TV Review: The ‘Superman & Lois’ Series Finale Is A Tale Of Two Halves
by Frank Martin
Series finales ultimately have two different routes they can take. They can decide to end their story on a particular moment. Or they can show audiences what the future has in store for the characters.
A finale like Seinfeld is the former, as it featured the four main characters stuck in jail. Superman & Lois, with a tremendous amount of drama that rivaled a show like This Is Us, had a finale like the latter. It took audiences to the end of its main character’s life. But This Is Us earned that finale after many seasons and a lot of foreshadowing. Superman & Lois tried to pull the same thing it off, but it didn’t hit nearly as hard because of its fewer, abbreviated seasons.
The finale was essentially divided into two parts. The first picked up where the previous episode left off as Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) continues to battle Doomsday. With help from John Henry (Wolé Parks), Jordan (Alexander Garfin), and Jonathan (Mike Bishop), Superman knocks Doomsday out long enough to bring him to the Sun, where Superman is also healed. He then returns to Earth in time to battle Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) in a final confrontation. Superman wins, and Lex heads to prison now that he’s exposed for the monster he is. The rest of the episode sees Clark and Lois living out their lives in Smallville. She loses her battle to cancer while he dies from heart disease years later, but they leave a legacy of truth, justice, and living a better tomorrow.
The first portion of the finale had tons of action in typical Superman fashion. The battle with Doomsday was epic, and although the confrontation with Lex was cornier, it was still a lot of fun to see the Man of Steel triumph. The rest of the finale was all about tying up loose ends. Given the amount of family drama the show had, it was nice to see so many of them lead happy and peaceful lives. But the show was very rooted in the present. It was about living in the moment and seeing this family struggle from day to day. Projecting their lives into the future did not hold the same weight, especially as their sons were portrayed by brand new actors the audience never saw before. It just didn’t earn the same emotional payout that This Is Us accomplished. So while the finale felt satisfying on some level, it definitely could have been stronger in others.
Superman & Lois is now streaming on The CW.
