Recap / Superman And Lois S 1 E 11 A Brief Reminiscence In Between Cataclysmic Events

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Recap of Superman & Lois
Season 1, Episode 11

A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events

Clark finds himself reminiscing on the pivotal moments of his life from the time he found the Fortress of Solitude to meeting and marrying Lois to the birth of his sons, but not all is as it seems. Later, he is forced to submit to an unthinkable demand in order to keep his family safe.

Tropes:

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: After returning from the Arctic, Clark discovers that Lana has married Kyle in the meantime, much to his chagrin.
• Abusive Parents: Zeta-Rho berates his son Tal-Rho/Edge for his weakness and even exposes him to red sun radiation to toughen him up.
• Adaptational Nationality: The comic book Henry Miller/Heinrich Melch was German. Henry Miller here appears to be American.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Edge is able to take back the Eradicator, force Superman's submission by threatening his family, and brainwash him into compliance.
• Beam-O-War:
  • Superman uses his ice breath against Henry Miller's flamethrower, pushing back the flame and freezing the barrel to disable it.
  • Jordan tries to use his heat vision on Edge, but is easily overpowered by Edge's ability.
• Being Tortured Makes You Evil:
  • Zeta-Rho tortured Edge as a child to teach him the importance of pain. Not that Edge didn't already have a low opinion of humanity, but Zeta's tutelage no doubt hardened his mindset even further.
  • The final scene implies that Edge is doing this to Superman, as part of the delivery mechanism for the Eradicator.
• Big Damn Heroes: Superman saves Lois from being incinerated by Henry Miller.
• Big Damn Kiss: Sarah and Jordan have theirs after a season-long Ship Tease, which doubles as a "Shut Up" Kiss so he'll stop trying to apologize for hiding the truth about her dad.
• Category Traitor: Tal-Rho accuses Clark of this for daring to start a family with a human.
• Character Death: Edge destroys the sunstone crystal containing Jor-El's AI.
• Clean, Pretty Childbirth: Lois giving birth to the twins.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Jor-El tells Clark he loves him as he fades away after Edge destroys the sunstone containing his AI.
• Evil Is Petty: Henry Miller chucks grenades at the crowd when Superman stops him, reasoning that Superman won't be able to stop both grenades tossed in opposite directions. He's wrong, and Lois tasers him unconscious when he's distracted.
• Evil Uncle: Tal-Rho targets his nephews as retaliation for Clark rejecting him.
• Flashback: The first half of the episode is flashbacks to Clark's past.
• The Ghost: Jimmy Olsen gets a short mention, but doesn't appear in the flesh.
• A Glitch in the Matrix: As Superman relives his memories, he starts experiencing inconsistencies. First, there's the outline of a man, then Jor-El yells at him to "Get Out!", and finally he starts acting outside the memories while they play on without his input. Eventually, Edge reveals himself, having placed a Kryptonian headband developed by Ter-Loc on Superman to infiltrate his memories while he was unconscious.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: Lois calls John Irons for help at the end of the episode, fearing that Edge will likely turn Superman against the world.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Clark surrenders himself to Tal-Rho for the sake of his family.
• Hypocrite: Tal-Rho deriding the Jor-El AI as a "whisper", even as he himself is almost slavishly obedient to the will of the AI of his own father.
• Internal Reveal: Edge learns Superman's Secret Identity and that he has a family.
• Jerkass Realization: Kyle realizes how wrong he was to trust Edge, meeting him behind Lana's back. He also apologizes to Lois for the way he treated her.
• Kick the Dog: Edge crushes the sunstone containing Jor-El's AI.
• Knight Templar: Henry Miller, who is fully convinced of the righteousness of his attacks against minorities.
• Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: When Sarah asks for a moment alone with Jordan, Jon takes the hint and leaves them be.
• Love at First Sight: Clark, when he first meets Lois.
• Loves My Alter Ego: In an inversion of how it usually goes in pop culture, Lois actually falls in love with dorky Clark Kent first as they spend time together investigating a case she's working on. During an interview with Superman, her coworker gushes over how Superman is clearly into Lois and that going out with "the world's most eligible bachelor" is a chance she can't pass up. However, Lois is largely indifferent to Superman and dismisses him being into her; she declares herself to being in love with Clark and firmly states she isn't interested in anyone else.
• Mood Whiplash: It appears to be a Whole Episode Flashback on Clark and Lois meeting and Clark's early life as Superman, with Clark going to tell Jor-El about their getting married... and Jor-El presses him to "Get out now!"
• Mythology Gag:
  • After saving the kid in reminiscence of the famous Action Comics #1 cover, Superman changes back at Super-Speed inside a phone booth.
  • An onlooker tells Clark that Superman flew, "like a bird or a plane or something."
  • When Lois interviews Superman, he says he stands for truth and justice. Lois somewhat cynically prompts, "the American way?"
  • Edge dismissing Jor-El as a "whisper," followed by him destroying the sunstone crystal containing Jor-El's AI, mirrors a similar scene in Man of Steel.
  • Henry Miller is named after an Earth-Two Nazi villain (real name Heinrich Melch), who also went by Atoman or Atom-Man. His outfit is based on Atom-Man in Superman Smashes the Klan, in which Superman is wearing the same black-and-red Fleisher cartoon S-shield as he is here.
• Not Good with Rejection: After Clark turns down his offer to rule alongside him one too many times, Tal-Rho goes after his family.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Clark, in good old Adorkable fashion. invoked
• Oblivious to Love:
  • One of Lois's co-workers points out how Superman is obviously smitten with her during their interview, but she brushes it off and doesn't care.
  • Likewise, while Clark and Lois have been dating for a few months, he had no idea she's fallen in love with him and become serious about their relationship until overhearing her say so to a friend. To be fair, she also admits to wanting to stay quiet about her feelings as she doesn't want to risk scaring him off.
• Omniglot: Clark speaks all the languages in the world.
• Once More, with Clarity: The first half of the episode shows many clips used in the pilot's opening, and gives a more in-depth look at how they happened.
• Orange/Blue Contrast: Superman's icy blue Fortress in the Arctic contrasts with Edge's rocky orange Fortress in the desert. Even the holograms of Jor-El and Zeta-Rho share the contrast.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Henry Miller, a Neo-Nazi arsonist targeting minority businesses.
• Relationship Upgrade: Sarah kisses Jordan and tells him she doesn't want to be Just Friends anymore. He agrees with her.
• They Were Holding You Back: Edge intends to kill Clark's family, seeing them as a weakness preventing Clark from joining him. Clark agrees to join him in order to protect his family, as he's still burnt out from his Solar Flare in the previous episode and is no match for him power-wise.
• Time Skip: Within the flashback, there are several.
• Unseen No More: Perry White appears in the flesh for the first time in the Arrowverse, being portrayed by Paul Jarrett.
• Worf Had the Flu: Tal-Rho overpowers Clark relatively easy, due to him still being burned out from the Solar Flare.
• Would Not Hurt A Child: Subverted, Tal-Rho says he would not hurt an infant; teenage boys on the other hand are fair game.

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