Superman & Lois 1x7 : Man of Steel review

 

            Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

    A game changing reveal, some great character exploration and a an ideal to strive towards this episode of Superman and Lois is easily the best yet. The episode begins inside the Fortress of Solitude where Clark has taken Jordan after what happened last week. Upon arrival Jordan is placed on the ground to try and stem the noises in his head. Clark powers up the AI and finds out that Jordan's hearing powers have fully kicked in which has been the cause of his headaches and discomfort that we say in last weeks episode. With Clark's help Jordan has to learn to control his newfound ability which he struggles with a lot in this episode. That being said it does come in handy in a really nice way that I wasn't expecting so soon. Last week we also saw that Lana agreed to help Lois with her Morgan Edge investigation. Lois also learned that Marcus Bridgewater isn't exactly Marcus Bridgewater infact he is someone completely different. Marcus is just a false identity and instead Lois thinks he is actually a member of the Luthor family be that a distant relative or even Lex Luthor himself from the multiverse. Could he be though?? that's something that is revealed in a big way at the end of the episode. Speaking of Marcus we get some pretty in depth looks at his and his wife Lois Lane's lives on his planet. They not only have a daughter but were very much in love. It's actually quite the tragic backstory for our mysterious stranger as he was previously known. Not only does Superman and what seemed to be an army of followers completely obliterate his planet for no given reason but Superman also straight up murders Lois Lane in cold blood using his heat vision to fry her in a grisly end for the intrepid reporter. Both Lois's death and the destruction of his planet are the real reasons for him coming to Earth Prime in a bid to stop what happened on his planet from happening here. But is Kal-El on this Earth really capable of such cruel acts??

During last weeks episode we learned of a Kryptonite that was called Ex Kryptonie or XK. Well this week Morgan Edge has various shipments of it all begin to be shipped out. Once such truck that has some of the rock inside gets stopped by Marcus who retrieves the rock for himself. Lois and Clark are not far behind and manages to get him to make a deal with them. It's more so Marcus but Lois plays her part also. His deal is that he wants to meet Superman in person and in return he will give Lois the rock. Upon agreeing to the deal Lois goes off to the Smallville Gazette for further research on the Kryptonite while Clark goes to meet Marcus. What follows is one of the best scenes this season and a reveal that I really did not see coming.

The episode draws to a close at a building which Marcus has been using to build and tinker with various pieces of equipment and his suit. A suit that he and his daughter had built. The same suit we saw in the pilot episode. It was specially made to battle Superman and ultimately defeat him. Superman soon arrives to the building and thanks to some great work from Lois after sending the rock and fingerprints to the D.O.D for examination Marcus's real identity is revealed. His isn't Marcus Bridgewater as was established. He isn't even Lex Luthor no he is John Henry Irons. Known as Steel in DC comics and lore he is a brilliant weapons engineer who in previous iterations of the character sought to take Superman's place as the world's hero. His goal here however is to not only stop Morgan Edge from building an army of super-powered people but to also stop Kal-El from destroying this planet like he did to his. What follows is a battle between the two that ends when Jordan Kent uses his newfound hearing abilities to locate his dad who at this point is getting badly beaten by John Henry Irons and his extremely powerful hammer weapon. Jonathan who is driving the car rams right into John Henry Irons knocking him away from Superman and stopping him right in his tracks. Lois arrives soon after and tells Clark that it's over. It's over but only for now as John is placed under arrest and placed inside of a cell awaiting a visit from General Lane. Superman will meet John Henry Irons also but that will have to wait until next week. The last thing we see in the episode is one more flashback to John and his daughter where he set off to suit up and stop Superman. Stating that he'll be back and he promises we see him shed a tear as his daughter is seemingly still awaiting his return..right? the episode ends right there and boy oh boy was this a good one. Brilliantly paced and full of character depth and development this was the best episode so far and easily one of my favorite episodes of any of the CW / DC shows this season. Absolutely super! (excuse the bad pun) 

★★★★★