Superman and Lois season 1, episode 15 review: Last Sons of Krypton

“You have no idea what’s coming next.” Spoilers for Superman and Lois season 1, episode 15 follow.

The Eradicator has taken Jordan as a last-ditch effort to beat Superman and make Earth the new Krypton.

And despite failing so many times before, he might win for one reason alone. Zeta-Rho has taken over Jordan’s body.

Here’s everything that went down in the season 1 finale of Superman and Lois “Last Sons of Krypton”.

Finding Jordan in Superman and Lois

The first 15 minutes of this episode are probably the tensest minutes of the season. Wow. Just, wow. Everything that has been present in this season up to this point is just built-on here to create a feeling that causes your heart to feel like it’s about to burst out of your chest. There’s so much emotional weight that has been building up throughout the season and seeing it begin to, literally, hit hard is emotionally satisfying in an exceptional way.

And this was just the first 15 minutes of the episode we’re talking about here. Somehow, the rest just gets even better, culminating in incredible emotional moments between Lois and Jordan, as well as John Henry’s memories of his daughter as he falls out of orbit. These moments are just so beautiful that are built on a rock-solid emotional foundation that has existed since the first five minutes of the series. To be fully transparent, this writer cried for probably a good five minutes after Lois and Jordan’s scene inside of his head. That’s how hard it hit.

The denouement is just wonderful as well. It’s great seeing Smallville get back on its feet; characters that were basically enemies at the beginning of the show becoming friends. And emotional beats that almost felt like they were forgotten about being revisited, such as the Kents burying Jor-El’s crystal by their house. It’s a well-deserved respite after the emotional turmoil that has been constant over the past several episodes, and it ends the season beautifully.

Bubbling over

Beyond the pure emotional resonance that most of the episode contained, a good chunk of this finale feels like it’s ripped from War of the Worlds. Seriously, The Eradicator’s final push to use Smallville as Eradication subjects is haunting. His first appearance, just looming over the citizens and the shock on their faces turning to terror, it’s so unsettling and manages to make your skin crawl ever so slightly.

This is later expanded upon, making it feel even more like War of the Worlds, as The Eradicator attempts to use all of the gold Kryptonite still buried under Smallville. The scene is handled in such an expert way as it makes you feel like you are on the ground with the people of Smallville as the god-like Kryptonians fight. The camera is almost always close to the ground, while also keeping an eyeline with Lana’s family for most of these scenes. It was such a great, subtle way to make the characters and, by extension, the audience, feel like bugs while the world is being destroyed around them by larger-than-life figures.

Fight scenes

Combined with the emotional weight that has been built throughout the season, “Last Sons of Krypton” has some of the best fights we have seen from the show yet. They’re brutal, intense, and well-choreographed in such a way that just makes the already-solid confrontations earlier in the show pale in comparison.

You feel every impact. Every punch thrown. Every cliff wall hit. Impact like this is hard to do right, especially on a television budget, and yet Superman and Lois manages to do so with this finale episode.

Superman & Lois finishes out its premiere season with exceptional highs, cementing it as, in this writer’s opinion, one of the best seasons of television in several years.

What did you think of Superman & Lois‘ season finale? Let us know in the comments below!