Superman and Lois – Refreshingly Real Life

Have you watched any episodes of CW’s newest Arrowverse series Superman and Lois? I watched it with my wife last night and we were both pleasantly surprised at the show’s primary focus – being human.

Prior to hitting the play button, I expected the series to focus on the action and adventure that always accompanies Superman. Boy, was I wrong. The episode started off with a complete origin story for the Krypton alien, all of which stayed true to the original comic book. Heck, one scene was a complete reenactment of the first Superman comic book cover, including the classic suit. And I loved it.

The origin story introduction also informed viewers that not only are Superman and Lois married, but they also have twin sons. Jonathan Ken, played by Jordan Elsass, is Superman’s ‘normal’ son that’s popular in high school and already quarterback of the varsity football team as a freshman. Jordan Ken, played by Alex Garfin, is Sup’s troubled son, suffering from social anxiety disorder.

One particular scene during the introduction was tough to watch, as Lois and Clark looked so scared trying to calm down a raging Jordan. You can’t help but feel bad for all of them. After that scene, I realized this wasn’t going to be a normal superhero show.

Next, in the only real action scene in the episode, Superman saves a nuclear reactor from suffering a complete meltdown. I worried that I was wrong about the show focusing more about human issues of life versus Superman saving the world.

Then the show did something that swung right back into the human condition. Clark gets home after saving the world and the first thing Lois does is chastise her husband. She tells Clark that he’s not around enough for the kids, especially as they enter freshman year of high school. As a parent and husband, I sympathize with this. Real life.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The series continued to dump a wide assortment of real life dilemmas into the episode:

• Clark gets fired from the Daily Planet (actually this happened earlier on in the episode).
• Clark’s mother dies.
• Clark wants to keep his Superman identity a secret from his sons; Lois thinks they deserve to know.
• Returning to Smallville for his mother’s funeral, Clark learns the town is dying due to a farming crisis.
• Lana Lang’s husband gets angry that Lana and Clark are friends on social media, since the duo dated in high school.
• There’s no cell phone reception at the Kent farm and the Wi-Fi router stopped working (we’ve all experienced that).
• Awkward attempts at flirting between teenagers Jordan and Sarah, Lana Lang’s daughter

I don’t want to give away any more of this episode. Go and check it out yourself and I suspect you’ll find it as endearing as I do.