Season 1, Episode 11: "A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events" (SPOILERS)

[herolee10]

I pray to God they don’t mess this show up after the first season. I loved Arrow and The Flash first seasons but the quality dropped significantly as both series went on. The CW doesn’t have a good track record of consistent quality with their shows.

Agreed. As long as the production value/budget doesn't go down for future seasons and the writers remain focused, then we should be good for a few additional seasons.

"The Flash" is definitely in a bad place right now. With the show being in its seventh season, I thought that they would have made some kind of comeback by now (e.g. Arrow Season 5).

Honestly, there are only three things that I want to see before this show ends.

• Superman shown leading a group of superheroes.

• Superman fighting against a comic accurate Brainiac.

• Tyler's Superman finally interacting with Jon's Lex.

• Tyler's Superman having a scene with Warren's Bruce Wayne.

 

[flickchick85]

Between this and "The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower," I think Gregory Smith is my favorite director on this show thus far. So many nice directorial choices here (like that shot of Perry still yelling after Clark while we see Clark as a dot out the window flying away). He handles the action really well and strikes a great balance of that really grounded aesthetic Krieger established in the pilot and a little extra dose of "comic-bookiness" that I still prefer these shows to embrace.

Also glad that the writer of this episode Brent Fletcher is co-writing the finale with Helbing, as I think this was one of their stronger scripts.

 

[vantheman77]

If we go by the 3-act structure, Superman joining up with Tal-Ro, his father, and Lesla Larr would be the second turning point aka the lowest point for the protagonist.

 

[Perfect Cell]

There was a temporary VFX shot of Edge's Fortress left in the CTV broadcast version of the episode. It even had "Temp VFX" watermarks and timestamps on it. So weird.

Oh good, I didn't imagine it. It was still in the re-broadcast at 1am. Just a fun little treat to make me question my own sanity. The end of the episode in general was a bit "off". The shot of the Eradicator going into the cave wall was rough.

Despite all that, this was a pretty great episode. Not counting all the backstory (which was fantastic), I did particularly enjoy the montage of happy moments just before everything went terribly wrong. They were genuinely well done. Also, Irons is going to show up like this next episode:

 

[herolee10]

Okay, could we get a prequel series to this show that deals with Clark and Lois's adventures in Metropolis? The opening sequence with a young Clark discovering the Fortress and mastering his powers looked more cinematic than any previous interpretations that I've seen (e.g. SV, MOS, etc.).

Honestly, I would love to have them refilm Kara's arrival on Earth with Tyler's Superman just to see his honest reaction in meeting his long lost cousin. Speaking of which, I really wish the producers weren't so dead against making references to the other heroes on Earth. It kind of feels like a insult to our intelligence when they try to create these high stakes, even though we all know that there are other heroes that Superman and Lois could turn to for help.

On another note, am I the only one that feels like Lois looks younger in the present day when compared to her flashback scenes? Whoever was in charge of doing Bitsie's makeup really got things the other way around. Not that I'm really complaining since she looks beautiful in any era. Clark's growth on the other hand is more funny to think about. They use the same actress to pose for Lana's High School photo but have Clark go through one hell of a growth spurt in a few years time.

 

[herolee10]

Also, someone should let Lois borrow Barry's phone.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Hello!

Coming back out of the woodwork. I've been tentatively loving Superman & Lois but with the caution of a previously burned fan girl who learned not to get her hopes up too high.

This episode was just... magic. I am so buzzed right now I don't even know what to fo right now. Cry? Laugh? Dance around?

I feel like it healed all my old wounds! And I'm just so grateful Superman is finally in the hands of people who know how to tell his stories, who understand the fundamental aspects of the characters and who are not afraid of the parts often felt too 'cheesy'.

Just... so much love

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I just finished it myself and loved it. Definitely one of the strongest episodes by far.

In one hour we got an origin movie, character development and an engaging/ongoing plot and it was just crafted really well. I hope they just don't screw this up with Superman and his family, but I get what I think they're trying to do: break up the family unit now so that by the end of the season their reunion will be satisfying.

But again, I'll be damned about those flashbacks! So good! And Morgan Edge is such a bastard. Tens across the board for this episode.

 

[Lencho01]

Yeah, for a character so many of us know and love (multiple versions) and having seen his origins (multiple versions again), I was grinning throughout the whole thing.

 

[flickchick85]

Hello!

Coming back out of the woodwork. I've been tentatively loving Superman & Lois but with the caution of a previously burned fan girl who learned not to get her hopes up too high.

This episode was just... magic. I am so buzzed right now I don't even know what to fo right now. Cry? Laugh? Dance around?

I feel like it healed all my old wounds! And I'm just so grateful Superman is finally in the hands of people who know how to tell his stories, who understand the fundamental aspects of the characters and who are not afraid of the parts often felt too 'cheesy'.

Just... so much love

Welcome back! Glad to see you around these parts again. Nice to know this show is having a similar effect on a lot of my fellow Supes fans that it is on me.

 

[herolee10]

Hello!

Coming back out of the woodwork. I've been tentatively loving Superman & Lois but with the caution of a previously burned fan girl who learned not to get her hopes up too high.

This episode was just... magic. I am so buzzed right now I don't even know what to fo right now. Cry? Laugh? Dance around?

I feel like it healed all my old wounds! And I'm just so grateful Superman is finally in the hands of people who know how to tell his stories, who understand the fundamental aspects of the characters and who are not afraid of the parts often felt too 'cheesy'.

Just... so much love

Welcome back HD! Glad to see that this show is hitting the right marks for you as well.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Aww hey both! So good to see some familiar faces who were there throughout the days of Man of Steel too

Just watched the episode 4 times in a row

My fave bits:

1. Tyler Hoechins version of joy at first flight which was so much better than Cavill imo
2. Lois and Clark journalism montage
3. Lois falling for Clark - really loved that
4. How natural Clarks dorkiness is - like it's not an act, its just a part of him
5. Clark smiling and laughing with Lois. That he is happy and connected to the world, not a brooding dark loner.
6. Tyler's acting throughout, especially his fear for his family. Was so tangible.
7. Adam as Edge/Tar - again, just so we'll acted. I've liked him as a villain since day one and was almost disappointed he turned out to be kryptonian, but this episode turned that around for me. That showdown was just epic.

 

[Dr.]

So...did Clark go to college while at the Fortress?

Possibly not. Though…

In Superman The Movie, Jor-El takes Clark on a psychedelic space voyage and explicitly describes this tutorial as lasting 12 years.

Here, however, I think there’s some wiggle room. It’s not entirely clear if Clark’s FOS sessions were uninterrupted. Therefore, there might have been some time for college, coming-of-age walkabouts, etc. Put another way: if, in some future episode, Clark happens to mention his college alma mater, I wouldn’t necessarily cry “plot error!” Somewhere along the way, he could have squeezed in a few semesters.

*

Obviously, certain scenes from the pilot were recycled for this episode. But I wonder if some of the “new” material was actually old stuff cut from the pilot. Or… perhaps they even planned for a flashback episode and purposely shot extra footage for future use…?

 

[Dr.]

We know that Crisis rewrote Clark and Lois’s personal history — at least regarding a single infant son becoming teenaged twins. But it now appears that Clark and Lois never had a yearlong sabbatical on Argo to give birth; the boys were born in Metropolis.

(I remember Argo being destroyed during the events of Crisis. But I don’t recall if it was magically restored. Is Alura still alive?)

Anyhoo… yet another indication of S&L distancing itself from the prior, Supergirl/Arrowverse continuity…?

 

[Web-Head]

Rewatching on my Amazon Prime version now (doesn't appear to have any extended/added scenes this week ), and I forgot to mention in my review, this Martha actress is finally growing on me. Really liked her scenes this week.

Also I loved that they actually showed Clark getting the dry cleaning for Perry.

And Superman Superfan Jerry Seinfeld is gonna love that it's now canon that Clark loves his show.

My broadcast had a Superman/Seinfeld ad right after that line

Between this and "The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower," I think Gregory Smith is my favorite director on this show thus far. So many nice directorial choices here (like that shot of Perry still yelling after Clark while we see Clark as a dot out the window flying away). He handles the action really well and strikes a great balance of that really grounded aesthetic Krieger established in the pilot and a little extra dose of "comic-bookiness" that I still prefer these shows to embrace.

Also glad that the writer of this episode Brent Fletcher is co-writing the finale with Helbing, as I think this was one of their stronger scripts.

Yeah I like Gregory Smith too. He's directed a couple of really good episodes of the Flash as well. I'm curious what his role as a supervising producer really is.

 

[Gothamsknight]

Honestly, this was my favorite episode yet. Powerful episode!

 

[kvz5]

Everyone’s said already what I want to say. This ep is just perfection to me.

Lois falling for Clark instead of Superman means so much to me. I love that. So Jordan is actually the older twin? I thought it was the opposite. The blurry thing Clark was seeing was just Edge invading his memories, right? I also think Jor-El was so likable in this ep. Is he really gone? I guess Lara replaces him in the fortress? Kyle’s arc seems done too so I can see him being a casualty by the end of this season.

NGL I literally laughed out loud when they showed Zeta-Rho. In what reality are him and Lara genetically matched?

 

[chamber-music]

Really good episode. This might be my favourite live action version of superman's origins.

I hope we get more less seen superman foes pop up.

Edge is sort of taking the zod spot as kryptonian patriot villain except with a twisted parallel origin of superman.

I can't wait to see what steel's new suit will look like when he inevitably comes back to help in the battle against edge

 

[Primal Slayer]

NGL I literally laughed out loud when they showed Zeta-Rho. In what reality are him and Lara genetically matched?

They did make a hot son...

 

[Frodo]

Brilliant episode.

IMO, it's probably the best Superman origin in Metropolis "movie" we've had in a long time.

It did alot of what I wanted a Superman reboot film to do years ago.

I loved how they came at the Lois and Clark relationship from a totally new and fresh angle instead of the same old " Lois treats Clark like crap and is dismissive of him when they meet" trope.

I know alot of fans love that aspect , but we've seen that so many times now, and the writers came up with an interesting alternative as opposed to just doing the same thing that's been done in a million other versions.

Instead , the Lois and Clark friendship and romance forms naturally, and it's Superman she's not too sure of, which is much more realistic.

It makes sense, IMO, that this Lois falls for the goofy, yet kind, handsome, and charming guy she works closely with ,and spends days and nights with, as opposed to this version of Lois, going gaga for, as far as she's concerned, a Stranger.

They kept the teen romance stuff to a minimum , which I prefer , and really made it Lois and Clark's episode.

 

[Dr.]

Screen Rant just posted an article about the SFX goof.

"Fans have taken to social media to point out episode 11 of The CW's Superman & Lois mistakenly featured an unfinished visual effect shot in the final cut."

But they might have to retract or rewrite because the problem seems to be specific to the CTV Sci-Fi (Canada) broadcast.

I guess CTV got sent the wrong file...

 

[Time Captain]

This show is delightful. That's the best way to put it. The writing isn't groundbreaking, but it gets the spirit and tone of the Superman character so right.

And also shows how wrong the Snyder/Cavill version was, and why it ultimately didn't work.

Yeah I like Gregory Smith too. He's directed a couple of really good episodes of the Flash as well. I'm curious what his role as a supervising producer really is.

Greg Smith the actor? If so, I know one of his siblings. The direction was pretty good.

I can't wait to see what steel's new suit will look like when he inevitably comes back to help in the battle against edge

I'm hoping the actor playing Edge will become 'Eradicator' with the shades ... paving the way for 'Team Superman' with the three of them by S2. It will be cool to see Supes working alongside two reformed villains who wanted to kill him.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

The show and it’s concept is cool….. but this episode. Oh my god, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a Superman show, or any live action Superman project. So good. So very good.

 

[vantheman77]

Though the flashback was nice and it was a love letter to comics fans, that could have been the extended version of the pilot.

Last night's flashback took a hit in the ratings and I think it's wanting to see how Superman would regain his powers after that solar flare rather than the flashback.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Though the flashback was nice and it was a love letter to comics fans, that could have been the extended version of the pilot.

Last night's flashback took a hit in the ratings and I think it's wanting to see how Superman would regain his powers after that solar flare rather than the flashback.

Not sure what you mean, as the episode very much did address what happened after the solar flare, and managed to integrate the 'flashback' as an integral part of that?