Recap of Superman & Lois
Season 2, Episode 7
Anti-Hero
Tropes:
- Adaptational Villainy: Anderson is revealed to be Mitch Anderson. In the comic universe, he was the kid in The Death of Superman who dismissed Superman as lame and thought the more Anti-Heroic Guy Gardner was better until Doomsday showed up and dropped Gardner, and Superman saved his family.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Tal, when being tortured with a Kryptonite collar by Anderson.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Clark is clearly feeling sorry when he sees Bizarro's corpse.
- Attack Backfire: Anderson shoots Bizarro with a Kryptonite bullet, only for Bizarro to shove it into his chest and get even stronger. Unfortunately, Bizarro accidentally reveals his weakness to X-Kryptonite when he crushes one of Anderson's X-K vials before he can use it.
- Bittersweet Ending: Superman is ultimately released after Anderson's misconduct and manages to save his brother's life, with a strong hint that Tal might be able to redeem himself for good one day, but Bizarro is dead and Anderson has gone to team up with Ally Allston, bringing the necklace she needs for her plans with him.
- Cardboard Prison: A single bullet into the ceiling of Tal's cell is sufficient to completely disable the red sun prison, making it a wonder Tal never managed to escape with some creative bashing.
- Character Development: At the end of the episode, Superman parts on much better terms with his brother. Tal even asks him to tell Jordan that he is sorry.
- Combat Pragmatist: Anderson shoots a Kryptonite gas missile into Tal's Fortress so the two Kryptonians will be weakened while he has X-K powers, and uses Kryptonite weapons on top of that.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tal, throughout the entire episode. Kal is eventually so annoyed by it that he tells his brother to shut up.
- Didn't Think This Through: Jon takes the fall for Candice with the X-K supply, thinking that he wouldn't get into as much trouble as Candice would. Getting caught with enough drugs to supply someone for weeks tends to have a universal punishment, so Jon winds up facing expulsion because he refuses to rat out Candice.
- Disappointed in You: Both Lois and Clark make it very clear how angry, hurt and disappointed they are about Jon taking X-Kryptonite.
- Easily Forgiven: Averted, Tal is being put back in prison at the end of the episode.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Anderson takes some X-Kryptonite to go toe-to-toe with Superman and Tal-Rho.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision:
- Tal is dying and Bizarro is on the losing end of his fight with Anderson, which Superman is able to hear. Superman chooses to save his brother, which is more than enough time for Anderson to kill Bizarro and escape.
- Jon has to choose between telling the truth about Candice and ruining her life, or keeping silent and disappointing his family. He chooses the latter, protecting Candice but losing his family's trust.
- Go Look At The Distraction: Superman gives Anderson the coordinates of his defunct Arctic Fortress to buy some time. Unfortunately, since Bizarro previously dropped by to discard his armor, Anderson comes to the the conclusion that they're working together and grows even more unhinged from the perceived betrayal.
- Idiot Ball: The guards never stop to wonder why Tal-Rho and Superman, who have both demonstrated the ability to communicate in fluent Kryptonian, are arguing loudly in Earth English. In hindsight, it's obvious that they did so in order to convince the soldiers they were having a genuine fight and to lure them into entering the cell without notifying Anderson or taking as much precaution as they should have.
- In Prison with the Rogues: Kal-El is thrown into the same cell as Tal-Rho who he helped capture. Justified in that Tal's cell is specially designed to depower Kryptonian inmates and as far as the [DoD] knows Superman and Tal-Rho are the only two in existence.
- Insane Troll Logic: Anderson decides that the presence of Bizarro's helmet at Superman's empty Ice Fortress means that Superman has double crossed the government, has secretly been working with Bizarro all along, and warned Bizarro that Anderson's team was coming. This in spite of the fact that he has received reports of Superman and Bizarro fighting every time they encounter each other and that Superman has been depowered and incommunicado with no way to communicate with the outside world long before Anderson even knew where to search for Bizarro. At this point, nothing will convince Anderson that he's wrong about Superman or Bizarro.
- Internal Reveal: Both Clark and Lois learn about Jon taking X-Kryptonite.
- It's All My Fault: Lana, in regards to what happened with Kyle, though Sarah is quick to point out that it is not her fault. Later, Lana herself tells Lois the same when the latter blames herself for Jonathan taking drugs.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Anderson has Tal tortured to get Kal to spill the beans.
- Kryptonite Factor: Subverted when a Kryptonite bullet only serves to strengthen Bizarro, then played straight when Bizarro crushes one of Anderson's X-Kryptonite vials and is weakened by the gas.
- Left the Background Music On: "Too Soon" by Jacob Pregont starts playing when the scene cuts to Sarah sitting at school. Then when Jordan approaches her, Sarah suddenly takes her earbuds out, revealing she was actually listening to the song.
- Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe; the military generally goes along with Anderson's actions without question, but once he steals dozens of vials of X-Kryptonite for himself (as well as Project 7734 green kryptonite weapons) to wage a one-man assault on Tal's fortress (resulting in him killing Bizarro), the military declares him AWOL and issues a warrant for his arrest.
- Neck Snap: Anderson, hopped up on X-Kryptonite, uses a bunch on Bizarro to weaken him enough to snap his neck.
- Nice Girl: Aubrey, the girl Sarah kissed at Summer Camp, comes to Smallville to offer Sarah some advice in regards to her family situation, as she is a child of divorce as well. She isn't bitter about Sarah ghosting her at all, encourages her and agrees to stay friends. Sarah is outright shocked to learn that she was acting mean after her own parents divorced.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Superman trying to reason with Anderson about the threat Ally poses only gives Anderson someone to team up with when he goes rogue.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Jonathan takes Candice's X-K supply so she and her family won't have to deal with someone worse than the cops. Jonathan's refusal to give any names doesn't receive much sympathy from either of his parents regardless of why he's doing it, ultimately reducing him to tears by the end.
- Oh, Crap!: Anderson immediately realizes that his men are being set up when they are breaking up the fight between Tal and Kal.
- Only Sane Man: Subverted. Anderson has convinced himself that he's the only one who can see the truth about Superman and that they are at the tipping point of a massive Kryptonian conspiracy. In reality, the issue they're having would have been resolved by now if Anderson wasn't so deadset on resolving it by himself and exactly the way he thinks it should be resolved (with the death of Bizarro).
- Overshadowed by Awesome: How Jonathan justifies himself to his mother on why he took the X-Kryptonite. He felt that everybody in the family was great at something, except for himself.
- Pet the Dog: Tal genuinely apologizes for attacking Jordan after Clark saves his life. Clark, for his part, assures Tal he'll get the chance to do so in person.
- Playing Possum: Tal and Superman get into a fight in the red sun prison, which ends with Superman seemingly unconscious on the floor. When the soldiers come to check on Superman, he hops up and both Kryptonians disarm the soldiers with ease.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Anderson succeeds in killing Bizarro... but in the process has committed actions that have made him an enemy of the state.
- The Reveal: Bizarro says that Tal-Rho's wife in his world tried to kill him (Bizarro). That explains why Lana was wearing the House of Rho symbol when she attacked Bizarro in the flashbacks at the beginning of the previous episode.
- Revenge Before Reason: Anderson makes it clear he doesn't care about getting any further answers about whatever is going on with Bizarro; he just wants the thing dead for the soldiers it killed.
- Save the Villain: When Tal-Rho is shot with Kryptonite bullets, Lara beseeches Superman to save his life, which he does. Sadly, this allows Anderson to murder Bizarro.
- Skewed Priorities: Tal learning that he has a wife on Bizarro's world consumes his interest, because he honestly believes that woman must be spectacular for him to actually marry someone on Earth. Clark has to remind him there are bigger fish to fry.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Jon taking the fall for Candice over the X-K supply leads to him facing expulsion. She has enough on her to supply a single person for weeks, which flies way over the line of a simple possession charge. It being his first offense is largely irrelevant given the severity of the crime.
- Tal spends most of the episode helping Clark... who still takes him back to the blacksite prison in the end, for Tal hasn't earned enough of his trust.
- The people at the diner are willing to listen to Mayor Dean's attacks on Lana and her family...until Lana points out how disgusting it is to go after someone in the middle of her marriage dissolving. Then, everyone looks ashamed of themselves.
- Taking the Bullet: Tal jumps in front of three Kryptonite bullets meant for Superman. It nearly kills him, but some precision heat beams and a trip to the sun saves his life.
- Taking the Heat: Jonathan takes Candice's X-K supply so she won't be caught with it, reasoning he has a better chance of not being searched and can dump it later, and won't be punished as harshly if he's caught. Even when the harsh consequences do catch up to him, he refuses to turn on her because he still feels she'd face worse.
- Villainous Breakdown: Anderson grows increasingly more unhinged throughout the episode. It ends with him being declared rogue by the US government.
- Villainous Rescue: Lara releases Bizarro to save her sons from Anderson.
- Villain Team-Up: At the end of the episode, Anderson approaches Ally Allston with an offer to join her, having brought the necklace Bizarro stole from her alternate self.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Both Lois and Clark tear into Jonathan for having the X-Kryptonite drugs (and Lois is clearly upset with Jordan hiding the secret), but it's Clark's disappointment in Jonathan that sends the boy into tears, since Clark has had a really crappy day and isn't in the mood to be as understanding as he normally would be.
- Worf Had the Flu: Anderson is able to overpower Kal and Tal due to firing a Kryptonite grenade at them and due to Tal still suffering the aftereffects of being under a Red Sun lamp for so long.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Lois gives Lana a pep talk, which motivates the latter to confront Mayor Dean.
