REVIEW: Superman & Lois Season 4, Episode 2 (A World Without)

Is this the end of Clark Kent?

Credit: The CW

As if our hearts weren’t broken enough after Doomsday killed Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) and left him at his family’s feet, Superman & Lois Season 4, Episode 2 twists the knife even deeper by giving us—and his loved ones—hope that he could potentially be revived, if only Jordan (Alexander Garfin) could just get his heart back from Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz). Plus, after Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui) learns that Lex purchased the historic (and dumpy) hotel across the street from the Smallville Gazette, she begins looking into what other purchases around town he might be making.

Superman’s Specialty: Hope

Plagued with grief in the immediate aftermath of Clark’s death, the remaining members of the Kent-Lane are struggling. Instinctually, Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) orders Jordan to take Clark’s body to the Fortress of Solitude to see if any Kryptonian technology can help him. Unfortunately, Jordan learns that it’s unlikely, particularly as Clark is missing his heart and cannot regrow organs. Nonetheless, Clark’s body is put in stasis, essentially, while Jordan tasks himself with finding his father’s heart.

It’s interesting to see each family member have such a vastly different response to Clark’s death. Jordan is overwhelmed with hope, determined to find the heart, so much so that he risks a potential showdown with Doomsday and confronts Lex head-on —which, of course, continues Jordan’s reckless streak and confirms for Lex that Clark is Superman and Jordan is the “Smallville Samaritan,” something he had clearly pondered upon seeing Jordan’s fist clench during their chat at Vicky May’s in the previous episode.

Meanwhile, Lois is rather avoidant. She’s throwing herself into her work, writing an article about Superman’s death, except during her conversation with Lana where she blames herself for not giving in to Lex’s demand that she retire. It’s sad, but understandable, to see her so wrapped up in her grief that she isn’t giving her attention to the boys and making sure they’re finding a way to cope with the news, but that’s what leads to both of them finding themselves in dangerous situations.

For most of the episode, sans the end when Lois’ crying in the Fortress nearly brought me to tears, I feel the most for Jon. From the moment they arrive home, Jon is concerned about his mother and brother. He’s not facing his own feelings, as the last three seasons have instilled in Jon the need to put everyone else he loves first, just as his father does. He’s worried about how losing Clark will impact his mother, but especially his brother given Jordan’s desperate need to be a hero. In my opinion, Jon feels the most helpless of the three, which is why he’s not fighting too hard against Jordan searching for Clark’s heart and jumps at the opportunity to search Lex’s hotel for the heart while Sarah attempts to keep him busy at Vicky Mays.

A Story for Jordan That Is Actually Enjoyable?

I do have to say, much to my chagrin as the self-appointed #1 Jordan Kent hater, that Jordan was fairly interestingduring this story. It’s nice to see him be reckless for a concrete reason, rather than letting his growing powers and potential fame make his head even bigger (metaphorically speaking). His need to face Lex is understandable and, under other circumstances, almost admirable. It lands him in trouble when Lex sets a trap, but even if Jordan were operating at his best, he doesn’t stand a chance next to Lex — someone that even Superman hasn’t been able to stop after decades of Lex’s tyranny. Lex sparing Jordan’s life but forcing him to watch as he crushes Clark’s heart might be the most cruel punishment I can think of for Jordan touting himself as a hero for so long just because he has powers.

Garfin gives a worthy performance, his screams giving just the right taste of agony and heartbreak, while Cudlitz continues to be a terrifying adversary for the family and brings just the perfect edge and ruthlessness to Lex that separates him from the other live-action versions of the characters. By the episode’s end, it seems all hope is lost andthe Kent-Lane family must give in to that, returning to the Fortress to say goodbye to Clark, as they are greeted by a hologram of their dearly departed that he programmed just after the Fortress was built. This seems like a great way to keep the heartbreak going, by having an A.I. version of Clark that isn’t really their Clark in all of the ways that matter.

I’m curious to see how this impacts Jordan moving forward. It’s been so difficult to see a way for Superman & Lois to fundamentally change Jordan after he’s been so careless and egotistical about his burgeoning powers. As Lois says herself in this episode, the reasons why he uses his powers are troubling. But, maybe, losing his father, and now nearly being killed by Lex due to Jordan overestimating himself, is just the jolt he needed to take things more seriously and realize the burden that having powers is and adjusting himself to the responsibility that comes with it.

Lana’s Offensive Against Lex

For the most part, I’ve enjoyed Lana during her tenure on Superman & Lois, but this episode kind of has me scratching my head. After Lois informs her that Lex purchased the hotel through a shell corporation, one of many he has, Lois then warns Lana from trying to block the sale or get in Lex’s way. Given Lana is aware that Lex is responsible for creating Doomsday and, by extension, killing Clark, her completely ignoring this warning and digging into records at work is Jordan-like levels of recklessness. 

She is acutely aware that Lex will retaliate against her and/or her family if she gets in his way, but decides to block his purchase anyway. It could be seen as bravery, as it was when Lois stood up to him and refused to retire, but thedifference is that Lois has years of experience going back and forth with Lex and has her father, the entire Department of Defense, and even Jordan still in her corner to help keep her safe. Lana is wholly unprepared to take this man on and face his wrath. So is it bravery or arrogance driving Lana?

Final Thoughts

As I suspected after watching the premiere, one of the onlookers in Smallville figured out that Clark is Superman after seeing Lois and the boys’ reaction in the street. (I waited until after writing my review to begin the second episode, by the way.) He promised Lana he would keep quiet, but is it just a matter of time before it spreads around town? Surely hewasn’t the only one who pieced it together. And how did nobody see Jordan fly off with Clark’s body directly after Lana shooed them away?

Throughout the entire episode, I was waiting for Lana to have some kind of emotional reaction to Clark’s death. It eventually came near the end, during her conversation with Sarah after learning Clark’s heart had been destroyed, but I feel like it should’ve happened much sooner. After all, they’d known each other for basically their entire lives and Lana had no real reason to believe that he could come back. Even when she did break down, I don’t feel like it was a worthy reaction given their relationship.

Finally, I am just very concerned that it’s going to take too long to bring Clark back. I hope they don’t rely on the hologram in the Fortress to keep Tyler Hoechlin’s series regular status satisfied. If the season was going to be longer than ten episodes, I would sit back and wait, but there’s just no time. And if Superman & Lois ends like Arrow, with Clark dead like Oliver (Stephen Amell) was, there will be no words to describe my rage.