Deron Generally
Deron GenerallySuperman & Lois
The CW
Season 1 Episode 13
Fail Safe
Morgan Edge is in custody but his father’s final orders continue to plague his thoughts as Superman interrogates him regarding what happened to the Eradicator and Leslie Larr. As things start to get normal in Smallville, everyone in the Kent family finds themselves dealing with the fallout in different ways. As they are sworn to secrecy about what they know, Jordan finds himself trying to comfort Sarah, Jon finds himself spending time with someone new and Lois needs a story to both explain the situation and inform the citizens of the town. Things continue to get tense for the Cushing’s as well. It’s a standard episode opening and well paced right up to the point where an alert begins the Superman action.
The tension continues to mount when Larr goes on a mission to release Edge and is intercepted by Superman and Irons. Lois goes after her father for a statement to help the town and Edge continues to flashback to his life with his father and the mission he is currently on. Edge deals with his daddy issues, especially when it comes to his mother. Superman returns to confront him again and they have another tense exchange that is interesting, but seems to tease something more interesting to come.
Lois finds herself at odds with her editor as she straddles the line between protecting her father and her commitment to her story. It’s an ok scene, but emotionally weak. The performances are good, but the premise isn’t. Jonathan has a revelation about the girl he likes and Kyle is frustrated with how the town blames him for Morgan Edge. The more interesting moment happens when Clark and Sam discuss the weapons the DOD created to kill him and makes a surprising admission. This conversation and moment should have been longer. It was filled with great action and a really interesting revelation from Clark.
Lois confronts Clark about his decision regarding the weapons and their exchange is something else that required a lot more screen time than it got. I know the show is trying to balance the Superman drama with the family drama, but these big discussions are getting the short shrift.
Lois and Clark come to a consensus about 7734 and they decide to rely on someone to be a fail safe for that responsibility. At the same time, Edge comes to terms with his relationship with his father. It’s an interesting scene that shows that the character is more than the villain and its resolution is visually interesting as well.
The episode ends with a great scene involving Edge and a partial reveal of his ultimate plan. The episode as a whole had some great moments that got pushed off way too often to cater to the town and family drama. The series still struggles with finding that balance, but the performances of the characters continue to be compelling and entertaining enough to make me want to see what happens next.
Superman & Lois S01XE13
