Superman and Lois Season 1

He’s making fun of his grandfather’s name.

Clark’s dad is named “Jor-El.” Jonathan combined it with the name of a singer from the mid-80s. “El DeBarge.” The mashup is “Jor-El DeBarge.”

I agree with ZipperJJ; I’m surprised it was a reference for a teenager. But it did show up on last year’s RuPaul’s Drag Race when one of the contestants (who apparently did not know who El DeBarge was) had his hair…maybe Jonathan is watching that?

S01E05 The Best of Smallville

HOME - As Smallville celebrates its first Harvest Festival since Martha’s passing, Clark is reminded what his mother meant to him and learns a lesson that will help him move past her death. Meanwhile, Lois makes a breakthrough in the investigation of Morgan Edge. Lastly, Kyle tries to reconnect with Lana, but it seems like he might be falling back into his old ways.

And in the “Show, don’t tell” department, they show that Jordan, while he’s doing well hitting people, still doesn’t have a lot of the other skills needed for most football positions. Clark throws him a pass, which he completely bobbles and drops. “Well, that’s why he plays defense…” Just because you’re suddenly extra-strong doesn’t mean you’re suddenly the best athlete ever. Skills matter just as much as strength and speed, which will also come into play if Jordan tries to use his powers to stop a crime or something. “Hey, Jordan? Next time you’re deflecting bullets, take a microsecond to think about where you’re deflecting them…” as Clark stands in front of a diner full of bullet holes.

So Jonathan is familiar enough with Eighties music to make a pun on his grandfather’s name and El-Debarge, but Jordan doesn’t know about REO Speedwagon. The brothers may be twins but they’re really, really different.

I thought Black Luthor had given up all his tech, after blowing up his ship and giving up his super suit, but he still has his AI. Did he also save his weapons or were they acquired locally? He seemed quite surprised to see Superman in Smallville even though he knows Lois and Clark live there now. Is it possible he doesn’t know about Clark Kent? Maybe Kal-El was never Clark Kent in his universe.

Yes, both those moments were very well done.

Less good - the bit where Clark tells Lana he’s not worried about having left his car keys in his car (because it’s Smallville) - the day after Lois’ car is blown up in Smallville.

Amusing: Clark tells Jordan that he (Clark) tried out for baseball to impress a girl - but I don’t think Jordan has figured out that Clark’s talking about the mom of Sarah…

I did like the reveal of Luthor and Lois in his world.

I didn’t like the Luthor reveal in the first episode, since he’s overused. But having him from a parallel world opens up some great possibilities. The one last night parallels the classic Superman/Lois/Clark triangle of the Golden age. (Luthor is Clark in this case).

In the world Lois is now in (post-Crisis) everybody but people directly involved in the Crisis think Lex Luthor is the best person in the world - so she shouldn’t assume that this guy she just met (Captain L) will be okay with her insulting Lex.

The pandemic played merry hell with both production and broadcast schedules of all the Arrowverse shows. Case in point: we just saw the Smallville Harvest Festival, indicating the episode was intended to be shown in the late fall. Supergirl’s production was halted before the climactic confrontation with Lex Luthor and it could well be that Lex would be disgraced if the season had concluded as scheduled, before Superman and Lois premiered.

Thank you. That makes sense.

Don’t forget, the show go on spring hiatus next week. Supergirl will air in its place.

Other episode comments: Young Clark Kent looks a bit like Crispin Glover.
I liked the Harvestfest. I reminded me of events like that I attended as a kid.

When he put on a ski mask to hassle those crooks, I got a serious Brightburn vibe. Good thing Ma and Pa Kent raised him right.

He should have told them they could keep the Salad Shooters. Having to cart them around is its own punishment.

LOL, so very true. :grin:

Watched “Supergirl” last night - and you were quite right. Also explains why Kara hasn’t visited her nephews lately

TIL cousins once removed commonly refer to each other as niece/nephew and uncle/aunt. Ignorance fought.

(Not snarking - I genuinely did not know that. I thought your phrasing of their relationship was wrong, but looking online, that’s actually how the terms are normally used in the U.S. I’ve never thought of my cousin’s kids as my nephews, I’ve always thought of them as younger cousins, and they’ve never called me “uncle”, but I and my family may be outliers).

Actually, I should have said “young cousins,” but your larger point is correct. My cousin’s children call me “uncle” and I call my previous generation cousins “aunt” or “uncle” as appropriate. Aunt and uncle get used a lot (in my experience) for any older person who is “like family” (when I was little, I called the neighbors “aunt” and “uncle” even though they weren’t related at all).

S01E06 Broken Trust

SUPERMAN & LOIS RETURNS TONIGHT WITH NEW EPISODES - Clark reconsiders his decision to let Jordan play football. Meanwhile, Lois’ continued investigation of Morgan Edge requires her to trust an unexpected ally.

Kind of like how they handled the scene where the army guys shoot Superman, it actually knocks him down, and Supes gets pissed… Yeah, what do you do when the physical god with glowing red eyes stands up again and is clearly not happy you just shot him with kryptonite.

I do feel bad for Tag. Circumstances have treated him unfairly.

I also want Jonathan to get something from his Kryptonian heritage.

Clark’s speech to Jordan about gaining and retaining trust was some top-notch, prime quality Superman writing and acting.

Lois was no slouch either. When Black Luthor knocked on her door and gave her the fake ID, you could tell that she knew something fishy was up. And she went along with it not only so she could get into the mine, but also to find out what Black Luthor was up to.

Angry Superman is downright terrifying.