Superman and Lois: Finale Review

 

I remember writing about the pilot episode of this show.  I wrote:

When Superman was first introduced in the CW Arrowverse I was not terribly impressed.  No offense to actor Tyler Holchin, but with the iconic nature of the character, I just didn't think that they did the Superman justice.  On Supergirl, it felt like they were terrified that Kal-El would overshadow his cousin in her own show...

The concept for this show is the Lois and Clark are raising two twin teenage sons.  This is a side of Superman we really haven't seen.  His romance with Lois has been the subject of lots of stories.  And the idea of them raising a child has been explored in great detail by writers like Peter J. Tomasi.  But the dynamic of two teen sons is incredibly intriguing.

And now here we are at the end.  The show ran for 4 season and only had 54 episodes in total.

But that finale packed a wallop.

It was one of the best series finales I have ever seen.

This season, we saw storylines familiar to comic fans, particularly we had the classic Doomsday storyline.  Along with this we had Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) placed front and center as the main villain.  And I have to say that Cudlitz knocked it out of the park.  He might very well be the best live-action Luthor I have seen.  When he stands toe-t0-toe with Superman, you can understand why he is terrifying, even without powers.  This season has been a long series of defeat with just enough victory to keep fighting.

I will do my best not to spoil the details of the episode, but the action was some of the best of the series.  Of all of the CW DC shows, Superman and Lois always felt the most cinematic.  While there are severe limitations on a series like this, the film makers do great work with what they have.  There is an amazing shot of Superman standing resolute in the middle of the street, with slow-motion explosions behind him that adds such a powerfully dramatic look to the final confrontation.

The performances are generally excellent.  I already called out Cudlitz.  But Tyler Hoechlin (Clark) and Elizabeth Tulloch (Lois) at their best.  Both of them face impossible odds and we can see the full emotional spectrum play out.  In one of the best moments, Superman is losing the fight.  Lois revives him and he finds out that she sent their sons into the battle.  Superman argues with her about how it is his job to protect them, but she argues that he needs their help and that they have to become men now.  My summary does not do justice to all the conflicting emotions of fear, pride, love, and resolve that are all at play in that scene.

And scenes like this highlight the wonderful thematic elements of the show.  The main conceit ("Superman and Lois Lane Raise Teenagers") was always grounded in primal truths about parenthood.  The show asks the question: how do you raise teens to become good people in a fallen world?  By placing it in the context of a comic book story, it elevates the question rather than denigrating it.  It shows that passing on virtue to your children is the most heroic thing imaginable.

This is true, even when the odds seem impossible.  To the show's great credit, Clark and Lois are not perfect Mary Sues who always get it right.  They are flawed, but their flaws are always grounded in one of their good qualities.  In the above example, Clark desperately wants to be a good father.  Men know in their bones that a good father will do everything he can to protect his family, even if it means he has to die.  But because of this, he is sometimes blind to the fact that he is not as strong as he used to be and that he has to accept help from his children.  How often do we see this this struggle play out in our own family dynamics as the years go by?

All of the stories with their plot-threads and themes find a good resolution in this finale.  But it is the 10-minute epilogue at the end that casts this finale into the stratosphere.

The pilot episode began with a prologue, narrated by Clark.  The finale ends with an epilogue narrated by him as well.  The symmetry of it is quite beautiful.  And here is also where the finale sets itself apart.  Most finales end with an ellipses, where you leave the story open to imagined further adventures.  

This finale ends on an exclamation point.  This is the definitive end to the story.

But even more than that, the show brings the focus back to what is at the heart of the story.  The big superhero flights of fancy are only there to protect the core.  CS Lewis wrote about the state and he said this:

“The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging his own garden--that is what the State is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc., are simply a waste of time.”

The point Lewis is making is that all of the extraordinary powers should be at the service at ordinary life.  Superman and Lois uses all of its spectacular super powered adventures to remind us that the true meaning of life can be found.  And above all there is a focus on love.

I remember a story about St. John the Apostle.  Whenever he would give a homily, he would always preach about love.  When someone confronted him about why he was always preaching about love and John replied, "Because that's all there is!"

Superman and Lois reminds us about this truth.  There is something deeply profound about how the show sums up everything here.

And so we will end with the final words of the show:

And suddenly it came to me, what life is all about. Joy, hope, forgiveness, wonder, friendship, family, love... it was all because of love. It’s the thing that makes love worth living. Do everything you can to find love, to give it, to hold onto it, because life, it goes by so fast.”