As the full extent of Edge’s plans become clear, Superman is faced with a terrible choice.

At the end of last week’s episode we found out that Edge was actually a Kryptonian and that’s why he’s hellbent on bodysnatching a load of humans and making them Kryptonians too. But he also called Supes ‘Brother’ – surely that was figurative, right?

Well, you’ll need to watch to find out. Let’s say that this episode introduces a lot of… complexity to various equations, while quietly lifting certain aspects of plot I recognise from Man of Steel and Krypton. It also provides the answer to an oft-asked question – indeed one that’s been covered in various media over the years – what if infant Kal-El hadn’t been found by a kindly, childless couple first? What if kindness hadn’t been his first experience of the human race as a whole?

As certain details are filled in, it becomes clearer that the ‘turning’ of the other Superman in Irons’ world wasn’t just because he was ‘bad’. Clark has always stood as a man apart, alone in a world in which nobody else is like him. To be suddenly confronted with the opportunity to reunite with his own kind can only be a grave temptation. That one of those with whom he could be reunited is perhaps the person he would most like to have the chance to meet makes that temptation all the sharper.

Unfortunately, while the character work from every cast member is as excellent as always, there is a part of this week’s plot which is necessarily a bit weaker than I would have liked, as the writers deploy a bit of hand-waving and you just have to go with it. Having firmly established the precise effects and their timescale of Edge’s machine, the show must then perforce bend them past breaking point to deliver not only a solution but also a heightened dilemma for our hero.

It’s hard to feel too annoyed by this, because the plot also has some incredible emotional heft with all of the cast fully turning up to do their bit. Sarah’s distress at her father’s current state, Jordan’s continued refusal to let his grandfather off the hook, Lana’s earnest wish to do whatever she can to help, and Kal-El’s constant internal conflict between what he instinctively wants and what he absolutely knows to be right – all are delivered with such sincerity and power that it’s easy to forgive a little bit of wonky plotting, but that wonkiness is still there, and not totally ignorable because of how much of the plot hangs off it.

Still, by the end we’ve had dramatic confrontations, emotional speeches and big, impressive set pieces. And as the credits roll, it’s clear that we are only just getting started.

Verdict: Hangs a lot of its plot on one wonky hook, but manages to get away with it. 8/10

Greg D. Smith