After veering into the small town drama of Smallville, Superman & Lois brings Lois Lane face-to-face with the villainous Bruno Mannheim as she and Clark Kent return to Metropolis. The confrontation is a long time coming but, not only is Mannheim fully prepared for the fearless investigative journalist, but he has an agenda of his own to escalate against the Man of Steel. The third season's fifth episode, titled "Head On," gives Bitsie Tulloch a wide range of material to work with, which she takes full advantage of, while balancing its small town elements led by Emmanuelle Chrique's Lana Lang.
Lois relocates her chemotherapy treatments to a hospital owned by Mannheim in Metropolis to provide her easier access to his activities only for Mannheim to be aware of exactly what she's up to. With a growing army of super villains have been upgraded by using Superman's blood, Mannheim's crime syndicate Intergang makes its most brazen attack yet, forcing Superman to leap into action. Meanwhile, back in Smallville, Lana contemplates the legacy of her corrupt and complicated mayoral predecessor George Dean as the town comes together for the annual high school Valentine's Day dance.
Chad L. Coleman's Mannheim has gotten the chance to square up with Superman and John Henry Irons separately, and now he gets to play off Lois. While bringing the same degree of intensity, it's interesting to see how Mannheim approaches each of his opponents, with his interaction with Lois being especially surprising. Tulloch gets an impressive range to work with herself, from the fiery drive to expose Mannheim for the villain that he, and how he affects Lois's emotionally vulnerable side as she continues with her medical treatments.
One of the subtler standouts for the episode is Chriqui's Lana, who gets some fantastic material to work with her after dealing with the season's most melodramatic moments in the preceding episodes. The Smallville sequences always run the risk of throwing off the pacing, but Chriqui keeps the human heart of the small town feeling just as emotionally resonant and invested in the series’ overarching and expanding narrative landscape. Not every subplot has to threaten the world to matter and, after overcoming their own interpersonal drama, it’s great to see the Lang-Cushing family arc begin to stabilize and progress.
Similarly, the expanding role of Dylan Walsh’s General Sam Lane in growing closer to the Kent and Irons families is a welcome one, instead of sternly delivering exposition and reminding Superman of the stakes. Superman & Lois has often been good at maintaining this balance and the way it’s been repositioning its main cast and their various dynamics throughout Season 3 has largely been a positive change. This is especially important as the action takes a bit more of a backseat -- the one set piece in "Head On" is tightly crafted but short -- though the cliffhanger at the end of this episode suggests action sequences are poised to come back in a big way moving forward.
At its core, Superman & Lois delivers bombastic superhero action and stakes, small town coming-of-age drama and a degree of investigative mystery. "Vox" provides a clear example of balancing these plot elements on every inch of the creative canvas, from the more intimate Smallville sequences to a centerpiece superhero fight scene. Avoiding the melodramatic tendencies from earlier in the season, Superman & Lois is leveling out its tone as it ups the narrative ante with what is shaping up to be an ambitious middle act.
Developed for television by Greg Berlanti and Todd Helbing, Superman & Lois returns April 25 at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW, with episodes available to stream the following day on The CW App.