It Went By So Fast

Too fast, if we are being honest.

I want to write about this show from my normal perspective. Comparing this ending to how other Superman shows ended. Comparing the number of episodes. Comparing it to other final Superman stories. Write about literal Superman stories versus metaphorical ones. But as I sit here, starting this the morning after watching the final episode, I’m so filled with emotion.

I’ve stepped away from writing for the last several weeks. I had been on a streak since May. Things have come up that have made me unable to focus on writing. Life imitates art in a way. Seeing Lois at the end of her life, succumbing to cancer, felt so real. I was transported to that place: losing a loved one. That personal connection to my life right now brought me back to writing here.

I’m still reeling from their last moments. Laying in bed at home, in peace, surrounded by family. Perfect scenes with awesome performances all around. In five short minutes, with no costume, they capture everything that was great about the show and all the joy of life.

Of course, I’m emotionally connected to this story. I’m immersed in Superman-related media every day. He can feel as real to me as a family member. This finale may have hit me harder than someone that only watches this show or knows the movies. It was more than just an ending to this iteration of the characters. It truly felt like being there for the death of a family member.

Maybe this is why the first couple of episodes of the season didn’t initially grab me. The sci-fi melodrama around Superman’s heart felt like it took away from the fact that a family member had died. There was also no doubt they would bring him back a few episodes in. Even with the redirect of the AI Clark, we knew he was coming back. Little did I know how they would use that heart.

The heart of it all

This is a Superman story full of heart. At its core, Superman & Lois is about love, family, and friendships. Clark told us so at the end. Yes, it’s a superhero show with lots of action, but that lives alongside the heart. Tal-Rho was Clark’s brother, Bizarro’s relationship with his family mirrored Clark’s, Lois’s cancer and her friendship with Peia. For them to take the heart of the themes so literally was a surprise, but ultimately a triumph. How does Superman die the first time if, like Bizarro/Doomsday, he’ll always heal? Remove his heart. How does he return? He gets the heart of a family member in a moment of sacrifice, ultimately allowing Superman to slowly become human and die for real. Sam didn’t give his life so the world could have a hero. He gave his life so his daughter could have her husband and his grandchildren their father.

But why kill him? I mean beyond the fact that the Triangle Era and Death of Superman was an artistic and commercial high point for the character in the comics and the creative team are obviously huge fans of those books. They chose to give Superman an ending to truly connect him to the audience. There can never be a complaint of Superman being unrelatable. We just watched him go through one of the most universal human experiences.

Stories that need to be told

In early June 2023, Tyler Hoechlin made an appearance at the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. At that point, there were still two episodes left to air in season three. Tyler knew the season was going to end on this big cliffhanger note of Superman fighting Doomsday on the moon, but no one knew if we would get another season. With the changes in ownership for The CW, the changes in direction for the DC Universe on screen, and the wider streaming and entertainment industry changes, everything was up in the air. He told the audience he was hoping that they’d get to come back and finish the story. The showrunners may have had a seven-year plan, but it looked like it was going to end right then and there. It went by so fast.

In November, we got the confirmation the show was coming back for a shortened final season. Ten episodes compared to 15 in the first two seasons and 13 in season three. A far cry from 22-episode Smallville or Lois and Clark seasons. Soon afterwards, we learned only the core four family members plus Cudlitz as Luthor were going to be regular cast members with hopes they’d be able to get the rest of the cast to return in limited roles. There was a moment where Dylan Walsh said he would not return at all to play Sam Lane. Add in a new Jimmy Olsen, Tom Cavanagh in an undisclosed role (later revealed to be Glorious Godfrey), and Yvonne Chapman as Amanda McCoy. How were they going to finish this story and balance all these elements? A new season needs new ideas and story beats to move it forward; it couldn’t just be ten episodes of denouement. But it worked. McCoy was critical in Lex’s story. Jimmy’s inclusion was important to show what Clark had missed out on in his life and what was at stake revealing his identity. The rest of the cast came back enough to complete their stories. At times they were missed and we felt the absence of the cast, but they did an excellent job with what they had to work with.

#SUPERFAM

When The CW decided to spin Superman & Lois off from the Arrowverse shows, Bitsie Tulloch took to social media to engage with the fans. She got good at that from her previous show: Grimm. They came up with the hashtag Superfam for the show. Because she recognized the community of fans can be a family just like the show was about family. I’m not sure if any actor playing this part has ever shown the care and respect for it the way Bitsie has. Early on, she asked what colors Lois should wear, and of course, the answer is purple. Turns out Bitsie doesn’t like purple, but she recognized it was important for the character and brought it to the costume team. Every time I saw her in purple, I thought of the care she brought to the role.

That shot of Natasha, John Henry, Jordan, and Jonathan all flying with Superman in comic-inspired costumes is going to be tough for any Superman adaptation to top. We were lucky to have such an awesome cast. I know some parts of the fandom were less interested in the Cushings or Beppo, but I loved them. The extended cast made the world feel real, and these relationships were an important part of the themes and the story being told.

Literal vs metaphorical

I find Superman stories work best when he’s not tackling literal real-world problems. Of course, a real Superman could feed the homeless or destroy every nuclear weapon (and Nuclear Man). I’m not looking for a right-wing strongman who is the only one that can solve our problems. Superman’s challenges are metaphorical. Larger-than-life allegories.

For me, Superman has the same problems we do, but on a Paul Bunyan scale. If Superman walks the dog, he walks it around the asteroid belt because it can fly in space. When Superman’s relatives visit, they come from the 31st century and bring some hellish monster conqueror from the future. But it’s still a story about your relatives visiting.

-Grant Morrison

This show walked that fine line. Last season when he faced off against the very real Bruno Mannheim, Superman was made to question the good he had done for the world. As Superman transitioned from superhero to mortal man, his method for helping the world changed. The For All Seasons charity they created, working with Mannheim to better their community, was perfect. It was a continuation of the kind of service he learned from his parents.

Follow the S

Writer Ed Gross in his many podcast appearances talks about how he “follows the S”. Meaning he isn’t tied to one adaptation; he loves them all. Each iteration brings something to the table. Sure, there are parts of the fandom that only love George Reeves. Folks that only love the silver-age comics. The Triangle Era fans. The Snyder Cut contingent. Like Ed, I follow the S.

But the question still always comes up, which is your favorite? What I often come back to is: my favorite is the one I’m watching right now. When I’m watching Superman: The Movie, there can be no doubt it’s my favorite. But then I put on Lois & Clark, and seeing the chemistry they have together, then of course that’s the best adaptation. But then I put on Smallville’s “Abandoned,” and I see Teri Hatcher return and Helen Slater as Lara, and how great Tom and Erica are together, and over ten years that’s got to be the best, right? Or I go back to “Around the World with Superman” from 1954, and then yeah, of course, George’s paternal Superman has got to be the best. Or I watch Tyler in the Fleischer costume, and well, of course, this is the best. And that’s not even mentioning animated adaptations!

But is Bitsie Tulloch truly the best Lois Lane we’ve ever had? In four seasons, it feels like she has embodied the best parts of every Lois. I think an argument can be made for her, and right now I’d agree with it.

Superman fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.

Superman shows have, infamously, not gotten good endings. From the tragic end of The Adventures of Superman to the cliffhanger of Lois & Clark to the CGI Superman in Smallville, fans haven’t been satisfied. But how do you give a real ending to a character that is supposed to go on forever?

That hasn’t stopped the comics from trying: Twilight of the Superheroes. Infinite Crisis. Final Days of Superman. Death of Superman (the first one). I thought the show might do a version of “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Clark retiring and winking into the camera in anonymity with the possibility of his son taking over. Clark even took the name Jordan Elliot! I wasn’t far off, but they took it a step further than I would have expected.

There are many stories where he carries on forever: The JSA Kingdom Come sequel. All-Star Superman. Tom King’s Of Tomorrow. John Byrne’s Generations. DC One Million. Future State. After killing him and bringing him back, the show could have gone this direction instead. But instead, it brought Superman to Earth.

Personally, I love the idea of him going on forever, since it mirrors reality in a way. As long as superhero comics exist, we’ll get new issues of Superman. But one of the truly great things about this character is his ability to be so many different things. With every generation, there is a new interpretation. I’m totally okay with some of those interpretations ending with him living out a mortal life on the farm. I may think him giving up his powers to live on the farm, as Crisis on Infinite Earths showed Tom Welling’s Clark, is a bit out of character. But him losing his abilities after a lifetime of service and then continuing to serve his community until his untimely passing felt right. Especially for a Clark that was so connected to his hometown he returned there after his mother’s death.

By the numbers

The Salkind-produced Superboy show ran for 100 episodes split between two Clarks. John Haymes Newton got the first season of 26 episodes, and Gerard Christopher got the other three seasons of 74 episodes. At the end, Superboy hinted at his Superman future, but the last episodes don’t give a satisfying conclusion. Lois & Clark was, by all accounts, robbed of its fifth season and ends on the 88th episode with an unexplained baby cliffhanger. George Reeves got 104 episodes over six seasons with the expectation of more before his tragic death. “All That Glitters” might be an interesting episode because George directed it, and recurring character Professor Pepperwinkle is there, but it’s no true send-off. Smallville got a conclusion at the end of its legendary ten-season, 218-episode run, but it was the conclusion of the beginning of Superman’s story. Not his end. Welling doesn’t even wear the suit! They did get the whole last season to bring things together despite reaching for more than they could pull off. His aforementioned return in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover is close to the “Whatever Happened” ending I thought we might get here.

Tyler Hoechlin got 53 episodes of Superman & Lois across four seasons. While that’s the same number of seasons as Lois & Clark and Superboy, production differences mean far fewer episodes. Although the Superboy—and Adventures of Superman—episodes were about half the length. Plus, 12 guest appearances of a slightly different universe’s Superman in the Arrowverse shows starting with “The Adventures of Supergirl” in 2016, bringing us to a total of 65 episodes. I don’t think this iteration will return, but this show will now live on forever as part of the Superman mythos. Maybe we’ll see this cast again in different roles in the future.