Superman and Lois
Season 1 - Episode 12 - "Through the Valley of Death"
Clark/SM: Superman's consciousness is slowly taken over by Zod. Before he's loses himself, he sends out s super-scream to Jordan, hoping the teen can find him, but Edge warns that they will not find Superman, but someone else. Eventually, SM is fully controlled by Zod's consciousness.
Lois / Irons: Responding to Lois' message, Irons meets with Lois and Sam; he's of the opinion that SM must be killed, otherwise Earth will suffer the same fate at his world, and rejects Lois' notion of the search for SM being a "rescue" mission. Sam believes it would be a "tactical error" to not have rescue as an option (SEE Sam entry), or at least he says this while Lois is around.
As Irons prepares for his mission, Jonathan approaches him, and like Lois before him, begs Irons to find a less lethal way of dealing with SM, but Irons flatly replies that its too late for that. Suited up, Irons flies to the "badlands" region, and faces Super-Zod, who wastes no time attacking Irons. After receiving several blows with Irons' hammer, Superman's consciousness tries to fight his way back. Irons asks SM to remember his family, trying to make him realize what kind of pain he would feel if they were lost to the terror he (and Edge) are planning to unleash. At last, Irons' words seem to trigger more of SM's family memories, allowing him to break free of the Zod consciousness. Joining forces with Irons, SM vows to stop Edge.
Moments later, Edge's Krypto-daddy learns the Zod consciousness has been lost, and as a result, orders his "weak" son to set his would-be master plan in motion. Edge flies just outside of Earth's atmosphere, and fires heat vision beams into the Eradicator device (or is absorbing the collective consciousness held within). Irons flies after Edge, and launches his wrist rocket (designed to strip Kryptonian's of their power) at Edge, who immediately falls to earth, apparently unable to do anything other than promise that Superman and all of mankind will end up as dust.
Sam Lane: Sam tries to comfort Lois, but his face read as one who knows he has to follow his instincts about alien threats, and is very open to using Irons' weapons to stop (read: kill) Superman. Diggle shows up and tries to assert some sort of authority, complaining about Sam partnering with Irons. With no options ('cause there just ain't no other superheroes in this show's world...alrighty...), Sam tells Lois that the Irons plan is the best way to proceed. Feeling she cannot stop her father, Lois then turns Irons. trying to appeal to him on a personal level, by revealing SM's true identity, and stressing that Clark is the love of her life, who genuinely loves mankind. Irons reminds her that it was SM who wanted him to be contacted as a contingency plan if the worst happened.
Lana/Kyle/Sarah: Kyle is informed that his fellow firefighters are angry about his being the point man for Edge. essentially, he's out of a job.The townspeople--specifically those who were augmented by Edge--have all turned on Kyle and Lana, but the family bond is closer than ever (SEE NOTES). Visited by Lois, Kyle reveals that it was possible to the fight the Kryptonian influence.
The one eyebrow raising moment: when Kyle made yet another promise to do whatever he could for his family; the line delivery was fairly weighed down with the implication that he might become desperate (again) to help/protect his family at some time in the future.
Edge held in a military prison. Yyyeeahhh..that will work out.
NOTES:
...and why is Lane taking crap from Diggle? Similar to his recent appearance on Batwoman, Diggle shows up on this series, adding next to nothing that would justify his screen time. Berlanti, et al., seem to think Diggle is such a fan favorite that he would be some "exciting" link / guest on the DC shows (thankfully, that never happened on Black Lightning), but again, he's not essential. Lois' faith in her husband was the reason Irons tried to reach the SM side of Super-Zod, not anything said by Diggle. Fanservice is not good storytelling.
I wondered if the plot would paint Sam as "evil" because his position on using Kryptonite weapons was justified (and you cannot have that, can you?). One thing that always pulls a Superman stories back on relatable terms is the fact that most human characters would not see a super-powered alien as their Santa/Daddy, but a creature with power almost beyond measure, and have no natural allegiance with mankind, no matter how long he's lived among humans. To any rational mind, that would always raise suspicion about how much a species could--or should--trust this overpowered alien. This is not supportive of Irons' loony grafting the habits/actions of his Superman to the one on Earth, but its the sense of keeping one's eyes open / self preservation.
Although Sam apologizes for doubting SM, if the showrunners have anything resembling guts at all, they will have Sam and the DOD ramp up their anti-alien weapons development program, which should include creating A.I.-controlled armor similar to that worn by Irons.
Shades of the MCU! One would think the showrunners would not continue to rip the way Irons' in-suit close ups are shot and interaction with the A.I. from Iron Man. Moreover, Irons calling the hammer to him (while on his back) was pretty much copy+pasted from Avengers: Endgame as a downed Thor called Stormbreaker back to him.
GRADE: C+.