The first episode of The CW’s highly anticipated and newest CWverse show, Superman & Lois, has finally aired and it packed a punch! The Kents have moved their family back to Smallville and the Super Sons find out that their father is in fact a real-life superhero, and not just any superhero — Superman. Read on to find out what happened in the premiere episode, “Pilot.”
The episode starts with a retrospective of Clark’s life — from his first moments on Earth after having to leave Krypton, it walks through early Superman and shows a completely smitten Clark when he meets Lois at the Daily Planet. From there, it walks through their engagement and marriage, buying their first home and having their twin boys, Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan (Alex Garfin). As one would expect with any crime-fighting hero, within minutes of the episode beginning we see Superman saving the day! He responds to a report from General Lane (Dylan Walsh) who has arrived at yet another nuclear plant. In response with an assist of his powers, he quickly sees that there is a giant man-made crack in the cooling tower. After patching things up, Sam tells Clark that he’s put in a lot of overtime, and asks if Lois is okay with that. He follows up that he’d like to take the boys fishing. Clark says he will talk to Lois about dates.
Clark returns home and is greeted by Lois, who is on the phone. He checks on the boys and learns that Jonathan has news to tell him; he is starting quarterback on Varsity! When he goes to check on Jordan — appropriately playing Injustice 2 — Clark says he makes a good Superman and Jordan says, “Superman is boring.” Clark brushes it off and apologizes for missing therapy. He then sees he missed a call from his mom, and when he calls her back she says he needs to be around his family more. She reiterates that they are a bigger responsibility and he’s a father. Clark says he has a duty to the public to protect them also and that he doesn’t want to let anyone down.
The next morning, Clark is in the kitchen making breakfast for the family. The boys are bickering and Lois sends them off. They discuss Jordan and they argue that the boys need to be told about their dad’s powers. Lois says she thinks Jonathan has powers, Clark defends not telling them by saying that Jordan would feel more alien than he already does.
At the Daily Planet, Clark gets notified that he has been fired, Lois tells him he’s going to need to find another excuse as to why he’s late. Like clockwork, Clark gets a call from Dr. Frye and rushes over. He soon finds out that his mother, Martha, had a stroke and passed away. The episode returns with the family at Martha’s funeral, the Cushing family comes to pay their respects, and Jonathan teases Jordan about seeing Sarah (Inde Navarrette) again.Â
They catch up, and Sarah says despite them still having puberty in Smallville, the cell service isn’t great. They head to the barn to reset the internet router, but Jordan hesitates, saying Clark doesn’t like them going in there because there are things inside that can kill them.
Inside the Kent home, Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Kyle (Erik Valdez), Clark, and Lois are having a drink and catching up. Kyle, who naturally has his nose turned up to the big city folk, gets into it with Lois, who stands her ground. When Clark says they haven’t made a decision on the farm, Kyle drops a bomb that Martha has in fact made a decision on it already.
Back in the barn with Sarah, Jonathan, and Jordan, Sarah asks for Jordan’s phone to give him her number and she invites him to a bonfire. Jordan heads up to fix the router where he slips and falls. After a pipe nearly falls on top of Jordan, Jonathan jumps in the way to save his brother. Clark rushes to help the boys, flinging a pipe off of them. Later on, they get treated for what they find out are just mild concussions. Phew! Jordan begins to question what exactly happened in the barn, saying it’s up to them to find out what that is.
Sam Lane returns, showing camera footage of the nuclear plant rupturing, telling Clark that whoever contributed to the near explosion knows and has studied Superman and is clearly Kryptonian, as he has left a message for him to read: “you are not a hero Kal-El.” Lois tells him he can’t go, and Clark agrees. Sam says Superman doesn’t get to have a normal life and neither does she. This is what she signed up for when she married a superhero.
Lois and Clark head to the bank to discuss the farm’s future with Lana. Lana shows them mortgage papers and says they have two options: to pay the loan or receive a buyout to pay off the remainder of the property.
Jordan and Jonathan are back in the barn being sleuths, looking for any clues to tell them what happened to them. They discover a trap door that leads to a cellar. In it, they find their dad’s pod. An orange glowing object reveals itself to Jordan. The boys confront their parents, namely their dad, about the “alien ship” in the barn. Clark decides to tell them the truth, about all of it, where he came from, who he is — and they have a hard time processing it.
“I’ve seen Superman before. We’ve seen him!”
Clark takes off his glasses and lifts the truck up to prove to them he is who he says he is. Jordan is still upset with the lies that were kept from him. “You weren’t sent here to be a father.”
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Clark gets alerted of another nuclear facility in danger, and this time he is met by The Stranger (Wolé Parks) and they begin to fight. After chasing him around, he stabs Superman with kryptonite.
At the bonfire, Jordan meets up with Sarah and she talks about how drastically life has changed for her as she has gotten older. A year prior, she confesses to him that she took her mom’s pills and that she was sent to therapy. But Jordan completely understands because he went through a similar situation. Jordan kisses her without realizing she has a boyfriend, and Sarah’s boyfriend hits Jordan. Jonathan shows up and attempts to protect him, but gets himself in a world of trouble, too.
As Jordan becomes angrier, we quickly find out that he is in fact the one that possesses the powers out of the two of them, as a shot of his red lasers is shown. At home, Lois finds out that something terrible has happened to Clark as we see visuals of him falling from the sky. We once again hear Martha’s voice saying, “Clark, come home.”
Clark heads to the scene of the fire, which Jordan had started from his laser beams, and he meets up with the boys. Back at home, Jordan talks about his experience thus far and how his powers are beginning to manifest. Clark begins to realize what his mom meant by asking him to come home. He says he believes the family needs Smallville, and they need small-town living. Lois hesitantly agrees to move back.
Clark and Jordan are seen on the porch having a heart-to-heart where he lets him know he will always be there for him. “I haven’t always been there for you, but I promise you, from now on… I will be.”
Clark, Lois, and Lana are in the home discussing their options, and Clark tells them that they want to take over the loan and reopen the farm. They inquire about Morgan Edge and his ownership of part of the bank. Sarah, Jonathan, and Jordan are hanging out, and Jordan apologizes for kissing her before Jonathan peaces out. Sarah asks if he is able to keep her secret, and he says he will. Jordan talks to Jonathan about the powers, and Jon pushes it to the side, saying that this just proves his skills on the field are in fact all his own doing.
Clark and Lois enter, telling the boys they are thinking about permanently moving back but wanted to have a family discussion before they really do. Clark asks them to head to the barn with him, and that he wants to show them something. When they ask if it’s superhero-related, Clark tells them it’s not and that he wants to teach them how to attach a plow to the tractor. Because this is an instance with totally normal father and son bonding time, right?
The episode closes out with The Stranger and we find out that this is Captain Luthor — as in Lex Luthor. Is this a Lex from an Earth destroyed during “Crisis on Infinite Earths”?!
Superman & Lois airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
