REVIEW: Superman & Lois Season 3, Episode 7, “Forever and Always”

Television Reviews

“Forever and Always” is a step in the right direction for Superman & Lois, especially because it deals more heavily with Bruno Manheim than it has so far. Lois’ cancer diagnosis is also used well, emphasizing the contrast between Clark and Manheim and exploring how her sons feel about her illness. A couple of subplots are hit-and-miss, and some of the details are too silly – there’s a big fumble towards the end – but it’s the best the show’s been all season.

Lois tries to get information from Peia during a chemo session while Clark interviews Bruno Manheim. Jonathan and Jordan grow suspicious about the severity of Lois’ cancer. Lana, Sarah, and Chrissy struggle to adapt to their new family dynamic, while John Henry faces the prospect of Natalie dating. Flashbacks show how Manheim and Peia rose through the Intergang ranks.

“Forever and Always” has a great cold open; it’s less than a minute long, and it features Lois vomiting while Clark sits beside her. Everything about this – outside of the fact that a woman has cancer – is great; it’s a peek into the quotidian reality of cancer patients and their families. Lois isn’t doing anything overly dramatic like having a seizure or fainting; she’s just throwing up because that’s what the disease and its treatment do to you. And Clark is in the position of not being able to help outside of simply being there and loving his wife. Superman doesn’t put in an appearance this week, and this opening scene is why: it’s to demonstrate that there isn’t anything Superman can do for Lois. He is, effectively, powerless.

*SPOILERS*

Powerlessness pervades “Forever and Always,” and it’s seen most in Jonathan. Clark has more or less come to terms with his inability to help Lois, but Jon is coming from a place alien to him and, now, Jordan. Jon is a human; he’s powerless in general, a spectator to the extraordinary things his father and brother can do. The scene from “In Cold Blood” where Jon runs through a chop shop to get his stolen truck back while Jordan and Natalie take out the thieves was a precursor to this. Jon would never have gotten his truck back on his own, and he can’t save his mom without some help… the kind of help provided by the Kryptonian technology found in the Fortress of Solitude.

Jon is convinced Lois and Clark are lying to him and Jordan, and he convinces his brother to take him to the Fortress to see if their AI grandmother can do something. When Clark shows up, Jonathan flies into a rage and accuses him of being too lackadaisical in helping Lois. His and Jordan’s discovery of the will Lois drew up last week – as well as goodbye letters to her kids, which had to have freaked them out – confirms for them that their parents aren’t telling them everything. Thankfully, the solution to this isn’t more yelling but an honest conversation with Lois about her condition. The adults finally decide to act like adults, and for that alone, “Forever and Always” has my appreciation.

However, there are two problems I have with this plotline. The first is how Jon goes from zero to meltdown in less than a second. I understand they’re trying to show how scared and frustrated he is, and they’ve only got so much time in a show with other storylines to get to, but it looks silly when it happens. Jordan, who’s more level-headed this week, can’t talk him down, and Lara telling him that Kryptonian treatments would kill Lois because she’s human doesn’t even faze him. This issue will come up in one of the subplots, too, but they ruin some of these dramatic moments when they make the characters go too far into hysterics, which they often do with Lois.

The other problem is even bigger. The initial explanation that the Kryptonian treatments would kill Lois is thrown out by the end, with Clark saying that helping Lois would expose the Fortress’ tech to the world, and he can’t allow that for the greater good. First of all, this is dumb; why would anyone else have to know about it? Cancer patients recover sometimes; this would be akin to a miracle, but why would anyone jump to the conclusion that alien lasers saved her? And if it did get out, so what? You’re going to let your wife die because if you save her, you’ll have to save everybody? Aren’t you, like, SUPERMAN or something? Remember in season 2 when Clark told Sam, “It’s never a mistake to save a life”? I do, because it was a terrific line that summed up Superman perfectly, but apparently, the writers forgot.

Maybe Clark meant that Kryptonian technology would be used for evil, but it already is. Since season 1, the bad guys have been turning people into evil Kryptonians (in terms of their powers); you’re going to let countless people die to prevent something that’s already happening? And finally, none of this was necessary because Lara’s explanation was perfectly reasonable; it makes sense that a person with a different biological makeup wouldn’t respond to alien treatments, or would respond badly. Why tack on this ridiculous rider that makes Superman look callous? The real reason this is here is to contrast Clark with Bruno Manheim, but this is such a poor example that it doesn’t make the point. In fact, it makes Manheim seem more loving and compassionate than Superman.

Speaking of Manheim, “Forever and Always” humanizes the season’s main villain in numerous ways. In flashbacks, we see how Manheim took over Intergang, or what would become Intergang (I don’t think they mention the name), and how it was through his love for Peia and his drive to help his old neighborhood. This is a great parallel to his actions in the present; he turned himself into a monster to save his community, and now he’s killing and torturing people to save his wife. But it’s not all selfish; his research could cure cancer for everyone. This is the struggle for Superman; which side is the greater good? It certainly seems to be Manheim’s, and if Superman is arguing in favor of the greater good for letting his wife die, doesn’t he have to think the same of Manheim’s experiments? This is still easily the best part of season 3, and I hope Manheim continues to be central in the remaining six episodes.

The other subplots in “Forever and Always” are mostly well done; Sarah is, understandably, having a hard time wrapping her head around her father dating someone else, but Chrissy does what her parents refuse to do and sets her straight. (I’m growing to like this previously superfluous character.) And, to Sarah’s surprise – and Lana’s chagrin – they get along great. This story highlights the difficulties of divorce and what it does to a family; everyone is adrift, and nobody knows quite how to act or make peace with each other and their circumstances.

At the same time, Nat brings Matteo over to meet her father, and John Henry acts like he’s interrogating a terrorist. This is similar to Jonathan’s meltdown in that it comes so quickly that there’s no escalation; John Henry stares daggers at Matteo and immediately goes in for the kill, not even dancing around it. Of course, he eventually apologizes while still giving the “dad” speech. It’s fine, but it’s a little too silly. The ending, which reveals Matteo as Bruno and Peia Manheim’s son, is great, and the beginning of the various plots tying together. I’m interested in seeing where this goes; Matteo seems like a genuinely good kid, and he’s the same person with his parents. I wonder if they’ll contrast Jon and Jordan getting into trouble with Matteo being a perfect son. There are some missteps, but “Forever and Always” is a good episode.