Superman and Lois
Season 2 premiere - Episode 1 - "What Lies Beneath"
Clark/SM / Lois: Lois' misplaced, pissy attitude toward Clark was not justified at all. One, a motivated teen (Jonathan) wanting sex with his girlfriend will put in overtime hours plotting and scheming to find the right place for a hook-up, so in the grand scheme of things, Clark could not stop that, since Jonathan is not being monitored 24/7/365--especially during his most intimate moments. Two, she's channeling the Natalie matter into her past about the miscarriage and her mother leaving, and once again, Clark is not responsible for that. As he pointed out, her mother leaving the Lane family is not at all comparable to alter-earth Lois dying and its effect on Natalie.
Further, to borrow the catchphrase from the 60's Super Chicken series, "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it..."--meaning she knew what life with Clark meant; he could not turn off being Superman anymore than he could jump out of his own skin, which has been the primary focus of his life long before he knew Lois.
...and she's quite the hypocrite, as she agreed to move to Smallville for a different life for her sons, yet she's aggressively trying to be a reporter again, and Clark says nothing (so far), about her still living that life she selected for herself.
Irons / Natalie: I had hoped the series would cut short the predictable Lois-is-"mom" / Clark-is-evil business, for common sense reasons Irons could explain away with ease and common sense (i.e "Kid, you're on another world. They are different people. Moving on..."), but three months after her arrival, she still cannot grasp what traveling to another world means, and now cops a shitty attitude with the father she once believed she would not see again. It did not need the seed-planting with Lois reach out for Natalie to understand that she's on another world having no relation to her own. One can only hope Irons--now living in the Kent house--does not let cozy
Chrissy: She's doing the right thing--trying to build a staff with available resources, rather than pulling the elitist act like Lois...
Lt. Mitch Anderson: Whether he becomes the comic version's "Outburst" is up in the air, but his position places him squarely in the center of circumstances that would lead to that moment (SEE NOTES) His laying it out there that he cannot fully trust Superman was expected--a theme used in season one, only this time, its not the father-in-law and that emotional connection to act as the brakes on acting on contingency plans against Superman. By training the "recruited" metas, he's hinting that he's launched a meta arms race (SEE NOTES), with Superman as the likely target when he fails to comply. I suspect Jordan might need to be "drafted" into service to help his father against the D.O.D's metas (in fact, in the next episode, Jordan asks to be back-up for Superman).
Then, there's....
Anderson's mistrust; it could be pushed over the edge by a disaster caused by Superman (instead of Doomsday) which supports his belief that Superman is not a hero, and might lead to his submitting himself to an experiment that transforms him into (SEE NOTES)...
Jonathan / Candice: Ah, so Jonathan has turned into one of those teen males who only hears what the girlfriend says, despite the fact Clark said the same thing.
Jordan/Sarah: Oh, poor, poor Jordan. He's ready to resume hearts and flowers with Sarah, who is obviously using her mother's campaign work as the cover-all of excuses for something that will be touched on soon enough.
Lana/Kyle/Sarah: The Cushings' marital problems continue, and with Clark and Lana bonding over their issues, I hope it just ends there, and Kyle or Lois do not rad anything into two childhood friends sharing their issues. I did enjoy Kyle giving Sarah solid relationship advice, and not being at all bothered that Jordan is not in the Alpha position in her relationship.
NOTES:
Mitch Anderson's role--pre-"Outburst" (if that happens) is quite different than the way he was introduced in the comics, and considering the fact Luthor was tied to his origin (which would be a problem for this series, since the CW version was sent to the Phantom Zone on the cancelled Supergirl). One can wonder if (or when) some catastrophe--possible due to the D.O.D. and/or Anderson shenanigans--will break him out of the Zone...if Supergirl's world is officially tied to S&L's (Diggle's presence pretty much confirmed it is).
His army of metas and the direction such a plot can take is too similar to the "Ultimen" / Cadmus plot from Justice League Unlimited and--of course--the series-long meta harvesting / weaponizing from Black Lightning. I cannot see this ending on a positive note where--for example--the metas are somehow convinced to free themselves from D.O.D. control and end up being mentored by Superman.
Bad CG underwater Superman and a submarine aside, a sub cannot rapidly surface without internal pressure adjustment, lest the crew all suffer from...ah, whatever. Berlanti Productions attention to detail strikes again.
Hoechlin needs to lose the five o'clock shadow; he's by no means the most photogenic of the actors who portrayed Superman, and that stubble is not doing him any favors. That, and he's meeting people face-to-face as Superman...also sporting stubble. It would not take Holmes to start putting the pieces together, topped off by even more visual similarities.
GRADE: B-.
