Superman and Lois gave me Clark Kent vs. The Lex Luthor fight I wanted, and another exit for the character set up in the process

Warning: SPOILERS for Superman and Lois episode “When the Lights Come On” are ahead!

A few days ago, I wrote about my desire to see Clark Kent and Lex Luthor actually fight each other before Superman and Lois finished, because so far this season, rather than have only the latter have Doomsday (who is no longer in the picture) and his minister does its dirty work against the former. Well, my wish came true much sooner than I expected! “When the Lights Come On” just finished airing on TV schedule 2024and Tyler Hoechlin and Michael Cudlitz’s characters traded blows in a rather brutal brawl thanks to the implementation of an even playing field. In the process, events unfolded that paved the way for Inde Navarrette’s Sarah Cortez to leave the series.

Michael Cudlitz as Lex Luthor in Superman & Lois — (Image credit: The CW)

Clark and Luthor Duk did it in downtown Smallville

Because Luthor wouldn’t give up on getting revenge on Lois Lane, his daughter Elizabeth, played by Agents of SHIELD alum Elizabeth Henstridge, told her to stay out of his life forever because she wouldn’t expose her soon-to-be son to that kind of hate. Well, as we see at the beginning of “When the Lights Come On,” Luthor is dealing with the loss of Elizabeth once again very hard, as evidenced by him turning violent in his hotel room and burning his picture of Elizabeth as the girl and all the documents she has. i gathered to find her. But by the time Amanda McCoy returned, he had regained his composure and given her new instructions, including handing over the schematics for an unknown device for a scientist named Milton to build as soon as possible.

Lex Luthor’s efforts to establish the new LexCorp headquarters in Smallville (again, all his efforts to bully Lois) were stymied by red tape thanks to Mayor Lana Lang, and this episode looked like he would finally overcome that by offering resident Aidy Manning $5 million for her land. However, she changed her mind in part due to the persuasive words of Lana and Clark, the latter having a particular impact on her because, like many other residents of Smallville, she learned that Clark is Superman. Luthor countered by offering $10 million to not only Aidy, but everyone else in the bar where she had to sign the papers, but the other residents of Smallville convinced her not to give in, as they knew that whatever Luthor did would not be good. for the community.

Angered by Lana Lang’s interference, Luthor disabled the security system in her house and sent Otis Grisham to gas her house and kill her. When Lana awoke to the smell and turned off the stove, Otis attempted to do the deed with his own hands and was only stopped by Sarah hitting him over the head with a baseball bat. Clark was understandably enraged by how close his friend came to dying, so he called Luthor into the middle of Smallville to make him retire once and for all.

However, Luthor had a trick up his sleeve: he had Milton clothe all the street lamps in the area to emit red energy from the sun, thus destroying Clark Kent of all his superhuman abilities. So the two ended up fighting mano a mano outside in the pouring rain, with both men soon bloodied. Fortunately, Clark emerged victorious and asked Luthor to leave Smallville and never return. Luthor complied, but upon returning to Metropolis, Amanda McCoy (who had decided to throw her full support behind him) informed him that he was going wrong with his approach to neutralizing Superman and that he needed to get a ” criminal suit”. Oh yes we do Superman and Lois‘ version of Luthor’s War Trialall!

Inde Navarrette as Sarah Cortez in Superman & Lois Season 3

(Image credit: The CW)

Sarah leaves Smallville to study abroad

If you watched along with Superman and Lois right from the beginning (and for those who need a refresher, the first three seasons can be streamed with a Maximum subscription), you know that Sarah Cortez has been through a lot, from almost dying by suicide before the events of the series to being charged with DUI in season 3. Lately, aside from special events like her father’s almost wedding to Chrissy Beppo. , Sarah’s life consists primarily of working at the restaurant and sleeping. She wants freedom and a fresh start, and even though she can’t fly anywhere she wants like Jonathan and Jordan in “When the Lights Come On,” she tells her mom that she wants to travel abroad for her senior year. school.

At first, Lana was skeptical that this was the right move for her daughter, but after the incident with Otis, she decided to have Sarah study abroad, not just to keep her away from Lex Luthor’s machinations, but because she deserved a chance to to see the world. . When Sarah met with Jordan and Jonathan the next morning, she told them that she planned to go to either Santiago, Chile, or Greece for her junior year and BOYSfeeling a little mean, she decided to help her decide by flying her to the Greek islands.

It remains ambiguous whether we will see Sarah again before Superman and Lois is over, but considering that Inde Navarrette previously said that would only appear in three episodes in season 4then that would make “When the Lights Come On” the last of the trio. I hope not, because I’d like to see Sarah say goodbye to Kyle Cushing, to Erik Valdez before she leaves to study abroad. But if “When the Lights Come On” is indeed the last we’ll see of Sarah, at least we know she’s on her way to great things.

Only four episodes left Superman and Lois to go, so be sure to tune in Mondays at 8pm ET on The CW, then visit CinemaBlend for our thoughts on the latest developments. You can also spend time looking over future DC TV shows and future DC movies.