Superman & Lois Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Brotherly Conflict

Season two of Superman & Lois is strolling right along. There’s been a lot of positive conversation regarding the quality of the show. The scene with Superman rescuing the submarine has been receiving a lot of buzz thanks to its surprising high-quality visual effects (for the CW) and musical score. In fact, more viewers watched this episode than the premiere. Thankfully, this episode presents the same level of standard.

Superman & Lois airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CW, then streams free on the CW app.

If you missed it last week, you can read about the review for the previous Superman & Lois episode here.

Story: Painful Visions

Clark has been suffering random visions that have been causing him a ton of pain recently and starting to lose control of his powers. It’s hard to describe for him what he’s been seeing except that they’re horror-filled. He decides to visit his brother in prison to get some answers as he thinks it may be a Kryprionian people. It’s surprising to see the show bring back their previous main antagonist. While it comes as a shock, it does work organically into the story.

Tal-Rho would be his only contact with Kryptonian knowledge, even if his moral allegiance falls dark. He takes Clark to his own fortress where he meets a hologram of his mother, Lara Lor-Van. It sets up a fascinating angle as Kal-El gets to not only talk to his biological mother again but actually see her again. Then on the flip side, Tal-Rho gets to confront his mother for not raising him and to grow up with an abusive father. It truly feels like the brother connection they have can really get explored in the future.

This episode could also possibly set up a redemption story for the former Morgan Edge. Not to say he would be a full-blown hero, but shades of goodness could appear later on down the line. If the creature in the mines is actually Doomsday then we might see that come into function. The show could possibly set up a potential Reign of the Supermen storyline. The show has been connecting the dots and showing that elements from early on could reappear and make a big impact.

Clark, Lois, and John decide what to do next.

Characters & Performances: Predictable Cushing Stories

The dynamic between the Irons and the Kents are showing some great promise. We see Natalie bond with the Kent boys and Sarah. Tayler Buck brings a lot of charisma to these scenes and is already showing some great chemistry with the other leads. On the other side of the fence, we have two different storylines involving the Cushing family.

Unfortunately, you could see where both plots were going a mile away. We saw seeds of it get planted the last episode and while it reached the point that we could see, it was a little bit of a slog. Lana and Kyle get some bad news as Daniel Hart drops out of the Smallville mayoral race. They both rush to find another potential candidate to compete against Mayor Dean. I think anyone who watches this episode can guess where it’s going. However, I do like how this will explore Smallville more. It feels like an organic way to keep this show rooted in this iconic small town.

The other storyline is Sarah and Jordan’s relationship. With every teen drama, you know there has to be a bump in the road somewhere. They’ve been dragging the reveal of what’s wrong with Sarah since she’s been back from camp. You can also tell what the reveal is and it’s not that interesting. A decision like this makes me care less about the Jordan and Sarah relationship. At least with the predictable outcome of finding a new mayor Smallville, it presents an interesting angle for the upcoming episodes.

Cinematography & Sound: Shining in the Red Sunlight

When Clark visits Tal-Rho in prison, the area is surrounded by red sunlight. Even know he lost his powers, security is still tight as the red sun will remove any Kryptonian powers. The scene itself is great, but the main draw is the red light. Especially on Superman as it beautifully highlights the suit. It shows off the S symbol on his chest in a way we haven’t seen from this show. The symbol sticks out and attracts the viewer like a moth going towards an electric light. 

We also get a nice little action scene with Superman trying to rescue some hostages at an airport. Visually, it’s different from other places that the Arrowverse has been so the change of scenery is nice. While the fight is pretty standard, the music helps elevate the tension. It gets the adrenaline flowing as you see Superman struggle. The sound design of Clark getting these painful visions is effective as it sounds painful like nails scratching on a chalkboard.

Editing & Pacing: Back on Track

The main criticism from last week was how the pace had to slow down to adjust to the returning audiences. It felt like with viewers now readjusted to this world, we could finally pick up the speed a little bit. Granted it isn’t going a mile a minute, but the story for this season being unfolded helps pick up the steam. Theories are already popping up over what the creature is underneath the mimes and it helps that we want to know.

What’s refreshing is how much they’re leaning back on last season for plot details. It’s easy for a show to start fresh with a new season and continue on with their new story. But, this show uses details like the mimes, the mayor, people that are trained by the government on using their powers, and more. It’s going to be very successful when watching this on HBOMAX as it has the makings of a complete binge watch.