TV Review: ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 4, Episode 3 Delivers A More Powerful Death Than The Demise Of Superman
by Frank Martin
It’s strange that it’s taken this long for Superman & Lois to truly feel like it’s had an episode that portrayed a world without Superman (Tyler Hoechlin). There have been episodes without Superman before. There’s been story lines where he went missing for days without end, leaving Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) and her family wondering if he would ever return. Even this season, the first two episodes had Superman largely absent as he was fighting Doomsday and then had his family trying to revive him after he died. But this week’s episode was the first that truly felt like the family and the world had accepted his death and moved on, creating some of the most powerful character moments this series has seen thus far.
(Spoilers Follow For This Week’s Episode)
Trying to wrestle with this new and dangerous world without a Superman, Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh) taps John Henry’s Irons (Wole Parks) and his daughter, Natalie (Tayler Buck), to return to the DOD to help stop Doomsday. Meanwhile, Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jonathan (Michael Bishop) clash over the former’s recklessness when trying to save their father by himself. Jonathan has an emotional outburst, resulting in him finally activating his superpowers. While this is happening, Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) tries to threaten Sam into giving up the location of Lex’s daughter. When he doesn’t, Lex sends Doomsday, who kills Sam. But this is all part of Sam’s plan to revive Superman.
It’s hard to think of a family drama in recent years that had a more emotional impact on its characters than This Is Us. But surprisingly, Superman & Lois comes very close. In many ways, Sam Lane’s death was even more impactful than Superman’s. Audiences knew Superman wasn’t going to stay dead forever. His revival is a part of the storyline. But Sam dying was not. Seeing him bravely sacrifice himself to stand up for what he believed in and try to bring back the Man of Steel was so emotional to watch. It’s hard to believe this is a superhero show.
Superman & Lois airs Mondays on The CW.