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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Superman & Lois Season 2 Episode 6: Tried and True

March 2nd, 2022 by Todd Black Comments

Tonight’s episode, “Tried and True” very much reminded me of what happens when Superman & Lois leans into the good things…and the bad things. Because when it hits, it hits so well, and that’s why I’m giving this episode such a good score. But when it misses…boy does it miss.

Let’s start out with the positive, because there honestly was a lot of it. And it all featured around what this show was built around: families.

In fact, three different families had three very different situations going on, and it was all compelling. The best of the lot was by far Lana and her quest to get answers about Kyle’s affair. They could’ve very easily (and CW-y) mucked this up and made it either something that was easily resolved, or horribly handled. But from start to finish, they handled it with class, integrity, and with realistic feeling.

Lana putting on a brave face for her kids? Beautiful. Sara hugging Lana when she broke down? Heart-wrenching. Her very deep and brutally honest chat with Clark (and I’m honestly surprised they went as deep as they did) was something truly magnificent. And further highlights why their friendship is one of the highlights of the show because we were told (and they have proven) that the idea of an affair between these two will never happen (and it better stay that way). Then her getting answers from Tanya before confronting Kyle and telling him to move out? That is something that in other shows would’ve been spread out across episodes. But because they did it all in one, it was powerful, and showcased the strength of Lana to not wait or “be naive”.

And I’m honestly REALLY glad that Kyle is getting his just desserts. Because despite what Sara said early in the episode, he’s not a good dude, and proved that throughout season 1 and in the first episode of this season. He was a drunk, he refused to listen to reason about Morgan Edge, he continually got ticked at Lana for various things that should’ve just rolled off him, and more. Yes, he did do right in this episode by telling her the truth right off, that’s character growth, but given all he had done with and beyond the affair, it would’ve been wrong for Lana to just take him back in so quickly. She didn’t, and now there’s even more room for the story to grow.

Then, there’s the story of Lois and Lucy. I was again surprised that this particular beat happened, and it happened because of Sam, who is FINALLY getting his act together (mostly) in terms of how to handle his family. And while it may have started out like you think, the moments of Sam, Lois and Lucy bonding were really fun. Especially when Lucy revealed how much of a football lover she was, much to the join of her nephews. As well as the way her and Lois razzed their dad.

True, it did end in a typical fashion with it blowing up in their faces, and Lucy looking like an idiot for believing Ally, but hopefully that’ll change soon.

Jordan and Jonathan’s story was honestly the weakest of the family beats, but, it did have its moments. Including Jordan showing concern for Jonathan in how his powers might manifest at the wrong time (much like what happened to him in Season 1), and then when he learned the truth about Jonathan, he went right after him (like a good brother should) and was rightfully hurt by what happened. I’m a little miffed about Jonathan’s new attitude, and I don’t know if it’s just his repressed feelings boiling over or whether it’s the X-Kryptonite. Hopefully we’ll get those answers soon, especially since he knows he’s on borrowed time.

I also appreciated how the episode started out by giving us answers about Bizarro. Showing us how he came to our Earth and got the pendant. The sequences with him were short, but meaningful, and also had some fun little Easter Eggs like Lana being the Superwoman on his Earth.

The real downfall of this episode was very easily Anderson. Who is so painful to watch it really does hurt. Him getting chewed out by his boss and the grieving mother? Epic, loved it. But he then got miffed about Superman saving people in Russia that he decided that the only thing to do…was to take him prisoner? Do we really have to spell out all the ways that wouldn’t work, couldn’t work, and shouldn’t have been done?

Not the least of which is that he called his superior…AND GOT PERMISSION TO DO IT! And this was AFTER said superior chewed him out for his handling of Superman. Furthermore, Superman WILLINGLY admitted that he had Bizarro in his custody, and explained why he needed the amulet. He didn’t have to divulge that information, he did it because he was TRYING to build a connection with Anderson. But Anderson, acting like a freaking child, went right to the nuclear option.

And this leads to a problem logic-wise. Because the moment that Superman got arrested for treason, you can’t tell me that Lois wouldn’t have called Supergirl (whose presence is very much needed in this show at least once), or Flash or any of the other members of the League to bust him out because he was wrongfully detained.

Not to mention, no matter what happens now (and sadly, he’s back with his brother, whom I predicted would return) but you know they’re going to team up to break out, and that’ll lead to more problems, and it’s all just plain sad. I wouldn’t have minded a more antagonistic version of Sam Lane, but this guy is a putz, a moron, and gets away with stuff he shouldn’t.

The only thing good about that storyline was the awesome hallway fight scene.

In the end, “Tried and True” did its best when it focused on family and the nuances of their relationships, but tripped over its feet trying to force a certain situation into happening.

4/5

 

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!