‘Superman & Lois’ Review: Best Superhero Pilot Since Smallville

2021 marks an important year for Superman. The debut of Superman & Lois is the best superhero pilot since Smallville‘s debut 20 years ago.

Creators Greg Berlanti and Todd Helbing make the wise decision to focus on Clark and his connections to humanity over superhero theatrics. There’s enough superhero action to be sure, but it’s the exploration of Clark Kent as a husband and father that receives the most focus.

Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch have great chemistry as Clark Kent and Lois Lane. I’ll dive more into the duo’s dynamic in the spoiler section, but there’s a scene with Clark, Lois and General Sam Lane (Lois’s father) played by Dylan Walsh (Fantastic casting) that clearly demonstrates the respect Clark shows towards Lois. Essentially, the general wants Superman’s help and Lois wants Clark to stay with the family. There’s no hesitation from Clark to side with Lois.

Jonathan and Jordan are Clark and Lois’s sons. Jonathan played by Jordan Elsass, is the jock, while Jordan played by Alex Garfin, has social anxiety disorder. While I don’t necessarily like Clark hiding his identity from his sons, I do like how Jonathan and Jordan react to Clark’s secret. Also, Clark and Lois’s handling of the situation once his identity is revealed is quite strong.

From a visual perspective, Superman & Lois is simply gorgeous due to the HBO Max cameras, which gives the series a cinematic quality vastly above the other shows on the CW.

There’s a tease at the end of the episode that has the potential of throwing the show off-course. The decision made by Lois and Clark at the end of the episode is a big leap in logic that was unnecessary as there were plenty of other reasons to validate the decision.

With the non-spoiler details out of the way, lets dive into superhero theatrics, family drama and more in the Pilot. Superman & Lois is airing on The CW and streaming on CWTV.

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Superman & Lois: Homecoming

The Pilot begins with a sweet and wonderfully put-together montage showing Clark’s story up to this point. His earth parents taking him in, Jonathan Kent’s death, heroic saves, meeting Lois and marrying Lois are some of the life events captured.

Clark misses Jordan’s therapy session while out saving the world as Superman. Lois wants Clark to reveal his identity to the boys. Clark is hesitant. They both agree that Jonathan may have some sort of abilities, but Clark is worried that this reveal could drive a further wedge between Clark and Jordan.

They continue the discussion in the Daily Planet elevator. After arriving in the bullpen, Clark is fired from the Daily Planet, which is under Morgan Edge’s new ownership. Before Clark can begin looking for a new day job, he gets a phone call from Martha’s doctor. He rushes over to the Kent farm to find that Martha has already passed away due to a stroke.

The whole opening section is just tremendous and strikes a different emotional tone than other CW superhero shows.

Lois, Clark, Jonathan and Jordan all arrive at the farm for the funeral and reunite with Lana Lang (Now Lana Cushing) played by Emmanuelle Chriqui. Lana’s husband, Kyle Cushing, has beef with Clark for leaving Smallville in the dust, which has struggled in recent times. Most of the farmers have been forced to either close or accept a lease buyout from Morgan Edge. Lois is curious about Edge’s attention which draws ire from Kyle.

Before Lois can dig deeper, there’s a rumbling in the barn and a screaming Sara Cushing (Lana’s daughter).

Teen Drama

During the funeral reception, Jonathan and Jordan meet the Cushings’ oldest daughter Sarah. Jonathan is pretty smooth, but Sarah’s much more interested in the socially reclusive and nervous Jordan. The trio venture into the barn and discover the wifi isn’t working. After Sarah puts her number in Jordan’s phone, Jordan climbs a stack of circular-heavy tubes to reset the router. He slips on the way down, which causes the tubes to collapse. Jonathan jumps on top of Jordan to protect his brother.

Clark hears the commotion, rushes over and easily tosses the tubes off of his sons. Outside of a few bruises and a minor concussion, the boys survived an encounter that would have almost certainly killed both of them. Clark and Lois have another discussion about revealing his identity with more emphasis being on Jonathan having powers.

General Lane stops by the house for superman’s help. However, Lois tells Clark that the family needs him more. Without hesitation, Clark sides with Lois. The chemistry between Tulloch and Hoechlin is great, here.

Lois and Clark meet with Lana at the bank to discuss the farm’s finances. Essentially they can pay back the loan or sell the farm to the bank, which is owned by Morgan Edge. While their parents are out, Jordan and Jonathan search the barn and discover Clark’s ship.

They confront their parents. Clark reveals his secret and divulges his belief that Jonathan has powers. Jordan is predictably pissed and leaves the house. In a nice move, Jonathan stops his parents from consoling Jordan and says they need some time to deal with this I don’t like that Clark took this long, but I really liked his explanation and the response from the boys.

While at a party, Sarah and Jordan begin to connect. Sarah reveals that she went through a deep depression and even took some pills a few years ago. Jordan goes in for a kiss, which Sarah waits too long to reject as her boyfriend shows up. Her boyfriend’s squad starts beating up Jordan and the uninvited Jonathan shows up to protect his brother. Jonathan fails and as Jordan lies on the ground, his eyes light with the same red voracity of his father’s causing an explosion from the bonfire. There are multiple injuries, but nobody is killed.

Heroics of Superman

Superman spends most of the Pilot preventing nuclear sites from exploding. During General Lane’s Kent family visit, the surveillance camera at one of the facilities was able to detect a mystery assailant moving at great speed.

When Superman investigates later in the episode, the mystery man clad in armor similar to Master Chief makes his presence known. His suit is made of lead, which is undetectable to Clark’s X-Ray vision. They find around the planet and into space. Eventually, the mystery man stabs Superman with a kryptonite and as he falls to the ground, he pulls the kryptonite out. Either kryptonite is weaker in this incarnation of Superman or the episode took a shortcut. This left something to be desired.

Superman speeds off to make sure Jordan and Jonathan are ok at the bonfire site. Once it’s clear that Jordan has powers, Clark has a great conversation with Jordan. He promises to be there every step of the way.

After the father-son chat, Clark decides based on his last conversation with Martha, to move the family from Metropolis to Smallville. Lois agrees and they reveal their decision to the boys.

In my mind, there’s a much simpler reason to move the family to Smallville and it’s similar to an explanation provided by another Clark Kent in the final season of Smallville. When the Smallville Clark was a child, the chores on the farm helped him hone his abilities. The Clark Kent in Superman & Lois could have simply stated that due to Jordan’s abilities, moving to the farm will allow him to hone his skills with some semblance of privacy.

In the Pilot’s final moments, the mystery man is revealed by his ship to be Captain Luthor. Another version of Lex could be pretty hokey or could work out. I haven’t loved Jon Cryer‘s portrayal on Supergirl, but that doesn’t mean this version can’t be good.

Superman & Lois Final Thoughts

The season premiere is a strong start for Kal-El and his family. The Kent family dynamic is the strongest element so far. There were a few story choices near the end, which prevent Superman & Lois from topping Smallville‘s Pilot.