Recap: Grief Manifests in ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 1, Episode 8 “Holding The Wrench”

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Last week viewers were clued into a major character reveal: Captain Luthor is actually John Henry Irons, otherwise known as Steel. This week, Clark, Lois, and Jonathan try to get to the bottom of this version of Irons, and Sarah auditions for the school talent show with a little help from Jordan. Read on to find out what happens in this week’s episode, “Holding The Wrench.”

Note: This episode deals with miscarriage and grief. If you or a loved one has experienced loss, know you are not alone and you have the right to grieve on your own terms. If you feel comfortable sharing your feelings, there are outlets available with those in similar situations.

Lois is in a meeting discussing the major life changes to their family, feeling like she lost control. She’s worried if she can’t get ahold of it, she will hurt someone she loves. At the Kent farm, the family is having a check in with each other. Clark talked to the coach and knows the boys are taking a break from football.

Clark gets a call from Sam and heads to the DoD to talk to Irons. Lois wants to investigate Irons’ trailer and Jonathan offers to help her. Jordan and Lois head to Irons trailer to scope it out. His A.I. demands an identification, to which Lois says “Lois Lane.” The A.I. knows who she is, and Lois wants to know why she’s an authorized user. She inquires about Irons, and an area with monitors lifts up from under the bed. 

At the Cushing household, Lana talks about her recent projects with Edge. Kyle says if he offers to expand, he would love to take part. Kyle and Lana both encourage Sarah to audition for the school musical.

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At school, Sarah is contemplating signing up and Jordan tells her that she should. He lets her know he used to play piano, and if she tries out he will be there to cheer her on.

Irons is inside of his cell at the DoD. Flashbacks of his Earth’s Lois and Nat appear. He’s pulled out of his thoughts and into a room with Superman. He’s done his research but still needs to know how he was able to get to this Earth. Irons doesn’t budge, calling him a traitor and that he will be the one to defeat him. He won’t say anything else until Lois is brought in.

Jonathan and Lois are still digging, when a photo of him and his Earth’s Lois pops up. They flip through more photos, bewildered by what they’re seeing. Back at the DoD Irons tells Superman exactly what he did to his wife, Lois: he killed her, and Irons is going to make sure he doesn’t do it again.

Lois is on the phone with Clark — they’re filling each other in on their intel. Lois says if Irons wants to save humanity, he has to accept that Earth-Prime’s Superman is not the enemy. They need him to tell them how to save their world.

Kyle helps Sarah practice for her audition. She’s not sure she wants to do it, afraid her nerves will get the best of her, but Kyle instills confidence inside of her.

At the DoD, Sam wants to tap into Irons, but Superman isn’t sure it’s a good idea. Jordan is looking over more photos when he stumbles across the footage of Lois getting killed. It visibly shakes him, so he goes looking around the trailer for more. He uncovers Irons’ weapons when he gets trapped inside of the trailer. The A.I. demands his name and when he gives it, she notes he isn’t authorized, and if Jon doesn’t get help quickly, he’s going to die.

Lois rushes out to try to help him, but she has no other choice except to call for Clark. He gets there just in time to stop the count and as shots get fired he lasers them and gets Jon out of there. Lois is livid. Jon tries to explain himself, just wanting to help. He tried to get ahold of the weapons because everyone else in the house is armed but he has nothing. Lois and Jon get into a heated argument, telling him if he had died the only person he would be able to blame is himself.

Clark tries to settle her down, treading lightly as to not upset her more. He wants to be the person she is able to go to, and suggests she visit Dr. Wiles.

Kyle visits Lana at work when he runs into Leslie. She says she’s disappointed that he turned down their offer, and that Edge is highly interested in him. Kyle heads in and immediately goes to Lana. He knows she lied to him, and she continues, saying Edge believes he is not leadership material. Kyle rushes out and it’s clear Lana can’t keep this up for long.

At the DoD, Sam is interrogating Irons, who won’t talk. Sam says if he knew him in his world, being his father-in-law, then he wants to be told something important. Irons tries to pull Sam to his side but it doesn’t work the way he thought it would.

Lois is trying to deflect the conversation about Jonathan but Dr. Wiles brings it back on course. Lois breaks out in tears, feeling like there’s nothing she could do. They talk about Lois’ miscarriage, and Lois notes that Dr. Wiles helped her out a lot back then, even if she had only come in to talk the one time. Dr. Wiles tells her that even though miscarriages are common, it’s still hard to deal with alone. Lois says they were going to name their daughter Natalie, after her grandmother. She finds coping easier when she has things on her plate to distract her.

She starts to blame herself; she doesn’t want to lose another child because of herself. But Dr. Wiles says the miscarriage wasn’t her fault, the things she can’t control she needs to learn how to let go of and grow through the grief.

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Auditions are taking place and both Jon and Jordan are there to cheer Sarah on. However, Jon wants to talk about everything that happened. Sarah cuts in and asks if they have seen Kyle. She can’t sing without him, and Jordan offers to help her with the performance. She agrees and they head up to the stage.

Irons sets off an alarm, and Superman is ready to head to sector 5. Sam says he can’t. If he goes down there, he may not survive. but Superman goes anyway. He scans the room and asks Sam to clue him in. He heads into the room asking Rosetti where Irons is, saying he can help with whatever he has done but Rosetti says he has it all wrong and blasts him in the face with kryptonite in the form of green smoke. Lois is at the DoD and immediately wants to know what’s happening. Superman is able to fight off Rosetti, but not for long. Irons stabs him in the chest and makes his way towards Superman to kill him. Just as he’s about to, Sam and Lois appear stopping him in his tracks. Lois tries her best to get him to stop, telling him that she can relate to what he’s been through, but it’s not either of their faults. He puts down the weapon and gets taken back into custody.

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Sam and Clark have a chat, he’s sorry he had to find out about the weapons this way, but he has a duty to uphold. Clark inquires about Rosetti, telling Sam that Lois has a hunch that Edge is turning human beings into Kryptonians.

At the Cushings’, Sarah meets her dad in the kitchen who apologizes for not being there for her audition. He knows he messed up, but she doesn’t want to hear it. She doesn’t want empty promises from him.

Jordan is practicing on the piano, and Jon is upset that Irons is a house guest. Jon asks if they should really be trusting their mom’s judgement right now, and she walks in overhearing them. She talks to Jon about the miscarriage and apologizes to him for the things that she has said. She just doesn’t want to lose another person she loves. She knows how helpless and vulnerable he feels, that she will try her best to help him through it because they have to stick together.

Outside Lois, Superman, and Irons meet. Superman says this is a show of trust, because if there is a war coming they’ll need all the help they can get. Superman flies off leaving just Lois and Irons. She hopes he is able to find some sort of solace, and he says he has a lot to say — but she’s not the one he wants to say it to.

He enters his van and when greeted by his A.I., he asks it to erase the Luthor profile and create a new one, under John Henry Irons. When she asks if he wants a new course charted, he asks her to shut down. He’ll just drive for awhile.

Superman & Lois airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. Check out our other coverage here.

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