Superman & Lois Season 4 Episode 3 Review – You Were Always My Hero…

If you missed my review of the two-part season premiere, you can read it here. In it, I noted many of the elements that made me love Superman & Lois, but I also had key concerns about where this season would go, and how fast we’d get there. Sure enough, “Always My Hero” had the makings of being great, before stumbling its own two feet in many ways, as my Superman & Lois Season 4 Episode 3 Review will highlight.

I’ll start with the positive here because there were positive elements, even with things getting muddled at times. The flashbacks to Lois & Clark before they got married, with Clark revealing to Sam who he was and then asking for Lois’ hand in marriage was well handled overall. Yes, it obviously teased that “big moment” at the end, but it was nice to see these scenes. If, for no other reason, than to keep seeing Tyler Hoelchin in more scenes since he’s “not around” anymore.

Sticking with Sam, I appreciated him understanding the “gravity of the situation” with Superman being “gone,” and having to bring in help to deal with Luthor, Doomsday, and so on. Bringing in Irons and Natalie was logical (and they at least attempted to explain their “absence” in the premiere) and it made sense to try and bring them in, especially when Doomsday was incoming in the climax.

And while it did end in his death, I liked how he thought of trying to use the Manheim serum that revived Bizarro to bring back Superman. It’s odd that NO ONE thought that this was what he was trying to do…but hey, not everyone is a genius in this show…as this episode proved.

Furthermore, Luthor continues to be intimidating as heck, and it’s hard not to smile when the “Sophie’s Choice” element is brought back to try and break Lois and the boys. The aftermath wasn’t the best, but the showdown was tense and proved why this version of Luthor is indeed not to be messed with.

Sadly, the rest of the episode was really muddled. For example, Jonathan suddenly got his powers. Really? And the aftermath of that with Jordan being pouty, Sam IMMEDIATELY wanting to “build a team around him,” and Jonathan repeatedly saying, “I just want to help,” didn’t help sell things. Not to mention, despite not having any training, he could control his powers easily. Yet he didn’t notice when a GUNSHOT went off his grandfather’s office. Really?

Then, there was the aftermath of the “Sophie’s Choice” reveal. Jordan being mad at Lois for making the choice? Sure. That’s totally fair. Mentioning the “you put him in prison for a crime he didn’t commit” was ludicrous, especially since, LUTHOR KILLED HIS FATHER!!!! Plus, he KNEW the reason that Lois put him away, and Jordan should’ve known better. Then, to top it all off, all of that gets “washed away” because of the death of Sam. Which, as the preview noted, Jordan now hates himself more because “I keep letting you down.” It’s very frustrating because, due to the ten-episode season, we’re forced to see these things happen in really quick succession versus happening across a longer season.

Plus, as I feared in my premiere review, they wasted NO TIME in finding a way to bring Superman back. We JUST got the “emotional sendoff” and the arrival of the memory projection, and now…all that is meaningless. Sure, they teased that “he might not be 100% due to the heart transplant,” but he’s still alive, and we all knew that would happen.

Just as important, while John Henry and Natalie were given a lot of screentime…they didn’t really do much in context. The only real thing that they were needed for was taking Sam’s body to the Fortress for the transplant and making the hologram recording. It was a lot of buildup for little payoff.

Speaking of which, this is now the second episode in a row where they have Luthor dead to rights on something criminal, and yet they’re not going to do anything about it. They have multiple witnesses with Lane holding a phone with Luthor on it, and Luthor ordering the kill, and yet…what, the DOD isn’t going after Luthor for this? Why? Because of Doomsday? That wouldn’t stop them from trying, or it at least shouldn’t.

In the end, “Always My Hero” did a decent job of making a “noble sacrifice,” but the pacing, mixed with confusing decisions and elements, continues to point to this season being meaningful but rushed. And that’s not what fans need or deserve.