Lex is released from prison and plans his revenge, while Jordan lets being a superhero go to his head.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Lex Luthor's baldness is usually either natural or the result of a chemical accident that he blames Superman for. Here, he shaves his own head in prison.
- Adaptational Karma: A variation. Lex in other incarnations can get beaten up and thrown in prison. But he generally can get out pretty quick and go back to supervillainy whenever he feels like it. In this show, however, Lex is thrown in prison and forced to stay there for a long seventeen years, with no indication that escape was ever even a possibility. Despite getting his revenge on the other prisoners who beat him and gaining greater control over the prison, those seventeen years still took a heavy toll on Lex, judging from his sheer rage towards Lois when he finally leaves prison and pays the Kent residence a visit.
- Bullying a Dragon: Otis and his men really should've known better than to antagonize Lex Luthor.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Jordan says the new superhero sounds like "a total badass" when Junior is made fun of for being rescued by a guy in a hoodie and goggles. Jordan tries to frame it as defending Junior, but everyone sees through it, and Jordan eventually drops the pretense when called on it.
- Death Glare: Sarah spends most of the episode giving this to Jordan.
- Demoted to Dragon: Otis is forced to become Lex's henchman after having been the top dog in prison when Lex arrived.
- Dominance Through Furniture: Lex's final prison scene has him punch his chair a few times to adjust it. The camera then pans out to show that his "chair" is a prisoner on his hands and knees.
- Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: Averted. General Lane's truck gets sucked up by tornadic winds before the funnel cloud reaches him. He and some other stopped motorists are depicted as being safer by huddling beneath an overpass. Fortunately, Superman and Jordan dissipate the tornado before the wind-tunnel effect can injure anyone.
- Double-Meaning Title: Lois name-drops the title in her opening monologue, saying that the changes brought by cancer feel like an injustice, but it's clearly mostly a reference to the supposed injustice of Lex being in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Lex has a daughter whose life he completely missed while he was in prison, and that as much as the false imprisonment itself fuels his anger towards Lois.
- Flashback: There are several showing Lex slowly taking control of the prison.
- Framing the Guilty Party: While Lex didn't commit the specific murder he went to prison for, he is still a murderer and monster. As Lois says, she wasn't wrong about who he is.
- Go to Your Room!: Clark sends Jordan to his room for both his attitude and the stunts he pulled today.
- I Have Your Wife: To get control over the prison, Lex has the warden's wife and son held hostage at his home, to show that he could easily have them killed if the warden doesn't obey him going forward.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: In contrast to how Jordan is behaving, Jonathan is off-put by getting special treatment from Kyle at the firehouse because his dad is Superman.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Jordan craves the attention from the public, something his parents are not okay with.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Lex and Otis find Bizarro in the damaged tunnels, feeding on rats. When Bizarro spots them, he immediately tackles and implicitly eats Otis as a more filling meal.
- Implied Death Threat: Lex threatens Lois to quit being a journalist entirely if she wants to avoid seeing him again.
- Intrepid Reporter: Lois's colleague Janet whom she trained herself, and who breaks the story on Jordan.
- Kingpin in His Gym: Lex is shown doing push-ups during his first scene.
- Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: Luthor quickly gained control over the prison by threatening the warden's family, and by the present is treated like royalty. That said, he couldn't get out, and the toll that took on his life fuels his anger regardless of how comfortable his stay was.
- Mythology Gag:
- Lex has a full head of hair along with a beard when he enters prison, which he had in the comics for a while.
- An inmate named Otis becomes Lex's henchman.
- A tornado causes crisis situations with repercussions for Clark and members of his family, like in Man of Steel.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: What Lex has Ellis's men inflict on Otis and his gang as revenge for being beaten up by them. The beating is so severe that it puts at least one of them in a wheelchair, exactly as Lex promised would happen if they didn't agree to his demands.
- Out of Focus: Chrissy and the Irons family don't appear this episode.
- Properly Paranoid: Sam warns that Clark needs to rein Jordan in because he isn't as careful as Clark and will likely blow his cover. Cut to Junior showing Sarah the video of his heroics and accurately deducing that he must live in the area.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lex gives an epic one to Lois over sending him to jail.
- Reduced to Ratburgers: Bizarro is feeding on rats to survive when Luthor and Otis find him.
- Revenge: The theme of Lex's storyline. He wants to hurt both Lois and Superman.
- Suddenly Shouting: Lex, when Lois attempts to apologize.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Given how alone and friendless Jordan has been for most of his life, and especially with everything going on with Sarah, it's unsurprising that he'd crave public acclaim when offered the chance. Unfortunately, though, he picks a really stupid way to go about it.
- No matter how much power Luthor could accrue in jail by having his people threaten the warden's family, that doesn't extend to the entire justice system, so he can't simply escape or make the charges disappear.
- Title Drop: Lois uses the term "injustice" during her speech at the beginning.
- Unseen No More: Lex Luthor finally makes his debut in this episode after being mentioned throughout the season and back in Season 1.
- Wardens Are Evil: William Ellis, even before being blackmailed by Luthor to do his bidding, was very open to the idea of accepting a bribe from the latter.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Jordan briefly uses his powers on his dad, Clark gets dead serious, telling him to never do that again.
- Would Hurt a Child: Lex threatens Warden Ellis's young son to get him to cooperate.
- You Are Grounded!: Jordan, after disobeying Clark's direct order and even briefly using his powers against him.
