TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Superman & Lois Season 2 Episode 3: The Thing In The Mines

I was very hard on the previous two episodes of Superman & Lois, and I stand by what I said because some of what they did was very…well, bad. “The Thing In The Mines” did correct some of the issues, but others are still lingering, as well as one big plot twist that I’m very unsure of.

Let’s start off with that big twist, the showrunners have teased and stated that Doomsday was coming, but instead…it’s Bizarro. Plot twist!!!!!! We have had a version of Bizarro in live-action via Smallville, but Tyler Hoechlin said that this is going to be something different, so I’m going to give this a chance.

The problem here though is that instead of a monster full of rage…we have another Kryptonian. One that just so happened to crossover (more than likely via Crisis) to not just our Earth…but Smallville…just like Natalie did…somehow…yeah…

Could this work? Yes, and visually, Bizarro is at least compelling without going full “ugly Superman” that they do in the comics. But we’ll have to wait and see how it works out. It does partially explain why our Clark was affected by him, but how far this goes? We’ll.

As for the good parts, there were a few, and key among them was what separates Superman & Lois from the rest of the Arrowverse series: A true sense of family. The Kents (and even the Cushings) dive into this in a way that the others only lightly touch on, and that’s where this show shines.

Clark’s talks with his boys (not the rage-filled ones, I”ll get to that) were great, especially as he helped Jordan get back with Sara in a very Clark way. Furthermore, Lana’s talk with Sara about what would happen in Jordan did break up with her was great, and was done in just the right way to be motherly, but not cliche.

That goes the same for the talk that Lois and her returning father had. We’re still getting information about what THIS version of the Lane family is like and it’s a lot different from before (including how he defined Lucy despite how she was a military woman pre-Crisis, just saying). Still, seeing Sam admit all he did wrong and siding with Lois to try and help Lucy was great and I hope we get more of those moments coming forward.

And, wait for it, seeing John and Natalie connect about their new lives and deciding to fix the suit was great.

As for the bad parts…there were quite a few of them too.

For example, I’m not sure how I like Jonathan’s current arc. It was one thing to reveal his girlfriend was a drug dealer, but if you read between the lines, she’s going to give him Kryptonite-X to get stronger…and that no doubt is going to lead to bad things. This just seems like an odd path for him and I hope there are some twists in the future.

As for Jordan, his “I want to marry her!” outbursts were so cringe it hurt. It’s funny to say that when you’re a child, but when you’re a teen, who says that? And with such conviction? Saying he loved her was fine, that felt genuine, but for him to lose it because he was told no was hilariously bad. Especially since his father literally went through all of this when he was young. The second talk should’ve been what we got in the first place. Speaking of which…

Remember the Lana/Sarah talk? Well, while I loved that, it was rather sad how Sara went from, “I can’t talk to Jordan about this”, to telling him the truth and then trying to convince him that, “It didn’t mean anything”, and then telling Lana that “I’m not ashamed or embarrassed about it.” That’s three very different ways of thinking about that kiss. And while I can accept the whole “it didn’t mean anything” as she was taken by surprise by her female friend, she clearly WAS ashamed or embarrassed about it because of how she treated Jordan when she came back. So much so that HE thought he did something wrong. And if she really didn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed…she honestly should’ve. Because she was in a relationship and then decided to hide the kiss from him until Natalie got her to spill the beans…and then, as noted, she tried to play it off. Very mixed messages. If they had made it to where she talked to Lana FIRST about it and then told Jordan in a way that wasn’t as nonchalant, it would’ve came off a lot better.

Oh, and while I liked how they deepened the “connection” between Bizarro and Clark, I didn’t like the “rage attacks’. That felt out of place (especially for Bizarro now being the villain and not Doomsday) and the timing was terrible as those key moments with his sons should’ve been Clark in top form, not rage form.

Finally, Lana. I was THRILLED that she decided to run for mayor, but in typical fashion, they made it to where her first episode in the campaign was her falling flat on her face in a bout of “self-doubt” and thinking she couldn’t do it because she wasn’t this “perfect person”. Why in the world, after all she’s gone through in the last year alone, would she think she needs to be a perfect person?

Her husband most definitely isn’t perfect, neither is her daughter, and neither is she. And neither is Clark, Lois, and especially not the current mayor. And then she said she had issues talking in front of people, and yet she didn’t have that issue just last episode when her handpicked candidate floundered and yet she blossomed. I’m glad this part of that story is over because I want to see Lana kick butt and be a GREAT mayor, because she definitely can be.

In the end, “The Thing In The Mines” did a good job on some levels, but fell flat on others. I’m going to wait and see how certain storylines turn out before delivering thoughts on them (Bizarro, Lois and the cult leader), but hopefully they get over this slump that I personally feel they’re in.

3/5