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Recap of Superman & Lois
Season 2, Episode 6
Tried and True
Tropes:
- Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: The Lana Lang of Bizarro's world is apparently superpowered and in the service of Ally Allston.
- Artistic License – Sports: The Crows are up 7-0 immediately after scoring the first touchdown of the night. In football, a touchdown is only worth 6 points, with the 7th optionally coming from the subsequent conversion kick.
- Book Ends: The episode opens with snippets from Bizarro's recent past, including a brawl in a hallway with several soldiers. At the end of the episode, a nearly-identical fight ensues between Superman and Anderson's men.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Clark cannot stop being a hero, even with his son's important football match going on.
- Cool Aunt: Lucy has a great dynamic with her two nephews.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Anderson arrests Clark for treason because he prioritizes saving a Russian village from an avalanche over immediately helping Anderson with Bizarro after Superman had already indicated a willingness to cooperate.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Anderson, when Clark tries to sympathize over his loss.
- Downer Ending: All the plots end like this: Superman is arrested by Anderson for "treason", Lucy refuses Lois’s olive branch because she won’t blindly worship Ally, Jonathan is caught taking X-K by Jordan and Lana kicks Kyle out of the house.
- Due to the Dead: The two dead Supermen of America get a military funeral.
- Fanservice: In the scene after the cold open, Clark and Lois are sharing a pair of pajamas with Lois wearing just the top as she folds clothes while Clark wears just the bottoms while he brushes his teeth.
- Flashback: To Bizarro attacking the Ally Allston of his world and making his way into Clark's reality.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: In Bizarro's home, he passes by a photo of his family. Like Clark, he has his own Lois, Jon, and Jordan. The first two are crossed out, but Jordan isn't. There's also a picture of Jordan by himself.
- Given Name Reveal: And last name: The deceased female member of the Supermen of America is finally named in this episode (Jessie Vance), at her funeral, and we meet her mother Sandra, as well.
- Going to the Store: Sam leaves early in the first quarter to go get popcorn and chili dogs. He doesn't come back until the game is practically over, telling the girls that he spent all that time chatting up with Mayor Dean, who happened to have stopped by.
- Good Parents: Sam is really trying to be one in this episode, bringing together his two daughters to talk. They have their first nice afternoon in a long time.
- Hope Spot: For much of the episode, Lucy and Lois seem like they're on their way to making amends, mostly by avoiding the contentious topic of conversation altogether (i.e. Ally Allston and the Inverse Society). However, the topic does inevitably arise again, at the football game while Sam has gone to the concession stands, leaving them to once again having a falling out.
- Hypocrite: Anderson plays the victim when arresting Superman, claiming that since Superman isn't willing to trust him, he can't trust Superman either. Never mind the reason for Superman's unwillingness to trust him is because of Anderson's consistent refusal to consider Superman's judgment on matters despite his 20-year history with the DOD. Not to also mention his stubbornness is the reason two of his super-soldiers died.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Bizarro staunchly insists that his actions, including the killing of the two Supermen of America, were justified to stop Ally.
- Internal Reveal:
- Jordan finally learns that Jonathan's powers come from X-Kryptonite and aren't natural. Nonetheless, Jordan doesn't tell anyone; so only Jordan and Candice know that Jonathan is taking X-Kryptonite, or even has powers at all.
- Superman tells Anderson that he has Bizarro and shares some of the details about where he came from.
- Lured into a Trap: Anderson lures Clark into one, arresting him for treason.
- Mr. Fanservice: Clark brushing his teeth in nothing but sweatpants, giving the audience a nice long look at his bare torso.
- Mythology Gag: When Superman says his other self is bizarre, Lois says, "Oh?" In other words, Bizarro.
- Never My Fault: Both Anderson (as noted above) and Lucy refuse to take any responsibility for their actions. The former feels entitled to Superman's help despite a total lack of reciprocity, and the latter continues to blame Lois for their fights.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Jonathan admits to his brother that winning the match while being powered up by X-Kryptonite feels hollow.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Anderson's superior General Hardcastle rips into him for not only getting two soldiers killed, but also for ruining America's relationship with Superman.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Jonathan's eyes flare up when Jordan tries to confront him about his drug abuse.
- Rousing Speech: Coach Gaines gives one before the game against the Gator's starts.
- Shout-Out: Sam references Pirates of the Caribbean and The Delta Force when he brings Lucy to the Kents' home.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Lana isn't able to just forgive Kyle, despite the latter feeling horrible about cheating on her, especially after Tonya reveals that he only broke it off after Sarah's accident.
- Titled After the Song: The episode's title is from a Ween song that plays at the beginning and end.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the first season, Superman struggled more in fights against singular opponents involving his weaknesses, against John Henry Irons under red sun radiation and against Rosetti when he poisoned Superman with synthetic Kryptonite in a sneak attack. By this point, despite being severely weakened by red sun radiation when Anderson betrays him, Superman fights and defeats multiple armed soldiers trying to arrest him before finally going down when Anderson shoots him with a Kryptonite bullet, even requiring a second bullet to make him lose consciousness.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Both of Sam's daughters note how much softer he has become after retiring.
- Uncertain Doom: Bizarro stole the amulet from his version of Ally, then attacked her, suggesting he might have killed her. However, his dialogue suggests Ally and her double still have the potential to merge, bringing the double's fate into question.
- Wham Episode: Superman is arrested by the US Government for treason, Jordan discovers that Jon is using XK to gain powers, and Lana kicks Kyle out of the house.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Tag Harris, last seen recovering in the hospital, is absent from his teammates' funeral, without being mentioned.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Anderson is chewed out by his superior officer for damaging the DOD's positive 20-year relationship with Superman in only six months, as well as getting two kids killed fighting a being he has neither been able to capture nor keep track of. Sadly, she does greenlight Anderson's plan to arrest him later.
- Yes-Man: Despite initially seeming to be able to make amends with her sister, Lucy still absolutely refuses to see anything wrong with Ally's actions, even making excuses for the latter drugging Chrissy against her will.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: Ally's necklace and its Bizarro twin would allow the prime and mirror beings holding it to merge into a godlike being.
