Sarah’s Quinceañera preparations are in full swing, but how long can Kyle keep his secret from his beloved family? Chrissy takes up Ally Alston’s invitation and discovers more than she’d bargained for. Lois makes an unexpected connection. Jonathan is not quite himself, leading to friction with Jordan.

Before taking a short break, Superman & Lois left us with some pretty big questions to chew over. This week, it hits the ground running, and like Supes’ mirror nemesis, it isn’t pulling any punches.

Let’s start with the big reveal we got at the tail end of the last episode – Kyle’s apparent historical infidelity. In a show like this, with family being the literal cornerstone, any kind of betrayal like this will hit hard. When it’s this particular couple though, it feels worse. Kyle has been a hell of a character so far in the show, starting as a kind of semi antagonist and quickly growing – thanks to excellent work by the writers and Erik Valdez – into a much more complex and relatable character. Kyle was every good man beaten down by a world that doesn’t have time for him. He was in a strained situation in his home life, struggling with alcoholism and prone to lash out, but the one thing the show never had us doubt was his devotion to his family. Now that’s called into question, and the show wisely handles this in a very real way. Kyle feels crushed by guilt, doubly so given everything going on with preparations for Sarah and Lana’s mayoral run, and he doesn’t know quite what to do except avoid the inevitable shoe dropping. When it does, it’s devastating, but also deeply revealing of the character of not just Kyle, but those he loves the most.

Moving on, Chrissy is still feeling very frosty towards Lois and the reasoning is again complex and interesting. I honestly hadn’t expected Chrissy to come out with what she does when the two have a confrontation, but also I can’t really blame her. I can see interesting things being done with the character moving forward.

But for now, she’s taking up Ally Alston’s offer of a chat, and that’s a bad idea on multiple levels. The episode gives us a tantalising further glimpse of Alston and what she’s really about and suffice to say that none of it is good. Seems that whereas there may be something to her wilder claims after all, she’s still not being entirely honest with the world, just not in the way that Lois assumed.

Speaking of Lois, she makes an unexpected connection here which oddly relates to an issue I had with this week’s Batwoman. Coincidences and connections are fine if you do them well and they serve the story. The one here achieves both and opens up some tantalising possibilities.

As for Clark, he’s still trying to track down his mirror image and find out what the hell is going on. He’s also feeling guilt for John Henry’s current condition, the loss of Tag’s team mates and the injury of Tag. Unfortunately, whereas he might be ready to work with General Anderson, the feeling isn’t quite mutual. Anderson has new suspicions about Supes and the sudden appearance of his doppelganger, and that’s not doing anything for team morale.

Back at the Kent Homestead, Jordan starts training with his grandpa but Jonathan’s tagging along turns a little sour when competitiveness rears its ugly head. The side effects of X Kryptonite aren’t merely physical, and conflict may be looming in the future of the Kent brothers.

There’s so much going on from so many different angles that the real triumph here is not only does everything not feel disjointed or bitty, but it actually all feels organically connected and a part of the whole. There are no bad bits here, no weaker elements. Each character and sub plot stands strong as part of the package, and there’s nothing I’d be without.

Verdict: Continues to set the bar incredibly high for genre TV. 10/10

Greg D. Smith