TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Superman & Lois Season 2 Episode 4: The Inverse Method

Superman & Lois season 2 in my opinion got off to a very rocky start, but if “The Inverse Method” is any indication, things are going to get better, and more complicated, even if it means rehashing some tropes in the process.

Overall, the bulk of this episode was about the relationship between Lois & Lucy. The latter of whom we finally got to meet in her Post-Crisis form. Gone is the military woman who served as the right hand of her father during the early days of Supergirl, and in is a woman who apparently lost everything, joined a cult, and almost lost her life as a result. Driving Lois to try and take down the leader in Allie by any means available to her as a reporter.

At first, we were all led to believe that Lois was “100% right” in her article that helped take down Allie. But now…there’s a bit of murkiness here, and her desire to “expose the truth” and “protect her sister” has led to her crossing lines that she can’t uncross, and that is going to lead to some bad things no doubt. I like this kind of story for Lois because it’s not just personal, it goes after her as a reporter. Yes, she did her reporter storyline last year, but that was on a Superman scale. Here, we’re battling for not just family, but the truth, and that’s something that we need to hear today more than ever.

Elsewhere, Clark is still dealing with the arrival of Bizarro, and…we still don’t know what this guys’ deal is. We know that true to Bizarro form he’s not quite like Superman (in not just visuals, but powers via his flame breath), and yet there is a “brokenness” to him that isn’t explained as of yet. I hope we do get some clarification here not just to him, but to that mysterious pendant that he wore that “connected” him and Superman. Because otherwise this is a slow burn that will get old fast.

Arguably the best storyline for me (up to a point) was that of Lana and Kyle finding out about Mayor Dean’s attempts to get dirt on them might lead to him exposing Sarah’s suicide attempt. The VERY classic trope would’ve been to “protect her”, but instead, Lana (being still one of the best characters in the show) decided to be open and honest and trust her daughters’ strength and tell the truth. Which…worked out great! I loved how Sarah was willing to admit what happened to her and that she has gotten better, and how she has no reason to hide from what happened to her anymore. That’s beautiful, and I loved that.

Still adding to the storylines was that both the brothers Kent had brushes with powers…in very different ways. Jonathan decided to use the “yellow mist” and get powers so he can play football, and then Jordan used his powers to stop a robbery…and got caught doing it…and had to Sam Lane bail him out. These diverging storylines are honestly compelling to an extent (more on that in a bit) and I am curious as to where this will go.

…but…

There some things that stood out in this episode that couldn’t be ignored. Especially in the last 10 minutes or so that was kind of mind-numbing.

For example, Chrissy being hurt by Lois hiding part of what happened? Sure, totally get that. Her calling Allie, a person that is most definitely a cult person by her own words via her time on the DarkWeb, and asking for “the truth about Lois”? Why in the world would she think she wouldn’t get a tainted truth by someone who tried to intimidate Lois with a show of force and recuit people FROM THE DARK WEB!??!!

Another thing I didn’t like was how John Henry Irons was used. He went from retired to almost jumping at the chance to use the suit despite it being broken. The first time with the hammer at the farm? That was cool. But then the oddly worded “not enough” moment? Not so much. He came off as reckless despite having more to lose now than before. Not to mention…Superman got his “second wind” and handled Bizarro fine eventually. And that was AFTER he had already knocked off the pendant. So…was his “sacrifice” really necessary?

And then when Natalie said, “how could you allow this to happen?” was cringe because even though she’s in grief, both Clark and Lois would tell her that John WILLINGLY went to help him and that Clark told him multiple times to stay retired. So…yeah.

Just as bad, why in the world after everything Anderson had said did Clark think that he wouldn’t send in his recruits to get Bizarro? It was bad, just as bad as how Bizarro CONVENIENTLY only killed two of them so that the third one (the one we knew from last season) could get the pendant.

Finally, while I really liked the “lesson” that Jordan got from almost getting caught with his powers, it’s really sad that Sam thought the best idea for training him…was to keep it from Clark and Lois. Given the progression that he claimed to have gotten last season…why would he think keeping ANOTHER SECRET would be a good idea?

Oh yeah, almost forgot about Kyle…he sucks as that ending clip of him showed. They just can’t leave well enough alone, can they?

Still, even with these flaws, the overall episode was solid and pushed many things forward. We have to wait a few weeks for us to get some potential answers, but this is a strong step forward.

4/5