Superman & Lois & Pals

EPISODE 1 - “Whatever We Can Do To Help”

Greetings Super friends! Welcome to Superman & Lois & Pals. I’m Henry Bernstein and alongside me is my favorite super pal, Professor Sam Brody. 

• It’s been about 6 months since we’ve recorded. We have seen each other in person where we did a super hero media thing. We saw Spider-Man No Way Home together!
   
• I also got to show you my Superhero action figure collection and my extensive DC Comics library.
• I want to thank the more than 1100 people who downloaded our little pod. This started as an outlet for me to talk about Superman on TV and we really appreciate you for listening to us!

Let’s talk about Superman and Lois Season 2

S02E01 - “What Lies Beneath?”

Directed by 

Writing Credits:

Brent Fletcher and Todd Helbing

Three months after Nat's arrival, things start to settle down. Sarah returns from camp and gives Jordan the cold shoulder, Clark and Lois fight, Lana throws herself into a mayoral campaign, Superman comes to terms with Sam's replacement, and earthquakes shakes Smallville.

 

Things we wanted at the end of last season:

Better costume - done. S looks brighter, and is set within the costume. The costume moves a bit when he moves around showing that he’s not wearing the fake padding anymore. Much more form fitting. As much as I like 5 o’clock shadow Clark, I still want clean shaven Superman.

Stories that make sense - kind of but the angry Lois thing, eh.

3 months later:

Lois - So are we to believe that Lois has just been an asshole to sweet, kind, sensitive, patient Clark and her CHILDREN for 3 months with zero explanation? DOesn’t sound like the Lois we’ve gotten to know. Her explanation was totally reasonable but THREE MONTHS?! “Dad, how long is she gonna be like this?” That’s some intense shit for a family. Lois is kinda acting like a moody teenager. It just wasn’t realistic to me that everything Clark said to her she found annoying. And the argument they had was just completely unreasonable. She’s short with Jordan but then mad when he doesn’t go into details about Sarah. Who cares that he got arrested at Atlas Pond? Who cares that he doesn’t want to talk about it? He’s being respectful. 

Really interesting stuff with Lois’ mom being a deadbeat and abandoning her and Lucy. That would definitely harden someone like Sam. This isn’t something we’ve heard about before so it came as a bit of a surprise. Seemed odd though that a couple that previously had amazing communication, would take 3 months to have this talk. I guess Clark has super-patience as one of his powers. 

Irons

What have John Henry and Natalie been doing for 3 months? Why did John Henry have to stop Natalie from running and hugging Lois? 

Clark - Awesome dad, awesome partner. The way in which I fell in love with Bitsie Tulloch last season, I’m falling in love with Tyler. He gets this character. His talk with Lois is so supportive and his talk with his boys was so sweet and hilarious. When Jonathan mouths, “mom,” I laughed. Clark’s super smell thing with Jordan's cologne. 

Super funny thing that Jonathan’s girlfriend said the same advice as clark and he’s just like “stupid teenagers.” and then being like, “oh Jonathan Come on!” when Lois is pissed about catching Jonathan with Candace. 

Superman - BANGER of a way to show some Super feats. Superman lifting a freaking sub and the North Koreans saying, “Superman saved us” is just pure joy. I was smiling ear to ear. Rescuing people from an earthquake is also so super. 

I’m enjoying the conversation about whether Superman is just for America or not. I sort of like this soft spoken, thoughtful General Anderson. What was affecting Superman’s super-senses? Kryptonite? Who were those Super beings? X-Kryptonite soldiers?

Cushings - Gotta say, I’m a little disappointed that Lana is just running this stranger’s (to us) campaign and she’s not running herself. I like Clark and Kyle bonding a little. Sarah’s weirdness around Jordan is totally relatable. And I don’t really care. I love that Smallville is cashing in on Superman to help the economy. Love the JLGL cut out of Superman.

Doomsday - It looks like they’re going to do some comic-accurate stuff. But I feel like we’ve seen Doomsday recently with BvS crap and Krypton. 

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!

*EDITORS NOTE* - We had some sound issues on Sam's end. It does get better as the episode goes on so stick with us!

Sam and Henry discuss the SEASON FINALE of Superman & Lois and Pals. We also give our final grades and end-of-season awards. 

Henry's MVP - Bitsie Tulloch/Lois Lane

Sam's MVP - Jordan Elass/Jonathan Kent

Let us know what you think of our grades and awards: 

https://twitter.com/SupermanPalsPod

https://www.facebook.com/supermanpalspod

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!

Sam's utterly conventional ranking of Superman villains:

A-List:

1) Lex Luthor

2) General Zod

3) Darkseid

4) Brainiac

5) Mxyzptlk

B-List:

6) Mongul

7) Cyborg Superman

8 ) The Eradicator

9) Metallo

10) Bizarro

C-List:

11) Parasite

12) Intergang

13) Toyman

14) Ultraman

15) Doomsday

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!

**EDITOR NOTE** We had some sound issues with the recording of this episode. Please note there is some background noise and feedback at times. We apologize for the sound this episode.

Sam and Henry talk about the legacy of the recently deceased, great director, Richard Donner, and how his influence is felt through all future Superman projects. Followed by a breakdown of some of the key moments from the flashbacks and finally some predictions for where this show is going in the final 4 episodes. 

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!

Greetings Super friends! Welcome to Superman & Lois & Pals. I’m Henry Bernstein and alongside me is my favorite super pal, Professor Sam Brody. 

We’re going to catch up on the last two episodes in a bit but first I wanted to revisit our discussion on the timeline of Superman & Lois. Sam I made a new virtual pal over the last two weeks. A new listener reached out and wrote some really kind words about our podcast. So, shout out to Jen Russell who hosts a podcast of her own about the NBC show Blacklist. So check out the Keen Minds Podcast. You can find it on Apple Podcasts and on twitter https://twitter.com/keen_minds?lang=en. So Jen and I have been talking a lot about Superman & Lois, which she loves and she wanted to help us with our understanding of the timeline. This is what she said:

“The topic of Lois and Clark's ages, and I think it does actually work in this timeline, assuming Lois and Clark are about the same age. The Arrowverse Fandom page has Clark's birth year set in 1979, so that would put him 41-42 if this is based on current day. The twins are 14, so they would have been born in 2007, putting Clark in his late 20's when they were born. If Lois was also born in '79 and graduated college at 22 (and I could see her graduating early), that could put her as 6 years between graduation and the boys being born. You have to squint a little for it, but for TV it's closer than a lot of shows bother with.

For Tyler being 33, I think they address that in the pilot when Lana says it's like he doesn't age. I think Clark is supposed to be early 40's, just looks young.”

What do you think about that explanation Sam? 

I just want to give one more shout-out to her. She makes AMAZING Superman & Lois gifs on her tumblr which is takadasaiko.tumblr.com

You can find us on twitter https://twitter.com/SupermanPalsPod

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!

Greetings Super friends! Welcome to Superman & Lois & Pals. I’m Henry Bernstein and alongside me is my favorite super pal, Professor Sam Brody. 

We’re back! That hiatus actually flew by. I would like to say that it helped that we had Supergirl and Flash to fill in, but in my opinion both have been really frustrating. I know because of Covid and because she’s a new mom the filming of Supergirl has been difficult. But this is the LAST season of Supergirl. And the last time we get Mellissa Benoist who IMO has been a wonderful Supergirl. How can you have 7 episodes in a row where your star who’s name is the name of the show just isn’t in it? The two flashback episodes, while cute, literally didn’t have Kara in them at all. And in the most recent one she showed up at the end to hug her sister and that was it. VERY frustrating. 

But we’re not here to talk about Supergirl, we’re talking about Superman. Sam what a great episode to come back with. 

“Clark reconsiders his decision to let Jordan play football; Lois' continued investigation of Morgan Edge requires her to trust an unexpected ally.”

Nice little “previously on…” Caught us up on what’s going on. 

I’m glad they’re digging in a bit more into the powers thing. Like it’s clear that Jordan has some serious powers that might be slightly different from Clark’s. So was Hologramps just wrong about him? 

Superman flying in looked great and we got MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE! I also loved that his first instinct was to talk to Tag, not punch him. That’s my Superman. I loved how he didn’t just stop the train but got it back on track. I like when heat vision fixes things instead of just blasting a bad guy. 

I liked Lois saying “I want you focused on the boys” and Clark didn’t argue. That’s a solid marriage right there. 

Why is Metropolis high school playing Smallville? There’s two options here. 

1. Metropolis is in the midwest like on the show Smallville and is quite close 
   1. Sara does say “I’d hate to go all the way to Metropolis…”
   2. They’re in a hotel
2. Metropolis high and Smallville high have the two best football teams in the country and it was a championship game or something. 

I know they’re teenagers and they make dumb decisions but I’m getting tired of the CW trope of not telling someone something which leads to a misunderstanding. Why wouldn’t Jordan tell Clark about the headaches and heat vision boiling over?

I know we’re supposed to, but I hate Kyle and I don’t buy Lana with him AT ALL. 

How cool were all of Clarks fist marks in the tree trunk. How many times did he punch that thing growing up? “You’re stronger than you think you are”

Nice to see Jonathan finally getting a chance to shine in the game, especially with Jordan working together with him. 

Glad to see Lois suspicious of “Marcus.” The main focus of the episode seemed to be on Jordan and his powers (tag etc) but Lois really shined this episode as badass reporter Lois Lane. 

Lois pointing out the ridiculousness of dressing up in disguise was funny. 

Sara’s going to have a rough time being a parent if she can’t watch a Disney movie a THOUSAND times. I HATE seeing people hit their head on stuff in movies. Like a total parent nightmare. 

Clark “catching” Jordan’s heat vision was so cool, creative and looked like it hurt Clark! I like when we see stuff we haven’t seen before that actually makes sense. 

Are we supposed to think Clark is overreacting or that Jordan is being a stupid teenager that makes mistakes? I know teenagers do dumb stuff like going out drinking but they JUST screwed up with that in the last couple episodes. This seems ill advised. Jonathan stopping Jordan’s punch was devastating. These kids are good actors. 

“You get to be Superman! Who am i? I wanted to be good at something. I’M NOT YOU! OK!” I’m glad this isn’t how it’s going in the comics but for some reason it makes sense and I like it. 

Sarah should be dead or have a concussion.

“Don’t Run! I’m here to help you” - Superman should say that. Angry red eyes of anger are a trope but they worked here for me. “STAND DOWN” Yessir mr. superman.

Incredible speech by Clark. And he immediately feels bad. 

“Probably not the best time to tell you I almost got killed tonight” Instantly gifable!

Lois totally loises two scenes in a row, first as reporter with Lana second as super-mom with Jordan. 

Poor grammar by saying “bring me farther away.”

I LOOOOOVED Clark rocketing off with Jordan, glasses still on and then going into 2nd and then THIRD Gear

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!

Show Notes:

Does Superman work best on TV as opposed to film? Why?

Let’s talk about the recent controversy with the show. What allegedly happened according to former writer Nadria Tucker?

https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/nadria-tucker-discusses-seemingly-out-of-nowhere-dismis-1846456451?fbclid=IwAR1Ipy9N1a0ECRsd-6f_3VkAIiYuG_pE7E1QP837lXy15LDAso16R8fhbj8

Episode recap:

“As Smallville celebrates its first Harvest Festival since Martha's passing, Clark is reminded what his mother meant to him and learns a lesson that will help him move past her death. Meanwhile, Lois makes a breakthrough in the investigation of Morgan Edge. Kyle tries to reconnect with Lana, but it seems like he might be falling back into his old ways.”

• Clark’s v/o with scenes of Smallville in slo-mo! YES PLEASE! More of this. Love that the fam is watching super-feats over breakfast. 
• “Back to 1949 when Smallville was established” - ACCURATE. Superboy #2, 1949, written by Jerry Siegel. 
• Are the Kents growing corn? 
• I like that the Jordan/Sarah romance is progressing in a realistically awkward but normal way. Clark’s dorky dad embarrassing exuberance was so perfect. 
• Jonathan’s life sucks in such a teenager “my life sucks” way. Lois handled the mom-advice to him like a champ. She didn’t react to his insult, and knows to just wait it out. Clark reacting to Jon’s unreasonable request of living at someone’s apt was to laugh. LOL Then Clark knowing he was drunk was also LOL. Good parenting just sending him home in an uber and then dealing with it later. No really. I love that last episode you thought Jonathan was being TOO good and here he flies off the handle. Yet he comes back and apologizes, no problem. Clark’s turn for some GREAT parenting. 
• The Morgan Edge/Lois/Smallville story is a great reason why Superman works best serialized (tv, radio, comics). It was good to see Kyle and Lois acting normal to each other. Beppo’s line “Big Reporter Energy” was amazing.
• Really enjoyed the flashback scenes and more Martha. It’s interesting that Martha was his main influence as a teen.I wonder if we’ll get to see more flashbacks with Jonathan. I didn’t need to see him fighting crime like a proto-Batman, I would’ve prefered super-feats that help people. But I love seeing Clark being affected by the stuff around him and thinking about the past. “He knew I was here for a reason” - reference to Glen Ford talking to young Clark in STM. You get the feeling that Martha was just an absolute amazing woman. She really had a rough time raising a teenaged powered Clark as a single mom. It was cool seeing Martha send him on his way with the Kryptonian crystal. Usually it’s Jonathan passing along advice for how to proceed with what he was meant to do. Now that I think about it though, Pa dies when Clark appears to be a Senior in STM, and in Smallville Pa died about halfway through the run of the show. Anyway what exactly did Martha want him to do? Go to the fortress? Go to the future to become a Legionnaire? Where did Clark go? For how long? I mean I guess in STM he goes to the fortress at 18 for 7 years. I think I prefer the comics version where Clark graduates, heads off for an extended gap year to figure it all out then goes to Met U to study journalism. Anyway this was a strange way to do the transition from Smallville to Superman. But it was interesting. I still don’t fully understand how Clark and Lana remember their whole lives with the boys. I read a rumor that this show actually operates outside the Arrowverse...
• I love Clark saving the day secretly AS CLARK because it would be weird if Superman happened to be in Smallville. “Is that frost?”
• There’s something about Captain Luthor lurking around, pretending to be a journalist that doesn’t feel right to me. It seems like he understands that this is a different earth that he was on and that Lois is a different Lois. So why doesn’t he understand that this Superman is different from the one on his earth. And WHY doesn’t he realize that when they first meet and Superman wants to just talk. I assume what will happen is that Superman killed HIS Lois and so he’s just blinded by rage. 

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!

Scene 1 - What is Morgan Edge looking at?

Football scene had a very Friday Night Lights vibe. Great little pep talk from Clark, love the confidence he has in Jordan. 

Didn’t Clark promise not to listen in on Lois? Is it just that he’s keyed in on Sam? Did he stop listening once he heard Lois?

I love how Sam is just like, “I’ll stick around this weekend.” Uninvited. Btw, I had a Grandpa Sam who was much more loving than Sam Lane. 

Morgan Edge was a total creep. Is Lana’s husband just some sort of cuckold? Like does he want Edge to bang his wife? Is he just that naive?

Interesting how Lois is a little too big to be working at Smallville Gazette. Like why wouldn’t she just write her own blog or tweet? She’s arguably the most famous reporter in the world.

Lois confronting Edge and saying, “oh who cares” when he starts talking about his accent is so ballsy and funny. She IS Lois Lane. 

Can we talk about KILLGRAVE!? I mean this show was made for our generation of Superman fans. It’s funny because my moroy of the comic is that Killgrave brings real danger but Superman sort of always sees him as a nuisance. And I believe in his second to last or last appearance Superman basically threatens him to never come back again. But it’s good seeing a classic Superman villain that’s not Lex or Brainiac who even seems formidable. The way Superman handled it was great too. He kinda needed to hear his kids in order to snap out of it and finish Killgrave with a super clap. 

Ah the classic Superman not going to an emergency because he needs to tend to his family is finally here. You knew it was coming. Why is Superman’s code name “Bishop 6?” Is it a reference to Checkmate? Also, why does Superman need a codename? He has one, it’s called “SUPERMAN.” 

Tyler looks great in the suit. Very believable. Loved seeing him fly over Chicago, reminded me of Lois and Clark but with good SFX like Chicago in The Dark Knight. 

Even for Sam Lane, putting all of that pressure on the boys was OUTRAGEOUS. This is the Sam Lane I know from the comics. A jerk and basically as bad of a grandfather as he was a father.

I know it’s part of the plot but it was incredibly disappointing that Clark didn’t make it to the town vote. I get missing a date with Lois or something but it seems like Clark Kent maybe would’ve been late but would’ve made an important thing like that. However, I do like Lois being mad but not passive aggressive and just talking about their issue. She had every right to be annoyed and she told it to Clark the way he needed to hear it. It’s so subtle but the look on Clark’s face of, “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore” felt realistic and felt like the kind of turmoil he should go through. 

In high school or college I probably would've enjoyed the party scene but it just makes me anxious now. Maybe it’s because I'm a middle school teacher and a parent. 

Lois and Lana’s girl’s night out was meh. I hate all the “men are like this and women are like this” stuff. So outdated and basic. Lois’ advice somehow leads to them completely making up over some pancakes? Ok. 

I like that Jon and Jordan took what their grandpa said seriously, (even if it was shitty advice) and wanted to solve it themselves. Great shot of Superman holding tag over the earth. 

There’s nothing quite like Lois Lane letting General Lane have it. 

Date night was so cute! And like that Sam learned his lesson. He’s not all bad. This is called GOOD character development. 

X-KRYPTONITE!!! DEEEEP CUT

Follow Henry on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/henrybernstein.bsky.social

Check out a video version of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@gonzo3249! Click subscribe!