After an emotionally taxing episode that saw Lois come to terms with the bodily changes a terminal illness like cancer might bring, the narrative shifts back to Clark and Lois’ efforts to expose Bruno Mannheim and Peia for their crimes. Previously in Superman & Lois, in a flashback sequence that shed light on Peia and Bruno’s past, it was shown that Peia had murdered their gang leader, Boss Moxie, usurped his position, and the duo framed Lex Luthor for their crimes. Lois was involved in the case, and it was her investigation that led to Luthor’s incarceration. Now that she has access to the confidential files of the DOD and is observing the Mannheims closely, she knows that Peia is a murderer. Jordan’s reckless usage of superpowers attracts Kyle’s attention, as he speculates that there is a metahuman presence in Smallville. On the other hand, afflicted with cancer, Peia is held captive at the DOD, and Mateo blames Bruno for his mother’s condition, only for Bruno to reveal his plan to his son about finding a cure using the corpse of Bizarro that he had stolen previously.
Spoilers Ahead
A Small Victory
The episode opens with Lois recounting her journey as a breast cancer victim so far, a journey that has been physically and mentally strenuous for both her and her close ones. The last round of her chemotherapy has been successfully completed, finally relieving her of the treatment trauma. Although the battle is far from over, as she is scheduled for a mastectomy pretty soon, small victories like this call for a celebration, and accordingly, the Kent family and Sam join the rest of the patients on the rooftop of Hob’s Bay medical facility, with Lois thanking everyone and ringing the ceremonial cancer bell as a gesture to uplift the spirit. Appropriately, the horizon in the scene is tinged with a pink hue too.
Did Lois Manage To Get A Confession From Peia?
As the scene moves to the Kent household, Lois jumps right back on the Mannheim case, and after the assault of a resurrected Atom-man on John Henry in the last episode, she publishes her article on Peia as well, despite her initial hesitation. Despite stating that he would return everything that he had stolen from DOD in exchange for meeting with Peia, Bruno hasn’t shown any sign of keeping his word, which prompts Lois to consider talking with Peia herself. Clark takes a day off because he wants to spend some quality father-son time with the twins.
Lois goes to DOD HQ and meets with Peia, and the two friends quickly catch up despite their conflicting allegiances. Lois requests Peia’s confession, a chance to tell her side of the story, to which Peia hesitantly agrees. However, she still lies to Lois about the Boss Moxie situation and blames Luthor for his and his compatriot’s murder, a lie that Lois quickly shoots off. At this point, there is a good bit where Peia remarks about the dreadful nature of Lex Luthor, which solidifies the character’s weight and raises the hype even more for a direct confrontation in the future. Peia isn’t willing to share any kind of information with Lois, and she takes her leave momentarily. Later, it is suggested that Lois tries to appeal to Peia’s motherly sensibilities by mentioning how the entire ordeal can hurt Bruno and Peia’s son, Mateo, in the long run. Lois once again requests that Peia confesses to her and Bruno’s crimes, at least to leave a legacy that is not maligned. Peia agrees to do so on the condition that her son, Mateo, is allowed to visit her.
Clark And The Twin Situation
An enthusiastic Clark barges into the twins’ NFL gaming session and expresses his wish to have some quality father-son time together, only to be treated with their usual irritable teenage lackadaisical attitude. Clark goes off to look for some fun activities while Jon asks Jordan to assist him in a senior kegger party at the fairgrounds, where he will meet with his girlfriend Candice after a long time, and Sarah will be there as well. As the duo is about to leave, Clark comes back home, bursting with joy after securing three tickets to the mega wrestling event happening at Metropolis. But his expectations are diminished when the twins reject his offer to join the party instead. Clark is visibly hurt, and honestly, the energy he brought to the scene initially made his disappointed appearance hard to watch.
Clark goes to Sam and Lois to vent about being rejected by his sons, and they try to make him realize the tribulations of parenting. While a naive Clark cannot realize how teenagers do not like to be with their parents in the first place, he should also acknowledge how the generational gap factors in. The boys have grown up fast and are no longer amused merely by the prospect of spending the day with their father—even when that certain someone is Superman.
Why Did Kyle’s Suspicion Grow?
With Governor Kerry Wexler making a visit to Smallville as the Mayor of Smallville, Lana prepares for an important day alongside her to secure funding for the town and gain positive feedback. Joining her is Chrissy Beppo, the editor in charge for ‘Smallville Gazette,’ and it could have gone remarkably awkward with Kyle’s ex-wife and present girlfriend working on the same team, but fortunately, it doesn’t. As Chrissy ponders the lack of stories for the next day’s paper, Kyle suggests she cover the metahuman discovery at Smallville he has been looking into. Chrissy knows about Clark’s secret identity as Superman, and considering him to be the person Kyle is talking about, Chrissy straight up dismisses Kyle’s theory about a new meta.
The twins go to the party, and while Jon reunites with Candice, Jordan gets into an argument with Sarah. Later, as the town sheriff conducts a raid at the kegger party, attendees start fleeing frantically, and Sarah drives away fast with the late Mayor Dean’s son, Junior. The duo suddenly gets into a car accident, but before they can get hurt, Jordan flies in and saves them. As local authorities arrive and Kyle is informed about Sarah’s misadventures, he arrives at the scene and learns from Junior about a metahuman rescuer. Sarah knows that it is Jordan in disguise, but she keeps the truth from her father. Later, Kyle informs Lana about the situation, and when Lana too behaves strangely about the discovery, Kyle leaves fuming. The fact that he senses everyone is trying to actively avoid the topic raises his suspicion even more.
How Did Peia Manage To Break Out?
Jordan goes back home, starts panicking about the possibility of his identity getting exposed after the incident, and calls Clark give him a heads up. Clark tries to calm his son down by reassuring him that he did the right thing, but he gets angry and upset after knowing that they canceled their plan with Clark for the sake of partying. Clark has a brief argument with Jordan and later with Jon as well, as he is still finding it difficult to process the entire ordeal. Jon states up front that Superman’s duty keeps Clark away from home most of the time, even when the kids need him, and accordingly, Clark shouldn’t take their time for granted either. Ouch! That’s a low blow for sure, and we don’t know what Clark did to deserve this either.
At the DOD facility, Lois agrees to let Mateo meet his mother, Peia, before the formal confession, and that proves to be her biggest mistake. Mateo sneaks in some dosage of meta-ability booster in his cufflinks and injects Peia with it, restoring her vitality and increasing her strength more than the holding capacity of the facility. Before leaving, Mateo tells Peia about the rendezvous point Bruno mentioned for the family reunion. As Lois reenters the facility, she is shocked to discover that Peia has gained her strength back, and before they can do anything about it, Peia breaks out of her power dampener-holding cell, holding Lois hostage.
At the same time, a very worked-up Kyle arrives at the Kent household, and as he is greeted by Clark, he states that he considers Jon to be a metahuman. Despite Clark denying it vehemently, Kyle is adamant about his assumption and keeps on pushing. To make matters worse, Clark hears the distress calls, which require his immediate presence, but with Kyle constantly pestering him to reveal the truth, he has no option but to stay. As Kyle moves toward Jon, Clark has no other option except to reveal his own secret identity as Superman to him in order to protect his son’s secret identity. Clark flies off to assess the situation while Kyle keeps staring at his flight trajectory in disbelief. This revelation is going to have a huge impact, as Kyle isn’t that much of a reasonable person like Lana or their daughter Sarah, and he will surely blame the Kent family for all the ruckus that has ensued in Smallville so far, right from Tal Rho’s invasion to Ally Allston’s world-merging scenario.
Clark, now in his Superman attire, searches for the source of the distress call but realizes that, once again, he has been misled by Peia’s powers. As he rushes to the DOD, he finds the facility ransacked and Peia already gone. The episode ends with the Mannheim family—Bruno, Peia, and Mateo—reuniting at Bruno’s secret facility, where he is keeping the Bizarro’s corpse. Just like the episode started with Lois assuring Clark that they had conquered the battle against cancer together, a similar sentiment can be assessed as Bruno tells Peia that the breakout was possible due to their joint effort. As touching as the moment is, the Mannheims have to remember that they have made their son an accomplice to their crime too, and after this breakout incident, John Henry won’t keep quiet anymore. With the ominous foreboding of the return of Lex Luthor already rattling even the toughest killers like Peia, the remaining three episodes of this season are going to be extremely exciting as fans finally get to see how the writers adapt the evil mastermind into this iteration of the Superman lore.
