REVIEW: Superman & Lois Season 4, Episode 3 (Always My Hero)

Superman & Lois Season 4, Episode 3 thrusts the knife even deeper into hearts everywhere. With Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) out of commission and sans his heart, Doomsday roams free in the world, leaving everyone to wait to see what Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) will order his pet monster to do next. But, the best part of the outing is finally seeing my dreams come true as Jon (Michael Bishop) finally gets his superpowers.

Goodbye, General Lane. I Guess We’ll Miss You?

However, first and foremost, this episode also marks the end of General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh), who made a surprising sacrifice to save the world. It’s been quite a journey to watch Sam and Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) repair their rocky relationship and to see Sam soften up a little and give his grandchildren the love he didn’t give to his daughters when they were growing up. Giving up his literal heart, post-injection with the Mannheim serum, to save Clark is such an on-the-nose and fitting end for a man who truly has only ever wanted to keep his family safe.

The flashbacks to the early years of Lois and Clark’s relationship, particularly how Sam impacted it when he learned of Clark’s super secret and, subsequently, refused to give Clark his blessing to marry Lois, were very touching as well. Plus, it’s always nice to see Martha Kent (Michele Scarabelli) and showcase, even momentarily, the beautiful relationship between Clark and his parents.

I can’t say I’m too disappointed over Sam’s death; while it has been particularly nice to see his relationship with Natalie (Tayler Buck) grow, he never offered much to the series for me. At least his death gave a monumental reason for the character to have been around.

Will the Real Superboy Please Stand Up?

Honestly, the way Jon’s entire arc has played out is quite commendable. He’s gone through so much growth to get to this point. His powers suddenly developing all at once, something which Jon has no trouble handling by the way, does feel like destiny given what a strong person he’s become and how much he resembles his father. (Truthfully, while I’ve been hopeful for Jon to get his powers, I never thought the moment would come. After it did, I spent my entire watch just anxiously waiting to see if it was some fluke and they were going to be gone just as quickly as they came on.)

Jon reminds me a lot of my beloved Earth-1 Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) on Arrow, which is pretty much the highest compliment possible. As with Laurel, Jon’s drive to help others has been driving him, but he’s taken some missteps along the way. While Laurel abused alcohol to dull her pain, Jon sought to cover it up and feel powerful with the X-Kryptonite, but both overcame to accept their limitations and continue forward on their respective paths toward helping people.

Before and after becoming the Black Canary, something Laurel did because she was pure of heart and wanted to fight against injustice, Laurel used her position as a lawyer to stand up for and defend the less fortunate. On the other hand, after accepting powers were not in his future, Jon began searching for other ways to help people (like becoming a firefighter), showcasing that, powers or not, he really does have the heart of Superman. He’s learned what’s important in life, how to put others first, and most importantly, he’s been humbled time and time again—something Jordan is apparently incapable of feeling. He knows what it is to feel powerless, but has gained the skills not to let his newfound powers to his head. Finally, the real Superboy has arrived.

Jon or Jordan?

Everyone’s calling Doomsday a monster, but Lex Luthor is the real monster here. Forcing Lois to choose which of her sons to save in the previous episode was horrific enough, but to then confront Jordan and play the clip is crossing a line. Understandably, Jordan feels hurt after learning this, particularly given that he’s always felt like the outsider in the family (until moving to Smallville). However, it’s so frustrating that Jordan is still completely incapable of handling his emotions and is also so easily manipulated.

The most frustrating aspect of all is how he reacted when confronting Lois about it. It should come as no surprise that she would choose to save Jon, the son without powers, when she didn’t know anything about either situation the boys found themselves in that night. It’s a perfectly reasonable response, but as always, Jordan doesn’t take time to consider the nuances of anyone else’s situation.

While I’m sad the series is ending soon, is it bad that I’m a little excited that Jordan won’t find new ways to annoy me? (Perhaps the issue driving my dislike of Jordan has always been that they’ve consistently prioritized this original character over Jon, which has been an infuriating standard for the Arrowverse. On a rare occasion that has worked, but not this time.)

Also, can we just talk about what a stunning performance Bishop gave in the moments building up to Jon’s powers bubbling to the surface? It was high time to see Jon fully lash out at Jordan and call him out for his obnoxious behavior, as Jon’s opinion is the only one that Jordan even seems to hear. Jon is constantly putting his family first, so it’s nice to see him give into his grief and think only about himself for a change, even if just a few moments. This was a make-or-break moment for the character and Bishop did not allow it to go to waste, delivering probably one of the best performances we’ve seen throughout the entire series.

Final Thoughts

Until this episode, I didn’t realize how much I’ve been missing the relationship between John Henry (Wolé Parks) and Natalie. Possibly the most underrated relationship on the show. That said, maybe it’s time that their futures stop constantly changing course every two seconds. They’ve already lost their entire world, decided to settle in Smallville, and just decided to move to Metropolis and open Steelworks, but now what? Are they still going to be working at the Department of Defense even though Sam is no longer in charge? Will John Henry somehow take charge with Natalie AKA Starlight by his side, or is this their chance to escape and actually live a normal life? It still seems like Superman & Lois doesn’t know what to do with them, which is a disappointment.

Finally, did anyone else just completely forget Kyle (Erik Valdez) and Chrissy (Sofia Hasmik) are expecting a baby? (I rewatched Season 3 in the days before Season 4 premiered and still forgot.) Here’s hoping we see Chrissy and Lois working together at the Gazette again soon because that is one aspect of the show I am seriously missing this season.

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