‘Superman & Lois’ Happily Remembered To Include Lois in This Week’s Episode

There’s a lot to like in The CW’s new series Superman & Lois, and a good portion of that is the characters in the title: Superman/Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin); and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch). The duo established their rapport through multiple appearances on other Arrow-verse series, most notably Supergirl, and continued that strong chemistry into last week’s series premiere.

However, between Superman dealing with a new, mysterious villain, his mother dying, and their two teen sons having their own issues to deal with, it somewhat felt like the “& Lois” part of the title got lost in the shuffle. Particularly given Tulloch has spent most of the show’s pre-release press tour helpfully reminding anyone who would listen that Lois Lane debuted in 1938’s Action Comics #1, the same issue as Superman, it seemed like a bit of an oversight to say the least.

Thankfully, that ship is righted in a big way with this week’s episode, “Heritage.”

Spoilers for Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 2 “Heritage” past this point.

There’s a lot going on in this sophomore episode as well, as the Kent/Lane family settles down in Smallville and the boys’ positions essentially reverse: Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) becomes bullied at school; Jordan (Alex Garfin) is off at the Fortress of Solitude exploring his new powers. And in between, we find out a lot more about that suited villain plaguing Clark, who turns out to be Alex Luthor (Wolé Parks), a refugee from an alternate Earth that was nearly destroyed by a villainous Superman.

But the episode’s strongest storyline is all about Lois, who gets her own big status quo change this episode. To be frank, my alarm bells were ringing for a good portion of last week, and this week’s episode when it came to the character. Though in this day and age you can report the news from anywhere, the Daily Planet is like Lois’ Fortress of Solitude. It’s her home base, the place that gives her power. She’s certainly walked out of Perry White’s offices in a huff multiple times in the decades long run of the comics, but when it came to Superman & Lois not a lot of thought seemed to be put into what moving from Metropolis to Smallville would do to Lois’ career.

That changed in Episode 2, which doubled down on the impact villainous billionaire (is there any other kind?) Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner) has on both the Daily Planet, and Smallville. It set Edge’s massive edits on one of Lois’ pieces up as a perfectly legitimate reason for quitting the Planet, and instead taking her skills to the highly understaffed Smallville Gazette. And while I still am a little hesitant about the “now Lois can finally do some real reporting!” angle the show is taking, because she’s frickin’ Lois Lane and can report anything anywhere, at the very least it gives her a mission as vital and dangerous as Superman’s.

To be fair, there’s a lot the show is trying to balance, even two episodes in. Superman’s enemies, Lois’ enemies, what’s going on with the kids, Smallville’s town-on-the-brink issues, and also lots of time needs to be spent with lovingly handheld shots of grain. But the title of the show means something. Yes, Superman is first for branding purposes. But Lois is an equal part of the title, and it’s important she’s an equal part of the show. Taking the planet’s preeminent superhero and having him fight an unstoppable enemy from an alternate universe, and having the planet’s preeminent reporter doomed to write stories about the county fair are not the same thing.

If, on the other hand, Superman & Lois does follow up on the promise of this episode, and digs down into the very real idea that reporting starts locally and isn’t in real life all fluff pieces about how the local librarian turned 90 years old, there’s a chance the show could really say something about the current state of journalism. Lois Lane is certainly the right vehicle for that message, and positioning her as the person who will aim to stop whatever Edge’s plan is, not just for Smallville but all small towns in America, is a great place for her to be.

Hopefully, the series continues to remember that, and keeps the “& Lois” part going. She’s as much a superhero as Superman.

Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

Where to watch Superman & Lois