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Superman & Lois returned with an episode that delighted fans and flat earthers as we got answers to what Clark and Mitch have been up to since going through the portal. We were also treated to the origin of Bizarro becoming a tweaky crackhead.
Fame Whores
Bizarro lived a very different life than our Clark. He didn’t have the Clark Kent name or small-town upbringing. He’s always just been Kal-El. Bizarro isn’t humble or saving people because he’s a good person. He is so enamored with fame that he’s taking selfies with twins and straight up ignoring a man in obvious peril scaffolding. Jon-El’s powers show up at this moment and he saves the man while his father is smiling pretty for Instagram.
Jon-El quickly joins the family grift of using heroics for fame and money in talk show appearances, sponsorships and getting a famous girlfriend who leads him to meeting Bizarro Ally. Like Lucy, Jon-El’s unstable upbringing makes him vulnerable to joining a cult. When you feel like something is missing in your life, cults latch onto that. I don’t think Ally has been a great villain, but the show has done a good job portraying how cults will prey on someone and give them a false sense of belonging.
The lack of a relationship between Bizarro and Jon-El is obviously meant to parallel Clark and Jonathan. Jonathan didn’t see that much of his father growing up because of the heroics. Even now that he’s in the know about the secret, Clark has blatantly favored Jordan over Jonathan. He hasn’t been to either Fortress or flown with him. The only experience Jonathan has with flying with a Kryptonian is when Zeta-Rho possessed Jordan almost killed him. I think all of this was a factor in Jonathan taking X-K and furthering the estrangement between father and son.
Jon-El and Jonathan both made huge mistakes because of feeling alienated and wanting a quick fix, but Jonathan has taken responsibility. Jon-El is a murderer who killed both Bizarro Mitch and Mitch. The episode ends with him on Earth Prime there to merge with Jonathan. If they do merge, could it be reversible? Who will be the dominant one? Is the show’s way of giving Jonathan powers? We’ll see.
Idiot Realizes He’s An Idiot
Mitch has spent the season acting like Superman’s spurned lover to the point that he brought the necklaces Ally and Bizarro Ally needed to merge and begin merging universes. His ego couldn’t accept Superman not wanting to be a lackey and it spun off into unhinged thoughts about Bizarro and Superman working together. He drove himself crazy.
The tragedy of Mitch is it didn’t have to be this way. He could have built a relationship with Superman over time. He could have not pulled a Meredith Grey circa season two of Grey’s Anatomy demanding Superman pick America. He could have listened to the warnings about Ally and observed that Superman clearly wasn’t working with Bizarro through basic logic. He did none of that and thus ended up murdered by a twink in red pants.
At least Mitch died knowing he was the villain of this story. Ian Bohen did a terrific job playing the moment Mitch learned Bizarro had a family and thus Superman did too. Bizarro did not need to kill those miners or the two Supermen of America, but in the context of his backstory he was a crazed man trying to save his family. They both thought they were doing the right thing, but it got both of them killed.
Totally Square
A month has passed in Earth Prime since Superman went through the portal, but for him it is only hours. Clark gets treated to Kyrie Irving’s dream: A flat Earth! The show takes direct inspiration from the comics in making Bizarro World cube shaped. Even the sun is cubed. The prop department was having a blast with this episode because there’s even square pool.
Tyler Hoechlin really got a lot to play in this episode. He played cracked out kryptonite Bizarro with different mannerisms from Clark. He played our Clark who gave grace to dumb dumb Mitch when he didn’t deserve it. He played the proud father to Jon-El and later horrified that this alternate universe version of his son is a villain.
I do think Jon-El is the wakeup call for Clark that things need to change with how he treats Jonathan. At the very least have forgiveness for the X-K situation. If he can believe Mitch, who helped get him into this mess, can be saved, then he needs to do that for his son. Though unlike Bizarro, Clark can put his family first and instead of trying to stop Ally from merging, he races to stop Jon-El from merging with Jonathan.
Sometimes seeing another person who is like you having a messed-up situation can give you clarity. Clark and Mitch certainly got clarity, but it was a start for Clark and an end for Mitch. I’m excited to see what direction the next five episodes will take.
Random thoughts about “Bizarros in a Bizarro World”:
- This was the most ambitious episode of the season. The wardrobe that looked straight out of a My Chemical Romance music video must have been a big part of the budget for this episode.
- I suspect Bizarro Lana and Bizarro Tahl-Rho’s romance will become a favorite for fanfic writers.
- Elizabeth Tulloch has never resembled Margot Kidder more than when she was wearing the Bizarro Lois wig. If Margot were still alive, they could pass as mother and daughter.
- Fans of the Snyder films were taking clips of this episode out of context to dunk on the show. If you want to have an informed opinion of a show, I have a crazy idea: Watch it. Then you can decide for yourself what you think of it.
