Superman & Lois: The Pilot

As I’ve spent nearly every day of the last year at home, my screen time has gone through the roof. However, due to pandemic-related shooting issues resulting in a dearth of new content, I’ve been mainly forced to re-watch favorites or binge older shows that I missed the first time around. That makes the arrival of new live episodes of any of my shows quite exciting. The fact that this particular show is new and is one that I’ve been really looking forward to made it even better!

Last night finally brought us the long-awaited premiere of Superman & Lois, the latest entry into the “Berlanti-verse” of DC-comics themed shows on The CW. The show stars Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf) and Elizabeth “Bitsie” Tulloch (Grimm) as the titular characters. Hoechlin as Superman was first introduced in season 2 of Supergirl, whereas Tulloch as Lois made her first appearance in the Arrowverse crossover episode Elseworlds.

**Mild spoilers ahead**

Similar to the 90s iteration, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher (which was my *favorite* show back then!), Superman & Lois will focus on the relationship between Lois and Clark/Superman with the added twist that they are now parents of fraternal twin teen boys, who do not know their father’s secret. [Fun Facts: I had a poster of Dean Cain on my bedroom wall in high school and both Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher have had recurring roles on Supergirl)]

To make the family story a bit more interesting, one of their sons is neurodivergent and struggles with social anxiety and other issues while his brother is a talented jock and starting quarterback of his high school football team. The family lives in Metropolis, but the Daily Planet has been purchased by a nefarious businessman and Clark gets laid off. He then immediately gets the news that his mother, who still lived on the family farm in Smallville, has died and the family travels back to his hometown for the funeral and to settle his mother’s affairs.

While they are in Smallville, some situations crop up that bring up Clark and Lois’ recurring concern  over what to tell the boys about his identity, which they had been keeping hidden from them. There also seems to be some funny business going on with a string of reverse mortgages in the town, including one on Clark’s mother’s farm, and the sudden appearance of the same businessman who purchased the Daily Planet. These issues of course get Lois’ investigative reporter senses on high alert. The couple decides to move their family from Metropolis to Smallville to save the farm and for a “simpler” life and a fresh start.

Meanwhile, almost as an afterthought, an alien being has it out for Superman and is trying to lure him out by causing nuclear reactors to overheat so he can kill him when he comes to the rescue. I’m assuming the viewers (and Lois!) will learn more about this new development in the next episode.

I’ve watched various amounts of all of the Arrowverse shows, but have frequently ended up losing interest when things got too dark (Arrow) or too weird/time-bendy (The Flash) or when there were too many episodes involving people wearing other people’s faces (Batwoman). Superman & Lois promises to be lighter and presumably less “time-bendy” with fewer Face/Offs, all of which I think are good things for our current times.

Tulloch and Hoechlin have great chemistry and the relationship between Clark and Lois seems genuine and well…normal. Or as normal as can be when one of the couple is a superpowered alien. Clark loses his job, his mother dies, and he is constantly torn between how to be a good father to his sons while also saving the world every time he is called on to do so. Lois, meanwhile, has to balance covering for Clark with their sons when he dashes off with her career and normal family life while in conflict with her father, a general who knows Superman’s identity and thinks that she is selfish for wanting to have a normal family life with Clark.

All of this put together seems to work – the show is interesting to watch and relatable, without being too sappy. A couple of plotlines have been seeded – the nefarious businessman and the alien with the Superman vendetta (name-dropped in the last seconds as “Captain Luthor”!) – that will surely provide more conflict for Clark & Lois and their family and keep it from becoming a more mundane family drama as season 1 unspools. I’m definitely looking forward to the next episode!

The next episode of Superman & Lois can be see on The CW on Tuesday, March 2, at 9pm and streamed from The CW site or app the next day.