Clark takes Jordan up to the Fortress of Solitude in order to introduce him to his Kryptonian heritage and test his powers. Jon, formerly BMOC, experiences troubles adjusting to Smallville High.
After Morgan Edge censors her work, Lois Lane quits The Daily Planet.
The battle-armored Stranger is, indeed, Lex Luthor, but a version from another universe. He claims that a Kal-El destroyed his earth, and that Superman is a threat to the CWDCTVU’s version of our planet.
Title: “Heritage”
Directed by Lee Toland Krieger
Written by Katie Aldrin, Jai Jamison, Andrew Wong
Cast
Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent / Superman
Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane
Jordan Elsass as Jonathan Kent
Alex Garfin as Jordan Kent
Inde Navarrette as Sarah Cushing
Dylan Walsh as General Sam Lane
Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lana Lang Cushing
Adam Rayner as Morgan Edge
Wolé Parks as Captain Luthor
Angus Macfadyen as “Hologramps” Jor-El
Erik Valdez as Kyle Cushing
Sofia Hasmik as Chrissy Beppo
Stacey Farber as Leslie
Danny Wattley as Coach Gaines
Eric Keenleyside as Mayor George Dean
Daisy Tormé as A.I.
Hesham Hammoud as Lt Rosetti
Alan O’Silva as Markovian Red Shirt
Fritzy-Klevans Destine as Sean Smith
Wern Lee as Tag Harris
Zane Clifford as Timmy Ryan
Joselyn Picard as Sophie Cushing
Dean Marshall as Samuel Foswell
Premise:
The Kents adjust to life in Smallville, Kal-El takes on Alt-Luthor, and Lois steps on Morgan Edge.
High Points:
The show continues to look great, with family drama and some impressive, larger-than-life (it’s Superman!) action sequences. As we learn more about the show’s most physical villain (Captain Luthor has the power to go toe-to-toe with the Man of Steel), we realize he has a motivation that makes perfects sense. He also appears to be following a moral code: he does not, for example, kill the soldiers when he obviously could.
Low Points:
Superhero shows must balance their fantastic premises with their more mundane settings. Arrow initially eschewed the more obvious comic-book elements, The Flash went for a lighter Silver Age vibe, while Legends of Tomorrow moved pretty quickly into camp.
Superman and Lois clearly wants to put the fantasy characters into a somewhat realistic world. The move creates some tension, testing how much the viewer is willing to accept. We can have a man who flies and shoots heat from his eyes, sure, but what about Lois’s actions? She a famous, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist. She would leverage that after quitting the Planet (which would be news in itself), and snap up a high-profile job or online platform that would help her promote her concerns. Joining the formerly one-woman local paper makes series sense; I’m not certain it makes internal series reality sense. That’s just one example: other issues attend the depiction of high school and the fact that, by moving to Smallville, Clark makes it impossible for his double life to go unnoticed, as it might in a crowded city. YMMV, but the problem remains one with which the series and the viewers must wrestle.
The Scores:
Originality: 2/6
Effects: 6/6 The fight scenes look great, and they feel integral to the story.
Acting: 5/6 The Kent Family dynamics feel believable or, at least, TV-believable, and the brothers work best when they’re more-or-less getting along, despite their differences. I still wish they were a bit younger, but at least they are teens—unlike the cast of Smallville, or the twentysomethings playing some of their schoolmates. Others have suggested that Jordan’s powers may require proximity with his twin; that would make for an interesting development. Hoechlin and Tulloch has always worked as Clark and Lois, and they continue to make impressive TV parents, separate of their other identities.
Production: 6/6
Story: 5/6 See “Notes and Lingering Questions.”
We still don’t know who Morgan Edge will be, exactly. Crisis allowed them to recast and re-envision the character. He’ll doubtless be a villain, but what kind of villain? Is he simply the slick corporate raider we see, or does Intergang lurk in his future?
Emotional Response: 5/6
Overall: 5/6
In total, “Superman and Lois: Pilot” receives 34/42
Notes and Lingering Questions
1. While we can discuss the show weekly under our TV Table, reviews will be posted every two or three weeks, due to the story-arc heavy nature of the series.
2. Will Crissy’s last name hold any more significance than as an Easter Egg for fans? And will Smallville’s Wonder Twins encounter someone named Gleek?
3. I specifically stole the notion that Jordan’s powers may depend on the proximity to his twin from Captain Comics Round Table.