Broadcast TV Superman & Lois - Season 3 (The CW) (16 Viewers)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Another good episode. Things are definitely heating up. A problem might be that it is getting too dark too quickly.

I kind of like that they're balancing out the very comic book-y threat of Mannheim and Onomatopoeia with the grounded threat of cancer, which is probably scarier to all involved.

I found myself wondering about the cost, too; They've been living on the money they made selling their house in Metropolis up to this point, and sunk a lot of it into buying half of the Smallville Gazette. If they have health insurance, it's probably through the Smallville Chamber of Commerce, which can't be a particularly large risk pool. I wonder if they're going to get that grounded; certainly the first season dealt with the economic realities of dwindling rural communities.

There's also the ripples. Obviously Clark, Sam, and the boys are going to be devastated. But for John and Natalie, it's got to feel a bit like potentially losing the woman they loved all over again.

When Sarah ran into Jordan at the party in Metropolis, I'm glad it didn't become a huge drama where she thought he was stalking her. I'm getting bored with their relationship drama, so I'd be happy to leave them in the friend zone for a while.

Sarah teaching Natalie how to be a normal teenager was fun, too. I appreciated that Natalie told her the truth about where she was going, and he let her go because he knew how much she needed it.

Mannheim knowing that (a version of) John Henry Irons is alive is probably going to cause problems for all involved.

It's amazing how Smallville seems to get wrapped up in every major conspiracy despite being a podunk farm town in the middle of nowhere. Previously, it made sense given that Smallville was a primary source of X-Kryptonite following Clark's crash landing. But there had to be a good reason why a mob boss like Mannheim would be in business with Mayor Dean, when he should have any reason to know Mayor Dean even existed.

I just looked up the imdb page of the actor who plays Bruno Mannhein, Chad Coleman. I find it hard to believe that he also plays Klyden on The Orville. He sure has range.

He was also Tyreese on "The Walking Dead" and Cutty on "The Wire". An incredible actor. I enjoyed the showdown between Mannheim and Superman in Mannheim's office, but I didn't buy Superman neglecting the Suicide Slums. He's a hero for everybody, but as Mannheim said he's someone who puts out fires. Superman's not going to solve systemic poverty and corruption; Clark Kent the reporter would have a better shot of making an impact in that arena.

 

[jayembee]

I just looked up the imdb page of the actor who plays Bruno Mannhein, Chad Coleman. I find it hard to believe that he also plays Klyden on The Orville. He sure has range.

I've liked him since he was on The Wire in a non-regular, but recurring part. He was also Fred Johnson in earlier seasons of The Expanse. Given these, it was a little freaky to see him playing Klyden. Mannheim is more what I'm used to him playing.

 

[NeilO]

Another good episode on many levels and juggling several plots. It was good not only for what we saw but for some of the conversations that we can just infer what happened that we really did not need to see.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There was something that rang really true to me about the fact that, in an episode with Kryptonite cannons and massive buildings exploding, the greatest challenge was getting Lois to show up for her chemo appointment.

On one hand, it feels like a cheat that the epic shot of the Daily Planet building collapsing and the giant globe from the roof coming down on Lois's head was just a dream. On the other hand, it's nice to know that Superman gets nightmares too, and not just us mere mortals. This is probably the most helpless Clark has felt in his life.

I'm enjoying the way that so many of the small town storylines overlap with one another. Lana has this flirtation with John Henry Irons, which is making Kyle jealous. Kyle has this flirtation with Chrissy that he is trying to be really careful about acting upon. Kyle's questions about John Henry Irons put Sarah in the middle of her parents' argument, and she is already at odds with her mother from the party she went to with Natalie and the Kent boys the episode before. All of these connecting threads give this Smallville a real sense of place.

Lana slapping Sarah was not a proud moment for her, but it did feel believable. My mother slapped me across the face once as a teenager when I was being a particular brat, too. In this case, it wasn't just about Sarah's backtalk. It was about the stress at work, the stress in her relationships, and her lingering concern over Sarah's previous misbehavior. Unfortunately for Lana, she didn't get the chance for her apology to be heard, because Sarah had already run off to her Dad for comfortable. It's all messy, but in ways that feel honest to a family grappling with a recent divorce. I didn't feel like anybody was dramatic for the sake of drama; both parents and daughter are doing the best they can, but they're only human.

The fallout of Lana's cancer news has to be uniquely difficult for John Henry Irons and Natalie. She is a doppelganger of the wife and mother they loved fiercely. And over the course of this series, they've started to build a relationship with this Lois as well. But despite all of those feeling, they're still a bit at a distance from the whole thing; they're not at the heart of it with Lois like Clark and the boys are. It's got to be almost impossible for them to find the right thing to do or the right thing to say.

The Bruno Mannheim villain plot feels a lot more grounded in the reality of this world than the Ally Allston thing from last season.

It was nice they got Jenna Dewan to record Lucy's half of the phone call where Lois delivered the news.

 

[jayembee]

Something that I meant to say about last week's episode was the surprise "relocation" of Metropolis to the Midwest, given that it's obviously within reasonable driving distance from Smallville. Not that Metropolis hasn't been on occasion located in the Midwest (if memory serves, it was in Smallville as well), but over the years it's been more associated with the New York area. Both Metropolis and Gotham City were generally thought to be analogs of New York City.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Something that I meant to say about last week's episode was the surprise "relocation" of Metropolis to the Midwest, given that it's obviously within reasonable driving distance from Smallville. Not that Metropolis hasn't been on occasion located in the Midwest (if memory serves, it was in Smallville as well), but over the years it's been more associated with the New York area. Both Metropolis and Gotham City were generally thought to be analogs of New York City.

It seemed pretty clear to me even in the first season that Smallville was within day trip distance from Metropolis, but I don't think Smallville is practically a suburb of Metropolis like it was on "Smallville". I would guess that it's the nearest major metropolitan area, but still a few hours' drive from Smallville. The fact that Smallville played Metropolis in football would imply that both cities are in Kansas.

If I had to guess, Metropolis in "Superman & Lois" takes the place of Kansas City in the real world, only on the Kansas side of the Missouri River. And Smallville is somewhere in the middle of the state, in the south or middle of the state.

 

[jayembee]

It seemed pretty clear to me even in the first season that Smallville was within day trip distance from Metropolis, but I don't think Smallville is practically a suburb of Metropolis like it was on "Smallville".

Yeah, in fact, if memory serves, there was even a Smallville episode where, where a couple of the characters climbed up a water tower and could see Metropolis. I was thinking that it might've been clear that Metropolis and Smallville in earlier seasons, but it didn't seem that obvious until this episode, where they were talking about the driving time to the party and back being fairly short.

Anyway...interesting conjunction this week. With Lois having her meltdown about feeling scared and having all of the other characters hovering...

The next night, on Chicago Med, there was a B-plot about one of the doctors -- who has some serious kidney issues -- being cranky because everyone is trying to treat him with kid gloves. One of the nurses eventually gives him a speech about her feeling similarly when she had a cancer diagnosis (a few seasons earlier), but realized that it's because they're all (metaphorically) family, and are expressing their love and concern. Oddly (or maybe not oddly) enough, there's a breast cancer B-plot going on in Chicago Fire as well.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I really love how the characters communicate on this show.

When Lois and Clark have a disagreement, they state their positions clearly and when they make mistakes they take accountability for it. Lois broke a promise to John Henry, and she took responsibility for that even though it wasn't the reason the Irons family was in jeopardy.

Kyle could have used Lana's mistake to score brownie points with Sarah and try to "win" the divorce. But he understands that his daughter needs a good relationship with both parents, and that means owning his own mistakes. And when Lana apologizes for slapping Sarah, Sarah apologizes for the nasty things she said.

I continue to enjoy the way the storylines overlap, too: Kyle sat Lana and Sarah down in a booth at the diner downtown, nuetral territory, to hash out what happened and begin repair the damage. And they're still there when Clark confronts Candice's father; Candice in turn is there because she's working there as a waitress. Smallville really feels like a small town where everybody knows everybody, and everybody knows everybody's business. They might not know that Clark is Superman, but they know that Lois has cancer and that Clark beat down Candice's no-good father in front of everybody.

I liked Sam Lane trying to meet his grandson halfway, too. He's not the same man he was in the first season, and it's nice to see that growth.

Remember on "Supergirl" when Kara would have a meltdown anytime anybody kept anything that made her at all vulnerable? Contrast that to how Superman handled a similar situation here: He neutralized the threat at the DoD, politely but firmly, and then let the matter drop.

 

[David Weicker]

I really love how the characters communicate on this show.

When Lois and Clark have a disagreement, they state their positions clearly and when they make mistakes they take accountability for it. Lois broke a promise to John Henry, and she took responsibility for that even though it wasn't the reason the Irons family was in jeopardy.

Kyle could have used Lana's mistake to score brownie points with Sarah and try to "win" the divorce. But he understands that his daughter needs a good relationship with both parents, and that means owning his own mistakes. And when Lana apologizes for slapping Sarah, Sarah apologizes for the nasty things she said.

I continue to enjoy the way the storylines overlap, too: Kyle sat Lana and Sarah down in a booth at the diner downtown, nuetral territory, to hash out what happened and begin repair the damage. And they're still there when Clark confronts Candice's father; Candice in turn is there because she's working there as a waitress. Smallville really feels like a small town where everybody knows everybody, and everybody knows everybody's business. They might not know that Clark is Superman, but they know that Lois has cancer and that Clark beat down Candice's no-good father in front of everybody.

I liked Sam Lane trying to meet his grandson halfway, too. He's not the same man he was in the first season, and it's nice to see that growth.

Remember on "Supergirl" when Kara would have a meltdown anytime anybody kept anything that made her at all vulnerable? Contrast that to how Superman handled a similar situation here: He neutralized the threat at the DoD, politely but firmly, and then let the matter drop.

Very good episode.

Although I wanted Clark to apologize to the diner's patrons and say (pumping his arms into the air) that he'd been 'working out'

 

[spshultz]

Out of the three seasons so far, I think S3 has been my favorite. And episode 4 was just top notch. It feels like they've really upped their writing and directing.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Another strong one tonight.

One of the most crucial attributes for a good reporter is the ability to actively listen and to incorporate new information into their understanding of a situation. We saw that with both Clark and Lois in this episode. Clark understood that the two other women receiving chemo knew far more about what Lois was in for than he did, and he wanted to hear what they had to say. At the same time, he never lost sight of the fact that they are people with their own struggles and heartbreaks.

And as much as Lois wants to nail Bruno Mannheim, she doesn't just dismiss what he tells her and what he shows her. Her gut tells her he's being honest, at least about that, and she hears him out. I liked the parallel between Bruno Mannheim on the superhero side and Mayor Dean on the Smallville: Just because people do bad things doesn't mean that everything they do is bad. Lois is right to be suspicious of Mannheim, but that doesn't mean he can't be complicated and contain multitudes.

I really like the relationship between Sam Lane and Natalie. He is in some ways more of a grandfather to her than he is to Jonathan and Jordan. Part of that is because she remembers her actual grandfather, the Sam Lane of her world, who was evidently better at the work/life balance than this Sam Lane. There isn't the history that he has with the boys.

I liked too that Nat, for all of her genius intellect, is really inexperienced when it comes to boys. It makes perfect since; she was a nerd growing up, and then her world descended into a hellish apocalypse for her teen years. When would she have had a chance before this to have a normal high school experience? I really hope that the boy who likes her isn't on Bruno Mannheim's payroll.

The relationship between Jordan and Candice is more adult than most of the actual adult relationships on the Arrowverse shows. They really like each other, and they're really good together, but they both realize that their high school romance has to take a backseat to more important priorities: In Candice's case, a stable home situation. In Jonathan's case, planning for his future.

Jonathan feeling out a career as a firefighter/EMS feels perfect. It allows him to do what his father does, but on a scale suitable for somebody without his father's abilities. Jordan and Nat can carry the mantle for the next generation of superheroics when it comes to the world-ending crises. That doesn't mean that lots of people don't need the ordinary kind of help for their real world emergencies.

I was glad that Lana decided not to leak the dirt about Mayor Dean. She was perceptive enough to follow Sarah's lead and put the people of her community first. She's a grown up, and she can deal with people whispering nasty lies behind her back if it means not further hurting a kid her daughter's age who just buried a parent.

 

[jayembee]

Another strong one tonight.

One of the most crucial attributes for a good reporter is the ability to actively listen and to incorporate new information into their understanding of a situation. We saw that with both Clark and Lois in this episode. Clark understood that the two other women receiving chemo knew far more about what Lois was in for than he did, and he wanted to hear what they had to say. At the same time, he never lost sight of the fact that they are people with their own struggles and heartbreaks.

There was a sense, at first, that his journalist brain was engaging, and that he was thinking about making a story out of all this. But at some point, it seemed like he pushed that aside to just engage person to persons. That's one of the things I like about Superman when he's in the hands of a good writer.

The writing in that sequence also made it clear to me that someone in the writers room has gone through cancer/chemo, or had/has a loved one who did. It felt written from the heart.

And as much as Lois wants to nail Bruno Mannheim, she doesn't just dismiss what he tells her and what he shows her. Her gut tells her he's being honest, at least about that, and she hears him out. I liked the parallel between Bruno Mannheim on the superhero side and Mayor Dean on the Smallville: Just because people do bad things doesn't mean that everything they do is bad. Lois is right to be suspicious of Mannheim, but that doesn't mean he can't be complicated and contain multitudes.

When Bruno Mannheim and Intergang were first introduced in the comics back in the day, they were pretty much your garden variety mobsters. It seems to me that S&L has decided against going with the obvious of introducing their own Lex Luthor by tweaking Mannheim into an alt-Luthor, with many of the same qualities: using his intellect and wealth for both beneficent and maleficent purposes.

 

[NeilO]

Just finished watching the episode and it was good except for one scene of Flash-level stupidity by Superman. He sees some device transferring top secret information. Maybe he thought he could stop Deadline first, but after failing a few times, he could have easily ripped the device off in moments and then continued the fight. An uncharacteristic failure for this show.

 

[jayembee]

Just finished watching the episode and it was good except for one scene of Flash-level stupidity by Superman. He sees some device transferring top secret information. Maybe he thought he could stop Deadline first, but after failing a few times, he could have easily ripped the device off in moments and then continued the fight. An uncharacteristic failure for this show.

Or fried it with his heat vision.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I really like the symmetry between Superman and Bruno Mannheim this season. They're basically on the same journey, but from opposite directions.

I figured out that the chemo patient who took Lois to lunch was Bruno Mannheim's wife when she was able to get a table right away despite a two week wait list. But I didn't put two and two together with Mannheim's experiments to figure out that she was also Onomatopoeia.

I think this episode was the first time Sarah's little sister Sophie got a story line. I liked how it was the catalyst for a number of other parts of the episode: Jonathan making progress with Kyle at the firehouse, Kyle and Chrissy going public with their relationship, Sarah realizing that she had to step up more as a big sister following her parents' divorce.

 

[NeilO]

Just saw this episode. It was another solid episode. It does look like Mannheim is trying to cure cancer one way or another. He is definitely an "ends justifies the means" guy and wants to remove any obstacles who don't like his means. I feared that she was Onomatopoeia at the beginning of that final scene and then they revealed it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Another really strong episode, even without any Superman scenes.

I continue to love the way the various stories intersect: Chrissy runs into Lana and her girls at the diner, which kicks off one story. Lana runs into John Henry at the grocery store, which kicks off another story. Lana's chatting with John Henry outside the movie theater, where he's waiting to apologize to Natalie's boyfriend. And while chatting, spots Sarah coming out of the movie theater with Chrissy. And then, at the end, when Lana and Sarah are firing off the fireworks, Clark and Jonathan watch the show from the porch of the Kent family farm.

Bruno Mannheim and his wife are murderous criminals. But they're also pillars of their community who have led an important revitalization of a long neglected neighborhood. And they're going through the same journey with cancer that Lois and Clark are. The complexity and gray areas make him the most compelling villain yet for this show. You can admire aspects about them, without forgetting all of the horrible things they've done to get where they are.

On one hand, I'm glad that Matteo is genuinely crushing on Natalie rather than spying for his parents. On the other hand, if they really just met by chance at that party, it seems like too big of a coincidence that he's Bruno Mannheim and Onomatopoeia's son.

I feared that she was Onomatopoeia at the beginning of that final scene and then they revealed it.

The big surprise in this episode is that she was a metahuman with sonic powers even before Mannheim's experiments. The up and comer in the gang fell in the love with the crime boss's top enforcer.

 

[jayembee]

Good dialogue scenes all around talking about cancer. I'm even firmer in my belief that someone in the writers room has gone through all of this. Everything rings true, which sometimes makes it hard to watch. On the other hand, it might've been helpful for the boys to hear that being sick and losing hair can be a good sign that the chemo drugs are doing their job.

It was also nice to see Clark play the reporter. To be honest, I'm having trouble remembering if we've ever seen this aspect of him in this show before...other than maybe the S1 episode with the flashback to this Superman's "origin".

The final scene with Matteo and his parents was, unfortunately, no surprise. I don't recall exactly which line of dialogue of his earlier in the episode that made me think "Oh, he's Bruno's and Peia's son..." It wasn't that the line itself gave it away, but...ah...it was his telling John Henry that he'd like JH and Nat to meet his mother. That just went "click".

 

[NeilO]

I wish Matteo did not turn out to be their son. It just mixes things up too much, but that's the way they make things complicated and create even more tension. I really wanted him to be "nobody" in particular. I guess he didn't have an opportunity to share his last name or maybe he uses a different last name some kind or protection.

That Peia was the metahuman enforcer even before she met Bruno was a twist there. They showed their story quite well. I guess she was letting the boss force her. If he didn't insist on killing Bruno, she was going to let him live, but when push came to shove, she went with her heart there.

 

[jayembee]

The funny thing about Peia. In her first appearance, her name wasn't mentioned. There was no reason to suspect that she was Onomatopoeia until she was referred to as Peia. I'm surprised I didn't make the connection immediately.