Superman & Lois Review: The Thing in the Mines (Season 2 Episode 3)

Superman & Lois Season 2 Episode 3, “The Thing in the Mines,” introduces this season’s villains — Bizarro and Ally Allston. Sadly, their arrival creates some storytelling concerns the series may not want to acknowledge.

For example, it’s exciting to see Bizarro make his first appearance on Superman & Lois, but it comes with more than the necessary questions. 

Clark, Lois, and Sam’s handling of the new information (that they understandably didn’t know pertained to Bizarro) is bizarre in its own right.

The trio discusses Superman villains as though they never encountered one until Morgan Edge/Tal-Rho last season.

There must be more efficient ways to process the arrival of a new antagonist without acting as though it’s the first one ever.

So, maybe now is the time for Superman & Lois to build its version of Team Arrow, the Super Friends, and the Bat Fam.

The show leans heavily on Clark’s family as his fundamental unit, but this cult storyline takes Lois further away. Plus, Clark and Lois’ relationships with Sam have always been contentious.

Maybe this means that John comes out of his already short-lived retirement so Steel and the Man of Steel can consistently lean on each other.

That change could open up more opportunities for Jon, Jordan, and Natalie to bond. In addition, they can have storylines of their own that differ from the ones they’re navigating now because Jonathan and Jordan’s arcs lack real momentum.

Jon’s drama with Candice over selling X-K lacks appeal at the moment, and Jordan and Sarah’s relationship has run its course — despite them reaffirming their love. A more fascinating arc for Sarah lies elsewhere.

The scene where Lana discloses to Sarah how performative she feels in the political field feels like it could be the breakthrough moment when Sarah realizes she, too, is hiding a part of herself by denying her sexuality, but the show doesn’t go there.

Instead, Superman & Lois doubles down on how Sarah’s kiss with a girl at camp “doesn’t mean anything.” Still, Sarah isn’t ashamed of it, and Lana doesn’t react to the situation in a way that suggests she is unaware Sarah may be interested in girls.

This reaction could be because the show wants to present a storyline in which Sarah’s sexuality is already established and normalized within its canon, but the audience is only discovering it now.

If that’s true, then hopefully, Superman & Lois delivers flashbacks of Sarah’s time at camp, even if Sarah doesn’t define her sexuality or is only exploring it.

It needs to follow her arc more closely so that her sexuality isn’t a second thought to cause drama between her and Jordan and bring her closer to him but an intentional part of her character.

A wish to see the young batch of characters do more propels the desire to see this storyline go an alternative direction. But, most importantly, it’s because this show lacks LGBTQIA+ representation, which should change.

As for the season’s other villain, Ally Allston is already too much for Superman & Lois to juggle. Presumably, this cult storyline will converge with Clark’s fight with Bizarro at some point so that Clois can work together.

Until then, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for a storyline that assumably fictionalizes a real-life cult that involved an actress from another Superman series on the same network. There are too many similarities for it to be coincidental.

It’s a bizarre choice for that alone, but it becomes frustrating in how it appears to decimate Lucy Lane’s character as a means to solidify Superman & Lois‘ place in the Arrowverse after Crisis.

Sure, this storyline is already allowing Lois and Sam to connect in a way they haven’t since the show started. That’s already appealing because it forces Sam into a new position beyond a man defined by his job. 

Although, vulnerable father/daughter moments shouldn’t come at the expense of the other daughter — regardless of if it’s Lois or Lucy.

Superman & Lois already proved it could change what we thought about the Arrowverse’s Clark and Lois by establishing two teenage sons at the end of Crisis. So did it need to uproot the work Supergirl did with Lucy, too?

Lucy could have joined the show as a figure to push back against Anderson at the D.O.D. — helping Lois uncover the truth about his shady work. Instead, she is presented as the weaker sister who needs a “delicate touch.”

Is there not enough room on Superman & Lois for multiple strong female characters? Hopefully, Lucy shows up next week and proves everyone wrong.

Stray Thoughts

• Public speaking makes Lana nervous. She’s just like me!
• The sequence of John jumping into his Steel suit is very cool.
• “Now’s not the time to go all doomsday on me.” Hilarious!
• “There’s a bizarre version of Superman on the loose.” Also hilarious!

What did you think of this episode of Superman & Lois? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays at 8/9c on The CW.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Jenna Dewan Joins ‘Superman & Lois’ to Reprise Role as Lucy Lane