Superman and Lois season 1, episode 7 review: Man of Steel

“One sound at a time.” Spoilers for Superman and Lois season 1, episode 7 follow.

With Jordan’s super-hearing beginning to emerge in Superman and Lois, Clark must pass on the techniques he learned so that he could become Superman in order to help his son.

Meanwhile, Lana goes undercover for Lois, while Lois is trying to figure out who exactly her mysterious partner is.

Here’s everything that went down in “Man of Steel”.

Super-hearing

One of the best things about this series so far has been the slow introduction of new powers into Jordan’s life and Clark’s subsequent training of him. Another wrinkle is brought to the forefront in this week’s episode because, no longer does Jordan just have super-strength and heat vision, he now also has super-hearing – which is probably the most invasive of powers to get used to and this episode conveys that incredibly well.

The pain that Jordan is constantly in throughout “Man of Steel” is palpable and it’s something anyone who has had chronic pain (like this writer) can understand. You want to do anything to take it away and nothing to address the problem, and that’s portrayed so well here. However, in order to make the pain manageable, you must face it head on and it’s wonderful that we get to see that in this episode.

Alex Garfin’s performance is fantastic and the pain in his face when he’s trying to focus on the sounds around him is incredible. He channels the pain, focus, and anger that all mixes together in a situation like that incredibly well and it just feels so authentic and real.

The Stranger revealed in Superman and Lois

After not having much information on The Stranger other than his name (Captain Luthor) and the fact that he’s from another Earth, we finally get to learn more about him in this episode. We knew that he didn’t trust Superman because of what happened on his Earth, but now, we get to see what happened to said Earth and it’s straight out of Dark Knight III: The Master Race. Not only is Superman evil, he was also not the last Kryptonian. It’s an interesting twist on this multiverse that lends more credence to an evil Superman as Kryptonians, in most incarnations, have generally not been kind to the human race when they finally come to Earth.

But, as it turns out, this isn’t a version of Lex Luthor at all, as The Stranger is none other than John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel. This is such a great reveal and it creates an interesting take on the DC character. Both the comics version and this version were inspired to build their suit because of Superman, but for some pretty different reasons. Steel is such great character so, while it’s slightly disappointing to not get the more optimistic version we know, this version fits the show incredibly well and it will be interesting to see if he and Superman eventually become allies.

Irons obviously sees himself as the hero of this story – and in a way, he is – so it’ll be interesting to see if he becomes less antagonistic towards Clark as the season progresses.

A mole in the den

Probably the least interesting portion of this episode was everything to do with Lana. It wasn’t bad. In fact, it was interesting to see her keeping tabs on Morgan Edge for Lois and trying to find out more information for her.

It’s genuinely nice seeing her be a good person and seeing what that entails with her friend. Her dilemma on whether or not to give her friend a job despite not trusting Edge is real because she knows that either decision may end up working out poorly. Because she’s a good person though, this decisions weighs on her and it’s nice to see. Again, it’s not the most interesting plot-wise (at least not yet), but it helps build her character.

Superman & Lois knocks it out of the park once again by finally giving us the backstory for The Stranger and making him one of the most interesting characters on the Arrowverse show.

What did you think of Superman and Lois season 1, episode 7? Let us know in the comments below!