it lol.

Yeah, I have no interest in repeating "Chrissy judging Lois and calling her out for bad journalism."

[Vordan]

Now that you mention it, not the first time small-town Kents have had dealing with Intergang. I'm expecting another villain twist.

I think it's a stretch to say Ally was sympathetic by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe if they'd developed her more.

Yeah, I have no interest in repeating "Chrissy judging Lois and calling her out for bad journalism."

The intent was for her to be sympathetic, not saying the execution actually made her so. But her flashback scenes with Lucy are clearly meant to make us go “oh she’s not all bad”, it just wasn’t enough to actually seal the deal given how vague and nonsensical her backstory and plans were.

I think going with a villain who is a total monster, and a blank slate, would serve the show well. S&L wants to try to juggle all these plot threads and it keeps dropping them. Having a villain whose backstory remains a mystery and who is simply evil would relieve some of the pressure since they wouldn’t have to try and get us to empathize with their point of view, Blanque is just a threat who must be stopped. That he also has a different power set from what we’ve seen so far is another boon.

I’m just sort of spitballing, it’s possible they may just stick with Intergang, but given the showrunner has said that the twists are ingrained into what the show is I don’t think it will be that straightforward.

[Jeffrey2]

I think there is too much clutter with backstories and all. It was there in season one, but they kept it under control. Season 2 not so and it hurt the ratings. S&L is about the only Arrowverse show (it is officially not in the AV but using as a benchmark) to not see a ratings jump in season 2. Supergirl didn't either but that was because she moved from CBS, a much larger network) to the CW.

They need to cut down on the ensemble cast. Too many and especially when they pretty much all appear in an ep. The show is in danger of not having a real focus. Superboy has 5 or 6 core characters and beyond that used one ep guest star. Makes for a much more coherent show.

[Frontier]

The intent was for her to be sympathetic, not saying the execution actually made her so. But her flashback scenes with Lucy are clearly meant to make us go “oh she’s not all bad”, it just wasn’t enough to actually seal the deal given how vague and nonsensical her backstory and plans were.

I think going with a villain who is a total monster, and a blank slate, would serve the show well. S&L wants to try to juggle all these plot threads and it keeps dropping them. Having a villain whose backstory remains a mystery and who is simply evil would relieve some of the pressure since they wouldn’t have to try and get us to empathize with their point of view, Blanque is just a threat who must be stopped. That he also has a different power set from what we’ve seen so far is another boon.

I’m just sort of spitballing, it’s possible they may just stick with Intergang, but given the showrunner has said that the twists are ingrained into what the show is I don’t think it will be that straightforward.

Wasn't that mostly her emotionally manipulating and tricking Lucy?

[Vordan]

Wasn't that mostly her emotionally manipulating and tricking Lucy?

I think it was meant to be both. That Ally wanted to meet Lois I took as a sign that she genuinely thought she was doing what was best for everyone and believed she could convince everyone of that truth. But she was also definitely exploiting Lucy’s insecurities.

[9th.]

Now that you mention it, not the first time small-town Kents have had dealing with Intergang. I'm expecting another villain twist.

I think it's a stretch to say Ally was sympathetic by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe if they'd developed her more.

Yeah, I have no interest in repeating "Chrissy judging Lois and calling her out for bad journalism."

You know what....I didn't even think of that. It was pretty annoying so I guess that's over now. I was just mad Lois told her unprovoked but I can overlook it if it gets Chrissy off her back.

[Yoda]

You know what....I didn't even think of that. It was pretty annoying so I guess that's over now. I was just mad Lois told her unprovoked but I can overlook it if it gets Chrissy off her back.

I don’t think it was unprovoked, it was to help get Clark into the paper (which is ridiculous in and of itself, but that was the justification). I’m assuming it was discussed between them beforehand given the reaction he had when they were dancing at the block party.