Recap / Superman And Lois S 2 E 1 What Lies Beneath

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Recap of Superman & Lois
Season 2, Episode 1

What Lies Beneath

Smallville is still recovering from the confrontation between Tal-Rho and Superman. Lois and Clark struggle as a couple while Chrissy adjusts to running The Smallville Gazette with Lois. Jonathan faces new challenges on the football field, and secrets threaten to destroy Jordan and Sarah's growing relationship. Meanwhile, Kyle grows concerned over Lana's involvement with a new mayoral candidate. Lastly, John Henry Irons and his daughter Natalie attempt to make this new Earth their home.

Tropes featured in this episode:

• Artistic License – Military: Anderson is constantly called Lieutenant, however he is wearing the rank of a Lieutenant General. Lieutenant General may be shortened to General, but NEVER Lieutenant - a rank substantially junior. A Lieutenant General is a type of General, not a type of Lieutenant.
• Artistic License – Politics: North Korea does not possess nuclear submarines. Furthermore, if they did, Superman essentially stealing one and dropping it off on American soil as Anderson suggested, instead of returning it to North Korea, would have caused an international incident. Any competent officer would know this.
• Bad Liar: Kyle immediately notices Clark lying when the latter tells him that Lois didn't come to the party because of "work".
• Call-Back: When Jordan mentions that he and Sarah went to Atlas Pond, Lois gets upset, reminding him that the two were arrested in that same location last season.
• Casting Gag: This is not the first time that Ian Bohen has played a character that Tyler Hoechlin's character is forced to work with but can't trust.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Lieutenant Mitch Anderson, who takes over General Lane's old spot. In contrast to the stern and patriotic, but ultimately benevolent General, Anderson puts up a benevolent front, claiming to have been a Superman fanboy. However, he puts American interests above all other nations and tries to convince Superman to restrict his heroics to only America; scolding him when he saves a North Korean nuclear submarine from sinking and returning it to their government. When he can't get Superman to agree to this, he co-opts Superman's symbol for his own super soldiers and cuts Superman out.
• Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: Natalie is really struggling being surrounded by people who look like her friends and family but have no idea who she is. Particularly true with Lois who is her mother's doppelganger and Clark who is the doppelganger of the man who killed Natalie's mother.
• Fake Period Excuse: Sara claims to be cramping in order to get out of Jordan's awkward romantic outing.
• Funny Background Event: After coming home from football practice, Jonathan is venting about only being allowed to practice running plays. Clark says that the coach is just trying to ease him back into things after getting his arm broken twice last season, but Jonathan is still pissed. Candice then sweetly tells him that the coach is looking out for his best interests and that the two should simply have a talk. At this, Jonathan calms down and agrees with her. Cue Clark in the background throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.
• Get a Room!: Sarah towards her parents when they start making out in the kitchen, reacting with disgust.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: Jordan is excited about Sara returning after a summer away so he takes her to a secluded pond and has lit dozens of candles to make a romantic hideaway for them. Unsure of her feelings for Jordan, Sara is not appreciative of the gesture.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Kyle is a slight bit jealous of his wife's support of Daniel Hart. After Clark tells her, Lana immediately rectifies the situation.
• Guilt Complex: Lois irrationally compares her mother abandoning the family with herself reacting coldly towards Natalie during their first meeting, making her feel guilty for not feeling any maternal feelings towards her like she thinks she should. Clark quickly disabuses her of the notion and tells her that her mother abandoning her and the situation with Natalie are two different things.
• Immediate Sequel: This episode begins right after the Season 1 finale before jumping to the Time Skip.
• Internal Reveal: Natalie learns about everything that has happened so far from her father off-screen, after the intro scene.
• Interrupted Intimacy: Clark has to leave Jon and his girlfriend Candice alone to attend to Superman duties, and they use the opportunity to get intimate. Unfortunately, Lois comes home not long after, interrupting as the pair are making out in Jon's room.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Kyle complains about Superman's brand becoming too commercialized.
• Mayor Pain: Lana is working to unseat incumbent mayor George Dean after his political two-facedness, scapegoating Kyle and Lana for the Morgan Edge debacle after encouraging them to publicly support Edge.
• Mundane Utility: Jordan uses his Heat Vision to light candles on Atlas Pond for his date with Sarah.
• Mythology Gag: In the comics, the "Supermen of America" were a group of teenaged metas who formed during the Superman Rex storyline. Their leader? Mitch Anderson.
• Non-Answer: When Jordan asks Clark how old he was the first time he had sex, Clark doesn't give an exact age, simply saying that he was older than the boys currently are. Jonathan mouths "Mom", suggesting at least jokingly that Lois was the first woman Clark slept with.
• Parental Abandonment: Lois's Missing Mom walked out on her and her sister Lucy, which adds to Lois's feelings of guilt about Natalie being without her real mother.
• Perfumigation: While it's not out right stated that Jordan's cologne smells unpleasant, it is made very clear that he's wearing far too much of it for anyone to actually appreciate the aroma, especially Clark who has an extremely sensitive sense of smell.
  Clark: Come on, in the truck. Let's go. Oh, windows down, please.
  Jordan: Is it really that bad?
  Clark: It's strong, bud. It's real strong.
• Power Incontinence: Throughout the episode, Clark is plagued with visions, often at the most inconvenient moments.
• Remember the New Girl?: Combined with Suspiciously Similar Substitute. Instead of dating Tegan Wickhem, after it was implied at the end of Season 1 that they'd get back together, Jon now has a new girlfriend named Candice.
• Ripped from the Headlines: Twice.
  • Daniel Hart mentions that he wants to "give back and build better" while talking about restoring local infrastructure, community services, and building a new park for the kids, in obvious reference to Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" bill.
  • Meanwhile, Lieutenant Anderson wants to put "America first", in reference to Donald's Trump's campaign slogan.
• Save the Villain: Played with. Superman rescues a North Korean nuclear submarine, much to the displeasure of his new liaison and the higher-ups. The sailors themselves, though, are not shown to be necessarily villainous, or even engaging in any activity that could be considered hostile. The sub is sinking as a result of mechanical failure as opposed to battle damage, hence why Superman doesn't mind getting involved here; it's just bad luck. Also, when realizing Superman saved them, the sailors are entirely grateful and cheer in relief.
• Sue Donym: John Henry Irons is using the alias "Henry Johnson".
• The Talk: Clark talks with his two sons about becoming intimate with a partner now that they're growing older; he simply tells them to be safe and always respectful of their partner. He warns, however, that Lois won't let them off so easily.
• Time Skip: After Natalie's arrival, we skip ahead three months, where Superman has a new DOD liaison, John and Natalie have moved to Metropolis, and Sarah has returned from a stint as a counselor at a summer camp.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Two downplayed examples:
  • Lois, due to her guilt of reacting indifferently to Natalie when meeting her and comparing herself to her mother, acts very snappy towards her family and Chrissy for a while. Everyone takes note of it and the boys even ask Clark how long their mom was going to "be like this". Once finally opening up about her feelings, she comes around again.
  • Sarah acts distant towards Jordan after her return from summer camp. While a part of it has something to do with him "overdoing it" for their date, she acts rather cold starting from their first meet-up.
• Trauma Button: Natalie's presence is triggering for Lois. Being unable to have a maternal connection towards Natalie reminds Lois of her desperate desire for a maternal connection with her own mother. Clark tries to point out that Lois' lack of maternal feelings is because she's not Natalie's mother, but the situation is still upsetting for Lois.
• Uptight Loves Wild: When discussing the possibility that Jonathan may be sexually active with his girlfriend, Clark is skeptical, saying he'd never have done that at Jonathan's age. Lois is insistent that it's totally possible and absolutely what she would've done at his age.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Anderson has begun using the Superman symbol for his two super-soldiers because it's "the most recognizable symbol" in the world and he intends to use it as his brand logo. However, Superman rightfully states that it's the House of El's family crest and very personal to him. Anderson basically dismisses this.
• Wham Shot: As Lois decides to agree to let John and Natalie stay until they can figure out their place in this new world, Clark hears then ignores a strange rumbling noise. It goes from Smallville to the construction site, to deeper within the construction site as a armored hand smashes through the wall.
  • Doubles as a Mythology Gag: In the comics, this is how Doomsday was introduced.

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