REVIEW: Superman & Lois Season 4, Episode 9 (To Live and Die Again)

Whew… Superman & Lois Season 4, Episode 9 is a doozy. After months of targeted attacks from Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz), and their investigation of him going nowhere, Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) feels incredibly defeated, especially after advertisers start pulling out of their commitments with the Gazette after Lex’s stunt during Gordon Godfrey’s show. Meanwhile, with his powers slowly dwindling due to the old man’s heart inside him, Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) ponders a future without Superman and the inevitable battle with Lex (now with the Steel suit) while testing what Jon (Michael Bishop) and Jordan (Alex Garfin) are capable of.

Retracing Her Steps

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of this packed episode is Lois heeding her own advice and retracing her steps, putting the pieces together once more to have Lex thrown back in prison for the rest of his life. Bringing back Bruno Mannheim (Chad L. Coleman) was rather unexpected, but ultimately led to a fascinating interaction where two people who should despise each other manage to put their feelings aside for both their shared love of Peia (Daya Vaidya) and to share knowledge to take down their common enemy.

More so than the inevitable fight between Superman and Lex (in his Lexosuit), I am most excited to see how Lois will manage to bring down Lex in the upcoming series. With Amanda now turned against Lex, after learning how Lex supposedly loved Cheryl/Gretchen (Rebecca Staab) and then subsequently used and threw her side once upon a time, it’s obvious (maybe too obvious?) that she is the key to Lois’ exposé, given Amanda’s intimate knowledge of just about every one of Lex’s current misdeeds.

Lex Luthor Is Boring Again

For a while, Superman & Lois had me fooled into enjoying what was an edgy, brutalistic take on the so-called Man of Tomorrow. But, as soon as Lex shaved off his beard, the character reverted into the same old tired character that’s been done over, and over, and over again. He’s back to being the same vindictive, manipulative narcissist and no longer a grounded character, directly in contrast with the world that has been created here and such a grounded, raw take on Clark, Lois, and Smallville. Lex’s love for his daughter seems to be gone, his supposed feelings for Amanda (Yvonne Chapman) are apparently non-existent, leaving nothing to make Lex feel like a real person—rather than a three-dimensional comic book character—any longer.

(To be fair, watching these episodes at the same time as I watched the entirety of Supergirl again, specifically the seasons after Jon Cryer joins the series as Lex, didn’t help much, as I am completely and utterly Lex-ed out. But I digress.)

Doomsday (Paul Lazenby) is the villain worth the hype for the series finale, a villain that holds much more weight than Lex, particularly given how the villain was created from Bizarro in the first place. As he no longer recognizes Lois and is now even more powerful following another horrific death, the odds are not in Clark’s favor. Taking him down is going to be the most challenging hurdle of Clark’s life, made even more so by his weakening abilities, which is the perfect way to bring the series to a close.

A World Without Superman

However, the fact that Clark is losing his abilities is, honestly, really bumming me out. Even if it doesn’t happen in the show, to know it’s coming down the line is rather lame. It’s likely the writers’ way of giving Clark and Lois a beautiful happily ever after, living out the remainder of their days human and Clark not needing to worry about surviving long after Lois is gone. Still, the most unnecessary part is that Clark probably won’t even survive for the rest of Lois’ life. He already had an expiration date that was far too soon, as they learned the heart would only survive as long as it was going to for Sam (Dylan Walsh), but using his abilities and straining his new/old heart to fight Doomsday and Lex is likely going to drastically cut into his years left. Hopefully, there’s a satisfying conclusion to this thread, as I would hate for this to end in a way where watching the show all over again isn’t enjoyable — such as Arrow after the series ended with Oliver (Stephen Amell) dead.

To also reveal that neither Jon nor Jordan would ever be as powerful as Clark was (in his prime or not) is also a bit of a buzzkill. It makes sense, genetically, as they’re only half Kryptonian; that said, it’s just unnecessary. Imagining a world where Jon and Jordan both live up to their father’s height and the world has two Supermen protecting it seems like a dream ending. But what do I know?

(P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!)

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