“Superman and Lois” Premiere Recap: A new era begins in Smallville

Superman flew back onto our TV screens on The CW Tuesday night with the highly anticipated premiere of Superman and Lois, signaling the beginning of a new era of the Arrowverse. Superman is different than we’ve all other versions we’ve seen of him, this time married and with two twin boys. 

So how will the Man of Steel juggle being a husband and father while trying to save the world? Let me stop rambling and dive into this recap for episode 1×01, titled “Pilot”.

Superman: The father

As I mentioned earlier, the biggest difference from other Superman shows is that Superman and Lois shows the Man of Steel as a father. The show kicks off with a montage of Superman’s life, from his pod crashing on Earth, to being raised by John and Martha Kent, to meeting Lois Lane, and having kids. It was actually really refreshing to see a superhero deal with some real life problems that we all face. 

In a truly heartbreaking scene, Clark gets a phone call his mother has suffered a stroke. By the time he flies to her home, she’s passed away. Tyler Hoechlin, who plays Superman/Clark Kent, really sold the scene with a solid performance while the musical score brought it home. Overall, it was a well done scene that had me on the verge of tears. 

We’re introduced to Clark’s twin boys, John and Jordan. John is the popular high school football star while Jordan struggles with social anxiety and has some issues he’s trying to overcome. The boys go against their father’s wishes (never a good idea) and enter the barn with a friend, Sarah, who is visiting with her family. The boys get crushed by some pipes but come out of it with nothing more than a bump on the head. 

The boys’ not sustaining injury leads Clark to believe that one or both of his boys may have Kryptonian powers like he does. This leaves him with no other choice but to reveal himself as Superman to his kids. Jordan and John react with anger that their parents would keep this big secret from them – you know, the way all kids react when they find out their dad is a superhero. 

Sarah invites the boys to a bonfire, which looks a lot like where Oliver Queen defeated the Anti-Monitor. Anyway, Sarah and Jordan bond over both being prescribed prescription medications but when Jordan moves in for a kiss, Sarah’s boyfriend (gasp!) isn’t happy and starts a fight. Things get out of hand quickly, which leads Jordan to release his laser vision, resulting in a dangerous explosion. 

Lois gets to investigating

Because this show is called Superman and Lois, it is only fitting Lois Lane gets a plot of her own separate from her superhero husband. Following Martha’s death, Lana Lang and her husband Kyle come to visit, paying their respects. 

Things get heated when Kyle makes it very well known that he is a fan of the company making changes in Smallville, which also has affected jobs getting cut (like Clark’s) at the Daily Planet.

Kyle is obviously going to come back in later episodes, but this leads Lois to do some investigating. When it came down to the Kent farm, we got a very confusing and complicated subplot about reverse mortgages. So all you need to know here is Lois is investigating this shady company and the Kents are staying in Smallville. 

Superman vs. The Stranger 

The biggest moment of the episode came when a mysterious villain known as “The Stranger” was sending Superman a secret message. Throughout the episode, Superman was dealing with a reoccurring issue at a power plant, which led General Kane, aka Lois’ father, to tell Superman that there was strange Kryptonian writing on the wall – clearly a message to Clark that someone knows he’s Superman. 

Superman and this Stranger get into a heated battle with Superman being stabbed with Kryptonite. Luckily, it doesn’t kill him but the episode ends with The Stranger being revealed as “Captain Luthor”. WHAAAAT?!

Episode Notes

• The effects on this show remind me of watching a movie in the theater. The budget on this show is simply amazing. I’m still in awe we get this kind of superhero show on TV.
• I’m not 100 percent sure this “Captain Luthor” is Lex, but rather a Lex from another Earth.
• I’m very interested in seeing the dynamic between Clark and Jordan now that Jordan has powers and will need to learn to control them.

Overall, I’m SO happy with this premiere. I can’t wait for the rest of the season. What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Superman and Lois airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.