Ricky Church reviews the eleventh episode of Superman & Lois season 3…
Two big storylines reached their climax in the latest Superman & Lois as the Mannheims tried to make an escape out of Metropolis while Lois underwent her surgery. It was a significant episode for its characters, though a little odd given that there are two more episodes until the finale and the season seemingly wrapped up its main plotline, but ‘Complications’ provided closure to the Mannheims in a way that didn’t sacrifice its character moments while again highlighting one of Superman’s best qualities.
The biggest development to come out of ‘Complications’ is the death of Peia and capture of Bruno Mannheim. Their story has been well told throughout the season and given them nice layers as their goal wasn’t to obtain money or power (even if that might have been a secondary benefit) but to find a cure for Peia’s cancer. Bruno’s desperation for a cure, combined with Peia’s capture a few episodes ago, backfired as the blood from the Bizarro Superman didn’t quite cure Peia but put her sonic powers into massive overdrive. As awful as the two might have been in their climb to power with killing however many people or threatening John Henry’s family, it is clear that they only take actions like that when they feel is absolutely necessary instead of for evil’s sake.
Chad L. Coleman portrayed Bruno’s desperation, anger and sorrow quite well, but the look on Peia’s face when she realized they went too far and how much danger she put countless men, women and children in spoke volumes. Daya Vaidya delivered a great, emotional performance in the episode but most especially in those moments as so much of her role relied on her facial expressions and body language. Peia’s powers were pretty much eating her alive and Vaidya was excellent in conveying how much pain Peia was in.
Given Peia’s escape from the DOD in the previous episode and how the Mannheims were planning to leave Metropolis, it could have culminated in a fight between Superman and Peia, a rematch after the last time they met when she ambushed him. Superman & Lois took a much more clever route though, capitalizing on Lois and Clark’s complicated feelings toward her due to her condition and how close they became, as instead of throwing a punch Superman instead offered her a hand, using his compassion to get to her and help end her suffering without hurting anyone or levelling the city. It is yet another example of how much the writers and people behind the show understand Superman’s character by emphasizing his empathy, even to his enemies.
A great element to Superman reaching out to Peia was how it tied back into her introduction as she described to Clark the nature of the pull to give into the disease and let go, providing her with her own sense of peace and acceptance. Tyler Hoechlin displayed a great amount of worry and sorrow throughout the story on its two fronts, but when it came to Peia’s death and delivering her body to Bruno and Matteo his sympathy was palpable.
On the other side of the Mannheim conflict was Lois’ mastectomy which would have been a stress factor in itself, but doubly so as the operation was taking place while Peia’s out of control powers wreaked all kinds of havoc across the city. Hoechlin, Alex Garfin and Micah Bishop did well showing how each of them was stressed and handled it differently, from Clark’s optimistic output to Jordan’s panic attack timed with the arrival of his x-ray vision. Garfin and Bishop shared a nice scene together as Jonathan helped Jordan out of his attack as the two boys resolved to be there for Lois.
The fact Lois’ operation was taking place at the same time as Peia’s meltdown was an added stressor that the episode didn’t quite need as it slightly took away from the the Kents’ family drama as well as Lois’ own fears going into surgery, but it still worked in the larger context. Elizabeth Tulloch didn’t get much to do in the second-half of the episode, but was very good in the first half as she was finding her own sense of peace and calm with her family and friends. The dinner scene at the Kent household just showed how much chemistry there is between the whole cast as they came together for one final meal before the operation.
Aside from the big storylines, the smaller ones were also good if not as compelling. Kyle’s discovery of Clark’s secret identity was handled well, even getting a couple jokes in about how Kyle was a bit of a bully to the future Superman in high school, and his clash with Chrissy over her lying to protect the secret was purposely hypocritical and thankfully ended quickly by the episode’s end instead of drawing it out over the course of the final episodes. Sarah’s returning depression is also interesting in the wake of her and Jordan’s argument, providing her and Inde Navarrette more to do than be caught in this “will they/won’t they?” storyline while Natalie and Matteo’s romance doesn’t seem quite finished yet, but was given enough of its own closure for the time being. It is intriguing to think what Spencer Moore II will do as Matteo now that his mother has passed and his father is about to be sent behind bars and how Tayler Buck handles that opposite him.
‘Complications’ was a good episode that gave a surprising early conclusion to the Mannheim arc. It showcased how far the two villains had gone while highlighting Superman’s compassion in the face of his enemies and the rest of the cast did well in their parts. Lois isn’t quite out of the woods yet with her cancer storyline so we should hopefully see more of Tulloch’s emotional range in the next two episodes, both of which will finally bring Michael Cudiltz’s Lex Luthor into the picture as he is about to become a free man thanks to Mannheim’s confession to his numerous crimes, and that’s on top of Bizarro being resurrected in a terrible state of mind. Hopefully Superman & Lois can handle switching gears so soon before the finale smoothly.
Rating: 8/10
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