Superman and Lois season 1, episode 3 review: The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower

“Guess there’s no reason to hide now that you both know he’s Superman.” Spoilers for Superman and Lois season 1, episode 3 follow.

Clark, Lois, and the kids are still adjusting to their new life in Smallville but, more importantly, the family is still getting used to Superman in the house, which obviously can lead to a lot of conflict.

As for Lois, her hunt for Morgan Edge continues even if she doesn’t have the support she used to have.

Listening in

After a couple of episodes of set-up showing Clark’s attempts to be a more attentive father to his kids, Superman and Lois finally allows us to see what he does when he can’t see them. And well, he does what I think almost everyone would do if they had super-hearing, he listens in to his kids to make sure they’re okay. It’s such a human moment for Clark and seeing him step in to break up a fight between Jordan and one of the other kids feels so incredibly authentic. This is what every parent would want to do if they had the abilities to do so.

However, the anger and frustration that Jordan and Jonathan feel toward Clark’s invasion of their personal boundaries also feels very real. They feel like their entire private lives are being taken away from them by Clark listening in because, even though they may be in trouble, that doesn’t mean they necessarily want their dad’s help. Everything about Clark’s actions and the twins’ reactions in this episode is so great and feels so human in a way that isn’t all that easy to capture.

This also leads to Clark’s discovery that Jordan has started playing football. The fight they have and the subsequent bonding moment is so great. It does feels like it was a bit too easy in terms of resolution, but it’s heartwarming nonetheless. And now Clark’s the new assistant coach, so he can dork it up all he wants around his kids now.

Speaking of dork, Tyler Hoechlin is such a great Clark Kent. He’s earnest, heartfelt, and cheesy in all the best ways, but when things get serious, it’s like he turns a switch and excels at that too.

A new story for Superman and Lois

As for Lois, she’s still on the hunt for any new leads that will help bring down Morgan Edge and luckily, one falls right into her lap in the form of a heartbroken mother from a nearby town. It’s been clear from the beginning the Lois was onto something, but it’s nice to see that she’s not just chasing a conspiracy theory out of her obvious hatred for Edge. And if there wasn’t a reason enough for her to hate Edge, her car being blown up, her source nearly being killed, and almost being killed herself, have given the reporter three more.

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Her investigation also leads to one of the few, and most notable, action scenes in the episode and it’s also great. It was nice to see Lois attempting to fend for herself before calling Clark because it’s very in-character for her to do that. She doesn’t rely on him for more than she needs, but hey, when you’re about to be killed by a metahuman, the smart thing to do is call Superman – which is exactly what she does. This leads to a solid fight scene featuring Daniel Cudmore, who played Colossus in several X-Men films, as the villain – which is fun considering how he towers over Hoechlin. It creates such a great dynamic for the fight.

Outside of the action though, Lois and Clark have several very nice scenes in this episode in which they are just talking. Elizabeth Tulloch and Hoechlin are a match made in heaven as Lois and Clark. They play off each other so well no matter the context of the scene and it’s very hard to see anyone else in their roles on this series.

Onto the field

Regarding the twins’ drama in this episode though, it’s yet again, really well-handled. It’s easy for teenage drama to get blown out of proportion on TV and become overdramatic but Superman and Lois has yet to fall into that trap. As an only child, this writer can only surmise that how Jonathan and Jordan treat each other in this episode is an authentic representation of how siblings who care about each other would act, but even if not, their characters are compelling whenever together.

This episode also features some of the first real headway into building the supporting cast’s characters with extra emphasis given to Sarah and Lana. Their fight inside the diner and subsequent heart-to-heart in Sarah’s bedroom were genuinely moving and brought a tear to my eye. In just one episode, these two went from decent supporting characters to well-fleshed-out main characters and it’s a testament that the show managed to tell their story so well in such a short space of time, especially with everything else happening in the episode.

Just three episodes in and Superman & Lois may just be the best show in the Arrowverse yet. Here’s hoping it can keep it up.

Did you enjoy Superman and Lois season 1, episode 3? Let us know in the comments below!