TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Superman & Lois Episode 5: The Best Of Smallville

And…we’re back! Last week’s episode I noted was a true dip in quality for the first time in the show’s arrival, but this episode in “The Best Of Smallville” we saw it swing right back up in many good ways…a few small annoyances aside.

The biggest thing here in my mind though was diving back into Clark’s past. He was very much like a fanboy when he was talking about the harvest festival and how it meant everything to him and Smallville as a whole. And when you add that to the flashbacks of him and Martha and how he eventually left home you could very well understand why he wanted to have that connection to Smallville again.

Another positive element was the furthering of the Morgan Edge storyline and the “Kryptonite-X”. As we saw the return of a “deadman” and figured out that the “resurrection” that Morgan Edge spoke of was much more literal than we believed. As he apparently is putting Kryptonite minds, souls, however you want to define it, into new bodies. I still hold out reservations as this is still very much like Supergirl Season 1 where we went from no Kryptonians to A LOT of Kryptonians but we’ll just see how it goes. It gets a pass…for now.

As for the family drama of the episode, it could’ve gone really bad, but it worked out well. Jonathan getting dumped over the phone was as cliche as it gets, but what came next with him acting out, continuing to be the “fallen son” and how Clark gave him a pass (for now…) was well handled. This family has had way too much in-fighting already and so it was good to only see one real escalation via Jonathan’s initial blow-up.

Finally on the positive side, the creation of the Martha bench, and the story behind it, was a very nice touch, and you could see how emotional it made Clark.

Now, on the bad side, they again did the flip-flopping of things and it’s getting old. Jonathan in his drunk state going from teasing to infinitely apologetic was way too quick, even with Sara’s blow-up at him. Furthermore, if you recall, Lana and her husband were on great terms at the end of last episode, and yet tonight…they were at each other’s throats again. Why? They don’t let like things sit and build up and it comes off as forced to try and move things along.

And then…there’s Luthor. Him using that special Red Sun launcher to take out Superman for a time was honestly pretty awesome. But, him apparently being married to Lois in his other Earth and being mad that she’s with Clark/Superman now? Really? He didn’t need that. He had a good backstory with him being from an Earth where Superman went rogue, that was fine. This just adds…way too much melodrama.

Oh, and that ending? That was random, and illogical given where that kid was supposed to be. So…how…?

On the “outside the lines” portion of the review, it’s a bit sad that we have to wait two months for the episodes to return. Granted, the reason is because of delays due to the pandemic and such, but it still bites that it won’t be back until May because this is a really good series to watch. We’ll wait with baited breath for its return.