TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list.

Superman & Lois

Go To

WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.


Season 1

Episode 1: Pilot

  • Jonathan Kent's death in the opening montage. He's walking through Smallville with Clark and Martha as they help the town prepare for the Harvest Festival, only to suddenly collapse from a heart attack in the middle of the street. It's especially sad with Jonathan's proximity to Clark in this version; he was right next to him, and this time, Clark was truly, utterly powerless to save his father.
  • Clark is clearly struggling to connect with Jordan, and he fears that he's going to lose him if he can't make a connection soon.
  • Shortly after Clark finds out that he's been fired from the Daily Planet, he receives a phone call from his mother—or rather, from her doctor using his mother's phone. Before she can even finish telling him what's wrong, he immediately abandons his conversation with Lois and runs/flies all the way over to Smallville. Yet even as fast as he can go, he can't make it back before Martha dies of a stroke, hearing her last words to him: "Come home."
    • Watch as he slowly approaches Martha's room. He's not only hesitant to see her body; he's desperately honing his super-hearing to detect her heartbeat, only to concede that she's truly gone and finally faces her.
  • After Jon and Jordan find out the truth about their dad, a very upset Jordan tells Clark "You may have been sent here to be some hero, but you sure as hell weren't sent here to be a father." This clearly hurts Clark more than Kryptonite ever could, as he's seen in the next scene horrifically wondering if he's a bad father.
    • Jordan lashing out and accusing Lois of gaslighting him, making him think he was crazy and letting doctors put him on pills instead of just admitting to him why he's different. And when Lois insists his mental health and his alien heritage are two completely different things, Jordan demands: "How do you know that!? I'm half human half whatever-the-hell-he-is!"
  • In an instance of Fridge Sadness, Clark not running over to the barn after Jordan and Jonathan's accident. He has Super-Speed, but there are witnesses around, so he has to pretend to be slow when all he wants to do is run to his sons and save the day.

episode 2: Heritage

  • Lana admits to Sarah that she's a Stepford Smiler and is clearly feeling immense guilt about forcing her daughter to try to hide her pain as well.

Episode 3: The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower

Episode 4: Haywire

Episode 5: The Best of Smallville

  • Irons meeting Lois who, according to him, is exactly the same as her counterpart from his Earth. He gives a Longing Look as he secretly watches Lois and Clark lovingly embrace each other and walks off. He says she's exactly the same as his Lois back in his world, except "she married someone else".
    • The irony of the fact that he doesn't know that this Lois is married to the man who murdered her on his Earth and destroyed their planet; whom he's trying to kill to avenge her and his homeworld.

episode 6: Broken Trust

episode 7: Man of Steel

  • Irons and his daughter Natalie watch Lois be brutally murdered by Superman on a live news broadcast. Her last words are to say she loves them.

episode 8: Holding the Wrench

  • Jonathan looking through pictures of Irons' daughter Nat, who's (technically) his biological half-sister. He is saddened he didn't get to meet her and comments that she "seemed cool".
  • Lois's outburst towards Jonathan when he is almost killed by Irons' truck's AI.
    • Lois crying while expressing to Dr. Wiles how scared and helpless she felt when Jonathan was in danger. While it doesn't really excuse her outburst, it does remind the audience that Lois is a mother who truly cares for her children and worries about them constantly.
    • The Reveal that Lois had a miscarriage. Even worse, Lois intended to name her third child "Natalie" after her grandmother, the same name as Irons' daughter. Her heartbroken line to her therapist, "I was so excited to meet her..." really just guts you in her clear grief of losing her child (and the daughter she dearly wanted and was excited to have).

Episode 11: A Brief Reminiscence in Between Cataclysmic Events

  • In a flashback, after years of training with his powers, Clark finally returns to Smallville. He seeks out Lana, finding her outside a theater and ready to go to her... only to see Kyle coming up, the two hugging and Clark using his enhanced vision to see the engagement ring on Lana's hand to realize it's too late for him. Giving one last Longing Look, he simply walks away in newfound heartache.
  • Tal-Rho destroys Jor-El’s consciousness. He only has time to say “I love you, son” before being destroyed forever before Clark’s eyes.
    • Even worse, after losing Martha in Episode 1, Lara in Episode 10, and Jor-El here, Clark has lost all three of his remaining parents in the span of a few months. Trauma Conga Line barely begins to describe it.

Episode 15: The Last Sons of Krypton

  • John admits he can’t stay with the Kents because seeing Lois reminds him too much of his Lois, whom he loved and lost. It simply hurts too much to see the love of his life happy and in love with someone else, even if it's not technically his Lois.
  • The Kents have a funeral for Jor-El, with Clark giving a stirring eulogy about how while everything Jor-El told him about his powers and his homeworld was important, all of that paled in comparison to Jor-El simply being his dad.

Season Two

Episode 2: The Ties That Bind
  • Sarah reveals why she's been distant with Jordan. She reveals that, while at camp, she shared a kiss with a girl. She tries reassuring him that it didn't mean anything and "just happened", but the heartbreak on Jordan's face at being cheated on by the girl he loves (and was so excited to see after being a month apart) is hard to watch. She tries reaching for him, but a heartbroken Jordan backs away from her and simply leaves.

Episode 6: Tried and True

  • With the reveal of his affair, Lana and Kyle's marriage is crumbling. Kyle gets down on his knees, professing his love for her and their girls, but Lana, despite how much it hurts to do so, kicks him out of the house to give her heart time to heal.
  • Jordan learning Jon's powers aren't natural, but from huffing X-Kryptonite. He was so excited to share his experience with his big bro, only to have these hopes smashed to pieces.

Episode 7: Anti-Hero

  • Jonathan having his fallen moment. He's on the verge of being kicked out of school and Lois, already on edge with what's happening, reads him the riot act. But it's Clark, who already went through the wringer with the events of the episode and now learning what Jonathan did, is what causes Jon to break down into tears. It's bad enough being scolded by your parents, but when one of your parents is Superman, the scolding is even worse.

Episode 8: Into Oblivion

  • The look on Clark's face when Natalie talks about Irons possibly having brain damage or a tumor. It may not be his fault what Bizarro did, but you can bet he still feels the guilt.
  • Kyle and Lana's awkward conversation when he comes to pick up Sarah. Both of them really want things to go back to normal, but it's unclear if they ever will.

Episode 10: Bizarros in a Bizarro World

  • Anderson comes face-to-face with Bizarro's family, and is horrified to realize that the man he killed was a husband and father... and by extension, realizes that Superman is a husband and father. His subsequent Heel Realization absolutely devastates him, and when he tries to apologize to the El family for killing their patriarch, the words all come out garbled because of the change in realities.

Episode 12: Lies That Bind

Season 3

Episode 1: Closer
  • Sam Lane invites Nat out to see a movie, ostensibly to bond with her, and then turns around and tries to pitch the idea of her going to the D.O.D. Academy. Nat is genuinely hurt at the idea that he only invited her out to recruit her, especially since she had already told him that his alternate-universe self was her grandfather.

Episode 2: Uncontrollable Forces

  • Lois convinces a suicidal Judge Reagan that she knows what it's like to fear death... because she just found out that she has stage 3 breast cancer. And that happens to be the exact moment that Superman flies in, just in time to overhear her.

Episode 3: In Cold Blood

  • This episode shows Lois telling her father about her cancer. Sam Lane—who, throughout the rest of the show has been incredibly tough and strong—actually breaks down crying at the table as he absorbs the news that his beloved daughter is ill.

Episode 5: Head On

  • Clark talks to a pair of cancer patients, who tell him bluntly that chemo is not fun and he's going to have to get accustomed to seeing Lois in pain. When one of the patients nods off, the other tells him about how she's been on both sides of the cancer experience; before developing cancer herself, she watched her daughter succumb to the disease... in the very same chair in which Clark is now sitting.
    • Throughout the season, we see how difficult it is for Clark to face a problem that he can't simply punch out. As Superman, he's used to facing natural disasters, villains, criminals... physical dangers that he can deal with. This, however, is one he can't fight, can't save Lois from, can't use superpowers or his investigative skills to solve. All he can do is offer support.

Episode 10: Collision Course

  • A fairly big one comes as Kyle's girlfriend, wife, and daughter all lie to his face about there being someone superpowered in Smallville. Understandably, he's furious and upset.
  • The governor of the state, meeting with Lana, asks if her ex-husband ran off with some young floozy... while Chrissy is right there.
  • After Sarah and Jordan have an argument (she's upset with him for being rude to Junior, he's upset with her for brushing him off), he bitterly tells her that sometimes he regrets having fallen in love with her.
    Jordan: You know, sometimes, I really wish I never fell in love with you.
    Sarah: That makes two of us.

Season 4

Episode 1: The End and the Beginning

  • Doomsday unceremoniously deposits Superman's body in the middle of Smallville. As Lois, Jon, and Jordan run out to collect him, they realize they're being watched by multiple others, and the only reason they aren't immediately outed as Superman's family is because a quick-thinking Lana runs interference for them.

Episode 2: A World Without

  • In a desperate bid to save his father's life, Jordan makes the incredibly rash decision to storm Luthor's hideout, because he's certain he heard a Kryptonian heart beating there. It is, of course, a trap, and not only does Luthor curb-stomp him using anti-Kryptonian tech, he also literally stomps on Superman's heart, taking away Jordan's last hope of saving his dad. Jordan returns home heartbroken and blaming himself for everything that's gone wrong.

Episode 3: Always My Hero

  • General Lane's death. And the reaction from his poor family. Just imagine losing two beloved family members in such a short timespan!

Episode 5: Break The Cycle

  • Elizabeth meets with Lex and is willing to let him back into her life... until she learns he's incapable of letting go of his grudge against Lois Lane or accepting responsibility for his actions. She gives her father an ultimatum: he can either let go of his hatred and be part of his daughter and grandson's lives, or keep it up and lose her for good. Unfortunately, Lex rejects the chance at redemption, choosing his grudge over his daughter. Elizabeth can only give a sad, dejected sigh and tell Lex her mother was right about him. Before leaving, she orders him to stay out of her life forever.

Episode 6: When the Lights Come On

  • Clark is having a hard time adjusting to his new vulnerabilities. Even something as trivial as his hair going grey causes him anxiety. And then Lana gets attacked and he doesn't hear her calling for help because he still hasn't recovered his super-hearing.
  • Jon and Jordan both take Lana's near-murder pretty hard. Jon is understandably a wreck because this is the first time in his new career that he's failed to respond to a crisis, while Jordan is absolutely wracked with guilt because he had deliberately made a choice to wear noise-cancelling headphones that night. Sarah has to remind them both that they aren't responsible for something that Luthor organized.

Episode 7: A Regular Guy

  • Lois explaining to the boys why Clark is so insistent on trying to keep his identity a secret even as it's clear that everyone in Smallville knows who he really is: he came into his powers when he was only four, and his parents worried constantly that if his secret got out, the government would come for him. That fear has been drilled into him for decades, and now that it's out of his hands, he feels like he's losing control.
  • Clark tries to defuse the situation between the boys and Timmy by suggesting that maybe Timmy thought he saw someone flying. This backfires, as Timmy's mom now wonders if he's doing drugs again, making the situation worse.
  • As Jon and Jordan lay low, Jon wonders if it's possible to be a superhero and have actual friends, noting that their dad really didn't have many friends when they all lived in Metropolis.
    • A series of flashbacks show why we haven't seen this universe's version of Jimmy Olsen up till now; he and Clark used to be friends, until he goaded Clark into joining the company softball team. When Clark kept missing games, Jimmy eventually realized that Clark might be Superman, and confronted him about it, only for Clark to lie to his face that he wasn't Superman. The next time he missed a game, he arranged things so that there were no Superman sightings that day, and Jimmy decided that Clark just didn't want to hang out with him but was too afraid to say so. Clark has regretted this for years.

Episode 9: To Live and Die Again

  • Clark learns two things - one, that his sons will never be as strong individually as he is, and two, that his heart transplant has only bought him a little extra time, and he will die again.

Episode 10: It Went By So Fast

  • After Doomsday takes a brutal hit from John's hammer and is being hoisted towards the sun by Superman, Doomsday remembers who he used to be, and realizes who he has become. Not wanting to live this way anymore, he has Superman push him into the sun, who feels no satisfaction during this act. And all of this is accompanied by a sorrowful, operatic reprise of Bizarro's theme, highlighting how Doomsday didn't just die as a monster, but also as a father.
  • Lex knocks Jon into a building, and then starts choking the life out of him. By the time Superman intervenes to get Luthor away from his son, it's been several minutes and Jordan realizes that he can't hear Jon's heartbeat. When he finds his brother, he frantically tries to resuscitate him, then, when Jon is revived, Jordan just tearfully embraces him.
    Jordan: (sobbing) Please don't leave me.
    Jonathan: I promise I won't.
  • A bittersweet example. Clark and Lois' long and happy life together ends abruptly in the most mundane of ways. Cases in point:
    • Lois' cancer returns more aggressively, and this time, she doesn't manage to beat it. At the weakened Lois' bedside, she and Clark share their last declarations of love, while Jonathan and Jordan sit beside them, dreading her incoming demise.
      Lois: I love you, Clark.
      Clark: I love you too. Everything good in my life... it came from you.
    • What follows is a powerful, tearjerking scene as Lois turns to the side. Her eyes widen in joy and she utters her last word, "Daddy?", before she closes her eyes. Realizing that she's died, Clark, Jordan and Jonathan break down, with Clark clearly taking it the hardest. The somber music, along with Tyler Hoechlin's performance, adds up to make an emotionally devastating scene that will make any viewer shed at least a tear.
    • The next scene is just Clark sitting at a table, with a glum expression and a single pie given by Lana as a gift. And while Jordan and Jonathan still visit as much as they can to comfort him over Lois' death, it really shows how much emptier his home is after such a loss.
      • An even sadder detail is that he's completely surprised when Jordan puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Despite having super hearing, Clark's momentary grief drowned out everything else in his life.
    • While Clark continues on for some years afterwards and adopts a dog named Krypto to keep him company, old age eventually catches up to him. His borrowed heart finally gives out, making him collapse during a walk with Kyle and Krypto. Just to rub salt in the wound, Clark's narration remarks that this happened in the same place his late father had his fatal heart attack.

Top