Review: Superman & Lois – Haywire s01e04

In last week’s episode, Superman & Lois had very divergent storylines, that seemed to exist entirely separately.  This week though, the different threads are more compatible, as the show looks at the cost to the family in episode 4, ‘Haywire’.  *Warning! Spoilers Lie Ahead!*

At the moment there are a number of plates that the show is trying to keep spinning, all of which are having an impact on the Kent’s home life.  These include the mysterious Captain Luthor, who seems to have all but disappeared suddenly, Morgan Edge’s (Adam Rayner) villainous ways, and then Jordan’s (Alex Garfin) struggles at school with his powers.  On top of those, there is interference from Lois’ (Elizabeth Tulloch) Father Sam (Dylan Walsh), who seems to want to insert himself into their business.

Sam’s opinion is that Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) should be focused solely on his Superman duties and sacrifice everything else along the way.  While there might be some valid points in what he says, or at least some wisdom in recognising that nothing is going to be easy, it comes across as an extreme black and white issue for him, with no grey area.  This sits especially badly with Lois, as she remembers the cost for her personally growing up with that ‘job first’ kind of rhetoric.

Lois and Clark are much more inclined to put the family first, and to try to make it work without drastically affecting the lives of the ones they love.  This is the central theme of much of ‘Haywire’, as they effectively demonstrate the problems that they face.

With his newly discovered aptitude for Football, Jordan is now a much more settled student, making things easier for him, although his success is grating on Jonathan (Jordan Elsass).  This tension between the brothers has been evident for the past few episodes in flashes, but doesn’t stop them essentially sticking together when it matters.  Here that bond is critical as Tag (Wern Lee), a football player injured during Jordan’s ‘Ocular blast’, starts to exhibit an odd ability.

On several occasions, Jonathan and Jordan try to deal with Tag’s issues themselves.  Partly this is because Jordan feels responsible, but also because they have been warned by Sam not to call on their Father, due to his ‘more important work’.  Eventually, this policy almost goes horribly wrong and ensures that Sam enjoys the wrath of Lois and Clark, who want to do things their way.

This is handled pretty well, and ‘Haywire’ creates a few scenarios where it is difficult for Clark to prioritise between family and the world at large.  One of them does feel a little forced though, involving a prison transfer that gets easily ambushed.  It seems avoidable, but at least the reason for the transfer is based in some solid logic that shows the writers are thinking beyond Smallville, and what Clark not being in Metropolis would mean.  The move to Smallville does raise some questions, which hopefully they will address as they go.

That would need to be done without overdoing the number of spinning plates they’re keeping track of, which is already looking like too many.  Thankfully, they make space for the family aspect of the plot by moving the Morgan Edge investigation slightly into the background and do so without compromising it too much.  There are still plenty of critical things that happen in that storyline which will be very important going forward, but it doesn’t dominate.  Its role this week is much more a scene setting type affair, with Lois and Morgan squaring off against each other and drawing the battle lines.

This approach also makes Edge work a little better in the story, and keeps it far more subtle.  Last week’s events were a little over the top and shifted into areas that seemed to occur too soon for the plot.  There needs to be a slower build up here, raising the tension, as opposed to the appearance of an array of superpowered villains straight away. They also need to be careful to keep Morgan Edge from becoming a ‘moustache twirling’ villain, which they’ve managed so far, but that could easily change.

The general feel of ‘Haywire’ is definitely a more balanced one than last week, and moved things along nicely in most of the various storylines.  Sam’s scenes were a little bit of a blunt instrument when a more nuanced approach might have been preferable, but this is probably a deliberate choice to have him represent an authority figure full of bluster.  The drama at home seems to be working well though, and is giving us an alternative and evolved version of things we’ve seen before in ‘Smallville’.  If they can continue to develop the series with that awareness across all the storylines, Superman & Lois will become something quite interesting.