Superman and Lois - Season 2 Round-Up

Let me just say, sometimes you need to let a show cruise along for a season and trust in what they're doing when you think maybe it's not going great.  I never felt Superman and Lois was off the rails this season, but I just wasn't always sure why they were doing what they were doing.  And maybe they did too much of some things, not enough of others, but the show felt *intentional* in ways that were satisfying, carrying overall themes, arcs for all the characters (except for Lana's younger daughter, who is an astounding after-thought) that reflect and refract the theme, and allegory mixing with the concrete.

The show seems very aware of the faults and issues with most CW superhero shows from Smallville through to today, and works overtime not to fall into some of those traps even when it sometimes can't avoid them.  It's not perfect - there's stuff I don't love, and things I wish they'd sort out, and choices they made this season which felt poorly considered.  

But they also chose to go big and swing for the fences with big-time superheroics that somehow aren't just spectacle but contain genuine, complex emotional beats.

SPOILERS, AHOY.

This season featured an overarching plot about a self-help guru/ cult leader who believes that she must contact a shadow world of "our" own, and merge with her shadow self to become whole.  Pointedly, the parasite was named Ally Alston, a clear reach and frankly shocking reference to Smallville actor Allison Mack who was embroiled with the NXIVM cult as a leader and manipulator and who is currently serving time for trafficking people.  

Unlike most hour-long dramas of the past, rather than breadcrumb as the plot of the week is wrapped up, Superman and Lois has allowed the overarching plot to grow and mutate the past two seasons, taking the story in unexpected and apocalyptc directions - the kind of thing you need a Superman to resolve.  

Along the way, we dealt with Kid #1 doing something quasi-noble and it going badly, Kid #2 weeping over his ladyfriend a lot.  The ladyfriend, Short'n'Sad, flailed around a lot and had big teen emotions.  And Nat Irons spent 11 of 15 episodes being written as the least watchable character on TV until an abrupt about face just in time to keep everyone from hating her forever and to support the A-Plot.  

I kind of appreciate, though, that in a non-Smallville framework, the kids actually do feel like kids.  I didn't not-buy any of what they were doing, even if I didn't love it.  Smallville wanted to forget anyone but Clark has parents and treat high school like a job you go to.  

But this season the show really focused on the adults, with perhaps too little John Henry Irons.  The strain of Lois and Clark having actual friends and having the world's biggest secret strained them.  We had a look at what it means to have an adult sibling spiraling out of control.  We saw Superman do the most Superman of things, and that's guide a villain to a better path in his relationship with his half-brother.  

I mean, I know some people are going to get hung up on the metaphysics of what the actual hell is happening with the villain all season, but - and I cannot stress this enough - if you're here for a show that's really hung up on how transdimensional crossings works, how one merges with their counterpart, and boss fights...  maybe not the right show.  This thing is working in big-time allegory and metaphor and making Superman the force that saves the day, even if it's just by giving people a spark of hope in a dark time.  

This isn't the same as saying "it's a show with a guy who flies, why are you worried about details like how Ally is physically pulling two worlds together".  It's saying "I think there's text and subtext here, and the feats of Superman are as much allegory as anything else."  And in a lot of ways, that's when I'm happiest reading Superman the last twenty years or so in the comics, and it's frankly cool to see in live action.

I believe the season was about how we make ourselves whole and how we connect to others and ourselves, and what goes wrong when we let those connections go or we connect for the wrong reasons (like joining a cult).  That going inside ourselves for the answers is not necessarily the right answer.  

Anyway, there was some gorgeous stuff all season long, but I got almost weepy during the finale watching Clark spring into action in bigtime superhero action and save the day.  

And, man, after watching 9 seasons of Smallville, I can't tell you how mind-blowing it is to watch Superman and Lois' creators conclude the season with Lois revealing Clark's identity to Chrissy Beppo and the, frankly, emotional reveal to Lana a few episodes before.  This show will not repeat the mistake of withholding information just to give the show a sense of dramatic tension - they understand how that plays out, and that in a lot of ways, it's immoral to hide the truth from people you care about and who care about you.  You're not doing anyone favors by sparing their feelings in one way while driving them insane with gaslighting.

I'm not sure a lot of threads were resolved.  It's not clear where Jonathan stands, and I hope that's resolved or carried through next season.  We kicked off a new storyline fore John Henry to carry into next season.  There's a spare Lana out there.  Kyle sure looks condemned to bachelorhood.  But, hey, I actually really thought Lucy Lane actress Jenna Dewan got to do some complicated stuff and felt like she had opportunity the role on Supergirl had not afforded her.

At the end of the day, the things anchoring the show for me are the actors of all ages taking it seriously and the characters the show isn't afraid to show.  Even Superman is a dad who makes mistakes, Lois Lane misses things with her kids, and Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch seem to get it.  It is positively amazing and buyable to see Superman as a frustrated dad.  Y'all, even Superman and Lois don't have all the answers, so feel better about the challenges of parenting.  At it's best, Smallville tapped into some of this in the first seasons, and used Jonathan and Martha as bad-idea generators when they got lazy.  It takes actual wisdom and experience to deliver the kind of multi-faceted multi-generational story that we're seeing between the Kents, the Cushings and the Irons.  

But, no lie, the big superhero action on this show is still astounding and Superman bonkers.  

There's a lot to talk about over 15 hours of TV and all that occurs therein.  But I think if you come to the show and don't think it's supposed to work like a video game where Superman fights various baddies til he gets to the Big Boss, you're going to be okay.   This is a family drama that happens to be about Superman.  

I would certainly like to feel like Clark has a job at some point, or that I can figure out how the Kents have money in general.  None of the "what Earth is this on?" stuff twitter obsesses over bugs me.  But I would like to see how Clark and Lois are making this work, Jonathan to be give more of a path, and for Lois to get a chance to do more reporting next season like in Season 1.  Small things.  But I will always be grateful that the showrunners know nerds like me are watching and manage to outwit us and keep it feeling fresh.

But - why not Krypto?  Give me Krypto.