Superman & Lois lets its characters act like grown-ups
After last week's climactic episode, "Fail Safe" smartly slows down and prioritizes character over plot
TV Reviews Lois
The beginning of “Fail Safe” had me nervous. After last week’s climactic fight for Superman’s soul, this episode seemed primed to be logistics-focused filler that stretched out the hunt for Leslie Larr ahead of the final two episodes of the season. But while “Fail Safe” is focused on the fallout from last week’s episode, it smartly prioritizes emotions over plot. This episode returns to the slower, character-centric pace of the beginning of the season, but with all the weight of the show’s recent incident to back it up. And that turns out to be a combination every bit as thrilling as any conventional action scene.
Writers Jai Jamison & Kristi Korzec (who were individually responsible for the great one-two punch of “Man Of Steel” and “Holding The Wrench”) zero in on some incredibly smart character insights while also challenging the show’s main players in new and interesting ways. That starts with Lois’ central dilemma, in which the pull to protect her family butts up against her commitment to bringing the truth to the people. As Clark hilariously lampshades, he and Lois have handwaved away their fair share of journalistic ethics when it came to protecting his secret identity. But this time around Lois finds herself actively complicit in a massive government cover-up designed to lie to the shaken, battle-scarred people of Smallville about what really went down with Edge’s Kryptonian brainwashing. That’s a pretty big step down a slippery slope.
What’s great is that you can see both sides of this episode’s journalistic argument. It’s understandable that Lois would want to protect her family from a story that could bring prying eyes and unwanted questions to Smallville. (Although, to be fair, it actually is just a coincidence that Clark and his long-lost Kryptonian brother wound up in Smallville at the same time for two very different reasons.) But it’s also understandable that the Smallville Gazette’s intrepid editor Chrissy Beppo would want to get to the bottom of what actually went down the night half of the town was possessed by evil aliens and flew into the sky. In the absence of the real story, Smallville has become a hotbed of paranoia and frustration—with the Cushings taking the brunt of the blame. And Chrissy thinks she can use the power of the press to set the story straight.
The single best thing about “Fail Safe” is that it lets its characters resolve their problems like adults, which is a quality that not enough live action superhero properties embrace. Chrissy finds the courage to challenge her idol and call Lois out on an obvious lie. And Lois listens to her editor’s concerns, rethinks her position, and apologizes. She realizes that hiding the truth might not actually be the best answer, and encourages Chrissy to hunt for the story on her own. Lois realizes it’s better to let the chips fall where they may rather than try to control a narrative that’s destined to spin out of control. It’s a difficult decision, but a decidedly mature one too.
That same thoughtfulness colors Clark’s story this week, in which he does a full 180 on his anti-Kryptonite stance. While General Lane is eager to dispose of his Project 7734 weapons stockpile (not to mention several warehouses full of Kryptonite itself), Clark makes the sort of rational argument that too few live action Superman properties are willing to admit: It makes total sense to have a fail-safe against a godlike being who could destroy the entire planet in the blink of an eye. You can’t just trust in his boy scout mentality alone; Superman needs checks and balances, just like everyone else.
It’s refreshing to see Clark operate in such a logical and egoless way. While Lois tries to fall back on the hokey comic book argument that Clark’s heart is stronger than any mind control could ever be, Clark knows that he has his limits too. “Fail Safe” returns to the really compelling self-restrain theme from “Broken Trust,” emphasizing just how much control it takes for Clark to keep his powers in check at all times. When General Zod briefly inhabited his body, Clark got to experience what it felt like to throw off those shackles of restraint and use his powers to their full extent. It was a feeling so good, he can’t guarantee he won’t one day be manipulated into trying it again.
Though Lois is shocked and more than a little pissed off at her husband’s total change in position, even at the height of her frustration, “Fail Safe” still lets her act like a rational adult. The scene where she yells at Clark that she’s sorry for yelling at him but has to maintain that level of anger to go deal with a rule-breaking Jordan is a perfect screwball comedy joke with real emotional depth behind it. Clark and Lois prove the strength of their marriage in their moments of conflict as much as in their moments of connection. Lois is willing to hear Clark’s point of view and change her mind based on a new perspective, although she also pushes for a compromise too: They’ll leave the Kryptonite supply with John Henry Irons, rather than the DOD. In an ironic twist of fate, Irons is now once again the Superman-killing fail safe he set out to be, only in a much different—and more reluctant—context.
There are all sorts of fascinating threads woven into this episode—from the question of where Irons goes from here to the hint of camaraderie he unexpectedly finds with Jonathan. (I can’t wait to see that explored further.) Even the Kent twins get in on the grown-up perspective this week. Though they’re both struggling to deal with the fallout from everything that’s gone on in the past few weeks, they’ve got good heads on their shoulders. Jordan gives Sarah an incredibly sweet pep talk that helps steady her against the ostracization her family is experiencing. And Jonathan finds the courage to stand up for himself and his family’s integrity, even in the face of the girl he’s been crushing on.
Though it’s ultimately a pretty minor subplot, I really like how the Jonathan/Tegan story plays out—mostly because Kayla Heller is so great at playing a very particular kind of confident, flirty teenage girl. I don’t think Tegan is totally lying when she says she’s sort of interested in Jonathan. But he’s certainly not wrong that she’s equally interested in shaking down gossip she can spread to the rest of the school too. As with so many elements of this episode, multiple things are true at once.
With its lack of plot and action, I suspect that “Fail Safe” is the sort of episode that won’t please all Superman & Lois fans. But regular cutaways to Edge stewing in his Kryptonite prison at least provide some sense of larger narrative momentum. While the flashbacks to Edge’s youth aren’t the most compellingly acted elements of the episode, they flesh out Edge’s story by driving home the cruel environment in which he was raised. In a surprisingly tragic moment, Edge ends the hour by letting go of his independent streak and embracing his dad’s original plan that he become the Eradicator—seemingly sacrificing himself in the process. The image of EradiEdge getting a superpowered sun charge is an evocative one to close out the hour, but it’s the character-centric stuff in this episode that truly shines.
Stray observations
- I’ve been pretty neutral on Sarah and Jordan’s romance so far, but their kiss tonight was so sweet!
- Clark and Irons’ fist bump was also super cute.
- We get official confirmation that the Cushings have lived in Smallville for generations (and were originally from Mexico). So I ask again: Where is Kyle’s Southern accent coming from??
- Teen Edge mentions that his pod contained a crystal hologram of his mother, although his dad forbids him from activating it. I wonder who Superman & Lois will cast to play the (non-Lana) version of Lara Lor-Van, whenever she makes her climactic appearance to help save the day.
- So Lana is going to wind up running for mayor, right? I hope the first thing she does is deal with Smallville’s power-mad police force! (What were Jordan and Sarah even arrested for??)
- Superman & Lois is taking another quick hiatus before returning with its final two episodes of the season starting August 10th.
91 Comments
This episode here is what I mean when I say that this show doesn’t feel like an Arrowverse show. If this were any other show it would be blow out arguements across the board and half assed make ups by the end. But here everyone made reasonable points.For example, the Kryptonite thing is reasonable from both sides of the table as Clark’s right, if he does go evil again they need a way to stop. But on the other hand, a villain could easily gain access to the weapon stash and use it against him as well. There’s no right answer here.
Was there an actual plan behind Leslie attacking the DOD? Or was she just hoping that she could break Edge out before Clark got there. Either way she doesn’t really seem to factor into the Eradicator plan anymore.
I would guess that Jordan and Sarah were arrested for breaking and entering since they did have to sneak past a gate to get to the bridge.
I thought it was pretty clear that Sarah and Jordan were arrested because of the contempt the town is feeling towards the Cushings. Like Lana said, she and the lady cop used to go to that same bridge growing up and it wasn’t a problem then.
My take was that the arrest was for truancy. Both of them are under 18 and they just left school without permission in the middle of the day, which is illegal just about everywhere. It doesn’t look like either of them got booked, they just got taken back to the station and had to wait for their parents to pick them up, which is a pretty standard small-town way of dealing with “kids being kids” type offenses.
I thought they were arrested for truancy, too, but thought it was weird the show never said why they were arrested.
The female arresting officer said they were arrested for trespassing on private property. (Streaming version)
The cop said it was private property, so I assumed trespassing.Edit: I now see it has been established that the scene was online only and for some reason Kinja did not show the previous replies saying the same thing in this thread.For some reason, if you click “show pending” Kinja isn’t showing all of the approved comments. You actually get less when you click for more.
The show literally said they were arrested for trespassing. The officer said it clearly and both moms responded; Lana said “we used to go there all the time as kids,” and Lois said something like “if even Lana didn’t know it was private property, obviously the kids didn’t either.” It was a whole thing and I’m not sure how so many people missed it!
the show said that they were arrested for trespassing
They were arrested for trespassing, but, I agree, it’s pretty clear that they were hauled in because of the town-wide contempt for the Cushings. (Technically, you don’t have to know you’re tresspassing to tresspass. You just have to intend to enter the land.)
Apparently there was a scene that got cut from the TV version where the cop said what they were arrested for, which was trespassing.
Was there an actual plan behind Leslie attacking the DOD? Or was she just hoping that she could break Edge out before Clark got there. Yeah, I thought there would be something more clever to her attack, like a Trojan Horse into the DOD, but in the end Edge’s own fail-safe plan didn’t depend on her, he was just trying to muster up the courage to wipe his own mind.
Is this one of those online-only scenes? When Lois and Lana picked up the kids at the station, the officer said the lake was private property and they were arrested for trespassing, and Lana said to the cop that when they had been young, they snuck out there all the time, and if the adults didn’t know it was private property, there was no way the kids would be aware.
I definitely did not see that scene. I guess it was online only.
Yeah that scene didn’t make it to the TV version. But I just inferred that they were trespassing since they had to sneak past a gate to get there.
It made the canadian airing, which is funny because a couple weeks ago there was a scene with completely unfinished CGI
Is this one of those online-only scenes? Ah interesting. I didn’t realize the Canadian version aired the extended online version, because I def remember that scene.
I’m pretty sure they were arrested for trespassing, specifically because the police officer mentioned they were trespassing on private property.
I watched it online, so it may not have been mentioned in the broadcast version, but the lake is on private property, so they were popped for trespassing.
(What were Jordan and Sarah even arrested for??)
Trespassing. The pond is on private property. They clearly said that
I’m wondering if that might’ve been one of those online-only scenes. I just checked the runtime, and the episode does have an extra two minutes of footage.
Not to mention not being in school during school hours.
Ehh..that is one of those things thats going to vary greatly place to place. Where I lived, if you were caught off grounds during school hours, the cops just took you to school
Honestly I liked the slower pace in this episode. I just don’t buy that the failsafe is the reason that John Henry Irons will be kept on for later seasons. Like he can be the failsafe but he doesn’t have to be in smallville all the time yet it seems like the show is using the fact that he is the failsafe to be on the show fulltime. Also Jordan and Sarah were arrested for trespassing on private property. Edge’s death was fine but I don’t understand Clark not trying to use Morgan’s father for information at all like yeah he’s bad but not useless.
I don’t know that its an excuse to keep Irons on, but A) it makes sense thematically and B) the show doesn’t seem to be touching the rest of the Arrowverse much this year, so there’s not a lot of people for Superman to give the failsafe to.
Now that they’ve got The Eradicator, Steel, & a Superboy, they just need to borrow Cyborg-Superman to make it reign.
We need to push the producers to put Jordan in the jacket.
Hank Henshaw is still alive so it’s possible. Or they could just go with someone new like with Sam and Edge.
They’ll have to find some way to cast a new actor in the role or heavily expand his arc, because the whole reason Real Hank Henshaw disappeared is because David Harewood trashed the character in interviews.
Where did he trash the character in interviews? Please tell me you are making this up
THANK YOU CLARK! I always hated how Supergirl handled this topic. As much as I dislike the premise of The Dark Knight Returns, Bruce was still right that there will always be a need for a backup plan *just in case* the worst happens. So, I’m extremely grateful Clark is being pragmatic here.
Kara did give kryptonite to Batwoman as a fail safe.
‘”Kara did give kryptonite to Batwoman as a fail safe.”’ Right, and then Ruby Rose’s Batwoman had all the remaining kryptonite she knew of destroyed by Luke.But it was to no avail the Crows still had some and Javicia Leslie’s Batwoman received the brunt of it.On topic was anyone else shocked at how easily Edge destroyed his kryptonite prison? and escaped? And how did he regain his strength that quickly?Also @Caroline? I don’t recall you mentioning in your article that Leslie Larr was captured(though the fist bump does happen shortly after).
Longtime Superman comic fans know what’s coming with Edge…
Yea, but she had to go through five seasons of development to get that far. Clark just needed one story arc.
Yes but key factor age. She’s a rookie hero in her 20s. He’s an experienced hero in his 40s.
Superman wasn’t happy that the DEO had Kryptonite.But honestly I only watched 5 episodes of Superman and Lois and I just didn’t care too much for it. I predict a Cain and Abel storyline soon with the two brothers and I’m tired if Teen Angst.
And Lois’ failure to understand this made her arguing incredibly frustrating to endure.
I really really hope they address the Kara/Superfriends situation soon. I get that they’re not trying to spoil plot points on Supergirl but she DID take down an evil Superman and her team can be trusted.
What were Jordan and Sarah even arrested for??Trespassing onto a private property, if I’m not wrong, although Lana says even she wasn’t aware that was a private property so ??? I’m not even sure why that is an arrestable offense tbh lmao
After last week’s climatic episode
I don’t know weather to point out this error or just blame it on the cloud.
Chrissy finds the courage to challenge her idol and call Lois out on an obvious lie. THAT WAS TENSE.
You can’t just trust in his boy scout mentality alone; Superman needs checks and balances, just like everyone else.
They also made the distinct point that this is Clark at 40 – he might not have felt the same way a decade ago, but he feels that way now.
Kayla Heller is so great at playing a very particular kind of confident, flirty teenage girl.Was she waving them around or not? Jonathan never had a chance – glad he wised up.
This might have been the reason Sarah warned Jonathan about Tegan.
Sarah was right about Tegan! I would guess that Sarah just didn’t think that her intentions toward him could be sincere & she was more interested in scoring social points off him, as Jonathan figured out (he could have just trusted her…)
Chrissy and her awful haircut made a good point about Lois’s shadiness. I thought the obvious answer to two dilemmas in this episode was for Lois to interview Lana and make sure the town understood how things had gone down from her perspective, especially since Lana had been helping Lois investigate Edge.
Is the implication in the end that Lois got an off-the-record statement from her dad, made one up based on her experiences, or what?
I wondered that too. Lois could have finally gotten her dad to give an off the record statement. But it seems more likely to me that she is the real off the record source, which would be in keeping with the flouting of journalistic ethics that Clark alluded to
Chrissy and her awful haircut Aw, I kind of like her awful haircut and unreasonably tiny skirt!
I too was distracted during Chrissy’s scenes by her awful haircut.
I mean, heck, in the comics there’s a reason Superman outright gives a lump of Kryptonite to Batman.
My favorite callback to that was during Scott Snyder’s Batman run
I was wondering if Bruce had any anti-Superman countermeasures in this continuity, but if they’re not going to bring up Kara, they’re not going to mention Bruce.
I assume the kids were arrested for trespassing or something similar, and maybe it just isn’t typically enforced? Was so glad to see Superman make the pro-weapons argument. Someone with that power needs to be checked, as Batman rightfully points out. Seeing Irons fill the Batman role was a nice touch. Looking forward to the final two episodes of what has really been an amazing first season.
This show is so great and god this is the Superman we need.I’m done with Edge but we have Steel, Superboy and now Eradicator… I’m guessing Cyborg Superman is coming and will kill a bunch of people.
LMFAO 😂😆😂😆😂😆😂😆
I’m sick and tired of these hiatus. That’s it, I’m watching the two final episodes after finale airs. lol
EdgeIcator.It was right there.
This show is so doggone good. I kept watching and thinking, Every character is acting like they are as intelligent as they’re supposed to be. Too many of the Berlantiverse shows manufacture drama from people acting dumber than they are supposed to be and making bad choices that no one should make (looking at you, “The Flash”). The writing and acting are solid, the effects are convincing and the cinematography is top-notch. “Superman and Lois” is amazing.
I think Lana means her family (the Langs) has been in Smallville for generations and came from Mexico. Who knows how long the Cushings have been here.
The actor that plays Kyle is Tex-Mex, i have Tejano family and they all sound like that, y‘all.
But he grew up in Kansas, so he should have a midwestern accent, not a southern. Supernatural does the same thing. Dean’s accent is more southern than midwest. It’s probably a shortcut kind of thing; they’re in a rural area and I’m guessing most viewers don’t recognize an accent from that area, so they went southern. It’s a little weird that he’s the only one with that accent, though.(For a show set in Kansas, nobody’s thrown an R in a word with an SH yet. I’ve got friend from small town Kansas and for some reason, they pronounce it “warsh” instead of “wash.”)
I don’t know why there is this belief that just because the kids grandfather is head of the DOD or that their mom is a reporter that they will know anymore than anybody else. Their kids! The answer should just be “How should I know. Do your parents tell you everything going on their lives? ”
“My grandpa doesn’t share government secrets with me,” also sounds like a believable response.
“After last week’s climatic fight for Superman’s soul…”Unless the fight was weather related, it’s climactic. I’ve noticed this error a few times in reviews lately (search “climatic” in the bar above), so this isn’t just a typo at this point.
I wish we had more of an emotional foundation for Morgan so that his turn into The Eradicator inspired greater feeling. He was on his father’s path until he heard about Clark and then wanted to go his own way, but this episode, he basically gave up on Clark—and on the idea of himself as anyone other than his father’s devoted son—to enact the original plan. That change would have meant a lot more with more of an emotional connection between Morgan and Clark.
Edge’s development is definitely something they sacrificed in the name of the mid-season plot twist. Irons had a plot twist as well, but it didn’t invalidate any of the previously established character development. Edge is knock-off Lex Luthor until you get the reveal.
I keep seeing these comments about how people are hoping Cyborg Superman will return to the Arrowverse. But we already had Cyborg Superman show up on and be beaten by Supergirl(which also gets frequent mentions in the comments of just about every episode of Superman & Lois. Specifically in the vein of “When will she return?”, “Where is she?”, “Why not call Aunt Kara?” )The truth of the matter is we probably won’t have any answers till after Diggle’s upcoming crossover cameo on Supergirl. Hopefully then they’ll also address whether or not he will finally become the John Stewart Green Lantern which has been a dangling carrot since the end of Arrow(talk about dangling carrots).Oh and side note there’s finally a trailer for the show Stephen Amell left Arrow for Heels:https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4134715417?playlistId=tt6554240&ref_=tt_ov_vi
I’d love to hear “IM CYBORG SUPERMAN” once more
Morgan screaming, “You’re just like me!” to Clark was a hilariously awful lead-in to commercial.
Seconded on the strongly on the baffling stupidity of Jordan and Sarah’s arrest. Even if it’s truancy, since when do you drag kids off to jail for that? This is another situation in which the weirdness of having Superman but no Batman shows. I’m thought I remembered that when Kara gave Batwoman the Kryptonite to keep for her, she said that Superman made the same gesture to Bats. But here he is having that conversation with John Henry Irons instead, like it’s a new idea. I know Crisis did weird things, but I didn’t think it wiped out Clark’s history with Bruce. I would like some indication of that either way, maybe when they can have crossovers again.
As an Australian. I just assumed the arrested for Truancy was an American thing. Half surprised that the cops didn’t pull their guns on them.
They were likely just dumped off in a holding cell until Lois got there. They weren’t charged with anything.
it was for trespassing on private property
I think it is beyond obvious now that, love it or hate it, this shows does not really have any continuity with the old arrowverse shows. Yes, maybe they will throw in a mention of seeing the Flash or Supergirl sometime, but that seems to be about it. This kryptonite reversal was really the final nail in this coffin as he did not like J’honn in his original debut precisely because they kept kryptonite
I’m assuming that the Smallville Police Department are on high alert now, since half of the town was just brainwashed and turned into alien assassins.They find a couple of kids where they’re not supposed to be? Not taking any chances – arrest them.
I did appreciate the show leaning into the journalistic ethics of the situation more thoughtfully than Supergirl would have done. My favorite moment of the episode, though, was “JONATHAN. UPSTAIRS!”
A totally believable mom moment. I loved it.
Apparently, there exist two sets of Superman & Lois episodes: the episodes aired on TV (which don’t always answer all questions that should be answered) and the extended versions (which do). I’m seeing from the comments that if I had watched the extended version of this episode, I would have found out why the kids were arrested.
I can confirm that the episode that aired in Canada included the missing scene other commenters are talking about (where the deputy explains why the kids were arrested for trespassing on private property, even though when Lana was a kid she went to that bridge all the time).
So we have the Eradicator(Edge), Superboy(Jordan), and Steel(Irons) so all we need now is to have David Harewood show up as Hank Henshaw(Cyborg Superman) and we’ll have the entire Reign of the Supermen roster.
Just went through the comments and noticed quite a few others mentioned this, lol.
I am wondering why Superman did not get Supergirl’s opinion about destroying the Kryptonite. In order to to keep some semblance of the Arrowverse alive here, this must happen after Supergirl leaves for “wherever” after next season.
It’s jarring how after weeks of the show moving at a breakneck pace (when it’s not on hiatus), we get an episode dedicated to giving the characters some downtime and processing the fallout. I’m going to guess this was made possible due to space from the additional episode pickup, and it’s definitely a nice change for one of these Arrowverse shows to put the action aside for an episode with effective drama.My complaint, if any, is that none of the revelations were truly earth-shattering. Clark realizes there needs to be a fail safe against him, and it’s a turn for this incarnation but not one that’s new to the Superman mythos. Lana and Kyle realize the extent the town has scapegoated them, but we got a sense of that last week. Again in a shorter season I think these would be B-plots elsewhere, but the acting and dialogue are good and the characters are engaging and the episode works based on that.I’m always unclear on what exactly the Eradicator is from the comics in terms of power set, and based on just the episode I wish I had a better sense of what’s coming next other than Edge is going to…drain the sun?
Lots of good character work tonight, and only some of it was marred by the usual “please remember and/or ignore Crisis and Earth Prime at our discretion” nonsense.I’d say the genie is out of the bottle even within the confines of S&L, though, what with Irons having red sun tech. That, kryptonite, mental fuckery, and magic are all fairly hard counters to juiced-up Kryptonians. Not only that, but this world is pretty flush with metas and other powered-up people.Clark’s position made for some of that good character work. It’s nice to finally see a Kryptonian being mature about being a godlike entity. Tulloch sold the hell out of Lois’s position (including the fact that it’s based way more on Lois’s own selfishness than she wants to admit,) but it suffers the most from the tech-babble side of the show (and the Arrowverse, if you care.)Edge suddenly being able to ignore Kryptonite is bullshit, but whatever. It’s not nearly as bullshit as the idea that transferring a Kryptonian consciousness into a human body is enough to give that body superpowers, so, you know.
Jordan and Sarah were arrested for playing hooky. Granted, actual jail time is a bit much, but in my city, it is indeed a federal offense for underage kids to be out and about on their own when school is in session.
Given that last week firmly placed the show still in the Arrowverse, it’s frustrating that nobody brought up either Evil!Kara or the Worldkillers from Supergirl, though it admittedly is questionable if those events are still canon.
The entire town turning on only the Langs/Cushings, to the level of ‘hate crime-esque’ harrasment, doesn’t fully make sense or work for me.
Lana’s husband was Edge’s biggest spokesperson, convincing everyone to believe Edge and invite him in with open arms. The town blames Edge, but he’s a stranger. Lana’s husband (whose name escapes me) is one of their own, so they feel like he betrayed them.
Having lived in a small town in SWMO for a few years for work, I can tell you plenty of people there with no “deep south” roots have southern style accents
I’ve just watched the Flash season finale and, aesthetics aside, the main difference I’ve noticed between that and this show is that all the conversations in this feel natural, rather than ‘because the plot needs it.’ Case in point, characters on The Flash take a moment to give little pep talks that pretty much always make the other person go “You know what, you’re right!” and off they go. On Superman & Lois, those conversations happen in a normal, fluid manner and don’t always lead to the other person instantly pepping up. Just like normal people! I really appreciate that. I hope the quality of the writing for this show continues, because it’s one of the strongest aspects. I can’t single any particular example from this episode because it’s all good!
Batman would be proud of that failsafe
“We get official confirmation that the Cushings have lived in Smallville for generations”I got the impression that Sarah was actually saying that the Langs (or at least Lana’s side of the family) were the ones living in Smallville for generations.