Superman and Lois season 3, episode 4 review: Too Close to Home

“I knew something was up earlier! You have the worst poker face.” Spoilers for Superman and Lois season 3, episode 4 follow.

Lois just had her first day of chemo, so Clark wants everything to stay as simple as it can get, but alas, nothing stays simple in Superman’s world.

While Clark tries to ensure Lois is resting, John Henry Irons begins to work his way back into truly living life on this Earth.

Here’s what went down in Superman and Lois season 3 episode 4 “Too Close to Home”.

Superman and Lois season 3 episode 4 review

Rest day

Starting off this episode with Superman and Jordan attempting to stop a forest fire, but Clark rushing back to their home out fear that Lois is hurt, really sets the tone for the episode really well. Clark is at his most human throughout most of this episode with all of the mistakes he makes in trying to protect people that he cares about (like trying to keep Lois on bed-rest after her first round of chemo, which includes not having that boys bother her with anything, that doesn’t go like he wants). In fact, when she finds out that Clark told the boys this after Jonathan was assaulted, she is rightfully angry at Clark, but he immediately recognizes why he was wrong, which is such a great characterization. Seeing Clark at his most human because he thinks he’s protecting Lois by telling everyone to not worry her with their problems, he’s hurting her by the simple fact that he’s now treating her differently.

But Superman can’t be by her side all the time as he has to leave her because Sam discovered where Bruno Mannheim got Superman’s blood from. And that’s the D.O.D. itself. Turns out, they were keeping vials of his blood after the events of season 2, just in case it happened again. To be frank, Clark doesn’t take this well and just destroys the vials. This is great because it’s one of two moments in this episode where Clark gets to take out his frustrations, and this one makes a lot of sense for the plot, even if the other one is much more satisfying, especially after seeing how easily Clark can destroy something.

Old weapons

John Henry being in the dark was never going to last forever as he figures out that Mannheim is using his doppelganger’s tech. So, of course he goes to tell Lois and Clark, but they already know, which frustrates him. This is “his” life that they were snooping around in and he feels that he should have been kept in the loop, which he is right about that. He may not be the same John Henry that was on this Earth, but that doesn’t change the feelings that he has about his loved ones.

So, in order to try and protect them, he goes to talk to his sister to learn more about who he was on this Earth. It goes about as well as we all expected, which is very well. But this leads to a great performance by Wolé Parks throughout the episode. He does a great job of trying to keep his myriad of emotions inside while first talking with his sister, which then leads to an immense fear and anger when she’s almost killed later. Parks acts so much through his eyes, and he kills it in this episode.

Throwing punches

In an effort to get out of their parents’ hair for the day, Jonathan goes to Candice’s house and Jordan goes with his grandpa. To be frank, Jon’s conflict is one of the most compelling parts of the episode. Jordan’s on the other hand, it’s probably the silliest conflict the show has ever been and it’s all over a haircut, let’s just leave it at that.

As for Jonathan’s though, it starts pretty innocuously with him going over to Candice’s place, but that quickly turns sour when he’s assaulted by her dad after a confrontation over the truck situation last week. So, when Lois finds out, she heads over to try and get him to fess up. He just pulls a gun on her, but she just pulls a pure Lois Lane move. She doesn’t back down an inch until getting her last word in. It’s pure Lois and Bitsie Tulloch plays it perfectly.

But then we get to see Clark angry. After everything that’s happened this episode, we get to see his righteous fury and it’s so great. Knowing that he could absolutely destroy this man with a single look and yet, he is still Clark Kent about it and barely hurts him when attacked, it’s so good. And then when he apologizes to everyone in the diner for disturbing them, Tyler is just a perfect Clark Kent.

This wasn’t the most enticing episode of Superman and Lois ever, but it still maintains the quality that the show is very much known for at this point.

If you’re a fan of Superman and Lois season 3, listen to The CW Spiral Podcast for news and updates about the show’s future. Subscribe to their YouTube channel here.

What did you think of Superman and Lois season 3 episode 4? Let us know in the comments below!