Superman & Lois Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Always My Hero

Superman & Lois Season 4 Episode 3, “Always My Hero,” eulogizes General Sam Lane with a confounding and flashback-filled outing.

A standout flashback, which will be discussed among Superman fans for a long time, is when Clark (with Lois by his side) reveals to Sam that he is Superman. The direction and score emphasize its significance, and the cinematic undertones hark back to the iconic moment with Christopher Reeve in Superman II.

Even then, whether Sam Lane will make it out of this episode alive is never a question. Written by Brent Fletcher & Todd Helbing and directed by David Giuntoli, “Always My Hero” is more concerned with memorializing this leader, friend, grandfather, and father before Sam Lane’s inevitable death.  

This episode attempts to subvert expectations when Sam injects himself with Bruno Mannheim’s serum after being shot. However, Superman & Lois all but starts digging his grave when Sam delivers the line, “I’ll always be brave for you, pumpkin,” in a flashback of Clark and Lois’s wedding day. 

That sentimental exchange confirms suspicions that “Always My Hero” is the end for Sam. He avoids death on Superman & Lois Season 4 Episode 1, “The End & the Beginning,” only to sacrifice himself two episodes later.

Sam’s overall mission — creating a heart that may be viable to bring Clark back to life — is noble, but the execution of his plan is questionable.

Sam can’t make Lois privy to the idea, or she will do everything she can to stop him. That element makes perfect sense. Sam’s dedication to protecting Elizabeth, Lex Luthor’s daughter, doesn’t land with the same impact. 

Superman & Lois will likely fill in the gaps of Elizabeth coming to Sam for guidance and protection at some point during this season. Until that time comes, it’s strange to watch Sam sacrifice himself to, in part, keep Elizabeth’s whereabouts a secret when that means leaving his daughters.

It’s evident that “Always My Hero” has Sam makes this grand display as a selfless action, but it’s hard to see that for what it is when Lois is crying over her father’s dead body mere days after doing the same over her husband’s. Again, Elizabeth Tulloch delivers a raw performance as Lois grapples with unrelenting grief.

Tulloch’s incredible work also shines in the episode’s poignant bookend. It genuinely subverts expectations — the service is for Sam, not Clark.

Jonathan and Jordan wear Sam’s favorite shirts, which is a perfect touch. John Henry and Natalie are present to mourn their friend and grandfather, respectively. It’s emotional, but a missing person undercuts it.

Strangely, as it mourns her father, “Always My Hero” forgets about Lucy Lane.

Superman & Lois finds space — mostly off-screen — to fill John Henry and Natalie (Starlight!) in on crucial information, like Sam looking for a donor. Alternatively, the show can’t find space for someone to call Lucy to tell her about her father’s death, even if she can’t make it to his memorial service. 

Essentially, the timing of Sam’s story (and John Henry and Nat’s awareness of it) in the episode doesn’t land as well as it could. This disconnect could be a side effect of Superman & Lois working with limited time for much of the ensemble, billed as series regulars before this season. 

On the other hand, “Always My Hero” does a better job with Jonathan getting his powers. Michael Bishop does a great job of physically expression how this character has so much anger in his grief and does not know where to put it. He also embodies Jon’s initial overstimulation when he receives his powers so well. 

Consequently, Superman & Lois has natural conflict between Jon and Jordan.

Jonathan’s powers come to him much easier than Jordan’s, and Jordan clearly feels Lois (and Sam) already siding with Jonathan as the more capable hero. That tension alone is a goldmine for this season. 

Unfortunately, that potential barely gets a second to exist exclusively between the brothers before “Always My Hero” complicates it with Lex Luthor. Honestly, it’s perfectly in character for Lex to be drawn to chaos to stir the pot. 

It’s quite surprising that this episode makes Jordan aware of Lois’s impossible choice from Superman & Lois Season 4 Episode 2, “A World Without.”

This fourth and final season is working with fewer episodes than the show’s usual runs. Still, that call plays as something Lex would want to keep in his back pocket for a while longer. The fact that he chooses to sew distrust in the family amid plans to kill Sam only underscores how determined Lex is to ruin Lois’s life.

Michael Cudlitz is not as present in this episode as in the other two episodes of Superman & Lois Season 4, yet Lex is still making tidal wives. He is not to be underestimated, but neither are Lois — and Clark after that chilling shot of his eyes opening in the episode’s final frame.

Lara Lor-Van eerily warns John Henry that she has concerns about Clark coming back to life with Sam’s “enhanced” heart, but they move forward with the Kryptonian heart transplant. Anyone who watches supernatural or fantasy shows knows that the person who died rarely returns the same. 

Pairing that with Sam’s team at the D.O.D. expressing worries that he may be trying to create a monster to fight Lex’s Bizarro Doomsday raises more than a few alarm bells for the next episode — let alone the rest of this final season. There may only be seven episodes left, but Superman & Lois isn’t slowing down.

—

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

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

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

Follow us on X and on Instagram!

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