Hello! Welcome back, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I almost forgot how screwy Superman & Lois‘s scheduling can be, but no time for that now. Things are heating up in Smallville as not only is this bizarre Superman still running rampant, but Ally Alston is revealed as much more dangerous than we might have guessed.
Read on to find out more in our Five Thoughts on Superman & Lois‘s “Girl… You’ll Be A Woman, Soon.” Oh, and spoilers, obviously.
1. Cycles & Pendants
Oh boy, where to start, where to start? The beginning, shall we? Yes, let’s. Now, I’m not going to pretend like I have some grand fan theory about what the Alston pendant actually is (ie, if they’re planning to reveal as some kind of existing artefact from the comics), but I am eternally interested in this episode’s cold open. Ally Alston has been an interesting figure this season, and I have to admit that I expected her to be some kind of side issue for Lois and Chrissy to investigate.
What I wasn’t expecting was for her to be the main antagonist, the puppet master pulling of the strings; even being the mastermind orchestrating the appearance of Bizarro. I’ll get into her involvement with the opposite dimension later on, but in this opening scene we see a very young Ally first getting her hands on the pendant as an inheritance after her father’s death. Where did this pendant come from? Why exactly is it said to be a kind of hereditary curse that has plagued the Alston’s for generation after generation? Who’s to say, really, but it is a very interesting part of her backstory that solidifies Ally as a character. She didn’t just stumble upon the existence of the shadow world or the opposite selves. This has been her entire life in the making and that makes her terrifying to me, frankly. No antagonist is scarier than when their entire being is dedicated to their cause.
2. Families: Broken, Breaking and Otherwise
I’m Scottish. I’m white. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I know anything about a Quinceañera nor its importance to the cultures the tradition originates from. What I will focus on is how the Quinceañera operates as the final moments of calm before the Cortez (previously Cushing) family is torn asunder. Kyle goes through a lot this episode and it was honestly so heartwarming to see how excited he was for his daughter and his family, how this felt like a strengthening moment of togetherness after life has kept them distant for so long. The Cortez family has always been how this show juxtaposes an incredibly normal, relevant modern family drama alongside the exploits of a grand, fantastical character like Superman and it’s at its best here.
From Sarah overhearing Kyle talking with the woman he had an affair with to her trying and failing to put on a brave face during her dance with Kyle to Lana’s incredible parenting, this is Superman & Lois at its best. It’s earnest about its character drama in a way no other DC/CW show has cared or felt comfortable exploring. With the massive progression on the series’s other subplots (which we’ll get to) occuring elsewhere in this episode, it was a real smart move to orient them around Sarah’s Quinceañera which is placed firmly in the centre of this episode’s storytelling. The Cortez family are some of the most interesting and wonderfully written characters I’ve seen in live action superhero storytelling in a long time. They are just so incredibly normal and the show plays into very normal soap opera-level dramatic emotions with such a deft touch that, at times, I almost forgot there was a Superman show going on around it.
3. Super Boyz II Men
Jonathan. Kent.
I have never been so disappointed in a character in my life. I really feel like a parent wronged by this storyline. Jonathan was my underdog favourite for all of season one; his lack of special, Kryptonian powers left him in a pretty emotionally intense situation and he always faced it with heart. Now, though, the fact that he lost everything that made him feel special and a sense of self-worth has pushed him further and further to the edge. We’ve seen him pick up an XK habit, wanting desperately to shine at football like he did in Metropolis, but as Sam begins training Jordan in secret, things escalate quickly. The sibling-hood between Jonathan and Jordan has always been a highlight of the show, so seeing it boil over into something of a genuine animosity between them is genuinely heartbreaking.
Continued belowJordan Elsass and Alexander Garfin continue to be absolute gems in this episode, bringing stellar emotional conflict to the fore while still keeping their brotherly bond firmly in the centre. Even as Jonathan blows up and lashes out at Jordan, both physically and emotionally, Jordan still only wants to help Jon. He wants to be there for him, he wants to support his brother in a way that Jordan himself has needed his entire life. Even when that anger snaps and Jonathan exhibits a flash of heat vision, Jordan’s first thought is to be there for Jonathan in any way he can. Yet Jonathan just cannot bring himself to be vulnerable anymore. He cannot stomach the inherent weakness of human fallibility, especially when he is constantly comparing himself to his God-like father and his oh so special brother. There’s a part of me that feels like things are going to get even worse for Jonathan before they get better and I don’t know if I can handle it.
4. Bizarre Selves
Reflections are the name of the game this season. Not just because of Bizarro, mind you, it seems like everyone is encountering their opposites. For Clark, it’s Bizarro who is shown to have little of the compassion that our Superman is known for. For Lois, it’s Ally who twists the truth and manipulates the easily persuaded to get what she wants. It’s not just done well here, but it creates an unparalleled level of emotional depth to the characters and the themes of the season. We’re seeing the characters we have come to know and love being pushed to their limits as well as seeing their weakness thrown back at them. Chrissy is keeping herself at arm’s length from Lois as she begins to see her as just as manipulative and backhanded as Lois’s view of Ally. Clark, meanwhile, is struggling under the weight of everything that’s been happening this season.
I really like that Bizarro isn’t just a mindless bad guy here to wreak havoc on this world. His motivation being revealed in the final moments as a quest to save his world and Clark’s from whoever or whatever Ally truly is. It not only puts them at odds when Bizarro tells Clark that he’s going to have to kill Ally to do so, it highlights the stark gap between them. We don’t know yet if Bizarro has always be so lethally minded or if whatever is happening on his world has simply pushed him over the edge in a similar manner to the Superman of John Henry’s Earth. Perhaps time will tell, but the idea of not only Clark and Bizarro needing to team up, but getting to see more of Hoechlin acting against himself is going to be a treat. His turn as Bizarro is surprisingly arresting and belays a hidden depth to this wild, almost feral animal of a Superman.
5. Ascension
This episode brought to the forefront the revelation that not only is there far more going on with Ally Alston and her cult than meets the eye, but it is directly related to Bizarro’s presence on Earth. Superman & Lois has always done a pretty stellar job of introducing the sillier elements of a show like this in such a way as to not distract from the earnest emotional drama at play. Ally’s slide from mysterious cult leader to out-and-out supervillain was done really well. It was paced perfectly and by the time Chrissy’s meeting with her went from a way of getting back at Lois for her less than great behaviour to Chrissy being drugged and sent to the mirror world to see it for herself escalated the stakes of the entire season just right.
I have to wonder if we’ll get to see what that world looks like as the show progresses, I really hope we do, but hearing it described by Chrissy might just make it all the more horrific as our mind conjures this impossible reflection of the world we know. And knowing the Ally has taken control of that entire world elevates the tension and stakes of the entire season without breaking a sweat. I’m so glad this show is back.
