Superman & Lois – Season 4 Episode 5
“Break the Cycle”
Superman & Lois explores Lex Luthor’s relationship with his daughter as Lois and Clark work to ensure their ongoing safety.
One of the foundational elements of this show is the relationships between parents and children. It’s explored in detail through the Kents and previous seasons heavily featured the Cushings and John and Natalie. Lois’ relationship with her father Sam was also explored in detail. Lois and Clark as parents was this show’s unique selling point from when it was announced so it makes sense that much of its storytelling would be connected to that in some way. It not only makes sense but was expected for Lex Luthor to be framed through the lens of parenthood.
This episode digs into that extensively and explores Lex’s relationship with his daughter, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Henstridge) as well as offering some insight on his relationship with his own parents. Nature vs. nurture is common fodder for storytelling; endless examples of characters battling to overcome the influence of their parents to become their own person or embracing their upbringing to carry on in their stead can be found.
It isn’t new for adaptations of Lex Luthor. Michael Rosenbaum’s take on the character in Smallville always fought to escape his father’s influence and wrestled with the possibility of becoming like him. That version was very much framed as trying to overcome the Luthor nature by embracing the nurturing friendship he had forged with Clark Kent though his father’s influence was a more brutal form of nurture that constantly threatened to overwhelm his desire to be a better person.
The previous season established that this version of Lex is motivated by vengeance. He blames Lois for robbing him of 17 years of time with his daughter and he is fixated on punishing her for that. This punishment involves relentlessly trying to destroy her family so that she experiences the same pain he feels. Another priority for him is finding and reconnecting with his daughter to make up for that lost time.
Finding Elizabeth is portrayed as an obsession for Lex. It combines with his fixation on punishing Lois and blinds him to other priorities that he should be focusing on. Periodic mention is made of his business interests that are being neglected so it’s clear that Lex is consumed by his obsessions and will let nothing stand in the way of him achieving his goals.
On one hand, reconnecting with Elizabeth is about making up for the time lost due to his incarceration but it’s also about ownership. She is his daughter and in his mind, Lois took the most important thing in his life from him so he needs to get it back and needs to reclaim what he feels is rightfully his.
The ownership aspect is highlighted in one of the flashbacks where Elizabeth asked to live with Lex instead of her mother, Erica (Natalie Moon). Lex is smug when telling Erica that she chose him without being asked to do so and it’s evident that he sees this as a victory. Every relationship he has is based on conflict to varying degrees and he always needs to be the winner in any connection he has. Elizabeth choosing him means that he won her love and Erica lost. In a way he manipulated Elizabeth by expressing how much he cares about her. His love for her is a weapon in his arsenal that he can use to get what he wants.
What makes this so fascinating is that it isn’t entirely about ownership. Lex sincerely cares about Elizabeth and wants her in his life because he genuinely loves her. This is clearly shown in a flashback where Lex is tender and vulnerable with her. He is honest with her about not wanting to be a father at first but having his mind changed when Elizabeth came into his life. This flashback supports his conversations with her in the present by reinforcing his words with the sincerity depicted in the flashbacks.
He talks about seeing Elizabeth as the best of him. She represents hope to him, and he sees her as being so much better than he is. He also states that he has always shown her the real him and that she is the only one to ever see him as he really is. It’s another example of the sincerity and vulnerability depicted in the flashback supported by Michael Cudlitz’ brilliantly complex performance adding layers to Lex as he deals with this emotionally driven problem.
Lex’s desire to be a good father and have a strong relationship with his daughter comes from his abusive background. His father was abusive and drove his mother to be the same. Once his father left, his mother turned her rage on him as depicted in a harrowing flashback showing his mother beating him as a child. Lex talks about his upbringing making him strong and that he learned to take care of himself, but the knock-on effect is that he gained a desire to control others so that they could never inflict pain on him. The insight into his background establishes that Lex clawed himself up from poverty to reach the heights he achieved and managed to overcome a brutal childhood to be a strong, uncompromising, and imposing figure.
As stated, his desire to do right by Elizabeth is genuine and he’s motivated to be a better parent to her than his parents were to him. It’s an understandable desire and Lex seems perfectly genuine when he interacts with Elizabeth so it’s reasonable to conclude that he means what he says but there’s an undercurrent of possessiveness brought on by Lex’s obsessive behaviour in previous episodes. It’s presented as a choice to Elizabeth but it’s very likely that her declining his desire to be part of her life isn’t actually an option.
Elizabeth is more of a catalyst for coverage of Lex than she is a fully-fledged character but she is far from lifeless. Her temperament is an obvious contrast with Lex’s but there’s also strength evident within her. Lex’s limited influence in her life taught her -whether directly or indirectly- how to conduct herself confidently and be uncompromising in pursuit of what she wants out of life. The lessons she learned growing up taught her how to survive and remain hidden for a long time with the help of the DOD. It was only easy for Lois to find her because of her connection to Sam but Lex has been repeatedly shown to be no closer to locating her.
A few traits can be attributed to Elizabeth in her limited screen time. She’s certainly intelligent though that’s mostly communicated through mention of her graduating top of her class, she is cautious but has an optimistic outlook that encourages her to see the best in people as evidenced by her not wanting to see Lex as a monster and being willing to give him the chance to prove himself. There’s a gentleness to the way she conducts herself, but she is also more than capable of standing up for herself should she be needed to. The ingredients for a compelling character can be found in this episode but this shorter season likely won’t allow much opportunity to develop her fully.
Ultimately her purpose is to offer Lex a choice and further the question of how he will proceed from her. Despite his genuine desire to reconnect with his daughter, he is still consumed by his desire for vengeance against Lois and can’t see beyond that. Elizabeth points this out to him and urges him to let go of it by urging him to choose her as she once chose him before eventually presenting him with the ultimatum of dropping his obsession or being banished from being part of her life forever. Lex is unable to let go of his vendetta and Elizabeth walks out on him, seemingly never to see him again because she won’t expose her son to that level of hatred. It’s unclear if this will push Lex further into his obsession or if he will consider it further and change his mind.
There are multiple plans to neutralise the threat that Lex represents beyond weaponising Elizabeth. That may seem like a harsh description but it’s certainly one that could be applied to what Lois is doing. One failing the episode has is not covering the potential implications of that. She is dragging Elizabeth out of hiding and putting in a dangerously unpredictable situation. Lois knows better than most what Lex is capable of, so she is taking a major risk bringing his daughter out of hiding to further her own interests. There’s no question of how desperate the current circumstances are and it’s not a bad idea as such in terms of combatting Lex but the lack of an ethical discussion of any kind stands out, particularly in a show featuring Superman as a main character.
The other plans only put the Kents at risk and don’t increase the danger posed to them in any way. Clark suggests talking to Lex and trying to reason with him; something that suits his character perfectly as he believes there’s good in everyone that can be reached under the right circumstances. He says “sometimes the only way to reach someone is through their heart”; echoing words spoken by his adoptive murder. It’s advice he internalised and turned into a foundational value and he believes that not even Lex Luthor is beyond reason no matter how fixated on the destruction of his family he may be. Quoting Martha Kent highlights the contrast between Lex and Clark from the point of view of what their upbringing turned them into.
He approaches Lex in costume as Superman but speaks to him father to father. Clark offers an olive branch by admitting they were wrong to take Lex away from his daughter but also tells him that being wronged in this way doesn’t justify what he’s doing. No matter what he does to Clark’s family, he won’t get that time back and his energies would be better directed elsewhere. Clark going to Lex and admitting they were wrong is him trying to take responsibility for unwittingly perpetuating the cycle that he’s urging Lex to break. As said, it’s an olive branch and it’s up to Lex to accept it as the starting point to finding a way forward.
Lex is so consumed by his rage that he is unwilling to listen to reason, especially when it comes from Superman. He mocks the message of appealing to the goodness in his heart and behaves as if no such thing exists. All this conversation proves is that Clark is not the person to convince Lex to leave his family be but the attempt is commendable as it shows immense humility in Clark being willing to admit that a mistake was made and the time Lex lost with his daughter was too severe a punishment.
One of Clark’s statements ties neatly into one of the major themes as well as the title of the episode. “Some part of you has to want the cycle of anger to end” references the title of the episode and the extensive coverage of Lex refusing to let go of his hatred while seeking revenge. The cycle begins with Lex’s childhood forging his predisposition towards anger and the flashbacks show that he is capable of differing from his parents by being a caring, supportive and -perhaps most importantly- non-violent parent to his own daughter. Even though his relationship with her is still built on competition and a desire to win, he has managed to escape the influence of his own parents and be a better example than they were.
Clark’s values and experience become important in his conversation with Elizabeth. He talks about losing his father at a young age and being changed by that experience. Elizabeth is defensive because she sees it as Clark dictating how she should manage her relationship with her father, but Clark recognises how he’s coming across and continually clarifies his intention until his point is distilled down to an open question about whether Elizabeth is willing to risk losing the opportunity to have that relationship with her father. All he does is encourage her to think about it and leaves it at that to see if that alters the trajectory of Elizabeth’s conversations with Lex. This relates to Lois’ plan but Clark’s contribution is to help get to a place where he can let go of that rage. He does this by having faith and being hopeful even in a situation that seems hopeless.
The third plan is to remove Doomsday as a threat and the plan to achieve this is by appealing to the part of him that was once a version of Clark Kent. Lois summons it and appeals to the man inside the monster to remember who he was and who his family were. It works and Doomsday is no longer a resource for Lex to use against the Kents. It’s a clever approach to tackle an invincible opponent by approaching it with empathy. Superman isn’t a hero because of his powers, he’s a hero because of what he stands for and how he applies his values in his daily life. This extends to Lois who finds a better way to deal with an opponent that can’t be defeated by brute strength. In doing so she may have turned an enemy into an ally and certainly removed a powerful threat. After so many losses, a positive step was taken towards ensuring the safety of the Kent family and it finally feels like it’s possible to come out the other side of this situation.
Clark begins to work through his trauma by analysing his battle with Doomsday. Reviewing his memories is analogous to seeking therapy after a near-death experience and exploring the event itself. It’s initially overwhelming for him but it opens a door that allows him to think about it. This experience is new for Clark as he has never been aware of his mortality like this before and he is genuinely afraid of the raw power that Doomsday wields. His rejection of further exploration of the event highlights that terror and how hopeless he feels at this point. This challenges Clark in a way that he has never faced before and is the road towards some interesting personal growth for him. Dealing with issues of mortality and fear only serves to further humanise him.
In the teenage camp, Jonathan is learning what it means to keep his own powers a secret rather than keeping a secret for others. He is immediately bad at lying to Candice who is immediately suspicious and pulls away from him when she senses the dishonesty. It’s a contrived situation as there’s no reason Lois couldn’t have used Jordan to fly her where she needed to go. Since it was simply transport it wouldn’t have impinged on his desire to step back from heroics.
The conflict as set up is a reasonable one but it needed far more time to breathe than this episode allows. There are a few short scenes where Candice grows increasingly frustrated with the clear dishonesty at play and then the situation is resolved off-screen when Jordan tells her the truth. It’s possible that Jordan told a more convincing lie that the audience isn’t privy to at this point but it seems that she is now in on the Kent family secret. Her reaction to this isn’t shown and no time is given to her processing it. She simply accepts it and all is forgiven. It’s a rushed resolution to an already contrived situation.
Candice learning the truth and Denise (Kelcey Mawema) revealing that she knows sets up a potentially interesting exploration of the secret identity as a concept. It has been said that the series finale will feature something that has never been done in a Superman adaptation. Based on what is established in this episode, that thing may be the secret identity being revealed to the world. It would be similar to the ending of Supergirl where she heeded advice on abandoning her double identity because it no longer serves her but something similar could work in this show, particularly if Superman’s relationship to the world he protects is forever changed. Revealing the truth to the world on his own terms may be the final weapon removed from Lex’s arsenal. It certainly seems like an exploration of the secret identity concept is in the air and it may transpire that it no longer matters since everyone who learns the truth accepts it without blinking. We are beyond the halfway point of the season and there are plenty of things to explore in the remaining five episodes.
Verdict
A strong episode that offers a compelling exploration of Lex Luthor’s motivation framed through his relationship with his daughter.
Overall
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8.5/10
Summary
Kneel Before…
- deep insight into Lex through exploring his motivations and obsessions
- the complexity of his relationship with Elizabeth
- Lex sincerely caring about Elizabeth but also basing his relationship with her on ownership
- the varied interpretations of breaking unhealthy cycles
- Lex’s childhood as fuel for his attitude to things in the present
- Lex being consumed by his hatred and rejecting Elizabeth’s ultimatum being fully earned
- Clark approaching Lex father to father, admitting to making mistakes and offering him an olive branch
- Lex rejecting Clark’s offer of a peaceful resolution due to his hatred of Superman and desire for revenge
- Clark’s values being further reinforced in his conversation with Elizabeth
- removing Doomsday as a thread by appealing to the version of Clark Kent within him
- Clark beginning to work through his trauma by analysing his battle with Doomsday
- taking time to highlight this new emotional territory for Clark and the first step towards healing
- the suggestion of a change in approach to the secret identity concept
Rise Against…
- the lack of debate around Lois weaponising Elizabeth and the dangers that come with it
- the contrived setup for Candice to be suspicious of Jonathan and Jordan
- not allowing this conflict the time to breathe and resolving it off-screen
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