‘Superman & Lois’ season 4’s Lois Lane storyline is quickly becoming a trauma overload
Fans of Superman & Lois are likely accustomed to the show putting Lois Lane (Bitsie Tulloch) through the wringer. However, season 4’s traumatic Lois arc feels even more excessive and uncomfortable than usual.
This article contains spoilers for Superman & Lois season 4!
Superman & Lois follows Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois as they move to Clark’s hometown, Smallville, with their twin teenage sons Jordan (Alexander Garfin) and Jonathan (Jordan Elsass and Michael Bishop). In addition to navigating married life and parenthood, Lois and Clark struggle with Clark’s double life as Superman and Jordan’s newfound Kryptonian powers. Although the show has garnered praise for its top-notch performances and ambitious take on the iconic DC hero, Lois’ story has been getting uncomfortable. With every season, the trauma the show puts her through grows progressively worse.
In season one, Lois navigates the news that her son has superpowers while trying to build a new life in Smallville as her brother-in-law tries to kill her and her family. By season 2, her sister, Lucy (Jenna Dewan), surfaces to threaten Lois’ journalism career, try to kill her, and set a dangerous cult after her family. In season 3, Lois becomes a victim of fridging and is sidelined for its entirety due to her diagnosis of breast cancer. Initially, things seemed to be looking up as season 3 set the stage for Lois to be the main star of season 4. However, if viewers were anticipating her to finally get the chance to be the hero, they were badly mistaken.
Lois Lane’s trauma is getting excessive in Superman & Lois
Superman & Lois season 4 establishes Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) as the main antagonist. In the prior season, he was released from prison after 17 for a murder he didn’t commit. Lois accidentally contributed to the framing by reporting on and releasing Luthor’s supposed confession of the murder, not realizing the tape had been manipulated. Although she had no way of knowing the tape was manipulated, Luthor becomes obsessed with getting revenge on her and, thus, sets about ruining her life in season 4.
Luthor acts swiftly and brutally. In the first episode, Bizzaro-turned-Doomsday kills Superman, leaving Lois widowed with two sons. This development wasn’t surprising, as many expected the show to adapt The Death of Superman story from the comics. However, things only deteriorate from there. Shortly after learning her husband has died, Lois and Jordan rush to save her father, General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh), from Luthor. She realizes her father was buried alive and just barely manages to save his life.
In episode 2, Luthor launches his next sick plan. He calls Lois, claiming he has both her sons and that they will both die unless she chooses which one to save. At the last moment, she decides to save Jonathan. Although neither son was actually in Luthor’s custody, he quickly uses Lois’ choice to try to turn her sons against her. Meanwhile, by the end of episode 3, Lois is forced to watch as Doomsday brutally kills her father.
We’re only three episodes in, and Lois watched her husband and father die at the hands of Doomsday while also being threatened, stalked, harassed, and psychologically tortured by Luthor. The worst part is that this is clearly only the beginning. Episode 3 ended with a small ray of hope, as it suggested Sam’s heart could save Superman. Given the season’s trajectory, though, it’s not difficult to predict that the show will dangle hope in front of Lois just to cruelly snatch it away while Luthor continues terrorizing her. One must ask, what is the point of all this trauma?
Why can’t Lois Lane catch a break?
The problem with Lois’ trauma in Superman & Lois season 4 is that it seems largely intended for entertainment purposes. Due to a shortened episode count, the season already feels rushed and not prepared at all to include a profound or deep exploration of trauma, loss, and grief. Although one could understand Superman’s death, the continued piling on of trauma without much character or storyline development feels unnecessary.
In past seasons, Clark sometimes went through trials, such as his wife’s diagnosis with cancer and his enemies attacking his family to get to him. Without fail, though, the show used his trials and trauma to paint him in a heroic light. His pain was always to demonstrate how resilient, brave, and good he was. Even his untimely death cast him in a positive light, utilizing flashlights and his Kryptonian hologram to continue positively painting his legacy. Lois doesn’t get this treatment, though. Either her trauma has no impact on her character development, such as her entire cancer history that was seemingly just forgotten in season 4, or it’s used to make her look bad.
After all, Lois could’ve avoided everything if she had agreed to retire from journalism, but she refused. While it would’ve been sad to take journalism away from her, it’s hard for viewers to empathize with her decision. Perhaps if she had been propositioned with giving up saving the world or facing vengeance, one could understand risking her and her families lives by choosing to save the world. However, she decided her journalism career over her family, which cost her the lives of her husband and father. It’s hard to argue it was worth it, as there are numerous other ways she could’ve found to make a difference in the world, even without journalism.
Needless to say, everything about Lois’ trauma is poorly done. She’s facing a punishment far more severe than she deserved for an honest mistake. Meanwhile, she sacrificed her family for what some might perceive as a selfish or trivial reason. To top it all off, her trauma hasn’t seemed to serve any real purpose in the show. Given the show’s history of making every bad thing happen almost exclusively to its sole lead female character, one can’t help but think Superman & Lois finds Lois’ trauma entertaining.
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