SUPERMAN & LOIS 1.13

 

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  1.13:  "Fail Safe"  

There was much time for reflection in this latest installment of our Man of Steel & his intrepid reporter wife.  In the wake of what's happened in regards to the whole Morgan Edge affair, Smallville has been on pins and needles.  The people that have gotten the WORST of it has been the Cushing Family, whom everyone has painted the Scarlet Letter onto because of the entire incident, because Kyle was the most vocal voice in support of Edge coming into Smallville and revitalizing the town---but they don't realize the fact that the Cushings were taken for a ride as well---but the town is looking for SOMEONE to blame....and they're prime target #1.  We also see the fallout from the perspective of the Kents...who know there has to be SOME damage control done in regards to explaining what happened.  And then there's Edge himself---trapped in his cell, mulling over his past, and how he failed in his mission.  So, there wasn't a whole thing of action this episode...we got time to pause and take a breath---and explore the aspect of what happens when a town faces such a situation, and the consequences of it. Even the kids have to deal with the fallout as well.

In this episode, we see the stress and fallout hit the Cushings the hardest.  Kyle is anxious to get back to work, but everyone at the station...and the Mayor...all felt that he needed to step back and let things cool off before going back to work.  The Mayor assures him that he is on their side, and for them to not worry.  Kyle is still the kind of guy that---if things go south in a situation---his fallback is hitting the bottle or doing something stupid---like lashing out.  The perfect example of this is when he and Lana are out at the diner in town, and he sees his co-workers come in, and one of the crew guys is named the interim Fire Chief.  And they don't decide to greet or talk to Kyle.  He takes offense to this, and gets into an argument with them, which causes a scene in the diner, for which Lana has to try and put out the fire, and then they argue about it.  The entire incident makes Kyle rethink wanting to stay in Smallville in general...especially later on, when Lana is with Sophie, and Sophie comments about whether or not they're moving.  Kyle had mentioned to Sophie if she'd like to go to another school, and Lana plays it off that he's just upset, and things will improve.  But even then...there are cracks in Lana's armor, as she finds out that Jordan and Sarah had been arrested for trespassing (we'll discuss the boys' day in a bit).  As Lana and Lois have had to go bail out their kids, she overhears the Mayor having a private conversation with someone else, literally throwing Lana and her family under the bus, and confronts him about it.  She's sick of everyone putting the blame on them, and says that for someone who said HE was on THEIR side, he's only covering his own ass...and she's sick of it. 

Bridging to the boys, they also had to endure A LOT of questions in regards to what's going on---considering their grandfather is head of the DoD.  Sarah has to also got to deal with everything, as there's supposed to be an assembly at school...for which the boys were instructed by their parents to try and get to some semblance of normal.  But Sarah is still bullied by many of her fellow students.  She can't handle it, and she's deciding in ditching to get away from it all, and Jordan follows.  Jordan and Sarah go for a walk to discuss everything that's going on, and Jordan does his best to be supportive of his girlfriend.  Jordan understands what she is going through, and knows what it's like to feel like an outsider.  They wander onto a bridge on a trail, and are just about to kiss when they're interrupted by someone, who ends up calling the cops on them.  Jordan and Sarah get arrested for trespassing, but were only given a warning.  That didn't sit will with either Lana OR Lois.  But  while Lana ends up dealing with the Mayor and his two-faced lies, Lois lights into Jordan AND Jon.  Jon had encouraged his brother to follow Sarah, while the gal that Sarah had warned Jon against as being trouble, came up to him, and wanted to help him get away from the assembly.  So, they ditched as well.  They went out for a drive, and talk...but what ends up happening is that she uses this time to try and grill Jon about what has gone down, figuring that HE would know because his grandfather is the head of the DoD.  Jon realizes that she didn't bring him out for a drive just for his company---but to pump him for information.  He takes offense to this, and takes off.  So, both boys....who know EVERYTHING that happened, still have to endure the fallout from this---especially since they're connected to Gen. Sam Lane, and the DoD has had an extended stay in town until this mess dies down---and they seal the mines from the town, and make sure the Kryptonite is NOT accessible. 

Lois and Clark have their own equal issues to deal with, and it DOES crossover with each other, as Superman continues to pump his half-brother for information on what he did with the Eradicator machine.  Tal continues to stonewall, as he keeps building up some kind of power in his body for something nefarious.  Tal also takes this time to do what he can to goad him about how good it felt to feel that power for the first time...to not feel hindered by limitations.  Clark spends A LOT of time contemplating that issue, and when he talks to Sam about his plans to destroy all the Kryptonite weapons, and close out Project 4437, he wonders if that's a good idea.  Eventually, he and John are talking about plans, and John is trying to see what he can do about fitting into this new world.  They get an alert on his computer, and they discover it's Leslie Larr, who was headed for the DoD to free Tal from his cell.  Superman and John cut her off, and managed to take her out.  Kal-El reminds his brother that she's been captured, and that there is no way she can help him.  As for Lois...she tries to get a statement from her father about everything that went down, because she knows the town is wanting answers, but Sam gives the typical government BS standing---no comment.  They'll hand out a pamphlet, and that'll be the end of it.  Sam DOES make her understand that IF he were to say anything...it'll lead to more questions about Superman, about her, and the boys, and that's a can of worms he refuses to open.  Lois DOES get it, and she hands what she got from her father to Chrissy, who knows they have had no story to write without information.  She wanted Lois to press her dad about getting a statement, and when Lois came back with when Sam gave her, Chrissy felt that Lois sold out as a reporter, and that she's just protecting the DoD.  This doesn't sit well with Lois, who is conflicted with it.  On top of that, THEN she finds out that Clark had told her dad to NOT close Project 4437, because he's worried about what would happen if he DID go rogue.  Lois assures him that he won't, and he proved it, but she still doesn't grasp what CLARK was feeling---and when he expresses how much he enjoyed the feeling of NOT controlling himself with his powers...and enjoying the fact that he was unhindered with his code...it scared him.  That is why he feels keeping the Project open is a good thing.  Plus...he asks John to be the gatekeeper of it---in case of the worst scenario happening---he can trust John to uphold his end of the bargain.  Lois is pissed at him, as well as the boys when she finds out  the ditched school.  So, after her fight with Chrissy, which resulted in her pretty much being canned from the paper...Lois decides that she needs to remember who she is.  So, she takes the info she has to Chrissy...and tells her that she is too close to the story to write it....but Chrissy CAN.  She apologizes for holding back.  

We also get to dive into the mind of Tal...who spend the episode mulling in his cell about his training with this father as a youth, the pressures of his father's training, and his father not allowing him to know his mother, as well as not wanting him to know about Kal.  We also know he spends the episode goading Superman about how he is no different from him, and how he enjoyed being able to cut loose with his powers.  But he's also been spending time in his cell building up some power---something in reserve.  So, when it's reached its peak, he manages to break his cell, despite the DoD increasing the Kryptonite in his cell.  He takes out the guards and Sam, and he flies off.  In just that moment, Sam alerts Superman, and he's there quickly.  Superman scours the Earth, but can't find him.  We then see the end of the episode where Tal is on the far side of the sun.....soaking up MASSIVE amounts of solar energy...with a voice over of his father telling him that it's now HIS time to become the Eradicator.  

This wasn't a bad episode....a lot of juxtaposition to digest, as we got to take a breath and pause for the fallout of Edge's first failure, before the final battle is met.  We see that EVERYONE is dealing with what happened in their own ways, and we see how they react to it.  Clark is dealing with the fact that he is...when unchecked and allowed to cut loose...is the most powerful man on the planet, and virtually unstoppable unless there are measures in place to keep him in line.  John is willing to be the gatekeeper and the one to take him down should he go rogue, but it also shows that Clark is worried about what would happen, and justifiably so.  Lois...ever the optimist...doesn't like it.  But even SHE had to realize that he's right...and that's unsettling to her.  On top of that, she compromised with her father in order to spare the family secrets from getting out.  That brought her into direct conflict with her ethics as a reporter, and with Chrissy, who felt she sold out.  However, she did managed to find a way to get the information out...tell the story...by having Chrissy write it.

We've explained what the fallout was for the boys and for the Cushings, who got the worst side of it all.  We also have to see the side of the townsfolk...who're still angry, upset, and looking to point fingers at SOMEONE:  Sadly, the Cushings are the easy target, because of the most vocal Kyle was of Morgan Edge,and  Lana obviously supporting him and their family, as well as the town.  People haven't realized just how screwed THEY has a family had gotten just as much as the rest of the town.  So, the coming final two episodes will be REAL interesting down the stretch, as we see Edge's ultimate plan is, and how the town will react to it. 

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