Does Clark Even Like Jonathan?

Clark being a bad father to Jonathan isn’t a new problem. I’ve talked about it many times in my writings here. It started with episode two when Clark took Jordan to the Fortress and never even considered taking Jonathan. This wasn’t used for dramatic purposes to give Jonathan something he could rightfully take his father to task for. The narrative presented it as acceptable like the normie being at the Fortress would be unheard of and weird. The show continued this narrative of Clark favoring Jordan with only the occasional snide remark from Jonathan about Jordan being Superboy. 

I began to hope Superman & Lois would address the favoritism they wrote over two seasons when Jon-El told Bizarro that he only cared about him when he got powers. A sentiment that Jonathan echoed to Clark in this episode when he said maybe he’d respect him if he had powers. Alas, the writers were tiptoeing around this issue just for plot reasons. They needed Jonathan to get snippy about Clark’s lying so Clark could reveal to Lana his secret. 

Why make an episode that should be Clark’s relationship with his son as a doppelganger of said son is on the loose about Clark’s best friend? What type of galaxy brain thinking was this? Was this the same thinking that got us Clark lecturing Jonathan about integrity and misrepresenting the family when he was caught for huffing space rocks? Where was the concern for his son’s health? Clark was focused on optics and his only feelings and not the health of his son or even why he felt the need to take X-K. 

Clark wasn’t even willing to take Jonathan to the Fortress to protect him. He gave the excuse that Jon-El could see what Jonathan could see. Did the show forget about Lara putting Bizarro in a containment field? She could do the same with Jon-El. Though that would mean Jonathan would be allowed at the Fortress and we can’t have that. That’s only for people with powers and Lois when Clark wants to propose. 

Jonathan just existed to propel the Lana plot forward and be a damsel in distress so Jordan could have a cool moment saving the day. They could have had Jonathan stab Jon-El with X-K while trying to merge, but that would give Jonathan an active moment in the episode and give him a win. It isn’t a surprise this writing team wouldn’t want that.

There’s only four episodes left in this season and my hopes of the show addressing this issue in a satisfying way are nil. I don’t think this show is ever going to have Clark apologize for his favoritism because they don’t see it as favoritism. They see it as Jordan’s due as the rightful heir. The most I can expect is a hug and the status quo of Jonathan being treated like a stepson by his own father continuing into season three. Someone needs to ask Todd Helbing if he rooted for Lady Tremaine in Cinderella because it sure seems like he’d be wondering why Cinderella would even want to go to the ball when it wasn’t for her. Cinderella should just be happy that Lady Tremaine is even talking to her and letting her live in the house!

Lana Learns The Man She Went To 2nd Base With In High School Is Superman

While I loathed using Jonathan as a plot point to get Clark to reveal the secret to Lana, the actual scene itself was nice. The show continued the visual motif of Clark taking off the glasses and flying. Though this time instead of lifting a truck, he used his freeze breath on a tree. Lois only got flying for her reveal, so I guess Clark felt it best to keep it simple for the woman he had been lying to while dating and not flex too much.

Lana must feel like an idiot. She’s known Clark all her life. Her daughter was dating his son. They probably watched Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe together while eating Martha’s cookies as children in the 80’s. It would be mind bending to learn your best friend was Superman. It would make you question your entire friendship with that person. 

I do think it was time for Lana to learn the secret. You can only have the secret contained for so long from the supporting cast that aren’t in the Kent/Lane and Irons families. It would also be cruel to not let Lana know about a doppelganger that could come wanting to merge with her. That’s information she should have and give her X-K she can stab Bizarro Lana with.

I don’t want the whole cast to know. Keep Kyle and Chrissy in the dark so you can have a few cast members Clark has to pretend to be a normal guy with. It is inevitable that Sarah learns the truth but let that be season three or season four.

Jordan, Future Reddit Incel

After getting dumped by Sarah, Jordan became that guy who blows up your phone with texts trying to get you to talk to him. This is realistic for a teen boy dumped by his first love. It gets so bad that Lois takes his phone and advises him to write a letter to Sarah which he does and contains the secret that he’s Superman’s son. Unfortunately for him, Jordan tries to give Sarah the letter when her mother is missing. She isn’t really in the mood for his man pain and he gets dismissed. 

The fandom has been really brutal to Sarah this season, but I’ll defend her. The kissing a girl at camp was a realistic bit of teen mistakes. A girl would dump a guy when he starts being really sketchy and unwilling to talk about what’s going on. If a man wanted to talk about our relationship while my mother was missing, I’d never speak to him again. Sarah’s behavior is writing choices that make sense to me and not on my list of mistakes this show has made this season. 

Random thoughts about “Truth & Consequences”:

• I feel like a lack of meaningful scenes between Clark and Lois has really hurt this season. They haven’t really utilized Tyler and Bitsie’s chemistry like they did in the first season. 
• I do like that they haven’t dragged out Jordan’s powers like Smallville did with Clark. He’ll probably have a costume by season four.
• This episode used Jonathan as a plot point, but Jordan Elsass did a good job playing both Jonathan and Jon-El.
• John Henry really has an NFL amount of head injuries at this point.

The post ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 2 Episode 11 Recap: “Truth & Consequences” appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

Fame Whores

Bizarro lived a very different life than our Clark. He didn’t have the Clark Kent name or small-town upbringing. He’s always just been Kal-El. Bizarro isn’t humble or saving people because he’s a good person. He is so enamored with fame that he’s taking selfies with twins and straight up ignoring a man in obvious peril scaffolding. Jon-El’s powers show up at this moment and he saves the man while his father is smiling pretty for Instagram.

Jon-El quickly joins the family grift of using heroics for fame and money in talk show appearances, sponsorships and getting a famous girlfriend who leads him to meeting Bizarro Ally. Like Lucy, Jon-El’s unstable upbringing makes him vulnerable to joining a cult. When you feel like something is missing in your life, cults latch onto that. I don’t think Ally has been a great villain, but the show has done a good job portraying how cults will prey on someone and give them a false sense of belonging.

The lack of a relationship between Bizarro and Jon-El is obviously meant to parallel Clark and Jonathan. Jonathan didn’t see that much of his father growing up because of the heroics. Even now that he’s in the know about the secret, Clark has blatantly favored Jordan over Jonathan. He hasn’t been to either Fortress or flown with him. The only experience Jonathan has with flying with a Kryptonian is when Zeta-Rho possessed Jordan almost killed him. I think all of this was a factor in Jonathan taking X-K and furthering the estrangement between father and son.

Jon-El and Jonathan both made huge mistakes because of feeling alienated and wanting a quick fix, but Jonathan has taken responsibility. Jon-El is a murderer who killed both Bizarro Mitch and Mitch. The episode ends with him on Earth Prime there to merge with Jonathan. If they do merge, could it be reversible? Who will be the dominant one? Is the show’s way of giving Jonathan powers? We’ll see.

Idiot Realizes He’s An Idiot

Mitch has spent the season acting like Superman’s spurned lover to the point that he brought the necklaces Ally and Bizarro Ally needed to merge and begin merging universes. His ego couldn’t accept Superman not wanting to be a lackey and it spun off into unhinged thoughts about Bizarro and Superman working together. He drove himself crazy.

The tragedy of Mitch is it didn’t have to be this way. He could have built a relationship with Superman over time. He could have not pulled a Meredith Grey circa season two of Grey’s Anatomy demanding Superman pick America. He could have listened to the warnings about Ally and observed that Superman clearly wasn’t working with Bizarro through basic logic. He did none of that and thus ended up murdered by a twink in red pants.

At least Mitch died knowing he was the villain of this story. Ian Bohen did a terrific job playing the moment Mitch learned Bizarro had a family and thus Superman did too. Bizarro did not need to kill those miners or the two Supermen of America, but in the context of his backstory he was a crazed man trying to save his family. They both thought they were doing the right thing, but it got both of them killed.

Totally Square

A month has passed in Earth Prime since Superman went through the portal, but for him it is only hours. Clark gets treated to Kyrie Irving’s dream: A flat Earth! The show takes direct inspiration from the comics in making Bizarro World cube shaped. Even the sun is cubed. The prop department was having a blast with this episode because there’s even square pool.

Tyler Hoechlin really got a lot to play in this episode. He played cracked out kryptonite Bizarro with different mannerisms from Clark. He played our Clark who gave grace to dumb dumb Mitch when he didn’t deserve it. He played the proud father to Jon-El and later horrified that this alternate universe version of his son is a villain.

I do think Jon-El is the wakeup call for Clark that things need to change with how he treats Jonathan. At the very least have forgiveness for the X-K situation. If he can believe Mitch, who helped get him into this mess, can be saved, then he needs to do that for his son. Though unlike Bizarro, Clark can put his family first and instead of trying to stop Ally from merging, he races to stop Jon-El from merging with Jonathan.

Sometimes seeing another person who is like you having a messed-up situation can give you clarity. Clark and Mitch certainly got clarity, but it was a start for Clark and an end for Mitch. I’m excited to see what direction the next five episodes will take.

Random thoughts about “Bizarros in a Bizarro World”:

• This was the most ambitious episode of the season. The wardrobe that looked straight out of a My Chemical Romance music video must have been a big part of the budget for this episode.
• I suspect Bizarro Lana and Bizarro Tahl-Rho’s romance will become a favorite for fanfic writers.
• Elizabeth Tulloch has never resembled Margot Kidder more than when she was wearing the Bizarro Lois wig. If Margot were still alive, they could pass as mother and daughter.
• Fans of the Snyder films were taking clips of this episode out of context to dunk on the show. If you want to have an informed opinion of a show, I have a crazy idea: Watch it. Then you can decide for yourself what you think of it.

The post ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 2 Episode 10 Recap: “Bizarros in a Bizarro World” appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

Daddy’s Gone

The episode opens with Lucy easily breaking Ally out of the DOD like it is where they take shoplifters at the mall and not a heavily guarded government building. Ally goes through the portal to Bizarro World and Clark follows her after flying around in a circle a bunch of times. I don’t know how that helps him not get ripped apart like the poor cultists in the prior episode, but it worked and thus he’s gone for an entire month.

They really take the time to underline how important Clark is to the world and his family in this episode. Disasters are happening that he could have helped clear up. Lois has never been without her husband for this long and you can tell it is getting to her. Jonathan has to deal with a father who he felt didn’t love him anymore being gone and not knowing if he’ll return. Jordan has to deal with the pressure of being the one with powers who can save people in the absence of his father. 

It is a clever concept to emphasize how important the lead is to the characters and let them step up in his absence and advance their stories. Yet this was the lowest rated episode of the season in linear ratings. You can never really know why an episode got the rating it did, and Nielsen ratings are flawed, but I have a decent idea why it did: Only one minute of Superman. He’s the main draw. People didn’t start watching the show for Lana Lang’s mayoral run or dating drama. If you are watching for Superman, it is understandable you wouldn’t be thrilled to see scenes of a girl dumping a boy for not paying enough attention to her with no Superman in between.

I applaud Todd Helbing and the writing team for taking a creative risk, but from a ratings standpoint, they should probably keep episodes where the lead is barely in it to a minimum. I’m sure Tyler Hoechlin was happy to have a week where he could take naps and watch sports, but maybe do something like this again in season five when the show is very established. Sorry Tyler, but for the enjoyment of the fans your butt must be in spandex for at least five minutes of an episode. It is what it is.

Getting Dumped The Same Week He Saves His Girlfriend’s Dad

It took Clark on Smallville ten seasons to fly. This show is not taking it slow with Jordan’s powers as he saves Kyle from an out-of-control fire at an X-K hub. Apparently when space rock dust catches fire it turns into a fire tornado. Who knew? Jordan can’t even get boyfriend credit for saving Kyle from a fiery death. Sarah just assumes he’s a flake because he can’t really tell her he’s half-Kryptonian. After he bails on her to help Sam and Lois shutdown an X-K factory, she dumps him. 

Fans have understandably been annoyed with Sarah this season. She cheated on Jordan at summer camp, tried to get him to be friends with the girl she kissed and now she’s dumping him? It doesn’t look great. Though if you think about it from her perspective, it is more understandable. Her boyfriend is shutting her out and flaking on her. She doesn’t know the reasons. If I were in this situation, I would not be satisfied with a boyfriend vaguely gesturing towards family problems with no specifics. 

Do I think the show expects fans to sympathize with Sarah more than most do? Maybe, but I do think fans should keep what she knows in mind. We know Jordan is a teen hero who saved Kyle, Sam, and Lois this week. For all Sarah knows, Jordan was bailing on her to play Fortnite. Sarah is not a perfect person but feeling like your man is not paying enough attention to you is a valid reason for a breakup. 

Parenting A Boy Who Can Shoot Lasers From His Eyes and Fly

Most parents have levers of control over their children to punish them when they misbehave. It can be allowance money or a phone or a game system. In certain households, it can be a slipper flying at a head. What do you do when your kid has superpowers and your nigh invincible husband is gone? That is a real question because when Lois tries to tell Jordan he can’t be going rogue and saving people, he reminds her he’s the one with powers. It was the CW equivalent of “I’m the captain now” from that Tom Hanks boat film I didn’t watch.

Jordan is lucky that Lois is a kind person who wouldn’t slap her son in the face with kryptonite even if she secretly thought about it. Instead, Sam talks her into letting Jordan help. With Clark gone, Lois doesn’t really have a lot of options, so she allows it, and it is a good thing she does because Lois and her father would have been very dead without her teenage son to take care of the X-K powered hooligan. 

I do hope they explore this dynamic more. How much control does a mother have over a teenager that can fly? Probably a lot less than a normal mother. Will Lois have supervision over Jordan’s secret heroics, or will that be Clark’s domain when he returns? I think she should have a say. She was in labor for 26 hours with him and Jonathan.

Bizarro Jonathan

The episode ends with Jonathan getting a headache like the headaches Alice on Batwoman got when her alternate universe counterpart showed up. That show established that only one version of a person can exist in a world. The other dies. The headache signals the arrival of Bizarro Jonathan as he strolls up to the Kent farm in the 90’s Conner Kent Superboy costume. Lois immediately knows that boy did not come out of her vagina. A mother knows her son and she must know her Jonathan wouldn’t wear red pants and a leather jacket like he’s the villain in an early 90’s teen film. Bizarro Jonathan informs Lois and Jordan that Clark was too late. 

Do I think Bizarro Jonathan is up to no good? Yes. Not just because he’s dressed up like he’s going to take your lunch money. It narratively makes sense for our Jonathan to be a stark contrast with Bizarro Jonathan. Perhaps Jonathan can help takedown Bizarro Jonathan and get redemption for huffing space rocks like a moron. 

Random thoughts about “30 Days and 30 Nights”:

• Lucy needs to go to prison. If your cult activities result in Superman being gone for a month, you have responsibility to the people he could have saved. Lucy has hurt a lot of people without thinking about it. Lock her up!
• Lois not wanting to mention how many times she’s been tied up to Sam was the funniest part of the episode. We all know it must be double digits. Lois just naturally runs into trouble.
• I know some fans don’t care at all about Lana’s mayoral run, but I hope her victory presents more story opportunities for her.
• There are few things sadder than a mattress on the floor. Hopefully Lana’s victory will lighten his responsibility for paying for two places so he can afford a bed frame. No one likes going home with a man to find a mattress on the floor. The bartenders of Smallville deserve to have sex on a mattress that isn’t just flung on the floor. They have dignity!

The post ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 2 Episode 9 Recap: “30 Days and 30 Nights” appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

Poor Bizarro Is Dead

Mitch continued his power trip by having Clark put in a cell with his amused brother Tahl-Rho. It is hilarious that Clark, the symbol of good and decency, is in captivity with a man who was bent on using humans as meat puppets. Clark refuses to give up the location of Whiter Clark AKA Bizarro, so Mitch tortures Tahl with a kryptonite collar. Clark gives them the location of his Fortress and not Tahl’s desert Fortress. 

When the soldiers find Bizarro’s containment suit there, Mitch jumps to the wild conclusion that Superman is working with Bizarro. This makes no sense even if you look at it purely from Mitch’s point of view. If they were working together, why would they fight multiple times? Why would Superman ask for Mitch’s help to locate Bizarro before fighting him at Salar de Uyuni? Why ask Mitch politely for the pendant and not just storm the DOD? There’s no logic to it because all critical thinking skills have left his brain. He’s running on hatred. 

After Clark and Tahl escape using a fake fight as a ruse, Mitch’s ready to go full Superman villain. Superman’s rogues tend to blame him for situations they created themselves. Blaming themselves would require a measure of self-awareness they aren’t capable of and would be too painful. Blaming Superman is convenient since he is a good man that makes it is easy for them to imagine ill intent when there is none and project every insecurity they have about themselves onto him. 

Mitch hasn’t given Clark an inch all season. He’s wanted 100% control of every situation and when Clark balked at that, Mitch took it as a slight against him. This road of being offended Superman didn’t want to be his bitch as now made Mitch a Big Bad. He loads up on x-kryptonite and attacks Tahl’s Fortress. Tahl takes kryptonite bullets to the chest meant for Clark. He’s gone from shoving Zod into his brother to risking death for him. I don’t know how I feel about this growth from him. It does feel abrupt given that he’s only been in two episodes this season, but he has had months to reflect on his actions and Clark and his kids are the only family he has left.

When Clark takes Tahl to the sun so he can the sunlight he needs to heal, Mitch proceeds to murder Bizarro. I’m a fan of this move for a few reasons. It makes Bizarro’s arc distinct from John Henry Irons who also traveled from an alternate universe. He’s never going to have the journey from antagonist to ally. It makes his story even more tragic because his actions have partially led to Mitch giving Ally the other pendant she needs. If he had murdered fewer people, he possibly could have saved Earth Prime. Actions have consequences. 

Snorting Rocks Is Bad

Jonathan had a rough week as rock peddling girlfriend tried to give him x-kryptonite when cops showed up x-kryptonite sniffing dogs. Yes, this has become a big enough problem that they’ve now trained dogs to sniff for rocks from Krypton. If they had those dogs in the TV series Smallville in the 2000’s, those dogs would have barking every 30 seconds given that universe used kryptonite like it was hemp. Kryptonite was even in gum! 

Jonathan takes the baggie of rocks you can inhale since Candace lives in a trailer and she can’t handle her life getting any worse. This leads Jonathan to getting threatened with being expelled unless he tells where got the x-kryptonite. He isn’t arrested which makes sense given there being no laws prohibiting snorting rocks from space. Even worse for him than the threat of getting kicked out of school is Lois finding out. Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois is one of the scariest mothers on television. It feels very real. I was scared and I haven’t been putting rocks in my body.

Lois demands to know where Jonathan got the poppers, excuse me, x-kryptonite from and he refuses to snitch on his dealer. He’s not going to ruin someone else’s life to save his own butt. This could be viewed as a moral position to take all the responsibility onto himself given no one forced him to use it, but it is stupid. Candace was the one who sold a substance that gives people superpowers to god knows how many teens. She should not skate from responsibility just because she’s had a hard life. What if one of those teens got heat vision and couldn’t control it? People could have been melted because of Candace.

I hope Jonathan gets powers because I’m tired of him being sad about not being special. I think they’ve milked every bit of story they can get out of it and it is only season two. It is time to move on from it. 

A Woman Paying For a Man’s Actions

Mayor Dean used Kyle’s affair with the bartender to undermine Lana’s mayoral campaign. He painted himself as the family values candidate. I could understand using that in politics if the candidate was the one who cheated, but when it is the other way around it feels mean. I wouldn’t want to vote for someone who was like “Hey, everybody! She got cucked! How can she run a town when she can’t keep her man out of other women? I’m too busy in the church choir to be fornicating with women who work at establishments that sell the devil’s juice. I’m going to pray for Lana that whatever sexually transmitted diseases she’s picked up from her philandering husband clear up. Poor thing.”

Lana manages to turn Mayor Dean’s sleazy play back on him by pointing out how straight up mean it is to kick someone while they are down. It was the obvious move, but when someone digs a hole, you might as well kick the dirt down on them. It is what he deserves for being so dumb.

Meanwhile, Sarah didn’t really feel like she could talk to Jordan about her dad boinking another woman given that Clark has never cheated and never will cheat per showrunner Todd Helbing. She reaches out to the girl she kissed at summer camp, Aubrey. I would have preferred Sarah talk to Natalie about this given that they’ve already bonded, but Natalie is dealing with an injured father who presumably doesn’t have health insurance. Aubrey helps Sarah see that she doesn’t have to be mad at Kyle just for her mother’s sake and Sarah reaches out to her father.

Random thoughts about “Anti-Hero”:

• I wish we were getting more Lois and Clark together this season. It feels like most of the scenes they have are apart. This series is called Superman & Lois. Act like it.
• I hope Ally Alston actually becomes a version of Parasite. You’ve given her the name of one of the versions. You have to fulfil the implicit promise there. If I had to hear about bathtub pill cults and she doesn’t start draining people, I’m going to be mad.
• I do think a big reason why Bizarro had to die this early in the season is because it is a logistical nightmare to have your lead playing a dual role for multiple episodes. Tyler Hoechlin has enough of a workload playing his regular role and when you add on Whiter Clark, it gets harder.
• Lois has mostly been reacting to other people this season. I wish we had more of her being proactive.

The post ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: “Anti-Hero” appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

Whiter Clark Had It Rough

The episode opens with flashbacks to Bizarro World with the Bizarro version of the Kent farm looking like Grey Gardens. Bizarro battles soldiers at Bizarro DOD, fights Bizarro Lana who is a Superman of America in this world and then attacks Bizarro Ally and takes the pendant. He then puts on the containment suit and comes to Earth Prime via crashing into the mines. We go to the present day as Bizarro tells not quite that white Clark and Lara that the pendants were created when the two worlds split and that if Ally gets both, she’ll be unstoppable.

Clark is wary of Bizarro. He kills people and makes no apologies for it. I think losing his family has broken this man. I think whatever made him look like he got dusted with cocaine and cracked his face could be a factor. The other people on Bizarro World don’t look like they used a powdered doughnut as makeup. That means a person or event did it to him. I’d say odds are in favor of Bizarro Ally messing him up. It is a testament to Tyler Hoechlin’s attractiveness that he still looks hot with pale makeup and with drawn on scars. 

The US Military Are Meanies

Mitch gets chewed a new one by his superior General Hardcastle for his abysmal relationship with Superman. He wanted absolute fealty from Superman. The military is all about the chain of command and he forgot Superman is not in the military and isn’t some 18 year old fresh from boot camp that he can order around. Realizing he’s an idiot who ruined relations with Superman would be too much self-awareness for his engorged ego, so his resentment and mistrust just builds even further.

At the funeral for the two fallen Supermen of America, Mitch gets slapped by a grieving mother and learns from Superman that he has custody of Bizarro. Mitch demands the location of Bizarro and Clark isn’t going to hand him over because he still needs more information about the situation and Mitch is sketchy AF.

What is Mitch’s brilliant solution? Attack Superman in a red sun lamp decorated hallway and arrest him for treason. I would have loved to have seen the conversation that took place to get this plan in motion. Here’s how I imagine it:

Mitch: “Superman knows where the Kryptonian is! I want to arrest for treason.

General Hardcastle: “Didn’t I just rip you a new one for just pissing all over our relationship with Superman?”

Mitch: “He doesn’t respect my authority. When he doesn’t do what I want, it feels like he has a bigger ding dong than me and that hurts my feelings. Shooting him with Kryptonite will make me feel bigger. That and national security, yadda, yadda, yadda.”

General Hardcastle: “Well, we can’t have you feeling impotent. Let’s torch our relationship with the world’s greatest hero! Beat him up and arrest him! We can always just give him a Target gift card later to make up for it. Superman can buy bath bombs or some new pillows.” 

I never thought I’d see a hallway fight in a Superman series, but they deliver a Daredevil-esque fight twice. The Bizarro version of the fight is on the opposite side, so Tyler Hoechlin and the stunt team had to do it twice. I’m very impressed. Excellent direction from the original pink Power Ranger Amy Jo Johnson as well. This was her first episode of television she’s ever directed and you’d never know that watching it.

Lucy, Get a Grip, Girl

Sam bum rushes Lois with her cuckoo for bathtub pills sister Lucy. The twins and Lucy catch up with a lot of football talk and Lois manages to get along with Lucy for most of the episode. That is until Lucy brings up Lois being “wrong” about Ally. Lois doesn’t take well to that and brings up Ally drugging Chrissy and Lucy defends the act of putting pills in hotel lobby tea. Lois has the self-restraint of a saint because she didn’t pop Lucy in the mouth in the stands of a high school football game.

I wonder what will be Lucy’s “come to Jesus” moment because it has to be coming. Would it be Ally trying to harm Lois? Realizing Ally’s true intentions? I don’t know, but at this point I think Ally could drown a basket full of kittens and Lucy would say that the kittens had it coming for not accepting their other self. This is realistic for cults. They position everything as us versus them and it puts people away from their families.

Jonathan Inhaled

Jordan finally learned that his brother Jonathan was breathing in X-Kryptonite to get a starting position on the football team and he was pissed. The police are investigating the X-Kryptonite druggies so if they catch Jonathan’s girlfriend and she snitches on him, he’ll be in big trouble. Jonathan did all this and he doesn’t even feel good about winning the game because he cheated. Though one could argue Jordan was cheating last season when he played football even if he only used a fraction of his physical abilities. 

Leave Him, Lana

Kyle is no longer living in the Cortez home given that he’s a cheating dirtbag. Not helping matters was Lana visiting Kyle’s affair partner and learning that he only stopped fornicating with the bartender after Sarah’s suicide attempt. This news was a huge blow to any reconciliation hopes. She’s no longer sure she loves him. It should be a deal breaker. He didn’t stop placing his penis in another woman out of love for Lana. It was concern for his daughter. 

I worry that the show will take the easy way out and in two episodes Lana will realize she still loves him and they’ll kiss in front of the window like they in season one. I abhor even the thought of that. This man embarrassed her and their entire family at Sarah’s birthday. This scandal could hurt Lana’s mayoral chances. I know marriages can survive infidelity, but sometimes they just shouldn’t. I know a divorce would strain the Cortez family finances given that Kyle is the only one working, but if Lana becomes mayor, the salary should sustain her and her daughters.

I want to see what a single life looks for Lana. She hasn’t dated anyone else since she was 17. Set her free from this bad marriage and stop papering over Kyle’s toxic behavior. I know this show has Lana and Kyle just so they can be an unhealthy contrast to Lois and Clark’s marriage, but if they really want a contrast, it should be the death of that marriage.

Random thoughts about “Tried & True”:

• I like that Bizarro had a cat. I hope someone is still feeding that cat because it would be very cruel if he just flew off to another universe without a thought of that cat.
• I want Lana to meet Bizarro Lana. She got possessed by Lara last season. Let her have the trippy experience of meeting a superpowered version of herself.
• This season is very focused on the Ally and Bizarro story, but I’m kind of missing a villain of the week like we got in season one with Thaddeus Killgrave. I wouldn’t want that all the time, but sometimes you need a breather.
• I’m ready for football to be over. Jordan doesn’t play anymore after he almost melted everyone. Jonathan is inhaling rocks because of it. Let’s find a new high school activity.

The post ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 2 Episode 6 Recap: “Tried and True” appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

 A Bit Early To Have a Retread

A person from an alternate universe comes to Earth Prime to kill the person that ravaged their home planet and with dire warnings of the fate that could befall everyone. No, I’m not talking about John Henry Irons trying to kill Clark multiple times last season. I’m talking about Bizarro who has the same basic story thus far. Bizarro is there to kill Ally Allston, leader of the Inverse Society, whose counterpart has taken over everything in Bizarro World. The only real difference is John Henry was more focused on killing Superman and Bizarro will kill anyone who looks at him wrong.

It feels lazy to have the same “I’ve lost everything on my home planet!” backstory twice for such a young show. The show could be doing this intentionally with plans to play up the parallels between Bizarro and John Henry. Or it could be a huge whoopsie on Todd Helbing’s part. Though I doubt no one noticed they were doing two alternate universe characters married to Lois who are bent on murder. Is Lois going to meet an alternate universe husband every season? If so, I’m just going to assume it is a tribute to the Silver Age of comics when Lois was getting married every five minutes.

Even if Bizarro’s story for the rest of the season ends up being wildly different from John Henry’s arc, it still doesn’t excuse the show for being repetitive in season two. All shows repeat themselves in one way or another. I’d give them more leeway if this was season five. Season one ended in August. It is February. The story for season two should not be this similar.

Bathtub Pill Cult Antics

Chrissy didn’t trust Lois anymore, so she went to Ally to get answers and ended up getting drugged via hotel lobby tea. It is common sense to not drink anything offered to you by a cult leader who has people overdosing in bathtubs, but I guess good manners overpowered survival instincts. She ended up seeing the alternate universe where Ally is ruling everything.

The most interesting thing about this story to me is the conflict between Lois and Chrissy. She’s withheld information from Chrissy multiple times so it is understandable that she’d be fed up with it. Lois has secrets she can’t tell Chrissy like her husband being Superman and an alternate universe daughter living in her house. When you get in the habit of being secretive, it is natural for you to put up walls between you and other people. Chrissy can sense the walls.

The other problem is Lois has been doing this for 20 years and is world famous and Chrissy is a young reporter who has only worked in Smallville. Lois would naturally feel like she’s the superior one given her stature. This is a big problem given that they are supposed to be 50/50 partners. For this partnership to work, Lois has to stop treating Chrissy like a subordinate and Chrissy has to trust Lois and not just run into a situation to get drugged. Respect is paramount to a working relationship

After School Special Jonathan

Jonathan has continued using X-Kryptonite to give himself powers and he joins Jordan in Grandpa Sam’s training session. The X-Kryptonite seems to be fueling Jonathan’s jealousy and resentment of Jordan. For years, Jonathan was the special one. He was the athlete destroying a tire swing as a child. Jordan was the floppy haired weirdo. I don’t care how much you love your sibling. If they got superpowers inherited from your father and you didn’t, you’d feel some kind of way about it.

Jordan notices something is off with Jonathan and even talks about it with Sarah. She brings up her depression two years ago and how it felt like she was a totally different person which is the clear theme of the season. Later, Jordan saw Jonathan with glowing red eyes and assumed his powers naturally came in. Jonathan made him promise not to tell their parents. 

I hope this story addresses the blatant favoritism in how Lois and Clark treat Jonathan compared to Jordan. I do think not feeling special was a factor in his decision to take X-Kryptonite. Maybe it would have been different if Clark had done things like take him to the Fortress of Solitude and not acted like he only had one half-Kryptonian son. 

Sorry, Sarah, Your Dad Is a Slut

Sarah couldn’t even enjoy her princess moment at her quinceanera without learning that Kyle was cheating on Lana. Emmanuelle Chriqui and Inde Navarrette did beautiful work as Lana comforted her daughter about Kyle being a massive disappointment again. Lana wasn’t shocked about her husband being a hoe or worrying about what the mayor will do with the information. She was focused on Sarah.

I never thought we’d get a quinceanera on a Superman show, but I’m glad they did it. It was a good cultural moment and it gave us messy drama with the Cushing, excuse me, I mean Cortez family. If this leads to a Kyle and Lana divorce, I wouldn’t mind if she met a certain widower from an alternate universe. John Henry could use some love in his life. Kyle could use some therapy and pettinance for his hoeish ways.

Random thoughts about “Girl… You’ll Be A Woman, Soon”:

• I bet Clark misses the days when his father-in-law was leading the DOD. Now he has to deal with Mitch holding onto that necklace like he’s an ex who was given a family heirloom and is being petty.
• I love that they got Bizarro’s powers right. I never thought I’d be seeing heat breath and ice vision in live action, but they did it. 
• Dr. Faulkner is now dead, but what about her counterpart in the other universe? In the comics, Kitty Faulkner AKA Rampage was John Bryne’s ripoff of She-Hulk. It would be a shame if Superman & Lois didn’t use Rampage.

The post Superman & Lois Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: “Girl… You’ll Be A Woman, Soon” appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

Bizarro Needs Anger Management

Superman & Lois has leaned hard into making Bizarro the literal inverse of Superman. His hair is parted on the opposite side, his theme music is the theme music of the series reversed, he breathes fire instead of ice (just like he does in the comics) and he kills. Clark is still plagued by visions of him and unfortunately for him Bizarro drops by the farm for a quick fight which is only resolved by John Henry throwing his hammer at them.

Clark and John Henry figure out they can track Bizarro by his necklace in silly superhero logic that you aren’t meant to think about too much. They need Mitch’s help since he has access to satellites. Mitch tracks him and he sends the Supermen of America after Bizarro because he’s an overconfident moron who thinks he has the biggest wee wee in the room. Bizarro promptly snaps the two dayplayer Supermen of America’s necks and Tag escapes with Bizarro’s necklace after Superman shows up. John Henry has to go there in the suit that is still damaged from last season and ends up in the hospital for his troubles. 

There’s been a lot of discourse about this fight scene over the past few days. Fans of the Zach Snyder films were mocking it and comparing it to Snyder’s DC films. It is absurd to compare a network television show with films that had a $200 million plus budget. Big budget films have time and money to make things look great and even then sometimes you end up with janky CGI like in Black Widow and or in a few shots of the Snyder Cut. Network television doesn’t have that luxury. What this show has been able to achieve on a TV budget and time table is incredible. It would be equally unfair for someone to compare the space you get for character development on a TV show to the character development you can get on a film. Both mediums have strengths and weaknesses.

I just question why they are talking about a show via only screencaps and small clips. If someone started bashing Man of Steel without actually watching it, I know these people would not take that criticism seriously. I understand they are upset about Walter Hamada taking the Snyderverse out back and Old Yellering it. Todd Helbing, Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch and everyone else working on this show didn’t make that decision. Maybe actually watch the show and then you can bash it or praise it. Excessive hate tweets about a show you aren’t watching is pathetic. 

Idiot Cult

This episode introduced the Post-Crisis version of Lucy Lane. The competent military prosecutor who was engaged to Jimmy Olsen is gone. Now she’s a mess who joined a cult about taking pills in a bathtub so you can see your true self. And Lois’ journalistic integrity is on the line for this stupidity. It is hard to imagine people on the internet being on the side of a bathtub pill cult over Lois Lane, but then I remember I live in a world where people are literally drinking pee over getting vaccinated and there are people who sincerely believe that Nancy Pelosi eats babies. Even with that, I don’t think it would be big enough to ruin Lois’ career. Oh, her sister says that she saw another version of herself while overdosing and Lois left that out? So? Most people chalk it up to bathtub pill cult crazy talk.

It is maddening that Chrissy has lost trust with Lois over this crap. I get that it is frustrating that Lois didn’t disclose everything immediately to Chrissy, but Ally Allston has the credibility of a podcaster who tells you to eat medication for horses or a celebrity hawking NFTs. I hope Chrissy is working a con on Ally and she isn’t going to be using a bath bomb to make her overdose more soothing. Conning Ally to get more information would be slick. Trusting her and joining in on the “Give me those pills so I can see my other self! Nom nom nom” insanity would be plot induced stupidity. I understand plot induced stupidity can sometimes be a necessity for storytelling, but I don’t think Chrissy is the type to join a cult.

My issues with this dumb cult being a credible threat to Lois’ career aside, I do think Elizabeth Tulloch and Jenna Dewan work well together. You could feel how much Lucy resented Lois for their mother leaving and not talking about it. It makes sense that Lucy joined a cult. People with giant unaddressed holes in their life look for ways to fill it. It could be booze, sex, gambling, getting bangs when you don’t have the face for it and even a cult. You could see the frustration on Lois’ face that Lucy wouldn’t really hear her. Cults, even ridiculous ones, are masterful at separating people from loved ones. Since Lois is a naturally aggressive person, she played right into Ally’s Cult 101 narrative of “Everyone is out to get us! I’m a victim!” I am interested in how Lucy will be deprogrammed or if this downward spiral will continue. 

Kyle Cheated? Yeah, That Makes Sense

Lana continued her quest to become mayor as Mayor Dean started poking around for dirt about Sarah. This was concerning for Lana and Kyle considering Sarah’s suicide attempt two years prior. Unknown to Lana, Kyle had a secret of his own that could be used against them. A bartender at a dive bar was his side piece. I don’t think anyone was that surprised that Kyle cheated. Remember Kyle at the start of the series? The man was railing at Lois about the mainstream media and getting so drunk that his own daughter had to take care of him. Kyle and Lana fought often. It is easy to see Kyle flopping around on that woman like a fish out of water while she pretended he was rocking her world.

Kyle has had character development from those days, but he’s still not a saint. When he got sober, he should have confessed to the affair and let Lana make an informed decision about whether or not she wanted to stay married to him. I’m sure he had every excuse in the book. “It is over. I don’t need to revisit that and hurt Lana by telling her”, “It wasn’t me. It was the booze”, “Things are good now. Why rock the boat?” Men will do all these mental gymnastics to get out of accountability. 

I would be in favor of Lana and Kyle divorcing. I know Todd Helbing and the writing team like to use them as a dark contrast to Lois and Clark, but not every couple needs to stay together. It could provide fresh storytelling opportunities for Lana to be a single woman. John Henry is in town and he’s single. What would him finding new love look like? Lana hasn’t dated since high school. Throw those two in some scenes together and see if they could have a season three romance.

Random thoughts about “The Inverse Method”:

• Jonathan is officially on the X-Kryptonite. Clark probably would have noticed if he was at that practice, but he was busy with Bizarro. Hopefully it doesn’t take them too long to notice something is wrong.
• All the mentions of Lois and Lucy’s mother means she either has to come on this season or next season. They have to address the woman who traumatized them.
• I am glad Tag survived. I predicted that most if not all of the Supermen of America would die and I was right. If Tag had died, it would have been indirectly Jordan’s fault since he’s the reason Tag has powers in the first place.
• Sam training Jordan sounds like an interesting way to make him more relevant to the narrative since leaving the Department of Defense. Sam could teach Jordan some valuable lessons or he could put nonsense in his head. It could go either way.

The post ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: “The Inverse Method” appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

Superman’s Intellectually Challenged Clone

For the third time, the show pulled a bait and switch on us with a villain. The first time was “Captain Luthor” being John Henry Irons. The second time was Morgan Edge being the newly created half-brother to Clark, Tahl-Rho. This time they had us thinking the thing in the mines was Doomsday when it was Bizarro all along. You’d think fans would anticipate a twist given the pattern they’ve shown, but I think everyone was shocked at the reveal. 

I am happy they are doing Bizarro and he is visually the most comic accurate live action version we’ve ever gotten. I’ve pondered how the show could use that character given that it takes itself fairly seriously and Bizarro is admittedly a goofy, but tragic character. In the comics, everything he says means the opposite. Hate means love. Save means kill. This version of Bizarro speaks backwards. After the helmet is damaged and his true form is revealed, he says “Leave me alone.”

Upon reflection, this makes more sense than Doomsday. It explains Clark’s connection to him and why the rage coming from Bizarro affected Clark to the point that the usually calm father was yelling at Jordan and flashing heat vision eyes. They also mentioned Bizarro being interdimensional in episode two of this season. I think there’s a good chance they are doing Bizarro World, the cube-shaped planet that has Bizarro and other Bizarro versions of DC characters. 

I do think this is connected to the cult story. The cult being led by Ally Allston is about finding your true self. I don’t think the appearance of a special needs doppelganger of Superman and a cult about supposed self-discovery is a coincidence. Do I think Ally created Bizarro? No. I’m thinking she knows of the existence of Bizarro World and she’s the one who Dr. Faulkner was talking to in episode two. And it is this team’s M.O. to lull viewers into thinking a villain for Lois is just going to interact with her and then reveal the villain is a big problem for Clark.

I do worry that the bait and switches with villains becoming the standard for this series. If they keep on doing it, eventually it will be diminishing returns. I get that surprising fans and seeing the reactions can be addictive, but will it be this exciting the fourth or fifth time? I don’t think it will be. Now the audience will be trained to expect shenanigans like this so if in season three, they have us thinking that the villain is Brainiac, but it is really Cyborg Superman, it will be expected and a letdown. They have to think of new ways to surprise us that aren’t just “Ha! You thought it was this character when it was really this character!” They’ve hit the limit on how many times you can do that.

Puppy Love

Jordan wanted to tell Sarah his secret so he could fix the relationship. I guess telling your girlfriend you can shoot lasers out of your eyes is a healthier relationship fix compared to people that have a baby or have sex with other people. Clark understandably takes issue with this considering it isn’t just Jordan’s secret. It is also his secret and it impacts the entire family. 

Clark never even told Lana his secret and he’s known her since he was in diapers. He only told Lois his secret after he was sure he wanted to marry her. It is not a cavalier thing for him. I’m sure Clark has visions of Jordan forgetting Sarah’s birthday and her dramatically revealing on TikTik that Clark Kent is Superman while a Taylor Swift song plays in the background. Teenagers don’t have fully formed brains and a bad decision with a secret this big could have deadly consequences. 

I do like that Clark later told Jordan that they could revisit the issue a year from now if he still feels the same way. It is pushing the problem down the road, but it does acknowledge that this is Jordan’s secret as well. If he is going to have a healthy relationship with someone, he’ll have to be his whole self and that means letting her know he can cook a meatloaf without an oven.

I doubt Jordan will ever tell Sarah the truth. It makes more dramatic sense for her to find out on her own and then let the problems ensue. It can’t just be her being understanding and mature about it. She’s a teen girl and her boyfriend is lying to her. Even the most emotionally mature teenage girl in the world would be furious. I do think it has to happen either this season or next season. Too many things have happened for things to not click in her head eventually.

Jonathan The X-Kryptonite Druggie

Jonathan found out that his girlfriend Candace is selling X-Kryptonite to students. Rather than tell his parents that Smallville High is going all Requiem for a Dream but with the ability to lift a truck, he buys from her instead. This is a natural progression for the character. His father and brother have powers. He’s almost died multiple times including at the hands of Jordan while possessed by a dead Kryptonian. He’s also being sidelined on the thing he’s good at, which is football. It makes sense that he’d want to have an edge.

I just hope this show doesn’t go too literal with the drug addiction story. I want it to play more like an addiction to the power it gives him. I don’t want a replay of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season six where they literally had Willow strung out on magic. If they have Jonathan tripping balls on X-Kryptonite, that’s going to just be bad. I also hope it doesn’t take Lois and Clark too long to notice Jonathan is juicing. They’ve already been negligent parents last season by not giving him an ELT. If Jonathan suddenly has super strength and they don’t notice, CPS needs to be called on those two.

Random thoughts about the “The Things in the Mines”:

• Ally Allston had better be a version of Parasite like the name suggests. If they reveal she’s Silver Banshee or Metallo, I’m going to be pissed. You don’t have to get cute all the time, Todd Helbing!
• I’m glad they are continuing the character thread of Lana’s pressure to be perfect. Her desire to be a Mary Sue, but being imperfect is what makes this version interesting to me.
• Sam’s attitude about Lois and Lucy is pretty typical of fathers from that generation. They don’t want to get involved in drama even if it is extremely obvious that one child is in trouble and ignoring it isn’t going to help.
• The production value in the fight between Superman and Bizarro was stellar. Though poor Tyler Hoechlin has to play another dual role. The first time was in the Elseworlds crossover with John Deegan taking on Superman’s form, then he played evil alternate Superman and Zod possessed Superman last season and now he’s playing Bizarro. Warner Bros. is getting their money’s worth out of Tyler. They aren’t going to let that man have any handsome straight men hobbies. He’s just going to be playing all the versions of Superman. If he sees Ultraman in a script next season, I wouldn’t blame him if he egged Todd Helbing’s house.

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