Four weeks after the world narrowly escaped destruction at the hands of Ally, life continues in the town of Smallville, as various parties try to navigate their new normal. The emergence of a new enemy from the shadows threatens to overturn everything.

Good lord, this is a packed episode, even by the standards of a show which I feel like I say this about every week. Superman & Lois traditionally thrives on providing layers to its characters, with the emotional stuff very much playing more prominently than the super powered stuff. This season opener is no different, setting out starting points for what feels like dozens of individual plot lines, and pitching each on perfectly.

The main one, revolving around Lois and Clark themselves, is surprising in all the best ways. The reactions of each of them are unexpected, the way the thing plays out across and in-between the rest of the episode, and the way in which it is concluded are all brave, challenging and most of all interesting. Clearly, this won’t be a series which pulls its punches.

Meanwhile, with Clark and Lois experiencing a resurgence of marital bliss, Kyle and Lana try to navigate the complexities of the ending of their own relationship. I don’t mind saying I was rooting for these guys, and it’s genuinely affecting to see them slowly moving apart. When Kyle feels he can’t handle the direction he thinks he sees Lana’s life moving in, he makes a rash decision which I have a feeling might actually be perfect, and that alone is testament to the quality of the writing here.

The elephant in the room for me was the re-casting of Jonathan Kent – the chemistry enjoyed between Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin felt hard to replicate, but Michael Bishop more than steps up here as the ‘cooler’ Kent brother. There’s undoubtedly a different energy to Bishop’s performance, but it works, and he keys off Garfin well to maintain the warm, friendly and occasionally spiky relationship between the brothers.

Natalie gets to be much more than a side character here, as she starts trying to get to know this world’s Sam Lane. Things don’t go entirely to plan, but the nice thing about Dylan Walsh’s portrayal of Lois Lane’s dad has always been the complexity – what could so easily be a two-dimensional irritable father in law/military hardass is actually a layered, richly believable man who knows when to apologise and how. I look forward to seeing this dynamic develop as the season goes on.

Underlying everything are mentions of Bruno Mannheim, a previous story chased by Lois and Clark in Metropolis, who is back now to haunt not just them but potentially the world. Not clear exactly what he’s up to or who he’s in league with just yet, but it’s clear that once again, Supes is facing a real challenge this time out.

Between all this, plus a subplot involving Lana’s mayorship and another watching Jordan and Sarah try to navigate their own thorny relationship issues, plus a bunch more, there is never a dull moment, and importantly, the show retains that focus on human drama against a backdrop of occasional superhero derring-do. If this is what we can expect from the rest of the season, I’m in.

Verdict: Picks up where it left off without missing a beat. 9/10

Greg D. Smith