The final season of Superman and Lois has reached its halfway point. The beloved DC TV series returned last month to commence its fourth season after more than a year off the air, but it wasted little time in picking up where it left off - choosing to pick up exactly where it left off, which is something that the show hasn't done before.
The tensions have been running high and the stakes even higher, as Clark Kent and Lois Lane and their family have struggled with the vendetta that Lex Luthor has brought against them. But it's not just them that he's dragging down, as he has made his way to Smallville in a bid to intimidate and threaten them even further.
The sixth episode of the season lets us see just how much of an impact his presence is having on the town of Smallville, with the villain attempting to buy up land for his own obsession. He meets some understandable resistance from the townsfolk, who are having none of it.
Before we go on, you should know that this article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from Superman and Lois season 4 episode 6. Don't read on if you don't want it spoiled for you.
The Heart of Smallville
Lex Luthor's attempts to buy up land in Smallville is down to the fact that he wants to set up Luthorcorp's new headquarters there. His own people scoff at the idea, particularly Milton, but that's nothing compared to the resistance he gets from the people of Smallville, particularly Mayor Lana Lang who refuses to back down when he threatens her.
Lana and Clark team up to convince Aidy Manning (the resident who had planned on selling her land to Luthor) to pull out of the deal and it works. Interestingly, it works because Aidy - the lady who saw Lois and the boys crying over Superman's body - implies that her decision was down to Clark and "all that he had done for" Smallville and the world. Clark is taken aback at the possibility that someone in town knows that he is Superman, but she isn't the only one who knows.
Lex isn't happy and confronts Lana and Aidy at the bar, offering Aidy and the people there $10 million each if she takes the deal. But money can't buy their allegiance, and they all turn it down. Lex begins to lose his temper, but Clark shows up and provides support from behind, so he backs off and storms out. Amanda doesn't like what she sees, as she remembers comments that Lois made to her earlier in the episode - comments that suggested Lex would keep her out of the loop and eventually spiral out of control. He asks her if she is still a believer in him, and she said she wasn't sure.
Meanwhile, Lana ends up in trouble when Otis breaks into her house. He had been attempting to blow the house up with gas, but the smell woke her and she confronted him in the kitchen. After a fight ensues - that almost results in Otis choking Lana to death - Sarah comes to the rescue with a baseball bat, knocking the intruder out cold.
Clark is furious and confronts Lex in the town square on a very rainy, deserted, quiet night. Luthor responds by turning all of the lights in town red - using the same red energy of the Red Sun, stripping Superman of his powers. But Clark doesn't need powers to confront Lex, as the two have a very physical brawl in town. Luthor almost wins but Clark breaks free (along with potentially breaking Lex's arm) and pummels him into a bloody mess as his family watches. He stops just shy of killing Lex, but the fact of the matter remains that Luthor had underestimated how powerful and angry that Clark Kent was; not Superman.
Beyond Smallville
There was a very human element to the main narrative in this episode of Superman and Lois, which isn't all that surprising considering that is what Superman and Lois does best, but the subplots were also very character-driven, too. Lois noticed that Clark was beginning to sprout some grey hairs, which had him wondering if he is starting to age at the same rate as a human. Though he finds that daunting, he takes comfort in the fact that he gets to grow old with Lois. But it is interesting to watch him attempt to balance that with the idea of everyone in town potentially slowly uncovering that he is really Superman.
Speaking of that, Coach Gaines has somehow heard the secret through the grapevine, too. His big idea is to convince Jonathan and Jordan to rejoin the football team at Smallville High. Jordan reminds him that he hasn't played in over a year and Jonathan reminds him that he was removed from the team after taking the rap for that whole X-Kryptonite situation. He doesn't care and enthusiastically suggests coming up with ways around that so that the super siblings can play for his team again.
Jonathan overhears someone in need of help and uses that as an excuse to leave the Vicky Mays café while the coach continues to pitch this idea to Jordan. But Jordan has other things on his mind and, at the request of Clark and Lois, asks Sarah if he can get a job at Vicky Mays. She says no and is jealous of his ability to just start his life over somewhere else (due to his powers), but he asks her why she can't do that too. And with that, she decides that she wants to study abroad. She changed her mind, however, after the attack on Lana because she didn't want to leave her mother, but despite some initial hesitance, Lana thought it was a good idea - particularly because it meant that she would be safe away from Luthor.
After conversations with his parents and Jordan, Jonathan finally realizes that he is spreading himself too thin after Lana was attacked and he didn't hear because he was asleep. Jordan also realizes that, because he had his headphones in and Jonathan was overspent, it is time to return to being a superhero. The world needs both of the Superboys. However, before they venture back into the world of heroics, they decide to take Sarah to visit some potential schools in Greece.
The infamous Warsuit suit is coming
The closing moments of "When The Lights Come On" quite literally has a lightbulb come on for one of its characters. No, we're not talking about the red lightbulbs in Smallville, we're referring to the idea that Amanda has in the final scene. Yes, she's back; and she reminds Lex that he told her to make a choice and she is is choosing him. Though she offers to stitch his wounds together, she also has some tough love: He's doing it all wrong. And she's not talking about the stitches.
Amanda tells Lex that he needs a new suit, and if you're a DC Comics fan, you probably had a lightbulb moment too. Yes, that very much implies that Lex Luthor's infamous Warsuit is making its arrival on Superman and Lois. Designed to withstand the might of Superman and featuring some advanced Kryptonite-based weaponry, the suit allows Lex to go head-to-head with the Man of Steel. And given that he couldn't defeat Clark Kent without powers, he's going to need all of the enhanced help he can get to beat Superman.
The stage is now set for the battle to end all battles. Though Luthor has retreated to Metropolis for now, we know he will be back. He will be back for revenge, and now we know he will be bringing his Warsuit with him. He'll still find himself outmatched by the Fam of Steel, but you can bet that he will go down swinging anyway.
Superman and Lois season 4 airs new episodes on The CW every Monday night at 8/7c.