After having the major half of the season dealing with Lois’ battle with cancer and its repercussions on her and her close ones, the finale of the third season of CW’s Superman & Lois ties the major character arcs neatly and, at the same time, ends with a major game-changing cliffhanger that promises a significant development for the already confirmed fourth season. In the previous episode, we saw Lex Luthor get exonerated of his life sentence after Bruno confessed to incriminating him seventeen years ago along with Peia.
Lois Lane was misguided by evidence fabricated by Mannheim all those years ago, and it was her articles that put Lex behind bars. Simmering with hatred and anger through all the years he had lost in his life, right after his release, a vengeful Lex arrives at the doorstep of the Kents in Smallville. Lex demands Lois quit journalism as a gesture of apology and threatens her with severe consequences if his dictate is not followed. During the final moments of the last episode, Lex finds out about Mannheim’s secret hideout, where an extensively experimented Bizarro was surviving on his own, and attacks Lex’s thugs right away after seeing them. In the finale, Lex’s plan with Bizarro to bring doom to the Man of Steel is unveiled as the climactic final battle teases big developments that are going to take place in the fourth season.
Spoilers Ahead
Calm Before The Storm: How Is Everyone Holding Up At Smallville?
A month has passed since Lex was released from prison, and despite his threat about consequences, the world hasn’t heard anything since. The finale begins with Lois’ monologue, keeping in sync with most of the former episodes, as she speculates whether Lex has changed in the course of seventeen years. In a montage video, we see folks from Smallville being busy with their lives: Jon resumes his fireman drills with Kyle, Jordan is still bitter for how things turned out between him and Sarah, the budding romance between John Henry and Lana is making its presence felt, and Sam is turning over a new leaf in his life as he meets Gretchen through the elder date app Jordan basically coerced him to use. Lois’ treatment has almost reached the end, and she is prepared to take the next step in her life as well.
At the Kent household, Sam arrives to discuss the Lex situation, and Lois shares her suspicion that the megalomaniac villain is only taking a step back in preparation to lunge at his target, which is Lois herself, all the more ferociously. Both Clark and Sam assure her that they won’t let Lex succeed in his plans in any way. The twins get ready to organize the meteor shower watch on Smallville main street for the next day, and through their conversation, it becomes clear that Clark isn’t willing to let Jordan resume his superhero career just yet.
Do Lang And The Irons Family Finally Get Settled?
As the scene moves to Kyle’s apartment, Chrissy shares news of her pregnancy with Kyle, who is elated and surprised at the same time, and later shares the news with his ex-wife Lana and their two daughters as well. It is good to see that Kyle’s family warms up to the news of Kyle and Chrissy having a child, and Lana even states she is looking to spoil the baby as much as she wishes by showering her with love and care. Lana knows that she needs to move on with her life as well, and later that day, she gets asked for a dinner date by John Henry as well.
Sam drops by the Irons household and lets them know that John and Natalie’s designs have caught the attention of DOD, so much so that they are offering the duo to permanently settle in Metropolis, admit Natalie to DOD Academy, and start a new life thereby working full time. John Henry shares the news with Lana during their dinner date, and the duo finally have a heart-to-heart about their feelings for each other, which leads to more intimate affairs later on.
The Kent family discuss about their upcoming trip at the Smallville diner, and Lois and Clark notice Jordan being mean to Sarah, and Clark later confronts him about the matter. He states to his son that feeling dejected himself is no excuse to make others feel miserable as well, which leads to Jordan talking it out with Sarah and apologizing to her.
What Has Lex Been Up To Since His Release?
With her arduous battle with cancer almost over, Lois is mentally prepared to bring intimacy into their conjugal relationship once again, and as she states that to Clark, the duo fly off to Italy at Tal Rho’s (Kal El’s nefarious stepbrother who has turned a new leaf since) villa and make love. It was important for Lois, as after the double mastectomy, she was feeling insecure about her body, but with Clark’s love toward her remaining all the same, Lois regained some form of confidence. Ecstatic about their rejuvenated love life, the duo even decides to spend holidays in Italy with their two boys, who are happy about this sudden international vacation but are sure about the fact that their parents are secretly bribing them for something.
At the Gazette office, Chrissy shares the good news of her pregnancy with Clark and Lois, but Clark seems momentarily distracted. Later upon questioning, he shares with Lois that Judge Raegan, who was under Mannheim’s payroll earlier and whom Lois saved from committing suicide by encouragement (a pivotal moment, as Lois shared the news of her cancer diagnosis at the same time), has just been murdered at Metropolis. Flying off to the city, Clark and Lois understand that Luthor has slowly started to exact his revenge on those whom he deems guilty of his unjust incarceration. Judge Raegan was first on the list, and it’s only a matter of time till he starts hunting Lois.
At Smallville, Sam brings Gretchen to meet his grandchildren; later, Gretchen pulls Sam into a private space only to tase him, and it turns out she was Luthor’s associate all along. Getting close to Sam was only a ploy to deliver him to Luthor.
The scene shifts to the ending of the previous episode, a month ago, from the present timeline, where Luthor and his thugs were attacked by Bizarro at the hideout of Bruno. Lex got his hands on an X-Kryptonite rifle and shot him to death, only to see him resurrected on his own. Bruno’s experiments must have done a number on Bizarro and turned him into something near undead. Luthor hits upon a plan to use this to his advantage and, throughout one month, holds Bizarro captive and keeps on killing him again and again. This results in his mutation into an abomination—an unkillable one at that.
Lex essentially created a version of the iconic supervillain Doomsday, which might seem reminiscent of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Lex similarly created Doomsday by combining his and deceased general Zod’s DNA. However, in this iteration, the comics origin of Doomsday is respected as well. In comics, Doomsday was bred to be an unstoppable killing machine, and he was killed in every possible way and resurrected as many times as necessary to do so.
Did The Man Of Steel Survive His Doomsday?
Back in the present time, after learning that Sam hasn’t been found, Clark goes to space in his Superman attire to listen for any possible hints and listens to Lex approaching the Kent farm. Clark flies down, and the two iconic rivals face each other. Clark asks Lex about Sam’s whereabouts, neglecting that Lex summons Doomsday using his signal transmitter. Jumping right on top of Kent’s farm and destroying it, Doomsday wastes no time in beating Superman to a pulp. The duo land at a meteor shower watch gathering, and as John, Natalie, and Jordan consider joining to help using their abilities, Clark forbids them from doing so. He knows that this isn’t just another fight; it might very well turn out to be a battle to the death, and anyone else joining will only increase the risk of casualties.
The battle between the two powerhouses reaches Metropolis, where Clark uses his freeze breath to stupefy the monstrosity and impales him on a tower. However, as he descends to calm the alarmed citizen, he realizes the abomination has resurrected on its own. Soundgarden’s “Blow Up the outside world” starts playing in the background as Doomsday starts pummeling down Superman through the subway, turning him almost unconscious, and flies off with him into space. Jordan states that he isn’t able to hear his father’s heartbeat anymore, and a desperate, anxious Lois calls Clark’s name.
Hearing the faint voice from space, a nearly lifeless Superman regains strength, loosens Doomsday’s hold, and punches him to the moon. As the finale ends, the two juggernauts are seen rushing toward each other on the surface of the moon while the earth glimmers in the background, leaving the symbol of hope’s fate in question.
The shocker of an ending teases the most important Superman comic of all time, The Death of Superman, which will probably be adapted in the fourth season of Superman & Lois. A fight with Doomsday is what resulted in the shocking demise of the Man of Steel in comics, which at that period of time was such a significant issue that even the world outside the comic book fraternity mourned the loss. In the immediate aftermath of the event, four new substitute Supermans in the form of Superboy, Eradicator, Steel, and Cyborg Superman presented themselves as the protectors of Metropolis and weren’t very adept at the job in the end. Eventually, the last son of Krypton returned from death in his full glory, and the universe was safer again. In the narrative of Superman & Lois, too, the presence of Jordan Kent’s Superboy, John Henry, aka Steel, and Tal Rho, aka Eradicator, is already seen, and in the situation, if Superman loses his life in the fourth season during his fight with Doomsday, they will definitely try to fill in the shoes of Superman.
