Superman and Lois Review: The titular characters shine in Anti-Hero

Fantastic direction by Elizabeth Henstridge as well as powerful performances by Bitsie Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin allows Anti-Hero to shine.

The incarceration of Superman at the end of Tried and True leaves Lois alone on the farm with Jonathan and Jordan. Jonathan’s poor decision to take the synthetic kryptonite drug finally comes to light. Lois’s wrath extends to Jordan as well for keeping the secret from her. Anti-Hero saves the most powerful scene for near the end of the episode. When Clark returns home, his anger at Jonathan for what he’s put the family through reduces Jonathan to a sobbing puddle.

Superman is forced to share a cell with Tal-Rho. Anti-Hero is the strongest Tal-Rho episode of the series. He actually has Superman’s back throughout the episode.

Sarah still trying to deal with her parents’ split. She loves and supports her mom’s decision. However, she still wants to see her dad. Jordan offers support, but simply can’t offer much in the way of experience with this situation. Sarah turns to the girl she kissed while away at camp.

John Henry, Ally Allston and Chrissy Beppo are either absent or used sparingly in Anti-Hero.

The only issue with the episode is Lt. Anderson. His arc from a momentary antagonist to full-blown villainy is too quick. He crosses the line multiple times. The ending of the Bizzaro story feels a tad abrupt, but I’m not sure if there was a better way to end that storyline either.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the elements that stood out in Anti-Hero. There may be some minor spoilers. Superman and Lois is available to stream on The CW.

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America vs Superman in Anti-Hero

It doesn’t take long for the half-brothers to reunite. Anderson wants the location of Bizarro and is willing to do anything to retrieve the information. Superman refuses as first. However, once Anderson begins to torture Tal-Rho, Superman sputters out coordinates to his fortress of solitude.

While Anderson heads off, Superman and Tal-Rho work together surprisingly well. They start fighting each other. Tal-Rho appears to get the better of Superman, which forces soldiers to enter the room. Even without their powers, Superman and Tal-Rho are able to overcome the soldiers with ease.

Anderson decides to take the synthetic kryptonite drug to enhance his abilities. He attempts to shoot Superman with a kryptonite bullet, but Tal-Rho takes the bullets for his half-brother. Superman tries to help Tal-Rho, while Lara (Superman’s mother) releases Bizarro to help her sons.

Anderson uses his increased strength to kill Bizarro. After killing Bizarro, Anderson goes on the run. Sam Lane decides to rejoin the military and lead the search for Anderson. The final scene of the episode shows Anderson meeting up with Ally.

Anderson’s descent was just too fast. However, I did like how the series is starting to ease the tension between Superman and Tal-Rho.

A Reckoning for Jonathan

Most of Jonathan’s lies finally come out into the open in Anti-Hero. During school, Jonathan is chatting with his girlfriend in the hallway. The police are searching lockers for drugs. His girlfriend has a lot of kryptonite drugs in her bag. She doesn’t want to get in trouble, so she asks Jonathan to essentially take the fall. He does.

Lois is furious with Jonathan and angry at Jordan for covering for his brother. Eventually, Jonathan says he was just using the drug, not selling it. She wants to know who was selling it. He refuses to reveal his girlfriend’s role. Lois decides to leave the house for some fresh air.

Later, she comes back to the farm with a less angry, but still profoundly disappointed disposition. Jonathan explains everything. He goes into why he felt he needed to take the drug. He also makes sure to state that he’s not making excuses for his choices. Lois once again asks for the identity of the dealer. Jonathan once again refuses.

When Clark comes home later, he has a one-on-one chat with Jonathan. Anger isn’t a common emotion for Clark, but he lays into Jonathan here. Hoechlin is incredible in the scene.

The resolution to this story was a long time coming.

Women supporting women

When Lois leaves the farm, she heads to Lana’s for support. Lois apologizes for laying her issues on Lana given everything going on. Lana’s more than happy to help.

Lois also provides some encouragement to Lana. Spurred on by the sitting mayor, a story was published in the newspaper calling Lana’s leadership capabilities into question. After all, if Lana didn’t know what was going on in her own family, how can she handle the responsibilities of running a town. Lana confronts the mayor and rightfully tears him apart for using this situation.

Jordan tries to offer support to Sarah but isn’t much help. After talking to her mom, Sarah decides to reach out to a girl she met at camp. The same girl she kissed, Aubery. Djouliet Amara is fantastic as Aubrey and it’s a testament to her performance that makes her so likable. Aubrey’s confident, funny and honest in a way that the more insular Sarah isn’t. You can definitely see why Sarah was interested in her and you almost root for them as a couple more than Jordan and Sarah.

Another great showcase for the impressive female cast on this show.

Anti-Hero Final Thoughts

Anti-Hero isn’t the best episode of Superman and Lois. However, it’s a great example of something that has been missing until these last two episodes of the series. Drama with real human emotion and bite to it. A strong superman story that showcases his innate goodness that rubs off on others. In good and bad ways.

For Anderson, it rubbed him the wrong way to the point that he’s now chosen to work with Ally. In Tal-Rho’s case, he’s starting to improve. He even apologizes for using Jordan.

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