***This review contains minor spoilers***
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
With its first season, “Superman & Lois” quickly establishes itself as not just a great new addition to the Arrowverse, but one of the best superhero shows to date. Only some weird pacing choices and a few other odd decisions negatively impact the overall product.
The plot is the show’s biggest issue. It starts one way, and midway through it goes in a seemingly different direction. Initially, it’s about a mysterious stranger who is out for blood that can go toe-to-toe with Superman. But, that thread eventually does a 180, and the corrupt businessman Morgan Edge takes center stage in an interesting new take on Superman’s mythology. His evil plan doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, and it’s only in the final few episodes that we get a better idea what the end goal is…although that still seems too vague. Characters that seem important in early episodes get suddenly shoved aside, and only later we get some idea of their importance to the overall story. (Some of this could be due to COVID, as at least one major change to the story was made while they had time to reflect on the show.) One thing that was a constant was the family drama. Not just a consistent story thread, but consistently compelling.
These family moments are well-written. While they still on occasion come off as cliché, there’s also a realness there. People act more like real people, and they display complicated emotions that make sense for their characters. (Although sometimes Jonathan’s role as the “good son” occasional seems like it shouldn’t be able to withstand all the crap he ends up dealing with.) But what ultimately makes it all work is the acting, All the lead actors do a great job, but it ends up being Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane that does the heavy-lifting. She is able to go from confident, world-famous reporter to a sobbing vulnerable mother and quite a few things in-between. As far as the villains go, they’re pretty one-dimensional besides Edge. And while he has some strong moments, the details come so late in the story that it doesn’t really elevate him as much as it could’ve.
The show looks, and sounds, fantastic. It’s shot almost like a movie, with some solid cinematography. The special effects are lightyears above the other Arrowverse shows, and are easily up there with the pricier HBO Max series. And the sound effects, like the boom when Superman takes off or the sear of heat vision drive home the power of these characters, and mesh well with a strong soundtrack.
“Superman & Lois” season one is a great blend of modern superhero storytelling and classic Superman from other media. Strong, family-oriented story arcs, anchored by great acting compliment the high-stakes action later in the season. But, the zig-zag path it takes to get there and the frequent jettisoning of seemingly-important characters keeps it from feeling like a cohesive tale.
**** out of *****