Superman & Lois Season 3 Episode 11 Review: Complications

Superman & Lois Season 3 Episode 11, “Complications,” closes one chapter to begin a more sinister chapter with one of the DC’s most infamous villains — Lex Luthor.

Still, the superhero drama never uses the Mannheim family as a meandering plot point in a larger, Lex-centric story.

Instead, Lex’s presence on Superman & Lois relies as much on Bruno and Peia’s history in Metropolis as Clark and Lois’s connections to Lex that landed him in prison.

It’s only when Bruno and Peia’s story reaches a bittersweet conclusion that Superman & Lois‘ turn into Lex’s proper introduction works because his freedom depends on Bruno’s willingness to share his side of the story on record.

Chad L. Coleman and Daya Vaidya deliver outstanding performances that allow the irreversible severity of Bruno and Peia’s situation to creep up on the viewers as it does the characters. For instance, it’s heartbreaking and true to their characters that Peia is the only one who can break through to Bruno about her worsening condition.

“Complications” features a series of gut-wrenching events that become even sadder with the immersive direction that emphasizes the characters’ emotions, including Matteo’s. Watching Matteo grapple with the weight of his world on his shoulders is brutal, making the moment when Nat appears a real beat of relief.

Superman & Lois tells this superhuman story so well that it’s easy to forget Peia’s death could have detrimental effects on Metropolis if Superman doesn’t intervene because “Complications” never loses sight of her family.

The visualization of the distance between Peia, her husband, and her son in her final moments is an agonizing juxtaposition to how close Clark, Jordan, and Jonathan can be to Lois during her procedure — if something were to go wrong.

As for that procedure, it’s not lost how Superman & Lois showcases that Lois’ entire medical team is a group of women.

The support of Clark, Jonathan, Jordan, Sam, and John Henry is very sweet (Sam reading pamphlets and asking questions about them is perfect!), but it’s incredible to see how “Complications” intentionally surrounds Lois with other women this season — Peia included.

While strange that Lucy Lane doesn’t give Lois an off-screen call or text, “Complications” doubles down on Lois and Lana’s friendship with an understated beat of gratitude during Lois’ Bazoombas feast — Lana says she loves Lois. 

Their friendship getting more prominence this season, especially after Superman & Lois Season 3 Episode 9, “The Dress,” is a refreshing and mature take on their story that doesn’t always get this much longevity in other Superman properties.

Superman & Lois knows there’s no reason to pit Lois and Lana against each other and finds more intriguing creative angles to bring the two characters together.

After all, “Complications” has plenty of drama in its arsenal with the widening rift between Jordan and Sarah after Superman & Lois Season 3 Episode 10, “Collision Course.” The tension between them is palpable and seemingly unwavering, so it’s necessary that the show makes space to unpack its impact on both characters. 

Though it isn’t for everyone, hopefully, Superman & Lois is building up to a more extensive conversation about therapy and its effects — some of which Lana mentions. Thus far, the show only catches up with Sarah outside her sessions. Her definitive opinion on therapy would make more sense with more on-screen follow-through.

The same is true for Kyle’s vulnerability around his struggles with mental health. His struggles don’t have to be omnipresent to be real, but “Complications” could still feature this discussion with better narrative support by featuring more stories that thoroughly explore Kyle’s character more often.

It’s ironic now that he knows about Clark’s secret, but Kyle is a character who always feels on the cusp of a deeper story. For example, the drama with Chrissy isn’t compelling because of the show’s inconsistencies in representing their relationship.

This season had something substantial going for Kyle when Jonathan joined the firehouse, but that fizzled out before it could gain any heat.

Now, “Complications” pulls back a layer of Kyle that grants him more accountability, depth, and development than he’s seen in a while. However, it’s challenging to rally around this step forward for Kyle, considering he often falls behind. Although, Superman & Lois Season 3 still has two episodes to make more progress with him.

Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be understated that Superman & Lois tells stories about mental health and expresses the awareness that characters, like real people, live with struggles that don’t magically disappear at the end of the day — or an episode.

“Complications” represents this in Jordan’s emerging X-Ray vision triggering a panic attack — one of the first he’s experienced in a while. The direction and sound mixing are additional examples of this episode’s immersive storytelling that — in this sequence — support Alex Garfin’s fantastic performance.

Likewise, Michael Bishop’s performance brings a grounding force to the scene that organically extends to Jonathan’s attempts to help his brother catch his breath. Clark’s admiration of his son coming to his brother’s aid works in tandem with Bishop and Garfin’s ever-strengthening chemistry as on-screen siblings.

Superman & Lois maintains its impressive track record with “Complications.” Even with minor snags, the show makes overwhelmingly great strides. The cast never phones in their performances, and the creative and technical crews keep getting better. With two episodes left, Season 3 shows no signs of slowing down.

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Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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