Superman & Lois 2x4 : The Inverse Method review

 

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

This weeks episode of Superman and Lois is purely a Lane family drama episode and that's okay infact this episode is one of the best written and acted episodes yet to be honest. It begins 5 years in the past as we finally meet up with Lucy Lane again who we find out has been staying with Lois and the rest of her family which they don't say but surely it includes Clark and the boys. The two sister's relationship hasn't been great in modern day and even back here it's incredibly strained. The Lane sisters argue about Lucy's involvement with Ally Alston a woman who is leading a group called the Inverse Society which is basically a cult in simpler terms. At least that's what Lois thinks. And after exposing them as so in the past in present day someone is coming forward to retract their statement and info on the whole report done by Lois. Could this person be Lucy? and if so why?

At the end of last weeks episode we saw that it was not Doomsday in the mines but rather Bizarro a twisted, complete opposite version of Superman. Well this week he turns back up and is wearing some sort of necklace that seems to discharge a sort of dark pulsating light. Bizarro turns up at the Kent Farm just as Clark is having a talk with John Henry Irons. Clark and Bizarro immediately begin to fight as the two together cause chaos on site and if not for John Henry Irons and his hammer destruction would've soon followed. His hammer hits Bizarro which causes him to leave and make his way half way around the world as later he is located in Bolivia of all places. But more on that a bit later. Back with Lois now and after some dark web research by her Gazette partner Chrissy that involves her getting an invite to a speech hearing from Ally Alston the two go together but Lois stays behind while Chrissy goes inside under a disguised name and different hairstyle. Inside Ally Alston is giving a speech as said. Chrissy takes a seat in the back and listens in to the speech as Lois runs into Lucy outside and her sister is a very different woman indeed. The last time we saw Lucy she was in Supergirl and much more lively with a bright outlook. Now she is pretty down in the dumps and gloomy looking as Ally Alston has somehow wormed her way into her mind. Lois does manage to get Lucy to listen to her and she takes her inside of the building in a back room. Inside they have a pretty heated argument where Lucy pretty much blames Lois for everything including their mom just up and leaving. It turns out however that this entire meeting between the sisters is being recorded and broadcast in the main room where Ally Alston's speech is still in effect. She outs Chrissy and presents Lucy and Lois on the big screen in the room to everyone in the room. In summary Lucy tells her sister to leave her alone for good and storms out revealing that she was recording the entire conversation. Chrissy who is waiting outside for Lois tells her that she needs to clear her head after learning so much more about the entire situation. It's all fascinating stuff to be honest and something that has a lot more legs on it yet especially given the ending of this episode. 

The episode draws to a close as Superman after some convincing by John Henry Irons agrees to let Mitch Anderson and his super group of hero's in on the whole Bizarro situation. He asks that he be left in the loop and this is where Bizarro re-appears in Bolivia. Anderson of course sends his team alone and they're pretty much wiped out all but for one who is Tag who is a former friend and school mate of Johnathan and Jordan. Superman ends up hearing the commotion and rushes to the area with John Henry Irons not far behind. He manages to delay Bizarro enough for Tag to escape with the necklace that fell from Bizarro's neck. What follows is an epic fight scene involving Superman beating Bizarro to a pulp it seems but really it has no effect. What does have an effect is John Henry Irons's hammer after he puts all of his remaining energy behind it. But it proves to be fatal as he is now powerless and open to attack. He ends up getting hit pretty badly by Bizarro so much so that he is sent to hospital as Superman takes him there where we see him in pretty bad shape. Natalie arrives to be by her father's side as Clark feels powerless even though he is literally the strongest man on the planet. This is Superman done right in so many ways. He is the most powerful being in the universe but still can feel so powerless at the times when he needs his power the most. The episode ends with John Henry Irons in hospital stating that he is now breathing on his own again but he will have a long recovery road. We're then back with Chrissy who we see ring Ally Alston as she asks that she be told just what happened with Lois in the past. The episode ends right there and then and although it wasn't as good as last week this was still a really strong narrative driven well acted episode. There was a lot more going on here too like Lana's mayor campaign getting a bit dirty on the political side and secrets of the past might come back to haunt her and her family. As for the boys Jordan agrees to begin training with his grand-dad and Johnathan takes his first dose of this super drug his team mate has been taken and his girlfriend is dealing. It heightens his reflexes as he shines on the football team afterwards. So yeah there's a lot going on in this show and as a whole it's so easy to watch with clear and direct storytelling. It now goes on a bit of a hiatus and will return later in February. Until then Superman!

★★★★