The Superman & Lois Scene That Didn't Quite Fulfill Fans' Expectations
The CW's voyage into DC comics has been met with a series of struggles, with productions like "Batwoman" and "DC's Legends Of Tomorrow" getting canceled before their time (via CBR). On the other hand, "Superman & Lois," a show that follows the hero's family life with his wife and twin teenage boys, is still going strong. Perhaps this is because it initially captured the hearts of potential fans by doing the unthinkable — it allowed Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) to be a good guy. Remember, many modern iterations — whether animated or live-action — tend to explore him as a darker deity.
And, for the most part, it seems like "Superman & Lois" finally brings the Man of Steel back to his comic roots. In the latest live-action iteration, Superman is a family man, who starts his superhero journey in a homemade suit and shows kindness whenever possible. But as with all CW properties, the other shoe was always going to drop eventually, and the family dynamic eventually breaks down to better suit a dramatic storyline. More critically-minded individuals have broken down some of the points where they feel that "Superman & Lois" falls short. Here's that analysis for a scene that fans believe should have brought the Kent family back together, but sadly failed to live up to expectations.
Fans felt dissatisfied after Clark fails as a father
On a subreddit dedicated to "Superman & Lois," one user posted an analysis of the barn scene from Season 2, Episode 13 ("All Is Lost"). In this episode, Clark attempts to reconcile with his son Jonathan Kent (Jordan Elsass). For clarity, the season so far had driven a wedge between the two, showing Jon desperate to fit into his super-powered family, and Clark vehemently against any external methods of power accrual. It's intended to read as a stance against drugs. In total, the whole post by u/Zoowok111 reads like a collegiate-level English essay, intently breaking down the motivations behind each line of writing. They provided a transcript for the scene so that others could follow along with their thought process, too. To summarize, they believe that the dialogue therein indicates out-of-character parenting. In addition to the fact that Clark chooses favorites between his own children, this user also argues that Clark blatantly ignores his own part in his son's struggles.
In their closing thoughts, the user wrote, "All in all, a very poor speech made all the worse by what happens afterward. From an audience perspective, I think there has been a concerted effort to broaden the divide between Clark and Jonathan this season. They put so much effort in[to] breaking them apart and very little effort in[to] repairing their relationship and I think they might have gone too far." They went on to say that they highly doubted a satisfying resolution would be provided in the precious few moments left before the finale wrapped up.
Everyone internalizes the writing choices differently
The replies to u/Zoowok111's post were equally thoughtful. One camp holds — or hopes — that the writing is intentional. To this end, u/Tireswingchapt1476 said, "You can't hit people over the head about Clark not being a father to Jon. If it is too obvious it won't feel right... I would love to think that everything in the analysis of the scene was done on purpose." Building on this theme of slow, hopeful intentionality, u/AaravV22 added, "Yea at this point I'm hoping for this to NOT be resolved this season... Jon and Clark's resolution should be done in season three where they have time to properly do it."
Conversely, u/LYA64, who also felt dissatisfied with the sequence, believed that it was less intentional and more pandering, meaning that Clark felt obligated to speak to his son but not to act on his words in any meaningful way. "The barn scene fell short, because we expected a lot from this conversation between Clark and Jonathan... [what] makes this scene even more bittersweet, [is] that Jon is literally left alone at the farm doing chores, while his siblings do badass things," they wrote. The user went on to add that the scene would have gone down better if Jon was allowed to enjoy himself after the talk with his father. "Jon was left out, so the previous talk seems to have been for nothing," they concluded.
As of this publication, there is only one episode left to air, and if "Superman & Lois" doesn't wrap this particular storyline up in that short amount of time, then they'll have to wait a little longer, as "Superman & Lois" was not listed as part of The CW's fall 2022-23 schedule (via Deadline). With any luck, the Kent will get their due time to heal by then.