Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5 recap: Who’s burning it all down?

Smallville is set to celebrate its first Harvest Festival since the passing of Martha Kent in Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5, but this day is no celebration. With this being the final episode before the show goes on a mini hiatus, fans will be left worried about the central family.

The day starts off with Jonathan’s girlfriend in Metropolis dumping him over the phone. It gets stranger when Sharon Powell, the woman who claimed Morgan Edge had killed her son, shows up at the Smallville Gazette with her dead son Derek (Clayton James) very much alive.

Chrissy, Lois’s editor at the Gazette, is certain that something fishy is happening, but Lois wants to play the slow game. Lois had tried confronting Edge in the previous episode, but to no avail. Now Chrissy is stepping up her game. What will she find out about the Powells?

All this takes place against the background of a festival that is about giving and donating. And yet, all the townspeople will be faced with are more struggles and destruction.

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5: Father and son

Clark struggles throughout the day, reminiscing about all the time he lost out on sharing with his mother. Clark left Smallville when he was a teenager because he couldn’t be himself in the small town—he couldn’t be a hero.

Now that Martha Kent (Michele Scarabelli) is gone, Clark is faced with how selfish he was, and how much of a sacrifice Martha made by letting him go to Metropolis. Of course, this echoes how Jonathan feels as well. Jonathan feels stultified in this town, especially now that his girlfriend’s left him, and he’s no longer picked for football. Can you blame the boy for wanting to return home?

Clark pleads with Jonathan to give Smallville a chance and to spend a little more time with his family, because that’s time he won’t get back. If he ends up still hating the town, Clark’s willing to let him go. Jonathan agrees.

Jonathan’s been a rock of support for his brother Jordan, but he acts out in Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5. In all honesty, Jonathan’s drunken shenanigans and Clark’s youthful outburst are the weakest aspect of this episode, and the entire show so far.

Superman & Lois has tried to subvert our expectations of family drama cliches, but it misses the mark here by giving Clark and Jonathan a pass for their hurtful comments.

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5: Another meta

We know that something happened with Derek Powell, but it’s shocking to find him back and sporting the usual excuse—amnesia. His mother is glad to have him back, though it’s obvious that Derek isn’t the same.

Derek doesn’t like being touched, and after a while, starts feeling unwell. Suddenly he’s burning down the community centre with Superman-like heat rays. This is where the donation drive is running, and a lot of people have to be evacuated by the firefighters. The donations are all lost.

One of Kyle Cushing’s teammates—and the best man at his wedding—is badly injured. Superman could have stopped it, but he was distracted. He arrives in time to ensure Kyle and his friend Mitch get out alive.

Derek disappears, leaving his mother a cryptic message about needing space. Chrissy uses Sharon’s phone to track Derek and finds him with Leslie Larr, Edge’s assistant, and a secret meta herself. Chrissy watches as Leslie puts Derek through a machine that imbues him with more powers.

When Chrissy calls Lois with an update, Superman immediately arrives on the scene to confront Derek. They fly across Smallville before being shot down (more on that in a minute). Derek, realizing he has no escape, explains that he was already dead and had been resurrected. He blows himself up.

Lois is heartbroken for Sharon, especially since she and Clark are faced with the very real possibility that it may not be long before they become empty nesters themselves.

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5: Luthor is back

The mysterious Captain Luthor returns in this episode, except this time he’s confronting his mission from a different angle. Luthor introduces himself to Lois under a pseudonym, pretending to be a business and big technology reporter from Reuters.

Luthor has an air-tight backstory. He claims to have worked for this Earth’s Lex Luthor, and now he’s investigating Edge. He was brought to Smallville because of Lois’s expose on Edge and believes they can work together to out Edge’s corruption.

In reality, Luthor is aiming for Lois because he knows that where Lois goes, Superman can’t be far behind. Luthor is still convinced that this Kal-El will destroy the world like the one Luthor knew. Another reason for Luthor’s hate? On his world, Lois married him, not Kal-El. Ouch!

In Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5, Luthor is a step closer to hurting Kal, and that’s not the end of the Kents’ problems. Tag, the boy who was affected by X-Kryptonite, appears out of nowhere and begins attacking Jordan. Will Superman arrive in time to save his son?

Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5 relies too heavily on clichés

While we can argue that a cliché is a cliché because it’s reality, what we expect from this The CWVerse show is something more refreshing. This episode tried to leverage the family drama but with tired storytelling gimmicks.

We expected one last straw to break Jonathan’s supportive back, but him getting drunk and humiliating his brother felt out of character for Jonathan.

Sarah continues to be little more than a love interest for Jordan. When does she get to be her own person? At least Lana, despite her curtailed screen time, is so obviously struggling to maintain the façade of a happy marriage, but Sarah is just one-note.

I did like that Jordan accepted that Sarah didn’t want a relationship, only a friendship. Considering being ‘friend-zoned’ is often turned into an attack on women and girls, I appreciate that Jordan was written to respect her wishes.

Another pleasant surprise was how much Martha Kent was revered in the town and how the townspeople go out of their way to honour her. Pop culture deifies fathers, often forgetting the integral roles that mothers play in creating these heroes, so that was a good addition.

After five episodes, I think the showrunners need to find a better balance between Lois and Clark’s stories and that of the children. The latter just aren’t as arresting as their parents. Maybe it’s worth cutting down the children’s time and offering more screen time to Lois’ investigation, Clark’s demons, Luthor, Edge, as well as Lana and Kyle’s struggles.

What did you think of Superman & Lois Season 1 Episode 5? Let us know in the comments below.

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