SUPERMAN & LOIS 1.7

 

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  1.7:  "Man of Steel"

The Kent Family is in panic mode:  Lois & Clark are desperate to help Jordan, as his powers start raging out of control, and are now threatening his life.  Clark has raced him off to the Fortress to try and save him.  Meanwhile, Lois herself has TWO stories in her lap now:  Trying to figure out what Morgan Edge plans to do with all this newly discovered element called X-Kryptonite, as well as looking into this Marcus Bridgewater character who helped her in the mine, but still has an air of mystery about him.  Jonathan is worse for wear, as he nurses a broken arm, which has ended his football career.  How will HE handle things?  And will Sarah start looking at Jordan more suspiciously in the wake of what Tag told her?  And can Lois and Lana work together in secret without Kyle finding out?  Smallville has gotten QUITE interesting as of late, and the fun is just about to start...

Clark had raced Jordan to the Fortress at the end of last episode, and that's where we pick things up in this installment.  Clark is frantic to get Jordan help before his powers overwhelm him...Jor-El tells Kal-El that Jordan will have to learn to adjust to them.  His super-hearing is haywire, and it's causing immense pain because he can't focus on one particular sound.  We see this episode that Jordan struggles to adjust to this new power, despite everything Clark tries to do to get him to focus.  He wears headphones to block out the sounds and to avoid the pain.  He does, however, keep making attempts, and---once he does learn to focus his hearing, he hears a conversation between Jonathan and Sarah.  And, of course, he begins to take it the wrong way, as he thinks his brother is moving in on Sarah.  However, Jonathan's talk with Sarah is him doing everything he can to cover Jordan's absence.  Tag came up in conversation, and Jonathan plays it off...doing what he can to shield his brother from having the truth come out.  When Jon gets home, Jordan gets into it with him, and then Jon lashes out at him, telling him that all he was doing was helping HIM....and Jordan punches a hole in the wall in frustration.  Later on, however, Jordan's powers come in handy.

Lois has been in reporter mode, and is looking to get answers about Mr. Bridgewater after their little escapade in the mine, and their confrontation with Leslie Larr.  Clark feels that they need to tell the boys what's going on, but Lois says that keeping them out has been the best thing, but now Clark isn't sure.  Lois wants to get more information on Bridgewater, as well as more on this X-Kryptonite and Morgan Edge before they decide to drop the 4-1-1 to the boys about all the crazy stuff going on in town.  Lois meets up with Bridgewater, and lays it all out for him:  she wants the truth from him.  She wants to know all about what Morgan Edge is up to.  Before their meet, we get to see a little more into Luthor's life.  Married to Lois happily, but then we find out they have a daughter, who's nauseated by all the lovey-dovey stuff between her parents.  They then witness Superman  and his legion going about the destruction of Metropolis on his world.  So, he goes about trying to see if he can help bring Superman down.  His flashbacks also include his Lois reporting on the findings of Kryptonite and her desperate plea to everyone to find it, and use it to stop them.  As her television report is viewed by her husband and daughter, they witness Superman fly up from behind her, and kill her with his heat vision.  This is the motivation for this man to go about destroying the rogue Kryptonian on his world.  

Lois and Clark decide to team up to see what Bridgewater's game is---she'll have a sitdown with him and get the truth, while Clark investigates his RV...which he discovers through the Alexa-type module in the RV that he calls himself Luthor, which gets Clark's attention immediately. Meanwhile, Lois is grilling Bridgewater, and wants him to un-complicate this story.  Lois is aggressive here, and isn't putting up with any BS.  Before she gets any real dirt from him, Christy calls, and says that Edge has a shipment of X-Kryptonite going somewhere, and wanted to let her know.  Lois tables the conversation with Bridgewater/Luthor, and she and Clark head out to track it down.  Bridgewater/Luthor gets ahold of this, and he's off to stop the shipment as well....especially when he sees that Clark had entered his RV and was nosing around.  Edge wanted to get shipment to his people, but Lois' interference was preventing that.  Leslie suggested a shipment, to see if Lois would bite...and she did.  Leslie is hearing the entire proceedings, as she listens in on Lois & Clark, as well as Bridgewater/Luthor. 

Lana Lang Cushing has been trying to adjust to her new job with Edge, and he wants her to pick 5 candidates for a new project, and one of her older friends comes in to ask to join, and Lana is a bit hesitant, but her friend persists.  Lana says that she'll put in a word for her, but won't make any promises.  Later on, we see Lana in her office, and her friend shows up with a gift, saying she got the position, and thanks her.  Lana is cautiously happy for her friend.  What we REALLY find out, is that these 5 individuals that Lana had chosen for this new project for Edge...are going to be guinea pigs for his plan to give powers to them, and help expand his army.  

Lois, Clark, and Bridgewater/Luthor all manage to get to the truck, though Lois and Clark wanted to follow it to its destination, Bridgewater/Luthor altered their plan, and he stopped the truck.  They find a case that has X-Kryptonite in it.  Lois says she wants answers, and is done playing games.  He confesses that Edge is using the X-Kryptonite to build an army and take over the world.  He says he's here to stop it, and wants to meet with Superman.  Lois says she might be able to arrange a meet, and Bridgewater/Luthor asks if she trusts Superman, and she says with her life.  Lois had Christy do some research on this Bridgewater/Luthor character, and discover that he's not a Luthor, but a military man named John Henry Irons.  Supposedly, he died six years ago.  We see more of Irons' flashbacks, as he began building the tech in the RV with his daughter, and designing the suit that he ended up battling Superman with.  He then promised that he'd be back for her, once he's done getting the X-Kryptonite, and defeating Superman.  When he DOES meet with this Earth's Man of Steel, he traps him in a field of red sun energy, thus sapping Kal-El of his powers.  Irons then proceeds to take a hammer he designed, and starts beating Superman with it.  Lois realizes that Clark has fallen into a trap, and she's off to save him. 

Remember when I said Jordan's hearing was going to come in handy?  It does, as he decides to try and practice on focusing on hearing one thing.  When Jordan does, he can hear his father in pain, as Irons continues to beat him down and kill him.  Jordan tells Jonathan about it, and the race off in the truck to save their dad.  Leslie Larr...listening in with her super hearing herself, calls Edge, and says that her plan worked, and that Superman is quite busy at the moment, so they can send their shipment out now without interference. Jonathan and Jordan arrive and knock down Irons long enough for Jonathan to take Irons' hammer, and smash all the red sun lights that have been sapping Superman's powers.  Once they accomplish that, Superman is back, and is pissed off enough to zap Irons with is heat vision, but Lois arrives, and they all tell him that it's over.  Irons is taken into DoD custody, and Superman wants to talk to him as soon as General Lane returns.  We see Irons in his cell, sad that he failed, and sad that he hasn't gotten back to his daughter...fearing the worst. 

We see the Kent family convene at home, and Jordan apologized to Jon about listening in on his conversation.  Lois and Clark then do some mild chiding of the boys for getting involved, but Clark thanks them, and says that it's time to bring the boys into the loop as to what exactly is going on in town.

This was a pretty good episode, as we got MORE answers to our questions in regards to our alternate Luthor, and his entire backstory.  We see more of what Morgan Edge's plans are, and how Lana is being used as a pawn to further his agenda.  And we see Jordan learning to adjust to his powers.  Show had a nice pace, good flow, and was enjoyable from start to finish.  It's always BETTER when we see Lois and Clark working TOGETHER.  Don't get me wrong...I love it when Lois is in Lois Lane reporter mode...she's like a pit bull with a bone---she's not going to let it go no matter what until she gets down to the marrow.  But with Clark...it just makes the show THAT much better.  We see the great chemistry, and how well these two work together.  Now that Lois' story has bled into whatever Clark has had to focus on with Tag and any other super crazies...plus this alternate "Luthor", which we find out is John Henry Irons, whom we ALL know becomes the hero known as Steel.  We get closer to that this episode, and we see the tragic end to his Lois on his world due to Superman.  But Irons feels that the ONLY good Kryptonian is a dead one---even THIS world's Superman. But I'm glad we finally got HIS backstory and purpose.

Jordan and Jonathan came through big time this episode, as we finally see Jordan try and get control of his super hearing.  Twice it served him for a purpose....though the first time didn't have good results, as his overhearing Jon and Sarah's conversation led to a huge misunderstanding between him and his brother.  But when he heard his father's screams in pain, it became the big thing that helped him and his brother save their dad from death.  This is one incident that has now brought this family closer together, as Lois and Clark realize that they can't keep their boys in the dark about the dangers they face.  While Lois and Clark will still try to ensure the boys stay safe by keeping their involvement as minimal as possible, they won't HIDE things from them anymore.  It's NEVER worked for ANY Arrowverse hero...they can ask their second cousin Kara about that...or Barry Allen....or Jefferson Pierce.  

We see how devious Leslie Larr is, and how invaluable she's been to Morgan Edge, who is now looking for volunteers for experimentation to create his super army....and Lana is playing into his hands...so he thinks.  Lana has been cautious and trying to read Edge this whole time to see what his game is, but Lois warned her not to try and get TOO nosey...she doesn't want Lana in danger.  But I think Lana is braver and smarter than Lois gives her credit for.  But no doubt she'll inform Lois of Edge's activities.  I just wonder how long it takes before Lana finds out Clark is Superman?  It's interesting that Lana is in the dark about that, considering Clark has been her best friend forever, and it's never come up.  I feel that, before the season is over, she's going to find out.  Or...surprise us, and tell the Clark and Lois she's known all along.  I also wonder when Sarah's going to figure out Jordan isn't just some timid kid with social anxiety issues, and that he did have something happen to him at the bonfire that night.  Either way, we KNOW the Cushing Family is going to change in the wake of that.  

This show has been top-notch so far, and I'm enjoying every bit of it.  It's honestly the best of the Arrowverse shows right now...especially since Black Lightning has now ended it's run.  We've got 6 more episodes to see what transpires for this season (the show is only slated for 13 episodes this year).  But I'm excited and intrigued.  How about YOU?  What do YOU all think of this show so far?  Subscribe to this blog, and drop me YOUR ideas.

Until next time....Up, up and away!