Superman & Lois - Heritage - Review: A Matter Of Family

(Sorry for the late review, had an extremely busy week and wasn't able to get around to it as fast as I wanted to!)

This week Superman & Lois again didn't go anywhere too crazy or drop anything too shocking, instead, it continued to lay the groundwork for what the status quo will be in this opening season. In most network shows this could easily be considered boring and just standard filler, but this show keeps things enjoyable with its great cast and honestly pretty good writing. It continues to feel like what a show centered around Superman's family should feel like, and honestly, that's enough on its own for me at this point.

In this episode, we got a better look at our villains for the season, Captain Luthor and Morgan Edge. I like that we are getting pretty familiar with the big-bads this early (heck there was already another Superman vs Luthor battle here), as well as the fact that the show is already beginning to give us answers to some of the mysteries behind them. Lex Luthor is by far the most interesting of the two, mainly due to his surprising backstory that was revealed at the end. In addition to a face reveal, the episode revealed that on his home planet, he was a military comrade of Lois' father Sam. On top of that, the flashback showed us an evil, black-suited Superman that Lex and Sam were fighting. There's obviously a lot more to learn about Luthor and where he comes from (and does it have to do with Crisis?), but it was cool to get some of those answers this early in the season. 

In terms of Morgan Edge, so far he's your typical evil-business tycoon you'd expect him to be. It's an interesting take to have him be more of a Lois Lane villain than a Superman one, and I think it'll open up some great opportunities for her character to grow specifically. With almost the entire town of Smallville seemingly supporting his arrival, it should prove a complex and difficult conflict for Lois to attempt to resolve. I'm interested to see where this goes from here.

What really made this episode shine was the focus on family, an aspect that the show certainly needed to nail with the direction the creators have chosen to go. Fortunately for us, so far it's doing an excellent job. The performances and writing are excellent, coming together to form a strong sense of heart and relatability. Clark and Jordan have a great father/son bonding moment when they visit the Fortress Of Solitude, where we also get to see Jor-El for the first time! (well, his hologram at least). In true Jor-El fashion, however, his bluntness and stern demeanor result in some resentment from Clark, as he reveals that Jordan's displays of powers were only fleeting occurrences. This of course doesn't sit well with Jordan, and while I doubt this will be permanent, it's certainly an intriguing problem for the Kent family to solve.

Outside of just Clark and Jordan, Lois and Jonathan have a superb, short little scene where Lois tells him how proud she is of his willingness to move to Smallville to help Jordan. I also enjoyed the scene where Clark and Lois were arguing with Jonathan and Jordan about going to the Cushing house, as well as the reconcile scene with Jordan and Jonathan toward the end. Scenes like these might be small and insignificant to the plot, but they capture the nature of a family quite well. I hope we continue to get stuff like this moving forward.

(Side Note: I didn't mention last week but I love Jonathan becoming a football player, only because it's another fun node to Smallville.)

Overall, I enjoyed this episode quite a lot and I think it continues the momentum set up by the pilot quite nicely. Morgan Edge and Jor-El debuted, Lois quit her job at the Daily Planet and joined the Smallville Gazette, Captain Luthor's past and agenda were revealed, and the Kent family continued to strengthen their bond. Plenty of engaging material here to go around.

Rating: 8.4/10

What did you guys think of the episode? Post in the comments!