Damn the naysayers, The CW has said yes to afourth season ofSuperman & Lois… and that’s a good thing. The show was one of three whose fate on the network had yet to be confirmed, which changed with the announcement last week thatSuperman & LoisandAll-American: Homecomingwould be returning in the fall — butGotham Knights, which never did reach its potential, would not.Superman & Lois’s return was not a given by any stretch, given the price tag associated with the series, so the announcement was a pleasant surprise. Compromises have clearly been made to ensure a renewal: the upcoming season will be truncated to 10 episodes (similar to the 13 episodes affordedThe Flashfor its final season), and a good portion ofthe supporting cast will not be returning, aside from possible guest-star roles to complete their arcs.
Nevertheless, by bringingSuperman & Loisback for a fourth season, The CW has done the right thing. Despite its costs, the series is one of themost viewed on the network, and easily their highest in terms of quality. It’s that quality that separates the show from its kin, even the other CW-Verse series, and arguably stands as one of the best superhero series of all time. The series dared to try something different with the iconic hero and his long-time love, and it worked. It would have been very easy forSuperman & Loisto safely mirrorLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, but to their credit, The CW wasn’t afraid of taking chances with the DC content (there’s no reason thatDC’s Legends of Tomorrowshould have worked, yet its quirkiness paid off in spades).
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‘Superman & Lois’ Started Strong
Superman & Loiscarved its own niche in the Superman mythos immediately, with Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) married with two sons, Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan (Alex Garfin). That in itself was a dynamic never explored in live-action, and then the series doubled down by moving the setting out of Metropolis and into Smallville. The series utilized its budget skillfully, bringing a big-picture dynamic to the small screen. The action sequences one would expect from a Superman show were excellent, especially with Superman having to contend with the vengeful John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) and his half-brother Tal-Rho/Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner). But it was the quieter moments that really stood out in that first season, with the family having to adjust to their new life in Smallville, without the typical CW drama.
Jonathan and Jordan each had their own struggles trying to fit into the small-town high school scene.Jonathan had a hard go of it, going from a popular star football player to a place where he would have to prove himself from scratch. Jordan, on the other hand, had not only the issues associated with trying to fit in but also with issues surrounding the superpowers he had inherited slowly beginning to show themselves. Lois, having quit the Daily Planet, joins the Smallville Gazette. The most fascinating arc had to do with Parks' John Irons, a man who was married to Lois in another universe and lost her when that Superman killed her in cold blood. Seeing John gradually learning the truth about this world’s Superman and coming to terms with his losses and this new reality, eventually teaming up with the Man of Steel himself, felt real.
‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3 Has Subverted Expectations
The second season ofSuperman & Loissaw the cast really settle into their roles, with a fantastic storyline that saw Lois try desperately to free her sister Lucy (Jenna Dewan) from a cult that threatens their reality, and Superman in battle with one of the best portrayals of Bizarro to date. But Season 3 has seen the series up their game and completely subvert expectations.Chad L. Coleman’s Bruno Mannheim, the antagonist for most of the season, plays in a morally gray sandbox that makes his character difficult to define. He’s done bad things, but for the good of his decaying neighborhood and his wife, Pela (Daya Vaidya). Their story makes for an interesting dilemma — how do you prosecute and take down a villain when you can empathize with their struggles, and do you even try if the alternative risks freeing an even larger threat inLex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz)?
What Season 3 will be remembered for, though,is the breast cancer storyline. The entire cast, including newcomerMichael Bishopas Jonathan, has reacted to Lois' cancer battle with a realism not often seen. Hoechlin has been magnificent, a super-powered man who is helpless to help his wife through her agony and fears, and learning how to be supportive when one can’t be a rescuer. As good as Hoechlin has been, Tulloch has been even better. She has taken Lois' cancer battle to heart, imbuing her performance with the angst, fear, submission, and hope that makes it, again, one of the most realistic portrayals of the disease on television (and here’s hoping the Emmy Awards are taking note). And by taking a realistic approach to the storyline,Superman & Loiscompletely blows away expectations. The easy way out would have been for the cancer to be removed via some Kryptonian means, so the series makes a statement by moving away from that presumed course of action. Even by having done so, surely most viewers would never have expected Lois to actually go under the knife for a mastectomy. That just isn’t done. Yet it was, and the buildup and fallout have been a real testament to those who have, and still are, battling with breast cancer.
Through it all, Hoechlin and Tulloch have been inching towards becoming the definitive versions of their characters, if they haven’t already done so.By renewingSuperman & Loisfor a fourth season, The CW is gaining a lot of goodwill for its own future. How that fourth season plays out, however, is likely to dictate if they can keep it. By pruning out the excellent supporting cast, they are rolling the dice. As much as the show rests on its leads' shoulders, the others have played integral parts in the show’s success, so how they are able to explain their absence will be interesting. Is it part of a storyline where Luthor decimates Smallville? Does the Kent family return to Metropolis to challenge Luthor on familiar turf? Whatever may be, here’s hoping thatSuperman & Loiscontinues the series' record of being a unique entry into the Superman canon.
