Superman and Lois season 2, episode 4 review: The Inverse Method

“They didn’t teach undercover cult infiltration at my journalism school.” Spoilers for Superman and Lois season 2, episode 4 follow.

Superman has a new villain in town and it’s… himself? Or at least a Bizarro version of himself.

Meanwhile, Lois is forced to confront her sister, Lucy Lane (with Jenna Dewan reprising her Supergirl role), and the leader of the cult that she is in.

Here is everything that went down in Superman and Lois season 2, episode 4 “The Inverse Method”.

Cult-like behavior

This is an absolutely brutal episode. The superhero content takes a backseat in this episode and that is definitely for the best. The story revolving around Lois, her sister and Ally has been building up for the past three episodes and “The Inverse Method” takes what you think is going to happen and just turns the entire situation on its head. It’s a great showcase into several things.

First, it’s a great showcase into how the people who supposed to be perfect are, in fact, not. That is very much the case with Lois here as we learn the full context of her article about Lucy and Ally. It turns out that she didn’t include everything that she probably should have, even if she was arguably right in her judgement, and that’s what throws her into the hole. It makes her look biased (which she is in this case, as are many journalists at some point) and destroys her credibility despite the truth of her article.

Second, it’s a great look into cults and how cult leaders actually work. They’re manipulators. They’re the only ones who speak “truth” at all times. They’re the only ones who are perfect. And they are the only ones who can help others become their “true selves.” And it’s scary how easy they can make their manipulations look, which is exactly what happens in this episode with Ally.

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Bizarro

Just because most of this episode focuses on Lois, Lucy and the cult, that doesn’t mean that the show forgets about the Bizarro reveal at the end of the previous episode. It still does several interesting things with him in this episode, even if most of it isn’t explained yet.

Obviously, the visions aren’t being explained away yet, nor is the new gem necklace that Bizarro makes out of his fire breath in the Artic. It is clear that when Clark gets visions, so does Bizarro, which means that the connection isn’t one way, which is very interesting.

But, because Clark doesn’t know what he’s up against, he’s forced to go back to the DOD for help and, unsurprisingly, that just ends poorly. Lieutenant Anderson sends in his team of Supermen, which ends up getting two of them killed almost instantaneously. And as for John Henry, Bizarro puts him into a coma. So, let’s just say, this isn’t a joke Bizarro, like he often is portrayed in the comics. He’s a serious and dangerous threat.

Dirty politics in Superman and Lois season 2

As for the more local aspect of the show, Lana’s political race gets all the more hairy when she hears that the Mayor is digging up dirt on her, and on Sara. The anger that both Lana and Kyle feel when they hear about this feels so real and both of them go about it in different ways. Lana’s anger is subtle while Kyle’s is overt. It’s a dichotomy that works very well.

And when Sara learns that she might be targeted, her reaction is absolutely perfect. She basically just says “Come at me,” and it’s so great. But while Sara doesn’t care about the truth about her getting out, Kyle isn’t the same way about his failures and mistakes, which feels ripe for story potential in later episodes.

Superman and Lois season 2 has a very character-driven episode and it continues to be a great show because of that.

Superman and Lois season 2 returns to The CW on Tuesday, February 22.

What did you think of Superman and Lois season 2, episode 4? Let us know in the comments below!