Superman and Lois season 2, episode 12 review: Lies That Bind

“People see who they want to see.” Spoilers for Superman and Lois season 2, episode 12 follow.

Lana reels from the revelation that Clark is actually Superman and tries to reckon with her world suddenly shifting completely.

Meanwhile, Superman tries to figure out a way to stop the invasion from Bizarro-world from continuing.

Here is everything that went down in Superman and Lois season 2, episode 12 “Lies That Bind”.

Revealing secrets in Superman and Lois season 2

One of the biggest secrets that the show has held onto for the entirety of it’s run so far is finally out. Clark has told Lana that he’s Superman. This has been a long time coming and, after the cliffhanger at the end of last episode, it’s great to see that the beginning of this episode actually is a direct continuation of that scene. The conversation that the two of them have is just fantastic on every level. The frustration, love, and anger, while throwing in some as-of-yet unseen backstory for the two, is just so great to witness. It’s an expertly crafted scene that works perfectly as the beginning of this episode.

And she has trouble adjusting to the news, which is extremely understandable because, let’s be real, if you’re best friend told you that he was Superman, you’d be a little shaken up as well. You find out something about someone you care about that completely changes how you see them almost instantaneously, it breaks you a bit (speaking from experience), and this episode does such a great job of exploring that.

Playing hookie

As for Natalie and the boys, she convinces them to play hookie in order to help Jon get his mind right on his first day back in school. While not a big focus for the episode, this little C-plot is honestly a nice detour from the rest of the episode. It ties into the larger plot threads, but it’s not as serious as the rest of the episode is and isn’t afraid to make you smile.

From seeing Nat showing off her new suit to Jon and Jordan to getting their help to dig out the power source for it (a.k.a. X-K), this part of this episode is just, well, nice. And by the end, where John Henry sees them together and Nat calls them a family and John Henry simply smiles at her saying that, it’s honestly wonderful. Nat has truly been one of the best additions to this season, with Tayler Buck being just absolutely wonderful, and this episode yet again shows us, the audience, why she’s great.

Pushing change

As for the main Superman conflict of this season, it starts off very well. Superman goes to see Bizarro Jon and tries to get him to see the errors of his ways. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t work, but it leads to such a great scene that highlights the differences between the worlds in subtle ways. These versions of these characters are so similar in so many ways, but a few changes in personality and choices that the characters make can lead to completely different versions of the characters that can appear.

And then when Sam, John Henry, and Superman are discussing ways to defeat Ally, the topic of destroying Bizarro-world comes up. Not shockingly Superman is not willing to kill Bizarro-world just to save his own. It’s such a small back and forth, but it’s so Superman and just shows how well this show understands the character. The conversation also feels eerily similar to conversations in the incursion storyline during Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers run, which is never a bad thing.

This then leads to bringing Tal-Rho into the mix to try and help destroy the second pendant, which actually works, despite the attempts by Ally herself to try and stop it. This obviously hasn’t defeated her, but simply shows how ruthless she is becoming in the aftermath of her loss. And Tal-Rho gets away. That surely won’t come back to haunt anyone.

Superman and Lois season 2 returns once again from hiatus and once again shows why it’s the best superhero show on television right now.

Superman and Lois season 2 airs new episodes on Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.

What did you think of Superman and Lois season 2, episode 12? Have you been enjoying the second season? Let us know in the comments below!