Recently, I’ve been catching up on Superman and Lois because my WordPress wasn’t working previously. Which I mentioned in my last review. So, even though this episode aired almost two weeks ago, here’s my full recap and review anyway.
Full Recap
To start off this episode, we finally see a little more of what Morgan Edge has been up to. First, we see him riding in a military-like Humvee blowing something up in front of them. We then see something red sticking out of the ground surrounded by wisps of fire. Then, he says, “Now the resurrection begins”. For all those hardcore comic fans out there, I’ll let you guys decide what that means (mostly because I clearly have no clue). At the end of the episode, Edge finally finds what he’s been looking for, X-Kryptonite. While it’s not completely clear what he plans to do with it, it’s hinted that he’s going to use human subjects to experiment with it.
Later, Kyle and Lana go to dinner with Edge. Edge talks to her about how smart and talented Lana is (based on her college credentials). Edge essentially thinks Lana’s talents are being wasted here in Smallville because her options here are, limited, as he puts it. However, Lana’s very uncomfortable talking to him during the entire conversation but Kyle doesn’t really seem to get the hint. Back at the Smallville Gazette, Leslie (Edge’s assistant) comes in to tell Lois that her article that she’s planning to publish tomorrow is in breach of her old contract. Lois brushes it off because she knows Edge’s lawyers are just trying to scare her but Chrissy says she can’t risk publishing her right now. But it’s understandable because it turns out the Smallville Gazette doesn’t have any legal resources.
General Lane Steps In
Then, General Lane shows up to watch the game where he sees Jordan not only playing football but giving Smallville High the big win. And that’s where we’re reminded that no one told the general that Jordan has powers. But he figures it out on his own after watching the game. And he’s not happy about any of it: Jordan playing football and Clark prioritizing his sons over his Superman responsibilities. But in a way, his concerns are understandable because crime groups apparently are planning on increasing their criminal activities because they know Superman’s not around.
So, knowing this, the military wants to move high-risk inmates out of Metropolis Penitentiary because it’s much more vulnerable to attacks now that Superman’s not around. So, General Lane suggests he escorts the transfer of one Thaddeus Killgrave, a Superman-hating radical scientist. But Clark isn’t going to just leave his family to show the military and the public “a show of good faith”. So, he says he’ll be there if something goes wrong, but he’s not just going to show up to babysit the transfer. Regardless, General Lane takes it upon himself to invite himself to stay with them in Smallville for a while.
Something’s Going on with Tag
Meanwhile, Jonathan’s friend and teammate, Tag, has something going on with him. He’s frustrated because his arm’s still in a cast after the bonfire incident (from the pilot episode). But more than that, he tries to stick a pencil in it (to itch it or take the cast off? Not completely sure why) and his arm starts shaking fast. Later while Coach Gaines gives the team a pep talk, Tag feels himself shake again and leaves to go to the bathroom.
When he gets there, his arm shakes hard and fast enough that it makes the cast disappear into thin air. However, Jonathan senses something’s wrong and follows him into the bathroom shortly afterward. Jonathan doesn’t actually know what happened to him but knows something’s up so he gets Clark to come help. All they know is that by the time they get there, Tag comes out without his cast. He’s not too happy that Jonathan told on his dad and he just says he tore off the cast because it was driving him crazy. Then, he just leaves because he doesn’t see the point of being at practice if he still can’t play.
Thaddeus Killgrave Escapes
While Clark’s listening to Coach Gaines’ speech, he hears Killgrave’s crew ambushing his prison transfer. However, he’s not able to leave just yet because Jonathan gets him to check on Tag with him. Jonathan still thinks something’s wrong but they’re not really able to do anything about it at the moment and Clark knows that Killgrave’s escaping so he jets off. Before Clark gets there, Killgrave activates some kind of device and leaves it for him and by the time he gets there, Killgrave’s gone. Because he missed him, Clark flies around the city looking for him. Later, Killgrave’s men get Superman to show up somewhere in Metropolis where he’s waiting with a sonic blaster. It somehow affects Clark’s ears and Killgrave uses that to try to keep him down.
Meanwhile, General Lane leaves the farm but leaves the boys with an interesting goodbye. He makes it known that he knows Jordan’s got some powers but tells them that they have a responsibility as Superman’s kids. He basically tells them that Superman is “the most important force for good in the entire world” and that they shouldn’t distract him from his duties. This talk becomes important later when things escalate with Tag.
Lois Loses the Vote
With everything else going on, Lois also has her own storyline in this episode. She’s still investigating Morgan Edge but now the town’s going to vote on whether Edge should take over the Smallville mines or not. Also, she confronts Edge and his assistant, Leslie, about everything going on with the mines. He appreciates Lois’s guts for standing up to him but other than that, nothing really comes from it. Knowing that Clark grew up here and has some influence, she enlists Clark’s help to try to persuade people from opposing the vote. However, Clark’s still looking around for Killgrave at that point and doesn’t make it. So, unfortunately, everyone but Chrissy (Lois’s boss) vote in favor of Edge taking over the mines.
Later, Clark gets home and Lois understands but is also conflicted. On one hand, she knows Clark’s got his Superman duties but on the other, she really wanted him there at the vote. But she also feels guilty because she knows how much the world needs Superman. More than anything though, she feels like she’s been the last priority on Clark’s mind lately. At the time, Lois leaves to go have drinks with Lana where they talk about Clark. She confides in her about feeling like their romance has gotten lost in the shuffle. Lana reassures her that she makes Clark a better person.
Tag’s Powers Escalate
Later, all the kids go to a house party where Tag’s arm is now completely healed. Later, he starts shaking again and he accidentally cuts himself and breaks off the edge of a wooden table. Then, a kid (the one who lives in there) gets mad at him for breaking the table. Then, Tag starts to shake again and runs off. Jonathan, worried for him, runs off after him into the woods with Jordan not far behind. This time, however, Tag’s not able to stop shaking (like he did last time) and tells them to get away when Jonathan tells him everything’s going to be okay. Then, Jonathan tells Jordan they need to use the ELT (the beeper he has to signal for their dad). But Jordan just insists that this all must be his fault. He thinks that his heat vision hit him and somehow affected Tag.
However, Jonathan could really care less right now and just tells him to signal for their dad’s help. However, General Lane must’ve really got to Jordan because he says he doesn’t want to bother him because he’s too busy saving the world. Instead, he thinks he can fix this. Jordan tries to stop his shaking but Tag’s shaking just tosses Jordan toward a tree. While Jordan’s down, Jonathan grabs the ELT and signals for his dad’s help. Clark, at the time, is still dealing with Killgrave. But when he hears their signal, he super claps to knock everyone down and comes to help the boys out. Clark flies Tag up into space (where the air’s thinner) and it helps Tag calm down.
The Resolution of Tag and General Lane
Later, we learn that Tag’s with doctors at the DOD and that Jordan’s heat vision didn’t give him powers. Technically speaking. Apparently, Jordan’s heat vision caused a blast that had another material present which must’ve triggered his powers. Jonathan asks General Lane (who’s there with them at this point) if they can see him and the simple answer is no. But Lois reveals that Tag’s going to go to a special kind of school for meta-kids. It’s then when Clark and Lois realize that the boys didn’t call for Clark’s help sooner because of something General Lane told them. Understandably, Clark’s angry. As is Lois, and for her, it’s about General Lane’s parenting choices. Lois stands her ground and tells him that they’re not going to parent their kids the way General Lane parented her.
General Lane defends himself by saying he dedicated his life to the armed services. But Lois says Clark’s trying (and struggling) to do both: be a good father and save lives. She goes even further to say that he’ll no longer be welcome in their home if he keeps pushing them. Then, Clark (with the help of Jordan and Jonathan) sets up a nice little date night in the barn for the two of them. However, it doesn’t last long because General Lane calls to tell him that there’s a possible situation in Malawi. But then, we see General Lane call the lieutenant to open a new protocol as a contingency plan. And the kicker is that he’s naming it Project 7734, AKA the numbers that are on that dog tag he got from Captain Luthor/The Stranger.
The Villains
With this episode, Morgan Edge’s villainous plan is finally starting to take more shape. We finally know what he’s been looking for but we don’t yet know why. All we really know is that he plans to use that X-Kryptonite to experiment on human subjects for some reason. Killgrave, while it was a great Easter egg for DC fans, didn’t get very far. Plus, we have no idea what he had planned, unfortunately. As for Captain Luthor, he’s not in this episode but he’s clearly gotten to General Lane. Even if he’s not the same General Lane, Clark’s priorities shifting makes it clear to General Lane that there needs to be some kind of contingency plan.
However, with General Lane’s character being so much about dedicating his life towards serving his country, his plan may not be as sinister as we think. When he said contingency plan, I immediately thought of the Batman v Superman storyline where Batman stocks up on kryptonite to stop Superman. But so far, we know how much General Lane believes in Superman. More specifically, he believes all the good he’s done for the world, so perhaps the contingency plan isn’t to stop Superman. Instead, it could just be another option for when Superman isn’t available. But given that he’s naming the project after the dog tag he got from The Stranger (AKA Captain Luthor), it can’t be good news.
How did Tag Get his Powers?
If I were to say there was a central storyline in this episode, I’d say it was Tag getting his powers. We don’t get to see much of his powers other than just fast shaking and some fast running. So it looks like Tag’s some kind of speedster. Also, I’m not sure how or why Superman flying Tag to space calmed him down but I obviously trust Superman’s expertise. As for how Tag got his powers, General Lane’s pretty vague about how he got them. But he probably doesn’t know all the facts anyway.
Basically, all we’re told is that Jordan’s heat vision caused a blast and some yellow phosphorus substance somehow triggered his powers. Even though he specifically calls it a “yellow phosphorus”, I still think it’d be interesting if Tag actually got his powers from X-Kryptonite. Considering that it’s clearly going to be a big part of the story this season (with Edge finding a bunch in the Smallville mines), it’d make sense. Plus, getting powers from kryptonite reminds me of how people got their powers in Smallville. And Smallville‘s clearly the OG of DCTV shows so it’d be a nice homage to the show if the writers do go that route.