“A Regular Guy”

Superman & Lois explores the concept of Clark’s secret identity following the increase in suspicion around the town.

The secret identity is one of the cornerstones of superhero storytelling. Not every costumed hero lives a double life, but it has been a staple of the superhero concept since its inception. The notion of Clark Kent hiding his identity behind a mild-mannered persona and a pair of glasses has been the subject of intense mockery over the near century since the character’s introduction but it’s also iconic and has become shorthand for hiding in plain sight.

Countless writers have worked to make Clark’s seemingly flimsy disguise more plausible to varying degrees of success, but it is always true that it’s a conceit you must accept to enjoy the material. If your main criticism of Superman stories is that you can’t buy into how he hides his identity, then Superman stories are likely not for you.

The Arrowverse had a curious relationship with secret identities. Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl had it baked into the show but frequently pushed it aside to support whatever story was being told at the time. Oliver Queen had an ever-expanding circle of those he trusted with the truth from early on and abandoned the secret entirely eventually, Supergirl took a similar approach, but the secret was only fully abandoned in the closing moments of the final episode and by the time The Flash ended, Barry flippantly revealing his identity was a recurring gag.

On the other side of the fence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the secret identity concept was abandoned at the end of Iron Man and has never been seriously explored since. Even in the Spider-Man movies, it was treated as an afterthought. The Netflix Daredevil show focused more on Matt Murdock’s double life and the challenges that come with it, but beyond that, it’s clearly not an avenue Marvel was interested in exploring.

Superman & Lois went down the familiar route when it comes to Clark Kent keeping his identity secret but with its own spin on the idea. This version of the Superman mythos is atypical as far as adaptations go as it features a Clark Kent well into his career as Superman married to Lois Lane with two teenage sons. Setting the show in Smallville instead of Metropolis changed Clark’s dynamic with those around him as he’s surrounded by people he grew up with, so many people in town remember him from years ago.

I’m of the view there are three main Clark Kent personas. Firstly, there’s Superman; the hero who protects people, gives hope and represents something to aspire to. Secondly, there’s Clark Kent in Metropolis; the mild-mannered and often bumbling reporter who fades into the background and doesn’t register heavily on people’s radar. Lastly, there’s Clark Kent in Smallville; a nice guy who everyone knows and likes. The latter is closest to Clark Kent as he really is as Smallville was where he grew up and learned the lessons that would shape him into the man he would become so it’s only natural he would be most at ease around those he grew up with in the place that feels like home to him.

The opening of the episode leans into the notion of Clark Kent having different personas that vary depending on circumstances and surroundings. His monologue states that it was easy to hide in Metropolis as he was just another face in the crowd of a large city and it’s equally easy to hide in Smallville as nobody would suspect the normal guy they know well. It’s a slightly different rationale but it works equally well and justifies how Clark has managed to hide himself so effectively for so long. The juxtaposition of the two shirt rips; one in Metropolis when he started his career as Superman and the other in Smallville in the present day, each with different costumes shows that his approach may be different, but both are cultivated personas designed to obfuscate the truth.

This episode picks up on the suspicions that have been spreading through the town. Clark falls back on his instinctive habits and works to get all those who have been identified as close to the truth off the scent. He does this by doing things like staging situations where he appears as frail as anyone else such as when he fakes an injury in the presence of Coach Gaines or dissuading people by highlighting the inherent ridiculousness of Clark Kent being Superman. It seems to work at first, but it quickly becomes clear that things have changed significantly beyond what Clark is used to.

Previous seasons have touched on Jonathan and Jordan’s difficulties keeping Clark’s -and eventually their own- secrets. They came into the knowledge late in life so having to pivot to fading into the background and acting “normal” after so many years of trying to stand out was a jarring shift. Clark was raised to be careful so knew nothing else, but his sons are different and expressed their concerns. Typically, they were either shot down and reminded of what’s at stake or came to understand the importance of concealing the truth on their own.

Their perspective on keeping the family secret continued to shift as the seasons progressed but it was never addressed in any meaningful way beyond the dogma of being told that keeping it was non-negotiable. The difference in this episode is that Clark is faced with the biggest threat his anonymity has ever faced now that Lex Luthor knows the truth and is at large. The truth spreading through the town is a lesser issue as the adults are content keeping things to themselves and some of the teenagers don’t know what to do with it. Denise feels awkward around Clark as she seems to be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Timmy (Zane Clifford) reacts with anger and envy that he takes out on the twins for having an unfair advantage playing football.

Playing football was a large contributor to Jordan and Jonathan’s frustration in earlier seasons as they felt it was unfair for them to step out of the limelight because of a quirk of their family that they have no control over. Jonathan reflects on being unable to participate in something he enjoys and wonders if the rest of his life will involve passing over opportunities to stand out to keep the wrong kind of attention off his family. He points out that Clark doesn’t have friends of his own, certainly none that he spends much meaningful time with, so he sees a bleak future of loneliness and sacrifice in service of keeping a secret that he feels was forced on him.

Jordan is much more optimistic and takes comfort in them having each other but Jonathan doesn’t want to be seen as one half of a set of twins regarded as strange because they do everything together. They lament their lost futures and the lack of consideration of the impact on their lives in all of this.

Jonathan’s observation about Clark having no real friends of his own is supported in the flashbacks detailing Jimmy Olsen (Douglas Smith) encouraging Clark to join the Daily Planet’s softball team. Clark initially refuses because he was raised to not stand out and invite suspicion, but Lois convinces him that he’s allowed to have friends and doesn’t have to be good at the game to be part of the team. The activity is about friendship and having fun rather than serious competition or material gain. It’s perhaps the first sign that there are alternate perspectives worth considering beyond the overly cautious approach he was raised with.

His participation in the softball team worked for a while but his responsibilities as Superman kept getting in the way to toe extent of Jimmy becoming suspicious because Clark’s disappearances coincided with Superman’s saves. He reached the conclusion that they must be one in the same because there are too many coincidences to explain away. The end result is Clark failing to turn up to a game even when Superman isn’t needed and giving up softball to get Jimmy off the scent.

This is a great example of his secret identity getting in the way of a normal life as the weight of responsibility prevents him from keeping a reliable social schedule and forming meaningful friendships by doing activities with his friends. Jimmy’s declaration “no one said we have to be buds” is devastating; Douglas Smith’s expression wonderfully shows how hurt and upset Jimmy feels at the thought of Clark not wanting to be friends with him and so casually letting him down with only flimsy excuses defining his absence. It’s likely to be one example in a long pattern of fractured relationships caused by Clark’s aloofness causing others to think he doesn’t want them in his life. His excuses lose credibility over a long enough period of time as it becomes clear he’s more absent than present. He isn’t as skilled a liar as he needed to be nor is he adept at finding the necessary balance to maintain strong friendships.

There’s a quiet tragedy to Clark removing himself from the team as it was clear he enjoyed being part of it and got a taste of what he had been missing all his life by staying away from similar activities. Once he realised, he was unable to find that balance, he resigned himself to distanced connections with those around him. The exception to that is Lois but it’s evident he sacrificed the possibility of several meaningful friendships over the course of his life. This is something he was able to live with because he considered it necessary and had never fully explored how necessary it actually is.

The beauty of the debate is that both sides of it have valid points. Clark means well in his dictate as he believes it’s necessary for the family to have something resembling a normal life without constant scrutiny from outsiders. It’s how he was raised and an approach that has worked for him more than it hasn’t so he carries on as he has never been faced with a situation that has given him cause to question what he knows.

That isn’t to say the situation didn’t exist, it’s more that he was blinded to it and dismissed the protests of his teenage sons as lacking the maturity necessary to truly understand what’s at stake. Throughout the show, Clark is confronted with displays of maturity from both of his sons, particularly Jonathan and is starting to recognise that their concerns are legitimate and that forcing them to live their lives that way isn’t fair. Once his mind is open to alternate possibilities then he starts to see things differently while fully internalising the fact that he doesn’t only have himself to worry about. He starts to recognise that keeping the secret is affecting his sons.

Clark’s transition from anger at Jordan and Jonathan for telling Candice the truth highlights the change in perspective. His anger is understandable as he sees it as his sons being flippant about a secret he spent his life protecting but he fails to consider why Jordan might have done it. Jordan’s justification is that he didn’t want Jonathan to lose Candice the way he lost Sarah. It was a rapidly declining situation as Candice could tell she was being lied to and was rapidly losing patience with Jonathan’s dishonesty.

One of the most interesting developments that isn’t actually addressed is that people learning the truth wasn’t the disaster that Clark feared. Candice reacted to the truth with understanding and those in Smallville who figured it out don’t treat Clark any differently and actively protect his secret on his behalf. It would have been a compelling counterargument to present to Clark that might have helped him consider whether keeping the truth hidden is necessary anymore. People have known for a considerable amount of time and nothing has changed so there’s mounting evidence that things have changed without Clark even realising it especially when combined with the fact that others have learned the truth and accepted it even if some took longer to come to terms with it than others.

The threat of Lex is still looming though not directly present in this episode. He does act on the information he has by sending Emmitt armed with the truth -and a gun- to force a public outing of the secret. Clark tries to de-escalate the situation without powers but fails and Emmitt fires his gun at Clark as a test of his invulnerability. The perspective shifts to Clark as the bullet moves slowly towards him and he considers his options. It’s a moment that’s allowed to breathe and it’s a powerful display of Tyler Hoechlin’s acting talent as he conveys Clark’s thought process purely through his facial expressions. He arrives at the decision to confirm everyone’s suspicions with a very quick costume change and an apology for the years of dishonesty.

It becomes clear following this act that the genie may well be out of the bottle for good and the family now have to make a choice. Clark puts it to them that they could go public with the information and take ownership of when and how that happens rather than Lex continually holding it over them until he inevitably decides to do it. He shows that he understands it was a mistake to make the decision to keep the secret for his sons so won’t commit to it unless all of them are behind him. It isn’t a long conversation as everyone is on the same page so Clark agrees to be interviewed by Jimmy’s sister, Janet (Yoshié Bancroft) and tell his story on his own terms.

The interview is perfectly handled. It’s an understated disclosure of the truth with all the attention given to Clark acknowledging that things have changed and he thinks it’s the right time to be fully transparent with the world. He admits to making mistakes along the way and regretting missing so much of Jonathan and Jordan’s childhood. The thesis of the interview is that Clark is a regular guy with feelings and desires all his own and he expresses this with humility. He does what Superman always does and tells the truth though Clark Kent’s track record with honesty is a different story but this is him unveiling who he truly is to the world and asking them to take him as he is. The sincerity in Tyler Hoechlin’s performance is pitch perfect which adds power to the delivery of statements about loving his family and wanting to do right by them. Janet’s response “I think we can all relate” sets up that Clark has been humanised in a way he never has before and the potential implications of that are fascinating.

One possibility is that Superman may no longer be seen as a paragon of virtue representing the best that people can be. Admitting that he has made mistakes perhaps changes him into a regular flawed person who makes mistakes, grows and learns. Instead of being a symbol for people to aspire to, he may be a symbol of humanity that people can relate to in a way they couldn’t before. It could be positive for Clark as he no longer has to live up to the impossible standard that Superman represents and can simply be himself without the weight of expectation placed on him. For the first time in his life, he can simply be a man trying to do his best in a difficult world.

Notably, he is never made to prove who he is during the interview. It isn’t a weakness as such but it stands out that he conducts the interview entirely as Clark. Thematically it makes sense as the episode is about Clark deciding to be fully transparent with the world about his true self but on screen it comes across as if his claim that he is Superman is taken at face value rather than any evidence being presented.

The end of the episode is very striking. After revealing the truth to the world, Clark goes to put his glasses on as he has every other day before realising the disguise is no longer needed. It’s a poignant visual representation of Clark finally being his true self in all aspects of his life and hiding nothing from the people around him. This is followed by him going to the diner and being treated no differently by the people of Smallville which signifies that things haven’t changed as radically as he might have expected. The final scene where he reconciles and reconnects with Jimmy shows that he can now have friends without any barriers. So far, this seems to be the right decision.

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Verdict

An outstanding episode that provides an excellent exploration of the secret identity idea in ways that play perfectly into the show’s strengths.

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