Spoilers "Superman & Lois" Season 1 spoiler discussion!

[crookeddy]

Most of the folks I know that are watching the CW shows are either comic book fans around my age or people in their 20s to early 30s. But that's just an unscientific sampling.

However, I do feel like the CW shows are done on the cheap. Superman and Lois being the exception. And it's really the only one I watch. The other ones just don't captivate me, something about the style and writing I can't get into.

Although, I might binge season 2 of Batwoman based on a friend's recommendation.

Early Arrow stuff was pretty good too. It was cheap, but didn't feel cheap.The Flash actually has great CGI for its budget but its just too goofy for my tastes. Same with Supergirl (I only watched the CBS season). Legends of Tomorrow is also kind of brilliant in an off the rails way.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

This show is made by HBO from what I understand and just airs on CW. Maybe next year they will just move it to HBOMAX were it's a better fit anyways. Just like Crazy Ex Girlfriend and Black Lighting would have been better on HBOMAX provided it had existed back then. Some shows are frankly to good for CW. Heck I would even toss in early years of Arrow and The Flash. I feel like the CW itself has degraded and it wasn't as so bad as it is today. Maybe modern teens just have no standards anymore so they are just putting anything out their that hits all the modern teen stereotypes.

The majority of the Berlanti DC series have been low quality and misguided from the start, hence their low ratings. I cannot recall another TV franchise that has consistently underperformed (and this is one using a number of previously known or successful characters). The root of the problem is what drives Berlanti productions, and that's not going to change.

Season one ratings for Superman and Lois:

 

[BK613]

So, I don't watch much of the Arrowverse stuff so I was wondering if the other series end their seasons with events turning out so well for all the 'good' guys? And by winning I mean everyone pretty much getting what they wish for.
In addition to the main defeat of Edge and his Daddy, etc., which seemed too easy, we also have..
-Kyle gets his job back and the family stays in Smallville
-Chrissy gets the dream partnership with her idol Lois.
-Lois gets editorial freedom.
-Lois gets more time with her father.
-John gets his daughter back.
-Jordan and Jonathon come out socially and romantically on top.
-Smallville reunites in the most positive way possible.
-Lois even gets the recipe to the ribs.

It's almost like they are all inside that mind machine somehow, with everything turning out more blissfully that things should have, with the second shoe waiting to drop.

 

[crookeddy]

So, I don't watch much of the Arrowverse stuff so I was wondering if the other series end their seasons with events turning out so well for all the 'good' guys? And by winning I mean everyone pretty much getting what they wish for.
In addition to the main defeat of Edge and his Daddy, etc., which seemed too easy, we also have..
-Kyle gets his job back and the family stays in Smallville
-Chrissy gets the dream partnership with her idol Lois.
-Lois gets editorial freedom.
-Lois gets more time with her father.
-John gets his daughter back.
-Jordan and Jonathon come out socially and romantically on top.
-Smallville reunites in the most positive way possible.
-Lois even gets the recipe to the ribs.

It's almost like they are all inside that mind machine somehow, with everything turning out more blissfully that things should have, with the second shoe waiting to drop.

Yeah, the seasons usually end with completed arcs. Like the ending of a movie. Subsequent seasons are like sequels. I liked it.

 

[Commander Troi]

It's almost like they are all inside that mind machine somehow, with everything turning out more blissfully that things should have, with the second shoe waiting to drop.

Yikes! That's an unpleasant thought!

 

[Jayson1]

I think they went with the happy ending because it's a Superman show and you never want to go to cynical with Supes. They also set a few things up like Irons daughter coming back and the girlfriend with a dad in prison which I am certain we will find out Superman put their. The Central City location is a ruse to make us think The Flash but it makes more sense dramatically to be Superman. Also General Lane steps down. That means a new person for the job. I am thinking maybe Irons himself for the job. As for Lane I did notice that camera shot of the mayor. I think he might run for Mayor of Smallville and next season might have a small town election storyline. Or it could be Kyle or Lana who run. I could also see Lane being the town sheriff as well. The town loosing jobs and now feeling unsafe after the Edge stuff could be really explored in a election storyline. Would also feel timely because I assume this next season would be airing at a time when lots of people are focused on mid-term election news in real life.

 

[Noname Given]

I think they went with the happy ending because it's a Superman show and you never want to go to cynical with Supes.

Zack Snyder would disagree. See Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman.

 

[The Realist]

I think they went with the happy ending because it's a Superman show and you never want to go to cynical with Supes.

I was sometimes of two minds about the treatment of Smallville this season. I appreciated the effort to examine the Superman mythos' traditional portrayal of the town as a Norman Rockwell rural idyll in light of modern realities of middle America. (Jonathan and Martha Kent would not vote for Trump at gunpoint, but in the real world, people like them put him into office.) It was timely and provocative, but at the same time, I missed the gentle fantasy of that timeless place where the skies are blue and the fields are green and everyone is honest and decent and kind. So I felt like the finale was an effort to restore some of that sense of idealism to Smallville, and while I'm not sure it was completely earned, part of me did welcome it.

 

[David cgc]

(Jonathan and Martha Kent would not vote for Trump at gunpoint, but in the real world, people like them put him into office.)

It doesn't take much of a majority to make an immovable voting block, but that's still far short of being unanimous. Looking at the statistics for Reno County, Kansas (which was Smallville for a day as a publicity stunt a while back), nearly a third of voters went for Biden in 2020. Not enough to make it worth spending a lot of campaign money there, but it doesn't seem unreasonable that for every two Kyle Cushings in Smallville there'd be one Martha Kent.

 

[The Realist]

It doesn't take much of a majority to make an immovable voting block, but that's still far short of being unanimous. Looking at the statistics for Reno County, Kansas (which was Smallville for a day as a publicity stunt a while back), nearly a third of voters went for Biden in 2020. Not enough to make it worth spending a lot of campaign money there, but it doesn't seem unreasonable that for every two Kyle Cushings in Smallville there'd be one Martha Kent.

Fair enough. But in the traditional picture of Smallville, people like the Kents would be the rule, not the exception. The kind of people, and community, whose salt-of-the-earth values of simple honesty and kindness would produce a Superman. The show tried to examine and challenge that picture in some ways, but confirmed and reinforced it in others.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

After finishing this season, my feelings are: George Reeves is the best Clark Kent. Christoper Reeve is the best Superman. But Tyler Hoelchin is the best at both Clark and Superman.

He just Clarks and Supes so hard in this show.

 

[Jayson1]

I was sometimes of two minds about the treatment of Smallville this season. I appreciated the effort to examine the Superman mythos' traditional portrayal of the town as a Norman Rockwell rural idyll in light of modern realities of middle America. (Jonathan and Martha Kent would not vote for Trump at gunpoint, but in the real world, people like them put him into office.) It was timely and provocative, but at the same time, I missed the gentle fantasy of that timeless place where the skies are blue and the fields are green and everyone is honest and decent and kind. So I felt like the finale was an effort to restore some of that sense of idealism to Smallville, and while I'm not sure it was completely earned, part of me did welcome it.

I liked it as well for those reasons but also by simply avoiding some of the obvious cliches. Kyle could have been a Trump loving asshole. Town full of rednecks. Hollywood often rights small town folks like they are either Andy Griffins Mayberry or the country folks in Deliverance. Not always. King of the Hill was great in how accurate it felt and I feel like this show did a mostly good job. Maybe slightly more Rockwell but that is because it's still a Superman show and I think lots of people want that from Supes. Maybe now more than every do to the state of the world. Innocence and Nostalgia are back IMO in a big way because people need some escape from it all.

 

[The Realist]

After finishing this season, my feelings are: George Reeves is the best Clark Kent. Christoper Reeve is the best Superman. But Tyler Hoelchin is the best at both Clark and Superman.

He just Clarks and Supes so hard in this show.

One could quibble with the particulars of this, but certainly not with your choice of Superman actors to praise. These three are, indeed, the finest ever to have worn the tights (with only Brandon Routh approaching their august company).

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I think they went with the happy ending because it's a Superman show and you never want to go to cynical with Supes.

Superman--whether in the comics, movies or TV is part of a DC universe, so one should expect stories to reflect that larger universe, as he's not on some isolationist rock like some inferior Superman stories were written. Superman and Lois will grow stale quickly if everything conveniently happens and/or is springing out of Smallville. Clark might move to Smallville, but he's supposed to be a citizen of the world and deal with its problems, and that's more than aiding in natural disasters.

I liked it as well for those reasons but also by simply avoiding some of the obvious cliches. Kyle could have been a Trump loving asshole. Town full of rednecks. Hollywood often rights small town folks like they are either Andy Griffins Mayberry or the country folks in Deliverance. Not always.

Studios still push their own set of stereotypes against those that do not live as they do. Many TV crime dramas and sitcoms have not dropped the overt hatred of small town and/or southern U.S. populations for "daring" to believe in other ideas.

Innocence and Nostalgia are back IMO in a big way because people need some escape from it all.

Nostalgia? In what entertainment property, because as I see it, any old property theoretically designed to cater to nostalgia usually ends up with character and motivation changes that are barely reminiscent of the original production.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

So, I don't watch much of the Arrowverse stuff so I was wondering if the other series end their seasons with events turning out so well for all the 'good' guys? And by winning I mean everyone pretty much getting what they wish for.

No. Black Lightning--the far and away greatest CW/DC show ever produced, did not tie a bow on at the end of a season. There were major arcs and underlying character issues that were leading into the next season, so the series--despite its fantasy framework--had a strong, realistic feel to how character lives were impacted by events. Said events had real meaning going forward.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

One could quibble with the particulars of this, but certainly not with your choice of Superman actors to praise. These three are, indeed, the finest ever to have worn the tights (with only Brandon Routh approaching their august company).

I’m a huge fan of Routh’s Supes and Clark as well. I’d love to see him get a limited HBO Max show with his version.

 

[Commander Troi]

I think they went with the happy ending because it's a Superman show and you never want to go to cynical with Supes. They also set a few things up like Irons daughter coming back and the girlfriend with a dad in prison which I am certain we will find out Superman put their. The Central City location is a ruse to make us think The Flash but it makes more sense dramatically to be Superman. Also General Lane steps down. That means a new person for the job. I am thinking maybe Irons himself for the job. As for Lane I did notice that camera shot of the mayor. I think he might run for Mayor of Smallville and next season might have a small town election storyline. Or it could be Kyle or Lana who run. I could also see Lane being the town sheriff as well. The town loosing jobs and now feeling unsafe after the Edge stuff could be really explored in a election storyline. Would also feel timely because I assume this next season would be airing at a time when lots of people are focused on mid-term election news in real life.

The way Lana looked at the mayor made me think she's going to run against him next season.

I am really looking forward to seeing what they do with Sam Lane. Retirement can be really tough for some people. Also, there are lots of fun things the writers can do with a new person in his old job.

 

[Jayson1]

I forget but do we know what happened to Lois's mom. Is she still alive? Perhaps she could be in the picture. Another thing is he might takeover running the farm. Clark could get a job at the paper. It's not like he has any special farming skills from a business sense. The guy could also open maybe a business in town were he pursues some passion we don't know about but also allows Irons and his daughter plus Jonathan work on the suits and other tech in a more secure place than the family barn.

 

[Mudd]

Eh, I'd go with Dean Cain for Clark and Cavil for Supes.

 

[Dick Whitman]

The way Lana looked at the mayor made me think she's going to run against him next season.

I am really looking forward to seeing what they do with Sam Lane. Retirement can be really tough for some people. Also, there are lots of fun things the writers can do with a new person in his old job.

I am really interested it what happens with Sam Lane too. Remember many expected he would turn out to be a bad guy when this series started. I have never been a fan of Sam Lane as being copy of General Thunderbolt Ross from the Hulk.

All of that was a very new idea in the comics. Before Crisis on Infinite Earths in the comics Lois’s parents where farmers. The idea of Lois being an “Army Brat” child of a solider was introduced with the 1986 reboot. My memory is that while Sam Lane was career military, he was never high ranking. Possibly retired when Superman arrived. The idea of him being a General was not introduced until Lex Luthor ran and won the Presidency around the year 2000. Than all of a sudden Sam Lane was a Full general who Lex made his Secretary of Defense. All to be an opponent to Superman and unnecessary melodrama in Lois and Clark’s life.

So this series having him choosing to defend his family as his first priority and now retire from the military is a great idea. Hopefully sets a precedence of removing that bad idea of Lois’s father as an opponent of Superman from future incarnations of the character in comics and other media too.