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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Superman & Lois Episode 9: Loyal Subjekts

June 9th, 2021 by Todd Black Comments

So after a very lackluster episode of Flash earlier tonight (review is up for those who haven’t seen it!) I was very much looking for much need hope from Superman & Lois and “Loyal Subjekts” provided that more or less while also building up various storylines in a meaningful way.

Arguably my favorite part of the episode was the beginning which Lois and her Gazette team (now including Clark) went and tried to “dig deeper” in regards to figuring out why Morgan Edge was there. And they raised a very salient point that many likely overlooked. He’s not just mining X-Kryptonite, he’s using it on Smallville people specifically, but why? Why them? As they dug deeper we got to see more about Edge’s long-game and it was honestly rather frightening at times.

For example, we saw how he used the power of fear and persuasion to try and “Help people” to “live their best lives”. This spoke to real-world issues where people (especially in the pandemic) were struggling to pay bills and get things going until the paycheck. So having someone, especially a RICH someone, offer them a “better life” would be tempting for anyone, especially someone from a small place like Smallville.

Another key element was the attack by the soldier last week that led to Clark getting infected with that Kryptonite gas. Turns out, it spreads like a virus (convenient…) and it infected Jordan and started to enhance his powers to where he was literally sneezing cold blasts. Cool (pun intended).

So with Clark weakened and Jordan dying, Sam was needed more than ever…and Lois was ticked beyond belief. Now, while Lois once again had the very tropey line of telling him to “go away and not come back” (which we all knew wouldn’t take), both her and Jonathan’s ripping of Sam for what he did was not only justified, it was long overdue. He’s been the biggest stick-in-the-mud character in the whole show and as a result of that he’s been really annoying to deal with, but hopefully, this is a real change that’ll be noticeable.

Which…brings us to Kyle. Because yeah, didn’t see that coming. You thought he was trying to go and just be better for Sarah, and then all of a sudden his eyes are glowing and he’s a threat as well. Oops!

While that was a twist enough, having the “dual personalities” bit was also important as it showed that these “entities” really aren’t fully in control, which means there’s hope for Kyle, Emily, and so on.

I do hope there’s more to Morgan Edge’s story than just pulling a Zod. Because it does seem to be leaning that way, complete with black suit and calling Kal-El “brother”.

Another gripe, while Jordan going through what he did was fine (and Clark’s speech to him about being sorry and how he ‘didn’t ask for this’ was great), did it HAVE to happen just before Sarah’s recital? That is another case of “perfect timing” that these shows REALLY lean on and it’s a bit annoying.

However, the revelation about WHY Smallville people were the “perfect candidates” for the X-Kryptonite? THAT was clever storytelling.

Faults aside, “Loyal Subjekts” was a very strong episode and is pushing this show to a memorable season finale. I’m not sure how it’ll end, but it’s going to be interesting no doubt.

 

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!