Superman and Lois season 1, episode 9 review: Loyal Subjekts

“We both know it’s the truth.” Spoilers for Superman and Lois season 1, episode 9.

Lois is on the verge of finding the proof she needs to bring down Morgan Edge. All she needs is the help of Clark though, not Superman.

Meanwhile, Superman is still being affected by the Kryptonite he was gassed with at the D.O.D. in the previous episode.

Here’s everything that went down in “Loyal Subjekts”.

Edge of happiness

After questioning what Edge has been doing in Smallville for the entire season, we finally get to fully see what he’s up to in this episode, and it’s everything that we’ve been told so far: He’s building a Kryptionian army and implanting Kryptonian consciousnesses into the bodies of those he deems worthy. Where he is getting said consciousnesses is unclear right now, but it is clear that he’s hellbent on using these new Kryptonians for world domination, just like John Henry Irons’ version of Edge did.

It’s an interesting dynamic that this creates. For so long, we’ve been in the dark about what’s happening with Edge, just like Lois. Usually, in shows like this, the audience often has a third-person god’s eye on the overarching plot, often knowing more about what’s happening than the characters involved. Here though, we’re going along the ride with Lois and Clark, unsure of everything that’s happening. This has created such an interesting journey throughout the show so far.

Because of this, when we, as the audience, suddenly know slightly more than Lois and Clark do – when Edge orders an attack on Lois – it creates a sense of terror for her and Jonathan’s safety that hasn’t been felt in this series yet (except for when Jonathan almost died last episode). This makes for such a tense final scene when the Kryptonians come for Lois, only for her father to come to the rescue and hold them off until Superman can get there. It’s not a perfect finale by any means, but it’s still a solid one.

Kryptonite virus

In what’s another wrinkle that the Arrowverse show has thrown into the mythology, we get synthetic Kryptonite that can hold an effect over Superman for several days… and that he can pass on like a virus. This is such a great concept that creates tension throughout the episode in regards to the safety of the entire Kent family. It forces you to ask the question, “What if Superman wasn’t fast enough?” and while that’s never fully played out in this episode, we get close to it.

It also creates a new dynamic between Jordan and Clark. We get to see Jordan being affected by Kryptonite for the first time as a result of Clark’s exposure to it in the previous episode. There have been a bunch of great parent/child moments throughout this season, but this provides another reason to bring one into the fold. Seeing Clark apologize to Jordan for giving him something he didn’t ask for, it’s heartbreaking, but the show quickly turns that on its head when Jordan isn’t mad about it, but is completely understanding that his dad went through the same thing. It’s incredibly touching and these scenes continue to be the some of the biggest highlights of the show.

Performances stop in Superman and Lois

We also get to see a lot of masks fall off in this episode. Throughout the season, so many people have been putting up these types of performances in order to hide who they truly are on the inside. This is most notable in two people, Kyle and Morgan Edge.

More from Arrowverse

• The 9 best (and 8 worst) Arrowverse characters
• 27 best fighters in the Arrowverse, ranked
• All 8 Black Canary actresses ranked from worst to best
• 11 things nobody wants to admit about the Arrowverse
• The 7 best (and 6 worst) Arrowverse villains

With Kyle, we get to see him acting happy once again – the mask that he’s been putting on for everyone outside of his family for the entire season. But we also get to see the reason why this time is different. He is now a Kryptonian as well. He made a deal with the devil and almost killed Lois because of that and, more than likely, will be forced to turn on his own family in the future as well. The thing with Kyle has always been that he’s a complex man, not evil, but very flawed, and this seemingly will be the nail in his coffin.

But the biggest reveal goes to Morgan Edge and who he is. There’s obviously more to be revealed and he could straight up be lying, but Edge is also a Kryptonian and, according to him, Clark’s brother. The episode ends there and there’s so many questions because of that, but it’s a great cliffhanger ending that puts the rest of the season into perspective for Edge’s character motivations.

Superman and Lois has yet another solid episode with some great characters moments and a couple of exciting reveals.

What did you think of Superman and Lois season 1, episode 9? Let us know in the comments below!