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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Superman & Lois Season 2 Episode 15: Lies That Bind

June 1st, 2022 by Todd Black Comments

So…it’s been what feels like FOREVER since Superman & Lois was last on and…a lot has happened since it. Including basically the collapse of the Arrowverse with Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman and Naomi getting canceled. So Superman & Lois (which is already confirmed for a third season) is very much carrying the quality burden of the remaining shows (especially with Flash being…yeah…). So, given the Lana cliffhanger last time, how did “Lies that Bind” do? Overall…? Not too bad…with a few key exceptions.

First off, I loved how much of this episode was about Lana and her reaction to everything. And about 75% of it was a fair reaction and had believable dialogue. I loved the roadside chat between her and clark, her looking back at their history and finally putting together the pieces of it all. The “did you ever love me?” line was a bit much, but she sold it well enough. I also liked how in her first chat with Lois she admitted that she wasn’t mad at Clark overall because after “putting herself in his shoes” she realized his burden and why he didn’t tell her for so long. As well as how she said near the end that she would “get over” what happened because of the gravity of it all. That is the kind of maturity that I expected from Lana, who continues to be one of the best parts of the show.

But…

…then there were two moments that really brought things down, and it was Lana who said it so I can’t give her a pass. The first was blaming Lois for everything and saying that their friendship was “built on a lie.” That’s not true in any real fashion, and worst of all, Lois actually called that out to Clark (in a very meta moment) and then later on she took the blame because…reasons? As Lois said, it wasn’t her secret to tell. Now, her confessing EVERYTHING to Lana? Like about Jordan and his powers? That WAS her secret to tell, and I loved that they continued to be open with her about her doppleganger later on, that meant a lot.

BUT…then her line about wanting a “clean break” between their families? How in the WORLD did she think that this was going to happen/work? Jordan is still pining after Sara, Jonathan is friends with Sara (same with Nat who is extended family), and not to mention their friendship is famous in Smallville. So SOMEONE is going to notice something is wrong between them and ask about it. Not the least of which would be Sara.

Lana has had some of the best moments in this series, and especially this season, due to how they portrayed her in a very real and meaningful matter, so those two actions by her, IMO, kind of ruined that because it seemed so very cliche. I’m angry, so I blame you, and you hurt me, so I don’t want to deal with you for a good long while. It’s very CW. And if you saw the Gotham Knights trailer today…you’ll understand why I’ve had enough of that.

Meanwhile, Natalie convincing the brothers Kent to ditch school (like their parents won’t find out…) and almost dying in a cave so she can power her new suit with X-Kryptonite? It just…didn’t work. Especially since apparently only SHE was able to find the “motherload” of it and not the army, or the miners from last season, or the DOD…just Nat. And their talk about being “treated as children” gets really old when they ARE children, only one of them has powers, and that person caused a cave-in that almost got them killed. But sure, let’s act like we’re invincible even though all of them know they’re not.

As for Tal-Rho, I was mostly satisfied with what happened to him tonight. I liked the progression of his character, and how he wanted to apologize to not just his brother, but Lois, and try to make amends. Him and Clark working together to destroy the pendant was nice…even if his escape was again…cliche. On the flip-side, having the Bizarro world Tal-Rho die just to make Ally stronger? Felt kind of forced. Especially since we don’t know WHY merging her “two halves” made her “a god” (who is apparently susceptible to hammers…) and what her powers are in general. But apparently, she can drain power from others, and there are “other ways” to merge people. So…yay?

I will say that I ALMOST gave this review a .5 lower score because of Kyle. I honestly thought after thinking Lana was dating someone that he’d go back to his old flame, but instead, he did something beautiful for Sara, and I’m glad they didn’t regress with this character…this time.

In the end, “Lies that Bind” was a good enough episode back. Not everything worked, but a majority did, and for that, I can be grateful.

3.5/5

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!