Being a stubborn, determined survivor has gotten Lois Lane through some truly terrifying moments both before and after the beginning of the Superman & Lois series, and her willingness to put her own life aside has led to her becoming one of the best-known journalists in the country and world. These things, though, become a double-edged sword when Lois is the one in trouble. Spoilers follow for Superman & Lois Season 3, Episode 03, “In Cold Blood.”
“In Cold Blood”
Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) and Chrissy (Sofia Hasmik) pursue a new lead in the Mannheim investigation against Clark’s (Tyler Hoechlin) wishes. Meanwhile, Jonathan (Michael Bishop), Jordan (Alex Garfin), and Nat’s (Taylor Buck) attempt at a kind gesture is complicated by an unexpected obstacle. Lastly, Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Sarah (Inde Navarette), and Kyle (Erik Valdez) adjust to their own new normal.
Bruno Mannheim and Onomatopoeia take a back seat this week, despite their henchmen putting Lois Lane in direct danger, because they’re really just there to drive home how Lois’ best qualities make her illness even harder for her to deal with.
In this episode, Superman appears mostly in Clark’s dreams–this is truly Lois’ episode, and most of what happens eventually comes back around to her. Lois is supposed to start chemotherapy, but when Clark zips off to handle a disaster, Lois quickly finds a way to sneak out. Not once, but repeatedly. Meanwhile, Clark is waking up every night following a nightmare of the Daily Planet collapsing atop Lois while he flies as fast as he can to save her.
In Lois’ mind, she has real leads pointing to the man she calls her White Whale, and she takes her chance to opt out of chemotherapy to accompany Chrissy to follow one of those leads. Of course, the two end up locked in a room full of blood bags with Mannheim’s henchmen outside.
Best of Intentions
Natalie Irons, meanwhile, comes up with the idea of giving the watch that belonged to her Earth’s Lois–her mother and John Irons’ wife–to this Lois, with all of their names engraved to show support. After she moves ahead with it, though, Jon’s truck is stolen following a tense encounter with the father of his girlfriend, Candice, and the watch happens to be in his truck when the theft takes place.
The real superheroics this week belong to Natalie and Jordan, as they take down the chopshop in a haze of smokescreen, getting Jon’s truck and Natalie’s watch back at the same time.
Where’s Superman?
I enjoyed a lot of this–the smoke screen sequence was especially enjoyable–but it does kind of bear out one of my fears earlier in the show, as Superman’s role has been downplayed so far that he feels like a supporting character at times, especially during this storyline.
On the other hand, Lois is almost as important to the Superman image as Clark himself, and focusing on her at times is going to be important. Her actions here all give us a peek into her mental state. For Lois, going for treatment would be acknowledging weakness. Instead, she dodges treatment like Superman dodges bullets and finds every excuse to do things her way–the denial way–rather than give in and accept treatment, despite the ticking clock.
With that said, I would really like to see more of Superman this season. Despite the show’s great cinematography and visual effects, it feels like they’re intentionally avoiding showing him for whatever reason.
