‘Superman and Lois’ Fail Safe Review: A Strong Filler Episode

In Fail Safe, everyone is still dealing with the fallout from the attempted brainwashing of Superman and the residents of Smallville.

Outside of a few explosive Lois Lane scenes from Bitsie Tulloch, there really aren’t too many shocking moments in this episode. Clark is trying to get more information out of Tal-Rho. Chrissy is trying to put the finishing touches on the Morgan Edge story. Sofia Hasmik does a great job in this episode of showing Chrissy’s anger towards Lois’s handling of the Edge story.

Lana and Kyle Cushing are still trying to coexist with a town wanting nothing to do with them. Jordan and Jonathan skip school. John Henry Irons is trying to figure out how to make this new Earth his home.

The most important storyline is over whether to destroy the military’s supply of kryptonite weapons or not. Where Sam, Lois, John and Clark land on the debate is surprising, nuanced, and truly fantastic. I’m actually enjoying the Kyle and Lana storyline quite a bit. Kyle’s plea would have more weight if Superman and Lois had focused on other characters backing Edge as fervently as Kyle. Jordan and Sarah’s relationship is just really sweet.

No matter how much the show tries to build up Tal-Rho, the character just isn’t a menacing figure opposite Superman. In fact, A.C. Peterson‘s portrayal of Tal-Rho’s father, Zeta-Ro is far more sinister than anything Adam Rayner has shown over the course of the series. The ending of the episode clearly paints Fail Safe as a setup for the next episode.

With the non-spoiler details out of the way, let’s dive into superhero theatrics, family drama and more in Fail Safe. There will be minor spoilers. Superman and Lois is airing on The CW and streaming on the CWTV app.

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A Kryptonian Fail Safe

With the exception of the man himself, Clark’s ability to resist Tal-Rho’s brainwashing has everyone breathing a sigh of relief. Sam offers to bury his stockpile of Kryptonian weapons at the bottom of the ocean. Clark believes the weapons should stay where they are in case someone with Superman’s abilities attacked the Earth. Humanity can’t fight back without those weapons. Sam is aghast but reluctantly agrees.

Lois learns about Clark’s decision and gives him an earful. She’s so angry at Clark she can’t even deal with Jonathan skipping class and tells him to go to his room. I love how Jonathan stays in the background to listen to his parents argue. Of course, Lois knows he’s still hovering and orders him to go back to his room. Clark once again explains his decision, but Lois is worried about the weapons falling into the wrong hands. The argument is interrupted by a phone call from Jordan at the police station. He too was skipping class with Sarah.

Later in the episode, Lois and Clark have a less confrontational conversation. Clark explains throughout his life he has focused on controlling his abilities. Tal-Rho’s brainwashing allowed him to fully be himself with no restraint. The power at that moment felt good. Lois is more sympathetic to Clark’s honesty. She still maintains the government shouldn’t be in control. Clark agrees and asks John Henry Irons to be in charge of vault 7734.

Earlier in the episode, Irons and Superman teamed up to capture Leslie Larr in Fail Safe‘s only action scene.

Tyler Hoechlin and Tulloch finding new depths to mine in each character continues to be the strongest element of Superman and Lois. I also quite like how much Sam trusts Clark after the events of Through the Valley of Death.

Picking up The Pieces

Chrissy and Lois are trying to wrap up the Edge story. Lois pays her father a visit. Sam reveals Clark’s decision to keep the kryptonite weapons and refuses to comment on Lois’s story. He feels the family is too close to the story already. Lois returns to the Smallville Gazette. She reveals that she wasn’t able to get a comment, which is a weird thing for the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter to say. Chrissy knows Lois is hiding something and tells Lois perhaps the Gazette isn’t the right fit for her. Probably the best scene for Hasmik as Chrissy in the series.

Lois takes her anger back to the farm, which leads to the confrontation with Clark. I like that Clark finally mentions that the dynamic journalism duo has nudged ethics aside throughout their career.

Kyle and Lana are trying to push forward despite the town of Smallville turning its backs on the Cushing family. The mayor of Smallville politely asks Kyle to stay away from work for a couple more weeks. Lana maintains that Kyle wasn’t the only person that wanted Edge in Smallville and the mayor agrees. Later in the episode, Lana catches the mayor throwing all the blame on Kyle and confronts him. He sheepishly tries to move the conversation to a more private venue, but Lana walks away disgusted.

Lois and Lana have a great conversation. Lana talks about how she used to be so proud of her small town. In one instant, the town’s turned against a family who has put everything into the town. Unlike Lois, she has no branches outside of Smallville. Lana also gives Lois a final push on her Edge story. The mayor is controlling the narrative and it’s not right what he’s doing.

Lois returns to the Gazette with a statement from her father. She passes the story off to Chrissy.

I always enjoy it when Lana and Lois interact. Fail Safe is no exception. Both women come across strong, confident and caring. I especially like Lana being the one to convince Lois to push forward on the story. Clark, Jordan or Jonathan would have been easier choices for that job, but Lana is the right character in this episode.

Time to Play Hooky

Jonathan and Jordan aren’t the focus of Fail Safe. They both decide to play hooky from school. Jordan goes off with Sarah. Jonathan leaves with Tegan.

One of the things about the Sarah-Jordan dynamic in this episode is how little Jordan speaks. Sarah’s worried about her father. Jordan doesn’t say anything for long stretches. Her father has a habit of going over the edge when life doesn’t go his way. She’s scared he’s going to go over the precipice and won’t come back.

Jordan doesn’t comment on a family situation he knows little about. Until he met Sarah, Jordan never felt like he belonged. He also tells Sarah that she has her family, Jonathan and himself to lean on. The sweet scene is interrupted by the police. Turns out they trespassed on private property.

Jonathan and Tegan’s escapade isn’t as sweet. Tegan may be interested in Jonathan, but she’s far more concerned about what happened to the town and Jonathan’s grandfather. Jonathan bails and has a nice chat with John Henry back at the Kent farm. Of course, Clark is at home and easily catches Jonathan.

Both boys are grounded for leaving school.

Fail Safe Final Thoughts

A strong filler episode. Fail Safe does a stellar job of slowing things down and allowing each character a moment to figure out their next steps. Based on Tal-Rho’s escape at the end of the episode, the last three episodes of the season should be exciting.