While Lois and Clark try to balance their lives with the new normal of Lois’ cancer treatment going on, Henry Irons finds himself treading in deep water after getting in the way of Bruno Mannheim. In Episode 3 of “Superman & Lois” Season 3, after much back and forth and almost jeopardizing her own life, Lois finally agreed to go through the cancer treatment procedure. We are also informed by Bruno Mannheim about Clark’s blood being used to power ex-inmates like Henry Miller. In the Cushing family, an argument led to Lana slapping her daughter Sarah in the heat of the moment and immediately regretting it, but the damage has already been done as Sarah leaves her home and goes to her father, Kyle. The fourth episode sheds some light on the situation regarding all three families by allowing adequate space for three distinct plotlines.
Spoilers Ahead
Learning The Ropes
The fourth episode of “Superman & Lois” Season 3 begins at night with a burning national forest and an RV that somehow manages to go through the road trail while avoiding the devastation. Just as a burning Sequoia tree almost collapses right on the RV, Superman catches it mid-air and is assisted by Jordan in neutralizing the forest fire. All of a sudden, Clark hears a concerning noise coming from their home, and given Lois’ cancer diagnosis, he gets worried. Jordan assures him that he can take care of the rest and asks him to leave. Providing his son with some final instructions about the rescue, Clark flies off, and returning home, he finds Lois has only broken a glass. Lois states that her condition doesn’t give Clark a free pass to eavesdrop.
Twin Trouble
Back at home, Clark asks Lois to refrain from work for the day, as she had her first chemotherapy done just the day before. Twin brothers Jonathan and Jordan cause a ruckus upstairs, which prompts Clark to ask them to spend the day elsewhere to allow their mother some much-needed rest and also not bother her with anything. Meanwhile, John Henry Irons analyzes the Kryptonite gauntlet Clark was pinned by in the earlier instance while rescuing Lois and Chrissy and found the mechanism to be eerily similar to his Steel exosuit one. Convinced that this must have been created by this Earth’s version of him, he goes to Clark to inform him about this Earth’s Henry Iron’s involvement with Bruno Mannheim. Clark tells him that, contrary to John’s instructions, Lois was already investigating this Earth’s John Henry’s murder at the hands of Bruno by communicating with her sister, Darlene. John gets angry after hearing this but takes his leave soon as Lois appears and asks about the situation.
Jordan goes out to go fishing with Grandpa Sam, but the latter makes a stop in the town square. Sam shows pictures of Jordan that were taken during the forest rescue operation, and although those were taken from behind, his distinctive curly hair is a dead giveaway. While Clark managed to mingle with people in plain sight, Jordan is yet to learn how to do that, and Sam asks him to get a haircut to take a step in that direction. The reaction comes as naturally as one would expect when asking a growing teenager to ruin his haircut. Jordan gets angry and leaves, not before insulting his grandpa a bit.
Clark takes a quick break from the binge session he and Lois were engaged in and goes to meet John Irons, who is naturally angry given the fact they involved this Earth’s version of his sister, Darlene, in the investigation too. Clark apologizes and tells him that it was she who diagnosed Lois’ condition; although that happened by coincidence, if not for her, they could have been way too late in starting Lois’ treatment. John wishes to meet with his sister to know everything about this Earth’s version of himself so that he can keep Natalie safe, as already Bruno’s assassin Onomatopoeia has noticed him in the Smallville mayor’s office with Lana.
Jonathan goes to his girlfriend Candice’s house to meet her but faces her wastrel of a father, Emmit. Jordan gets intimidated by him for a bit, and Emmit denies having any association with drug dealing or the other crimes he is accused of. Jon confronts him about the previous situation when he stole Jon’s truck, and in the heat of the argument, Emmit throws a nasty punch at Jon, giving him a black eye. Jon returns home and avoids his mother, but an adamant Lois makes him face her and makes him reveal the fact that Clark has asked their sons not to be bothersome given Lois’ condition. Later, Clark returns from John Henry and gets chided by Lois, as his overprotectiveness is exactly what she feared in the first place, and also the fact that being a cancer patient doesn’t take away her role as a wife, mother or journalist. However, before they can question Jon about how he ended up with a black eye, Clark gets a call from Sam and rushes to the DOD.
Brother From Another Earth
John Henry visits his sister Darlene, or this Earth’s version of her anyway, on the streets of Metropolis, and she gets the shock of a lifetime after seeing her brother alive. John explains the situation about him being from a different Earth and asks her about her brother. Darlene is unwilling to share any information, but John requests it, saying he needs more information about the person who is essentially this Earth’s version of him and was murdered by a crime boss like Bruno in order to keep his family safe. Darlene stated that after retiring from the military, her brother started selling military-grade weapons to people like Bruno and wanted to distance himself from his family. John Henry and Darlene share a moment reminiscing about how they were quite close with their siblings, each from their respective Earths, which makes Darlene feel emotionally troubled, and she leaves.
Almost at the same time she departs, Bruno’s right-hand man, the mercenary Elias Orr, arrives and takes John Henry to his boss. Bruno intimidates John, saying he had already marked him after the situation at the Smallville mayor’s office and that he knows he is the man in steel armor, assisting Superman in his missions. Bruno also threatens John Henry with losing Darlene’s life if he doesn’t walk away from Bruno’s operations, whom Bruno has kidnapped and attached with a bomb. John Henry calls his suit, jumps from the roof, gets suited mid-air, almost in the same manner as occasional Iron Man suit-ups are done in the MCU, and rushes to save her. John races against time to locate and finally defuse the bomb, and he embraces a horrified Darlene. Now in his armor, John makes another visit to Bruno, pinning him against the wall, but Bruno once again manages to threaten him with his family’s life (the family of this version of John Henry, not Natalie) unless he leaves Metropolis permanently. John leaves him and returns to Smallville.
Cushing Situation
John learns about Lana’s actions from his daughter Sarah and goes to confront his ex-wife. He learns from an apologetic Lana that Sarah used her most vulnerable spot—Kyle’s infidelity —to hurt her, which resulted in her snapping for a moment. Although that doesn’t excuse her from slapping her daughter and propagating a tendency Lana herself had been subjected to from her own mother in childhood, Kyle returns to Sarah and informs her that it was uncalled for. The trio meets at a restaurant, where both Sarah and Lana apologize to each other, and despite Lana’s attempts to make amends, Sarah reasonably remains a bit distant.
Kent Parents Step Up
After learning that Candice’s father, Emmit, has hit Jon and previously stolen his truck, Lois goes to confront him, and the twins accompany her. Lois calls him out for his criminal tendencies, and Emmit tries to threaten her by showing his gun. Unmoved, Lois warns him not to mess with her family ever again. After returning, Lois gets dazed by the overexertion and nearly collapses. On the other hand, Clark, now in his Superman attire, learns from Sam that the blood sample that Bruno Manheim got his hands on was stolen from the DOD and that he acquired it when he was weakened to near human form after his first battle with Ally Allston (previous season). Sam and General Hardcastle bring Superman to the remaining sample, which he destroys with his heat vision.
After returning home, Clark learns about the entire situation regarding Emmit and goes to the diner to confront him. Initially, he asks Emmit to step outside to settle the situation, both to not cause any inconvenience to the present customers, among whom the Cushing family is also present, and to prevent Emmit’s daughter Candice from seeing her father get embarrassed. However, Emmit insults Lois and attacks Clark, resulting in a swift takedown, and Clark warns him not to cross his boundaries while interacting with his family again and that Lois will expose him. Emmit rushes off, and Clark apologizes to the customers and also to Candice for whatever he has to witness. Candice urges to let her meet with Jon, and Clark agrees. Later, in the Kent household, she finds herself in a precarious situation regarding her father’s continual misbehavior and still being forced to live with him. Lois allows her to stay with them until she gets settled.
Later, Lois and Clark discipline Jordan for his behavior with Sam and ask him to make amends. Jon apologizes to Sam for insulting him and says that he is ready to get that haircut, which would help him conceal his identity. Sam asks him to hold onto that idea now that he realizes how damn important appearance is for teenagers of Jordan’s age. He instead gifts Jordan with a supersuit he and his crew at DOD created and entrusts him with one of his dearest possessions—Sam’s late-war veteran father’s aviator goggles. The grandpa and grandson bond and go fishing together.
Did Lois And Clark Make A Big Mistake?
After returning to Smallville, Henry Irons goes to meet Lois and Clark to inform them about the incidents regarding Mannheim and his sister. Lois apologizes for contacting Darlene previously without asking John first, but John says Bruno identified him earlier during the attack at the mayor’s office. The trio wants to bring Mannheim to justice, but not before John can ensure Darlene and her family’s security. Lois hits upon a plan to get admitted into the hospital at Hob’s Bay, which Bruno funded and where he had his doctor Alistair Hook patch up his goons. Lois plans to get her cancer treatment from there while keeping a close watch on the nefarious operations conducted by Bruno and his people. Clark seems concerned, but Lois assures him that getting treatment is her top priority.
In his office at Metropolis, Bruno watches over Lois’ patient application and wonders what her motivations might be. While Episode 4 of “Superman & Lois” Season 3 showcased how tough Lois is as a person, her decision to go right into the lion’s den, even with Superman by her side, was an extremely daring one that could have severe consequences. She assures Clark that, being a public place, Bruno will think twice before hurting her there as it is related to his image, which he so carefully has constructed through the years, but there aren’t any limitations to the evil plots Mannheim can come up with, which she should be mindful of. After gaslighting Superman in the second episode, Mannheim makes a point once again about how dangerous he is by threatening the Steel too. The season will have some brilliant supervillain moments, with Bruno dominating and the upcoming appearance of the top dog, Lex Luthor.
