Reviewed by: Michael Bailey
Originally Aired: May 30, 2023
WRITTEN BY: Max Cunningham and Max Kronick
DIRECTED BY: Elaine Mongeon
REGULAR CAST:
Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman)
Bitsie Tulloch (Lois Lane)
Michael Bishop (Jonathan Kent)
Alex Garfin (Jordan Kent)
Emmanuelle Chriqui (Lana Lang Cushing)
Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cushing)
Wolee Parks (John Henry Irons)
Tayler Buck (Natalie Irons)
Erik Valdez (Kyle Cushing)
Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cortez)
Sofia Hasmik (Chrissy Beppo)
GUEST STARS:
Chad L Coleman (Bruno Mannheim)
Daya Vaidya (Peia)
Spence Moore II (Matteo)
Dylan Walsh (General Sam Lane)
Dylan Leonard (Junior)
Samantga Di Francesco (Candice Pergande)
Jennifer Khoe (Deputy Kya Johnson)
Joselyn Picard (Sophie Cushing)
Christine Willes (Governor Wexler)
Rating – 4 (out of 5): The only reason I am giving this episode four shields instead of a five is that various plots didn’t flow in and out of each other as well as they have in the past few episodes. The thing is a slightly less good episode of this show is still better than most great episodes of other shows.
(It also just occurred to me that this show has just broken the third season curse for Superman shows. There haven’t been any fake marriages or frog eating clones or Lois getting shrunk down by a jealous classmate or catatonic girls bringing Clark into her dreams against an REM soundtrack or fake Karas.
At least not yet.)
Anyway, while the overall pacing of the episode was a little wonky the individual plotlines were great. Lana dealing with the governor and trying to impress her only to have Sarah get busted for driving under the influence could have devolved into cliché, but adding Chrissy to the mix along with the performances by Emmanuelle Chriqui and Sofia Hasmik made it work. The idea of Lana pursuing higher office is an interesting one and it would be neat to see that idea play out.
The teen angst was angsty, but none of it felt fake. Jonathan and Jordan wanting to go to a party over hanging out with their dad tracked and it was sweet seeing Jonathan and Candice get some time together. Jonathan’s conversation with Clark was also well done. To be honest, I’m on Jonathan’s side here. Clark runs off at a moment’s notice. He’s Superman, so it’s important, but it’s unfair to make everyone else in his life put theirs on hold when he’s ready to spend time with them. I liked that Clark was fine with Jordan saving Junior and Sarah but not okay with the underage drinking.
I’m not sure how I feel about Kyle knowing the secret. On one hand, it is incredibly unfair to have the entire main cast except Kyle knowing about the Kents. It also ties into the overall theme of secrets tearing relationships apart that the show has been exploring for several seasons now. And him not knowing makes Kyle look kind of dumb. On the other hand, this show has been great about not doing what all of the other CW super-heroes shows have done in terms of the entire cast eventually learning the secret. At the end of the day, I’m interested to see where this goes and what Kyle’s reaction is going to be. After seeing that I’ll make a final decision.
The Pia end of the episode was the strongest of the storylines, which makes sense considering it’s the main storyline of the season. As good as the scenes where Lois is trying to convince Pia to confess to framing Lex were having Matteo help bring her back to health was better. I love how this show makes you feel something for the villains and then allows them to be evil people that do terrible things. Pia escaping the DOD was a great action scene and swerved away from where I thought the show was going to go.
Again, this episode had one small issue, but otherwise it was great. There are only a few episodes left in the season and I have no idea where things are going to go. I can’t wait for next week.
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