WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Superman & Lois Season 1, Episode 7, “Man of Steel,” which aired Tuesday on The CW.
When last week’s episode of Superman & Lois came to a close, Jordan Kent’s (Alex Garfin) powers flared up, which caused him to experience excruciating pain. Left with no alternative, Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) quickly flew up into the sky, in order to take his son to the Fortress of Solitude where he could, hopefully, find some answers. Now, the series’ latest episode, “Man of Steel,” picks right where “Broken Trust” left off, with Clark flying to the Fortress of Solitude with Jordan. There, the artificial Jor-El quickly determines that the teenager’s super-hearing abilities have kicked in and that the pain will continue until he learns to master this power, just like Clark did years ago.
When they return home, Jordan puts on headphones to try and drown out the noise he can now hear from all over the world before his training begins the next day. Because of this issue, however, he will once again have to miss school, which puts Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) in the difficult position of having to lie for his brother yet again.
After her team-up last week, Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) starts to look further into the Stranger/Captain Luthor’s (Wolé Parks) identity. Eventually, she tracks down his RV, and she requests a meeting at a restaurant so that he may come clean about who he is and what he’s really after. Once they meet, the Stranger explains that almost everything he said is true, but he can’t tell who he really is — not yet at least.
Their conversation is cut short because Lois gets a call informing her that an important shipment from Edge Enercorp is on the move. She and Clark tail the armed convoy, while the Stranger, who also learned about the shipment thanks to his A.I. system, blocks it in the middle of the road. Armed with a rifle, Captain Luthor hijacks the truck, but not before Superman can discreetly super-speed the armed guards far away. A firefight is thankfully averted as the Stranger takes the X-Kryptonite from the truck, and he gives it to Lois in exchange for a meeting with Superman.
The meeting is made under the pretense that Captain Luthor can help Superman stop Edge’s plan. But further flashbacks to the Stranger’s time back on his Earth show his real goal. On his world, Stranger is living happily with his wife, an alternate version of Lois Lane, and their teenage daughter, Natalie. Unfortunately, their peaceful life is interrupted by Superman after he inexplicably turns evil. The now villainous superhero attacks Metropolis and, somehow, he isn’t alone. Other Kryptonians also appear at his side, turning Metropolis from a beaming city into nothing but fire and rubble. And to make matters worse, when Lois covers the story on location, she’s killed by Superman himself, providing justification for the Stranger’s hatred of the hero.
With the help of his daughter, Captain Luthor builds a weapon that could take on Superman. However, when he goes after him, something happens, and he somehow ends up on Earth-Prime. Now that he has a meeting set with Superman, the Stranger rebuilds the weapon he made with his daughter and sets a trap for the Man of Steel using red solar rays.
Once Superman shows up at his workshop, he’s quickly incapacitated, and it’s only when the Stranger has the superhero right where he wants him that he reveals his true identity: his name is John Henry Irons, a character known in the comics as Steel. Armed with his signature hammer, Irons attacks Superman, and he doesn’t hold back. In fact, he comes close to killing him, but fortunately, Jordan Kent overhears the confrontation thanks to his super-hearing.
Throughout “Man of Steel,” Jordan attempts to control his super-hearing abilities, to varying degrees of success. Eventually, he’s able to focus on the voice of Sarah Cushing (Inde Navarrette), who is far away at school. Unfortunately, he overhears a bonding moment between Sarah and Jonathan, which causes him to later lash out in jealousy at his brother. This leads to a fight between the twins, which comes to a halt when Jordan hears their father getting attacked.
Jordan and Jonathan set their differences aside and take their father’s truck. As Jon drives, Jordan refines his super-hearing skills to pinpoint Superman’s location. They eventually find him, and Jon slams the truck right into John Henry Irons before he can kill their father. Thanks to this intervention, John Henry is placed in the custody of the Department of Defense, and his interrogation is set to commence when General Sam Lane arrives the next day. Back at home, Jordan and Jonathan bond over their team-up, and, in the spirit of honesty and unity, their parents decide to tell them what they know about John Henry Irons and everything else going on.
Elsewhere in the episode, Lana Lang (Emmanuelle Chriqui) starts her new job working for Morgan Edge. Now that she’s helping with Lois’ investigation, Lana is determined to find whatever it is that Edge is up to, and how he may be able to give people powers. At Edge Enercorp, Lana is put in charge of a new leadership program where she is charged with recruiting five candidates. She’s is suspicious of Edge’s motives, which is why she doesn’t include her husband Kyle among the candidates — something that comes as a surprise to Edge.
But the truth is, Lana doesn’t want to involve Kyle in this program, and she has good reason. Indeed, as the episode comes to a close, Edge makes it clear that these new recruits will be the next to become subject to the X-Kryptonite that has the potential to give them superpowers. The procedure is complex, and there are few people who have survived it. Now, Edge has four new test subjects, and with his interest in Kyle, he may end up recruiting a fifth, whether Lana approves or not.
Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Dylan Walsh, Alex Garfin, Jordan Elsass, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Inde Navarrette and Wolé Parks. New episodes air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
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