Alice Oscura, Featured Writer

Warning: Medium Spoilers Ahead

Plot: Clark Kent and wife Lois Lane move with their twin sons Jonathan and Jordan from Metropolis to Smallville and find themselves dealing with new adversaries and hurdles.

Review: Since CW’s announcement that Season 6 of Supergirl would be the show’s final season fans have been looking forward to the start of its spin-off series Superman & Lois, and to see Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch reprising their roles as Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane respectively. Their story experienced a slight rewrite after Crisis on Infinite Earths which earned the couple an extra son.

However, I cannot start this review off without first acknowledging the fact that Tyler Hoechlin really doesn’t do it for me as the Man of Steel. For me his look and presence never commanded the aura of Superman so I was not impressed. That being said, he did have a great chemistry with his on-screen cousin and fellow cast members in the Supergirl series and the CW crossover episodes.

The new Arrowverse series takes place in the future when the duo’s kids are now teenagers. Clark’s monologue in the pilot episode explained how different the twins were in their dispositions and that Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) was always so happy and well-adjusted while Jordan (Alex Garfin) was a loner and suffered from a form of social anxiety that requires medication. The brothers are polar opposites but are still fiercely protective and caring of each other.

However, it is clear from the start that they do not know their father’s true identity and, although Clark tries his best to balance his Superman persona with that of being a father, he still struggled greatly with the two responsibilities. This was an issue that General Lane (Lois’s father) tried his best to warn both Clark and Lois about—that Clark’s responsibilities as Superman would eventually outweigh those of his family and would leave them broken. Needless to say the power couple ignore his warnings.

The Kent family finds themselves moving to Smallville after certain events occur and it is one heck of an adjustment from the big city of Metropolis where the boys have spent their lives so far. After moving back the Kents are reacquainted with Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui), her pompous firefighter husband Kyle Cushing (Eric Valdez) and her two daughters Sarah (Inde Navarette) and Sophie (Joselyn Picard). Sarah and Jordan seem to bond immediately, especially when it is revealed that Sarah suffers from a form of depression that also requires medication.

Eventually, one of the twins starts manifesting their father’s powers and Clark has to reveal his secret to the boys. Disappointed and hurt at first that their father did not confide in them, they slowly begin to understand that he did not want to burden them with the truth.

Now that circumstances are different the dynamic of the Kent family unit begins to shift as Superman has to deal with a new villain? I ended that with a question mark because the new villain brings more questions to mind than answers for me. Superman and Lois’s story in the CW Universe would be a continuation after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths which saw the destruction of the Multiverse and created Earth Prime. This means one earth where all the superheroes and villains now reside. So, I am a bit confused when the villain is revealed. But it is still early in the game yet so let’s wait and see.

While as I mentioned before I am no fan of Hoechlin’s Superman, I had to admit that it was a pretty solid pilot episode. However, that being said, I wanted to wait until I saw episode 2 to see if it kept up the momentum. Suffice it to say, the pacing does slow down a bit and picks up more of a drama vibe in the second episode. But we do get a dose of the good ole spark of Lois’s fighting spirit. It is revealed that businessman Morgan Edge now owns the Daily Planet and is also making a play for Smallville. Lois doesn’t trust Edge’s intentions and butts heads with Lana’s husband Kyle on Edge’s intent to invest in Smallville. The last straw for Lois comes when Edge rewrites her article for the Daily Planet which causes the intrepid reporter to do the unthinkable and resign from The Planet. She then takes her original article to the Smallville Gazette where it is hinted that Lois will now be writing for the small town newspaper.

The boys struggle in different ways to adjust to their new surroundings and it causes some contention between them, but it is all worked out by the end of the episode. However, Superman’s new adversary promises more trouble for the hero and may be trying to turn General Lane against Superman. A flashback shows a strange connection between General Lane and the new villain but, as I mentioned before, it is still a bit confusing for me as I am going off of the events post-Crisis.

Superman & Lois is an opportunity to see a more mature version of the couple and how they balance the changes in their new life along with dealing with their teenage sons. I have plans to do a follow-up review maybe every two or three episodes to update you folks on the show’s progress. For now the footing seems to be steady enough to trudge forward.

Alice’s Score: 7 out of 10

So what did you think of the first two episodes of Superman & Lois? For Editor Jules’s Top 6 Modern Live Action Superman Actors you can click here. Or for his Top 7 Supergirl Supporting Characters you can click here.

 Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. You can find me as Dark Alice Reviews on Facebook where you’ll get my reviews hot off the press. You can also find me on Instagram as alice_oscura and my Twitter handle is @lise_veliz2. For my extended bio you can click here.