TV Review: ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3, Episode 9
by Frank Martin
After the previous episode’s action packed confrontation, Superman & Lois did a bit of reshuffling to restart the tension.
It’s understandable. The show has done an amazing job creating tension early on and trying to have it resonate in every episode. This week, though, things took a bit of a pause to have the characters reflect on what took place. Also, the fallout from the previous episode continues to have ripple effects in every character’s life. For much of the season a lot of the various story threads were spread out and developed independently. Now, the most recent two installments see them coming together.
With Bruno Mannheim’s (Chad L Coleman) wife locked up in the DOD, he’s begun scheming to get her out. Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and John Henry (Wolé Parks) have very different ideas about what should happen next. Superman is taking a more compassionate approach while John Henry wants to leverage the wife against Manheim. Meanwhile, Nat (Tayler Buck) tries to repair her relationship with Manheim’s son. Ultimately, Manheim sends one of his superpowered thugs to tussle with John Henry. Superman arrives to help him, but is unable to stop John Henry from taking the man’s life.
While this episode did not have as much of the dramatic character tension of previous episodes, it did give us a compelling preview of what’s to come. It highlighted a very different dynamic between Superman and John Henry. Superman is a compassionate individual and tries to save everyone. John Henry has no such qualms about taking a life when the situation calls for it. They even clashed over how to handle the situation with Manheim’s wife. It’s unclear if this will set the two on a direct collision course, but John Henry definitely has more of a grudge to see this feud come to a conclusion.
Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays on The CW.