SUPERMAN & LOIS 2.4

 

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  2.4: "The Inverse Method"  

This episode reminds me of the Beatles' song "Do You Want to Know A Secret", because we had a few of them pop up during this episode.  And it's not even so much about Lois and the boys keeping  Clark's secret as Superman, but on a much deeper level.  Jon has a secret, Jordan has a secret, Clark has his...but it appears that Kyle Cushing has a MUCH bigger secret HE's not fessing up to, and we have the ONE person I'd NEVER thought would have any reason for us to question HER moral integrity:  Lois.  Seems that THIS week's meet with her little sister Lucy brings up a whole pile of wreckage between the two, and it does NOT pain Lois in a good light.  

Lois is NOT having a good go of it lately.  Bad enough that Clark is going through his situation with this Bizarro thing that's been playing with his head, but now she has to deal with blowback from the story she did on the cult led by Alison Alston, which involved her sister Lucy.  She felt she needed to save Lucy at the time, who had appeared lost due to the fact that their mother abandoned them when they were kids, and Lucy pulled away and sought comfort elsewhere.  She thought she had saved Lucy, but they've had this rift since then, so when Alison started having people debunk Lois' story, it appears that the only thing she can do to salvage her job and reputation is to talk to Lucy, and have her help expose Alison once and for all.  But when we start this episode off for Lois, Lucy doesn't show up---Lucy sends Alison instead, and Alison goes and says that she was helping Lucy "ascend" to another level, and Lois promised to take Alison down.  Alison then has her goon squad show up, saying that she doesn't take threats lightly...although that really wasn't impressing Lois much (knowing who she has as a husband, the goon squad is a joke).  She then plots with Chrissy about infiltrating Alison's next gathering in order to get more info about Lucy, and finding her.  So, Chrissy invents a person on the dark web, and gets and invite.  They show up, and Chrissy's in disguise, going into the seminar, while Lois is waiting outside waiting to hear from Chrissy about Lucy.  But then Lucy shows up, and Lois confronts her.  Lois tries to get Lucy to let her talk to her, and Lucy gives her 5 minutes.  Once in this motel room, she and Lucy argue about how Lois handled things, and Lois said that Lucy was doing drugs, and almost overdosed, and Lucy said that Alison was trying to help Lucy ascend to a newer level.  Lois said she was trying to do everything she could to help her since their mother left, but Lucy said Lois didn't help her. 

Meanwhile, Clark is still suffering from his mental attacks because of the Bizarro thing, which was up at the Fortress trying to get in and used the amulet around his neck to get in, but it's not happening.  He flies off.  Meanwhile, at the farm, Clark and John Henry are talking about the kids, especially Natalie, when the Bizarro shows up.  Clark and he then battle each other briefly, before John hits him with the hammer, and he flies off.  Afterwards, he and John managed to find a way to get a signature on Bizarro based on the amulet.  But they can't trace it without the DOD's help.  John tells him that the suit is damaged, and he can't help him.  And he may need to enlist Anderson's help with his team to get this creature stopped.  Once he meets with Anderson, and gives him the flash drive that will allow them to track the Bizarro. Anderson says that Superman is not in the best shape to be handling this thing, and Superman tells him that Tag and his team isn't ready.  But just let him know when they find him.  Later on, Anderson's crew tracks Bizarro down, and sends his own super team out to confront him.  Back at the farm, Superman gets another mental attack as he and Lois are talking about her fallout with Lucy, and he's noticed that two of Anderson's super team have been killed.  Tag is the only one left, and he's off to face it.  John Henry asks Lois what happened to Clark, and he asks if he has help, but Lois says it's not enough.  Good or bad, John Henry takes off to meet up with Superman and help.  When Superman arrives, he tells Tag to take off, and Tag does, grabbing the amulet in the process.  Superman and Bizarro once again battle, when Steel shows up, but with his weakened armor, he's no match for Bizarro, who punches Steel away.  Superman punches Bizarro away, and then races John Henry to the hospital, where he's suffered considerable damage.  He tries to apologize to Natalie who shows up, but orders him away.  Clark is just at a loss at what to do.  

Jordan and Sarah are on the mend, and go into the convenience store when Jordan witnesses a robbery in place, and tries to use his powers to stop them, but is unable to.  In the wake of their getaway, the clerk for the store says it's okay, because they have security cameras that can see what's going on, and that forces Jordan to call his grandfather Sam, and Sam says that he's gotten it taken care of, but warns Jordan that if he's going to play hero, be aware of his surroundings, as to NOT blow his secret.  In the wake of what happened with John Henry, Jordan talks to his grandfather, and tells him to train him.  Sam agrees, but tells him that it's got to be off the books---and that NO ONE can know.  

As for Jon this episode, he manages to talk to Candice and she hooks him up.  He shows up at practice, and once he gets used to the drugs, he ends up appealing to the coach to just let him practice, and the coach likes his attitude.  So, Jon ends up showing what he can do with the coach with the enhancements, which is pretty much showing up his rival.  

As far as the Cushings go, they inform Sarah that the Mayor may go after her because of her past, and Sarah is okay with it..she's not afraid of Mayor Dean, so he can say what he likes.  Later on, Lana and Kyle run into the Mayor, and he'll agree that the kids are off the table as far as the campaigning goes---but don't be surprised if Kyle's past comes to light.  It gets Kyle upset, but Lana talks him down.  Later on, we see Kyle himself head to the bar, and tell the bartender they need to have a talk.

What I have gotten out of this episode is that EVERYONE is keeping a secret---and NO ONE is being honest.  Lois and Lucy are not honest with each other, Lois isn't honest with Chrissy, Jon isn't honest with his family, Jordan isn't being honest with Sarah and NOW his parents, Sam isn't honest with Lois, and Clark...well, HIS secret he's GOT to keep from everyone NOT in the family (minus Lucy), and Kyle apparently is keeping secrets from HIS family.  For a story about Superman...no one seems to be anything of a paragon of virtue.  Now, I get the HUMAN aspect of all this drama, and the motivations BEHIND the deception...but it also seems that NOBODY is coming out the BETTER for it, or LOOKS better for it.  Clark I can understand his wanting to keep his secret ID a secret.  And NOT wanting Anderson to bring Tag and his teammates in is well founded, since two of them got destroyed because of Bizarro, but he's got to understand that he CANNOT do this on his own.  And the more Bizarro is around, the more Clark is LESS effective.  This is HONESTLY where Superman NEEDS his cousin....or J'onn...or even the REST of the League for help.  And I kind of put Lois at blame here for wanting John Henry to help Clark out---he wasn't in a position to...and now has Natalie's wrath to deal with....aside from Lucy's AND Chrissy's.  

Jordan I can sympathize with---he WANTS to do more for his family, and wants to do more for his dad.  He knows he has these abilities, and wants to do the right thing with them...just not sure going behind Lois and Clark's back is the best decision.  We'll see how well Sam prepares him for this.  As for Jon...no.  This is selfish, and it's going to get him in deep trouble.  Not just with his coach, but with his parents, and who KNOWS what kind of effect this will have on him down the road.  And for Kyle...I know he's going to try and nip this in the bud, but I feel HIS mistakes are going to have a long term effect on the election...AND his marriage to Lana...AND his daughters.  Who knows HOW Sarah responds to this.  And will Chrissy really believe that what Alison tells her will be the actual truth about Lois...or is this just Alison manipulating Chrissy to get her on her side to control the narrative and twist it against Lois?  And what about Lucy?  How much does she believe in whatever Alison is telling her, and how far down the rabbit hole has she fallen?

Either way,..at the end of all this...NO ONE is coming out of this smelling like a rose, and it's going to take A LOT to mend some fences before it's all said and done.  But that's why we watch.  How about all of YOU?  What do YOU think of our denizens of Smallville NOW in the wake of all this?  And will John Henry recover?  Lemme know what you think by subscribing and leaving a comment below.

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