Superman & Lois: Rate #1.1 "Pilot"

[ThulaLani]

I loved the show.

I just finished my second watch about 30 minutes ago. I think this show is smart in distinguishing itself, not only from the typical CW hero servings, but also standing clear from other Superman shows that came before it, like Lois & Clark and Smallville (though folks seem to forget Superboy existed). I like that we are focusing on Clark and Lois at a different point in their lives than the other shows. And I know some will struggle with the teen boys, especially Jordan but it's an interesting plot point that highlights the dichotomy of Superman and Clark Kent for better or for worse, in Jordan's case, it's the worse bit. Despite all of his attempts to be there for his son, it's always going to appear like he's neglectful because he has this bigger than life responsibility as Superman, the guy who's basically the worlds protector interfering with his personal life. He literally drops every in a moment's notice to go and save a life. That's going to be hard to accept by anyone when they feel ignored by him all the time. I'm looking forward to the rest of the show and watching Clark and Lois raise their family as well as save Smallville from the shark Edge And Clark being Superman.

[KSiteTV]

I expected Luthor to be Zod, but introducing an interesting version of Lex (or another Luthor here?) never hurts a good Superman story. Thank Jor-El, that TPTB decided that it was NOT Jon Cryer. What a horrible casting decision, downright dreadful, that was. Worse than Eisenberg.

I really like Jon Cryer, actually. He's brought a mania and a "glee from playing bad" that I know Michael Rosenbaum would've had a heck of a great time with, but I also think that like Rosenbaum, the best dramatic actors are ones that are known for their comedy. How much more tortured can a guy get than someone who was living with Charlie Sheen for 10 years? I kid, but really, if you haven't seen all of Cryer's Supergirl appearances, I recommend it. He is up there with Michael for me.

Episode 2 of S&L reveals more about who and what "Captain Luthor" is and I'm very, very intrigued. Wole Parks was a great choice.

[darkphoenix21]

I really like Jon Cryer, actually. He's brought a mania and a "glee from playing bad" that I know Michael Rosenbaum would've had a heck of a great time with, but I also think that like Rosenbaum, the best dramatic actors are ones that are known for their comedy. How much more tortured can a guy get than someone who was living with Charlie Sheen for 10 years? I kid, but really, if you haven't seen all of Cryer's Supergirl appearances, I recommend it. He is up there with Michael for me.

I thought that was a genius move of them to get Jon Cryer. One can’t forget that 30yrs ago he played Lenny Luthor in that horrible Superman IV movie. He was given redemption for that character. I even joked on one post that he was playing Lenny Luthor who had killed the real Lex😂

[Dark_Valkyrie]

Haven't posted here in ages, probably a decade. Feels weird, haha. Anyway, I loved the premiere. I must have re-watched the scene where the boys learn the truth dozens of times. Unlike some people, I feel that they didn't overreact. I'd be upset too if I found out I've been lied to my whole life and that I'm part alien. I also wonder if Clark will keep wearing glasses around his family now that they're all on the same page. And I love how vulnerable the Man of Steel was when he was next to Martha's body, the hesitation to look at her. I'm definitely going to keep tuning in.

[KSiteTV]

Haven't posted here in ages, probably a decade. Feels weird, haha. Anyway, I loved the premiere. I must have re-watched the scene where the boys learn the truth dozens of times. Unlike some people, I feel that they didn't overreact. I'd be upset too if I found out I've been lied to my whole life and that I'm part alien. I also wonder if Clark will keep wearing glasses around his family now that they're all on the same page. And I love how vulnerable the Man of Steel was when he was next to Martha's body, the hesitation to look at her. I'm definitely going to keep tuning in.

Welcome back to the forums Dark_Valkyrie!

I think he probably will keep wearing the glasses because it's part of his self-identity, but one of my favorite parts of that scene is that, after he took off the glasses and lifted the truck and put it back down, his hair seemed a little different and his posture was different from what we usually expect from "Clark." I'm sure it was a subtle choice between acting and direction, but I thought it was pretty cool they did that.

[DJ Doena]

I reallly liked it. On an emotional and story level it hit all the right notes.

Here's the catch though. This felt more like a one-off special than a pilot.

I have questions of where the show intends to go because the pilot does not hint at any of them (in my opinion).

Will Lois quit her job as the ace reporter? If not how will she commute to Metropolis? Smallville-style?

What exactly will be the challenges in Smallville that fill the season with Super-content? Will Clark fly away once an episode to solve some distant catastrophe and otherwise teach his sons on how to ride a tractor and use heat vision correctly?

Or will it be just about this land-purchase plot by Morgan Edge.

With Smallville, the pilot set the tone and expectations for the first few seasons with the pilot. With this one I have no clue what to actually expect yet.

[CKent/KalEl]

I really like Jon Cryer, actually. He's brought a mania and a "glee from playing bad" that I know Michael Rosenbaum would've had a heck of a great time with, but I also think that like Rosenbaum, the best dramatic actors are ones that are known for their comedy. How much more tortured can a guy get than someone who was living with Charlie Sheen for 10 years? I kid, but really, if you haven't seen all of Cryer's Supergirl appearances, I recommend it. He is up there with Michael for me.

Episode 2 of S&L reveals more about who and what "Captain Luthor" is and I'm very, very intrigued. Wole Parks was a great choice.

I disagree from the bottom of my heart. You can have campy Lex but the actor playing him has to have charm and CHARISMA. Jon Cryer has the charisma of a wet sock. Duckie and Alan Harper are the roles he can play where I can enjoy his acting. Not someone who is one of the most dangerous people on the planet. For me the problem is that I would not feel threatened by Jon Cryer if he was literally slashing my throat. Luthor... has to feel threatening. JC as LL is just downright pathetic. I feel similarly for Eisenberg, though even he has more menacing presence and charisma than JC. Still, horrible choices, both.

I've seen Cryer in the Crisis crossover and had to cringe every single time he was on screen. I stopped watching Supergirl around, I think, season 3 and never, ever plan to revisit that show, no any other arrowverse show for that matter. And I pray that they keep arrowverse intrusions to a bare minimum in S&L.

[CKent/KalEl]

I reallly liked it. On an emotional and story level it hit all the right notes.

Here's the catch though. This felt more like a one-off special than a pilot.

I have questions of where the show intends to go because the pilot does not hint at any of them (in my opinion).

Will Lois quit her job as the ace reporter? If not how will she commute to Metropolis? Smallville-style?

What exactly will be the challenges in Smallville that fill the season with Super-content? Will Clark fly away once an episode to solve some distant catastrophe and otherwise teach his sons on how to ride a tractor and use heat vision correctly?

Or will it be just about this land-purchase plot by Morgan Edge.

With Smallville, the pilot set the tone and expectations for the first few seasons with the pilot. With this one I have no clue what to actually expect yet.

Agree.

Also, how many episodes will there be in season 1? If they have, say 8 to 10, then they could possibly sustain the quality, more than that... and it becomes Smallville. I LOVE Smallville... but it WAS NOT quality TV most of the time.

[kal-el_Girl]

Hi guys long time no see!!
Well, to me the Pilot was ok, the casting is a bit off. Lois is way too skinny and Superman needs to be more muscley. I do see a future in the series, the twins can be rivals, talk about sibling rivalry huh? It has potential.

[Khat]

I actually saw an ad for the new show, and thought that I should check it out, and then ended up totally forgetting about it, until I found an e-mail from the site in my spam folder. So I just got around to streaming it. It looks interesting, I think. I'm not sure about the actors, I'm a Lois and Clark girl, and tend to compare to Teri and Dean, but they might grow on me. Making Lex an alien too is kind of iffy, as well, because it makes him a bit less David to Clark's Goliath, but I'm willing to go with it. It certainly is a different take. In an unrelated note, does Jordan remind anybody else of Frodo from LotR?

I do have to say, though, that I didn't like Smallville at all, so it's not hard for this to be better. There was FAR too much drama in that show, in my opinion, and the only character I actually liked and empathised with was Lex. In fact, the only time I ever really watched it was when I went to visit a high school friend. (She insisted that there were tons of jobs where she lived. Apparently they were at the call centre she worked at, though, and yeah, I'd be fired before the week was out, if I even got hired.) The only TV in the house was hooked up to her computer, and she didn't have cable or anything anyway, so that was the only thing that was ever watched, (I watched a few episodes of Doctor Who on my laptop, but apparently I used up too much of her bandwidth doing that,) and it did not endear it to me at all. Plus, who the hell believed that the actor who played Clark was actually a teenager? He looked like he was closer to thirty.

Oops. That was a bit off-topic, I guess... Anyway, I hope there isn't a whole lot of crossovers from the other series, too, or, at least, that they're done properly. I hated the infinite Earth thing because the only show in the group that I watch (watched, I suppose, I kind of trailed off after that,) was Batwoman, and the streaming service I use only had Supergirl otherwise, so I missed a good portion of it, and had no real idea what happened.

[KSiteTV]

Agree.

Also, how many episodes will there be in season 1? If they have, say 8 to 10, then they could possibly sustain the quality, more than that... and it becomes Smallville. I LOVE Smallville... but it WAS NOT quality TV most of the time.

The current plan is 15 episodes for Season 1.

[moviefan2k4]

TNT reran the Pilot yesterday, so I got to see it...and I was surprised by how much I liked it. If the show can keep this kind of quality up instead of rehashing old stories or delving into PC crap, I'll keep watching.

[patho]

I really enjoyed the pilot. Can't wait for episode two.

[SVfan87]

What did you think?

I'm back on KryptonSite, so that means I loved it.

It's a great standalone. But I could also easily imagine this to be a Smallville sequel. I got so many good nostalgic vibes from it. The story basically picks up where we last saw Clark and Lois (Tom and Erica)- married and with kids in Smallville. "The girls" just became "the boys". And Clark got his powers back, which he always did.

Or, it could be a rebooted Smallville with a new generation. The boys are 14, freshmen in high school, and just found out they're alien. Sound familiar?

All that aside, this pilot was really good. I was so engaged with everything that was happening. Every emotion. Every Super move. I was laughing, gasping, yelling.... It was just a joy to watch. I'm going to try to keep up with it. And I really haven't done that with any show since Smallville. Could this be a worthy successor? Let's find out.