My Favorite Episode of Superman & Lois: "Just a Regular Guy" (and some more stuff)
Now for those familiar with me I used to do theory posts over at r/DCcomics a lot, and back in season 1 I made some for this show too.
Years later, on the show's final season, the 7th episode hit me harder than any previous one. As a life long Superman fan, if it wasn't already this episode cemented this show and this iteration of Superman as one of my favorites, with Tyler Hoechlin now being the best live-action iteration of the character overall.
A lot of people have made posts too so I felt I could do one for old times sake. Not necessarily for theories but just a breakdown, analysis and appreciation post also compiling some of my comments and thoughts to share from recently too.
I. Who is Clark Kent?
First, some people in other subreddits and on Twitter have made some criticisms for the show. I have my own but one I want to focus on was its portrayal of Clark Kent.
See, it does the "real" Clark Kent perfectly. But it's also infamously not so great at portraying how Clark can be seen as different from Superman as an effective secret identity. Many have compared the recent flashback scene with Sam where he and Lois reveals his identity, to Christopher Reeve's masterful portrayal of the difference in Superman '78.
Last week they released a preview for this episode, and long story short this excerpt of my reply to u/MarvelousMrsSuper on the topic of Clark's character (the mask of the accident-prone goofy clutz vs the genuinely down to earth dorky farmboy turned reporter for truth and justice) here covers it well:
It’s important to note that those two “Clarks” are not mutually exclusive or exclusive to older iterations of the character. There is a difference between the true private Clark Kent and the public persona in the Daily Planet. Especially in his early years (in-universe I mean).
In Birthright and Secret Origin for example, we see him struggle being himself while not being too confident or competent, and would deliberately cause some accidents when he thought it was needed. In a way Clark was putting up barriers that made him lonely too.
(From Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu's Superman: Birthright)
Lois however sees right through him and could tell there was more. In the present when they’re married and she knows everything, that’s when he can be fully himself. And of course with Bruce, Diana and others who know his identity.
(From Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Superman: Secret Origin)
Even Smallville did this. Majority of the show obviously shows the real Clark but when he comes to the conclusion that he can no longer have his superhero persona be “the mask” (because Superman is a hero that has to be honest and open to people), there’s a really good scene where he concludes “Clark” has to be that “mask”. Watch the finale’s final scene for example, him acting the “goofy” clutz at first then being his usual self when it’s just him and Lois.
To this day he does still modify his posture, voice and behavior as Clark in modern comics, as Christopher Reeve did so excellently. While I agree Tyler’s the best live-action Superman now overall, his big weakness is that his secret identity as Clark isn’t as believable, and more importantly the depths from having to have one which I covered aren’t there as much. But to be fair he doesn't need it at this point in his life.
II. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen
But of course, watching that preview, and finally seeing a new live-action Jimmy Olsen who's friendship with Clark I've constantly ranted in many threads was important to the character (contrary to what some fans of a certain director might say). Here's an excerpt of my comment under that post first:
Woah! Jimmy Olsen's here! Love the dynamic here already.
[...] the show not tackling Clark's loneliness from needing to have a secret identity and hiding a part of himself as Clark, because it went straight to him after already opening up to Lois. But this actually shows exactly what I was talking about. Sure Clark isn't exactly going out of his way to change how he normally acts still, but he does have to push friends away because he has to hide his powers and being Superman. [...]
Before I get into my reaction to the episode, I do want to cover then the importance of Jimmy Olsen as a character here while I'm at it.
There are many ways to show Superman's humanity, but an important one is his friendships with ordinary people. Not just his family, love interests and fellow heroes, but close platonic friends. Jimmy Olsen in many ways is like us, the regular guy, and deep down Clark is also a regular guy.
And yet...he can never be just be a regular guy. And that's where this episode comes in...
III. "A Regular Guy"
Clark here had to push Jimmy away to keep his secret. He had to hide himself, deprive himself of friendship. To keep his secret from him and the world.
But now that secret's only hurting people, and it's coming out. So he makes the choice to let go of it, to open his heart out to the world and reconnect with the friends he lost.
In the beginning, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Clark Kent to represent us, kids and nerds like they were who struggled with getting out of our lonely shells, getting confidence, standing up for themselves, making friends and finding love. He's "just a regular guy". But inside that regular guy was a "super man", someone who could do those things and make a difference in the world. Like he could be in any of us.
Many Superman fans in this subreddit, twitter, youtube and beyond have proclaimed this the show's best episode, and the best on-screen Superman story in a long time. There are many reasons, but for me it's because it tackled that original idea that resonated on a personal level, and it did so well. From writing, to directing, to acting.
IV. Bonus Thoughts!
Some bonus thoughts on the episode and the show in general I want to put here. Maybe I should wait until the series' finale to comment on things, (still no Brainiac/Milton Fine in sight as of writing this) but these days I'm busy and when I do get free time it's best to use it as best as I can. Again I love this show, and I used to make a ton of posts for season 1, and with this episode and final season, I decided to make this and pour everything here.
A) My Adventures with Superman, Superman 2025 and Kal-El the Kryptonian Immigrant
Here's the rest of my first comment that I took an excerpt that I didn't include in the main post:
As for the film, from what we’ve seen so far for the film (set photos, interviews etc.) a huge part of the movie will likely he Clark being lonely because he can almost never be with himself or have anyone to confide in (aside from Jonathan and Martha). He has many friends both as Clark and as Superman but none of them know him fully. At least until he either finally reveals himself to Lois or she figures it out (like Smallville and My Adventures with Superman).
There’s also his Kryptonian immigrant side (an essential part of his character) which they’ve discussed, as well as Krypto (confirmed) and Kara (likely). My Adventures with Superman S2 tackled similar themes of him finally accepting his Kryptonian heritage and relieving himself of his loneliness by finally finding a living family member with the same powers as him. Even this show touches on it since S1 when Jor-El notes that Clark was disappointed when neither Jordan and Jonathan had powers and again when it seemed like Jordan’s would never develop like his.
Whew sorry if that was long, did my best to break that up into digestible parts. Definitely hope the movie does all those sides of his character justice, high hopes for it.
Side note, I still see quite a lot of people hating on James Gunn and the upcoming DCU film based on misinformation that they're the reason the show was cancelled, which is not true. I've debunked it a lot myself but these three comments from a recent thread sum it up quite well.
u/ChrisLyne :
The CW couldn't afford it. The budget, cast and episode count were cut just to get a final season. With or without Gunn's film next year this would sadly have been it.
If the call hadn't been made (and I'm still not convinced by The CW guy's claims it was all WB given Gunn said he'd like to see another season or two (so 4-5) when he was asked about it) then the most likely outcome would have been a cliffhanger ending to 4 and no season 5.
People say Max could have come to the rescue but it wouldn't. They literally took down the farmhouse set after season 3/before they got the season 4 renewal. They thought they were done. Max wasn't coming to the rescue. We're lucky we got this season and that they get to wrap the show up on their own terms.
Realistically I think everyone, CW and WB and the creative team knew the writing was on the wall and decided to call it but we'll probably never know for sure as no one wants to take the blame for pulling the plug on a popular show.
Yeah, it sucks we didn't get seven years of it, that would have been incredible, but I'm just beyond grateful it didn't end with the season 3 cliffhanger and we're getting an ending.
u/Supermanfan1973 :
The CW imploded. Nextstar the new owners did not want the show. They didn’t want any scripted shows. They even canceled Walker their highest rated show. This had nothing to do with James Gunn.
u/adavidmiller :
Nah. This season has been great but I feel no small part of that is because they knew it was the end. Gives everyone involved the chance to tell the story with fewer compromises.
Could they keep it up renewed? Who knows, maybe, but few things without a planned ending avoid becoming shitty at some point. Ending on high note when the option is there is usually the better way to go.
B) Superman Truth
For those unaware, the comics have revealed Clark's identity to the world not once but twice and has undone it both times, in less than 10 years, both named "Truth" and both including a brief period where his powers were diminished lol.
If I'm to recommend any related story from either for fans of the show who don't know, I definitely recommend the second time they did it. As much as I and many fans criticize Brian Michael Bendis' run and creative decisions, the way he handled the reveal is good and similar to here. But even better is Grant Morrison's Superman & the Authority and Phillip Kennedy Johnson's Warworld Saga after. At the end of the day, the undoing of this status quo was also excellent with Action Comics #1050 co-written by PKJ and Joshua Williamson.
C) My thoughts on their version of Lex Luthor
Something I want to share here using my comments from a thread in this sub:
Comment 1:
I’ve brought this up a lot, but writers like Grant Morrison and Mark Waid used to heavily criticize the John Byrne Lex for taking away most of his intellect/mad scientist aspects for another corrupt businessman crime lord type villain. To them he was too much like the Kingpin. The show’s version is even more Kingpin-like, with the Prison Arc.
Comment 2:
He’s smart for sure but nothing pointing to him being one of the smartest geniuses in the planet. With Doomsday, he mostly just kept killing him after realizing he had the ability to come back stronger.
The modern comic Lex that Morrison and Waid influenced after Byrne for example also probably wouldn’t have let himself get put in prison for 17 years, especially for a crime he didn’t actually do. He’d get out somehow (with lawyers, with some chemicals in the janitor’s closet, some tech he smuggled in etc.) and clear his name.
Another thing is that this version doesn’t really have a personal beef with Superman, he’s more of an obstacle compared to his beef with Lois. Which fits with the show and its story, but isn’t like modern comic Lex whose personal beef with Superman is his #1 obsession. Basically, he’s jealous of him and thinks people should see him as The Super Man instead. That’s not really a thing with this Lex, or any live-action Lex except Michael Rosenbaum’s to be fair.
Comment 3:
Again just to clear things up, I'm not saying this Lex should be closer, this version works for what they're going for, but he is different and I just hope we get something a bit closer to modern comic Lex on live-action soon. Still enjoy this take but not my preference either. I hope the film next year finds the right balance.
D) The best version of Sam Lane
Best version of General Samuel Lane, probably ever. Not my favorite adaptation of the Death of Superman (that'll be the DCAMU, one of its few great entries), but it's a great alternate take. The focus on its impact on Lois, Jon, Jordan and Sam really sold it despite how many times we've seen it.
E) Kryptonian hearts
To end this post on a humorous note, the biggest reason I don't make these kinds of posts much compared to before is because I'm a medical student now. Funny enough, I just recently had to practice performing a cardiovascular exam. As such, I feel the responsibility to nerd out on the show's portrayal of Kryptonian hearts having 3 beats.
What does this mean?
Well actually, we normal humans can have 3 or even 4 heart beats. Now because of the focus of my IRL studies, I initially thought this was dumb because S3 and S4 heart sounds are normally pathological, as in they mean something's wrong with your heart, and blood is either going back in or being pumped out less efficiently. But physiological third beats apparently can be heard in well-trained athletes too.
But either way, that means Clark wouldn't be the only person on Earth to have 3 heart beats!
The official book Anatomy of a Metahuman (Matthew Manning, S. D. Perry) also covers the possibility of Kryptonian hearts being different that does a better job IMO.
IMO, they could've just said Clark's heart beat had a unique timbre to it but hey at the end of the day it's no big deal, just wanted to bring it up lol.
Overall, this has been a great show and a great journey. I look forward to the future of Superman. Comics, TV, Film, maybe even Gaming. This show was a huge part of the Super-Renaissance, and it will surely have a legacy.
Thanks for reading!
Edit:
P.S.
An additional comment from Reddit where I posted this on two subreddits.
Ahh yes but as I’ve covered, neither Clark and Superman are fully disguises, but neither are also fully his true self. He’s essentially taken up the burden of almost never being able to be fully himself.
As Clark in the Daily Planet he has to hide himself. He has to push people away (like Jimmy in this show) and not draw too much attention, or when he does it’s to intentionally look small, so people underestimate him (like Lois points out in that excerpt from Secret Origin, where she’s the only one who sees past that mask). He has to be less than himself, out of fear and responsibility as you said. But because of that, this version of “Clark Kent” that most people know is a disguise.
Meanwhile as Superman, he’s honest, courageous and believes fully in the ideals and goodness he embodies. He helps people with conviction that it’s the right thing to do and that he can make a difference. In that sense he’s not a disguise. But he has to seem perfect and immovable, invincible. He can’t let people see his personal vulnerabilities, the opposite of when he’s “Clark”. He has to be more than just who he is out a sense of duty to inspire the world. Because of that, “Superman” is often a disguise too. It’s only when he opens up to people fully that the burden is lifted, when he puts trust in the people he loves and let them know who he really is. The real “Clark Kent” is Superman, and the real “Superman” is Clark Kent.
But yes we can’t forget his immigrant origins! It’s something he inherited from his creators and his status as an outsider and defender of outsiders is important to that. Clark will never be Kal-El as he could’ve been, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any loneliness and curiosity from being the only Kryptonian left. Well, except he often isn’t, and that’s what a lot of stories featuring him reuniting with family (My Adventures with Superman S2 is a big recent example) explore. The idea many have that Kryptonians are inhuman because they’re literal aliens and that Clark shouldn’t have any emotional connection to those roots fall apart in those stories, because anyone any group of people in real life can be “alien”. And yes, as Grant Morrison once said, even when Superman can’t have stories with physical conflicts that challenge him (he can), it’s the emotional conflicts that are always there and always make the best Superman stories.
Overall, this really is a character with a lot of depth, relatability and relevance. He only needs people who can see that and bring it to life. He’s reached a larger audience before. He can do it again even better.
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