Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 3 recap: This helicopter parent can fly

In Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3, the Kent family continues to deal with Jordan’s emerging powers and the boys’ understanding of what it means to have the Man of Steel as their father. They have a rocky road ahead.

This CWVerse show dives headlong into the struggles of family life. It moves beyond just the Kent family to include the Cushings. We learn more about their dynamic, and how these two families may have a lot more in common than they would like.

There’s a strange theme running through this episode—the perils of being a helicopter parent. Clark and Lana Lang Cushing are both written in Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3 as overly cautious and intrusive parents. Are they really?

Lois is, thankfully, given even more to do. She has her own work running parallel to being a mother and Superman’s wife. Though the Smallville Gazette isn’t as prestigious as the Daily Planet, it certainly comes with its own dangers, as we soon find out.

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3: The Boys

Jonathan and Jordan are excited about Jordan’s emerging powers, but they don’t take too kindly to being lectured by their parents on responsibility and keeping their powers in check. Clark and Lois, of course, know the importance of keeping their heritage under wraps, but it’s harder for the boys.

This is especially because Jordan continues to be bullied by Sean and his band of football friends. Well, now it’s time for Jordan to fight back. In quintessential teen rebellion style, Jordan does the opposite of what his father says and joins the football team.

Jordan has seemingly never had a penchant for football, but on the field he’s a veritable juggernaut. This is down to his super-strength, but his coach doesn’t know that. He’s suddenly the rising star and Jordan’s even earning the respect of his bullies, including Sarah’s boyfriend Sean.

When Clark finds out he’s incensed, but Jonathan makes him see reason. Jordan has always been an outsider, if his powers make him feel like he belongs, then why should they deny him?

Clark takes Jonathan’s advice to heart and asks Jordan if he really wants to play football, or if it’s simply a vendetta for him. Jordan seems to have fallen in love with the game, so Clark allows him to continue playing. But the flip side is that Clark gets himself an assistant coach job to be closer to the boys. It takes some convincing, but the Coach is happy to have Clark on board since he’s working for free.

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3: Learning about the Cushings

Content warning: Mention of suicide

While we’ve met Sarah Cushing in the past two episodes, she’s been positioned as little more than a potential love interest for Jordan. Her mother Lana hasn’t fared much better. But, in Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3 we find out more about these two characters.

As we had surmised, Lana and her husband Kyle’s marriage is on the rocks. They don’t talk anymore, they just fight. The aggression at home has percolated down to their younger daughter Sophie, who has apparently become a bully in her school.

On the other hand, Sarah tells her mother that she’s feeling ‘trapped’. She’s a young child who’s just hit her teenage years, and her home life is not helping her mental health. Worse, Sarah saw herself turning into her mother, who she has no respect for. Because of this, Sarah attempted to end her life.

Lana is obviously terrified of losing her child forever and comes across as clingy. She even coaches the cheer team, which Sarah is part of, until she ups and quits. Sarah is likely going through depression as well, which may explain her lack of interest in many activities. Sarah also breaks up with Sean, though that might be a good decision, and her first step to becoming her own person.

While mother and daughter bond over their shared fear of amounting to nothing in a small town, is it enough to keep them together?

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3: Not Her First Molotov Cocktail

Lois Lane joining the Smallville Gazette may seem like a backward step in her career, but she’s nose deep in her investigation into Morgan Edge’s corrupt dealings. Ok, it doesn’t start off like that in Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3. One of her first assignments is a fluff piece that Lois is not interested in covering.

Lois is saved by a woman who has insight into her Morgan Edge investigation. Sharon Powell (Jill Teed) believes her son was killed while working for Edge. He had left her a voice message hinting that the job wasn’t what he expected. And then Sharon’s son disappeared.

Could Edge be up to no good? Lois is on the case, and she’s not wrong. Someone’s spying on her—Subjekt-11 (Daniel Cudmore)—and he even sets Lois’s car on fire. Lois has no basis for implicating Edge, but her gut says otherwise. It helps that Clark is willing to back her play. I love how calm they are about Lois being targeted by a Molotov Cocktail. Apparently, this isn’t her first.

Taking this as a sign, Lois goes to meet Sharon, only to find Subjekt-11 instead. She stalls him and even stabs him with a pen, but he’s unstoppable. Lois calls Superman using their family doohickey, but even he isn’t a match for this superpowered man.

Superman has to get creative to finally get rid of Subjekt-11, including freeze breath and superspeed. Lois finds Sharon, almost strangled to death, and tells Superman to rush Sharon to the hospital.

The Kents may be safe for now, but Subjekt-11 is a symptom of something worse. As he escapes, Subjekt-11 is intercepted by Leslie Larr (Stacey Farber), Edge’s assistant. She vaporizes him with her heat vision. So, is she Kryptonian, a Cadmus experiment, or something else?

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3 does the couple proud, the kids, not so much.

As much as I love the domestic vibe of this show, nothing about the boys or Sarah feels all that original. Right now, the story is in such a rush to get somewhere that it’s forgetting to show us who these characters are as people.

On the other hand, Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch are so effortless as Clark and Lois. These are lived-in characters, who we know so well. And the way they’ve brought to the screen makes each episode so compelling.

Hoechlin’s take on clumsy Clark is endearing, and Tulloch as the fun but ruthless Lois is arresting in every scene. The boys are trying—Jordan Elsass was a scene-stealer in the diner scene—but they don’t have enough to come alive. Their arcs are still too cliched.

Sarah has potential, but I feel like Superman & Lois promised to look into mental health, but it’s wrapping up these issues really fast. Jordan doesn’t appear to have any social anxiety anymore, and in this episode, it seems like Sarah has overcome her existential crisis as well.

Things don’t work like that in real life, and I hope the series does try to examine the long term aspects of neurodivergence and mental health.

What did you think of Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 3? Let us know in the comments below.

New episodes of Superman & Lois Season 1 air every Tuesday on The CW.