The following contains spoilers from Superman & Lois, Season 4, Episode 10, “It Went By So Fast” now streaming on The CW app.
After both the Warner Brothers Discovery merger and the sale of The CW to Nexstar, the fourth and final season of Superman & Lois was a gift. The network unceremoniously canceled nearly every other WB-produced series, making this very show’s existence a miracle. With “It Went By So Fast,” Superman & Lois delivered a series finale with the most complete telling of Kal-El’s story yet. Despite ending the penultimate episode on a dire cliffhanger, the series finale trailer for Superman & Lois spoiled it. Rather than losing a fight to Doomsday, the Man of Steel had a final showdown with Lex Luthor in the sky. But even after the day is saved, for the Man of Tomorrow, nothing lasts forever.
“It Went By So Fast” covered a lot of narrative ground in just a single hour, but it ultimately delivered a deeply satisfying end to its story. The first half was an impressive visual effects extravaganza, even more thrilling than the fight between Doomsday and Superman in the Season 4 premiere. Once the heroes vanquished the villains, the rest of the episode covers the rest of Clark Kent’s life and his legacy as a husband, father and Superman. The series also gave both Superman and Lois Lane something they don’t usually get: a definitive ending to their story.
Superman & Lois’ Series Finale Gave Superman a Fitting Final Battle Against Doomsday
The Finale Highlighted One of the Series’ Most Important Messages
Like the first time they faced off, Superman was losing the battle against Doomsday. He knew he couldn’t beat the monster. All Superman could do was keep Doomsday occupied and away from Smallville, Lois and the boys. Only, this time, his plan wasn’t working. As their fight decimated the town, Superman grew weaker. Reluctantly, Clark accepted help, both from his sons and John Henry Irons. Steel’s hammer was the key to winning the fight, taking out Doomsday long enough for the tide to turn.
While the first fight against Doomsday was interspersed throughout the Season 4 premiere, this battle was fast. Superman took the monster into space as a way to protect Smallville and the people of Earth from collateral damage, yet it forced him to face the creature on his own. This time, the battle was in and around Smallville, endangering the townsfolk while also allowing Superman’s friends to rally together and help him. Throughout Superman & Lois, the Man of Steel cared only about protecting others, especially his boys. In the finale, Lois stopped supporting him in that respect, and that made all the difference. Rather than enable his understandable but selfish isolation, Lois encouraged her husband to allow others to fight for and with him.
“The boys do not live in a bubble anymore. They live in the real world, with real threats…. Alone [they’re not ready], sure. But they have each other, and they have you. And that’s going to have to be enough.” – Lois Lane pleading to Superman to let Jordan and Jonathan help him”
The episode where Clark revealed his identity was also about Superman’s inherent loneliness. While he let his sons, John Henry and others in on the secret, he was used to flying solo. Superman couldn’t defeat Doomsday on his own, but with help, the creature was neutralized long enough. Before the creature was Doomsday, he was Bizarro Superman. Waking up in space, the creature accepted his fate. Rather than hurt anyone else, the Kal-El inside the monster surrendered, allowing Superman to push him into the sun. As he burnt away, the Superman of the Inverse World found peace after a very long time of knowing only its opposite. Not only was this a fitting and dramatic way to end the fight, but it was a great emotional payoff for Superman & Lois as a whole. The series was all about Superman realizing that he didn’t have to take on the world’s burden alone, and the series finale made sure of that.
Superman & Lois’ Series Finale Brought Superman & Lex Luthor’s Rivalry to an Emotionally Satisfying End
The Finale Showcased the Power of Superman’s Humanity
After Doomsday’s death, Superman stayed a moment, allowing the sun to heal him. While Superman was off-planet, Lex went to work in his warsuit. The first thing he did was chase down Amanda McCoy, ready to kill her for her so-called betrayal. Surprisingly, the twins rescued her. Considering they held their own against Doomsday, it’s surprising Lex was so easily able to take them out. He actually killed Jonathan, but Jordan was able to use a solar burst to kickstart his brother’s heart. After Lois weakened the Steel suit with John Henry’s bomb, Superman beat the suit off Lex, letting him fall the ground.
The only reason Lex was a formidable adversary was because of Superman’s restraint. Wearing the Steel suit allowed Superman to finally stop holding back. As Lex continued to attack him, Superman angrily yelled at him for hurting his family, Smallville and the torment Luthor visited on the world off-screen. When Superman knocked Lex out of his suit, there is a moment where viewers can’t be blamed for thinking that the supervillain would fall to his death. At the last moment, Superman flies down to the ground, safely dropping a beaten and all-too-mortal Lex on the street. A year later, Lex is sentenced to life in prison.
“Like the warden said, a lot has changed around here. There’s one thing that’s still the same. The man in charge needs a good chair. And you, Alexander? You’re going to make a hell of a chair.” – Bruno Mannheim to Lex Luthor in prison”
Superman & Lois’ version of the Man of Steel is not a Superman who kills his enemies. Sending the Inverse World’s Kal-El into the yellow sun was an act of mercy. Lex torture made the Bizarro Superman look like a monster, but he’d lost his way long before then. Despite all Lex had done, Superman wasn’t going to just let him die. Back in prison, Bruno Mannheim was the man in charge, promising that Lex’s incarcerated life would be unpleasant. Clark ultimately forgives Luthor. The final scene where Lex sat crying showed viewers the cost of his hatred. He lost his daughter and freedom twice, all for nothing. Although anyone who’s ever watched (or read) a Superman story before may find Lex’s survival and Superman’s restraint a bit predictable, this was a fitting conclusion to this version of their rivalry. Both Superman and Lex ended the series in the places that made the most sense for the characters and choices, and both of their respective actors did a fantastic job wrapping up their interconnected stories.
Superman & Lois’ Series Finale Wrapped up the Side Characters’ Stories as Well
The Finale Was a Heartfelt Celebration of and Farewell to a Strong Supporting Cast
Superman & Lois spent the majority of its finale wrapping the stories of the people around the Kents’ lives. Foreshadowed since Kyle’s infidelity was discovered, Lana Lang married John Henry Irons. He arrived in Season 1 a broken, angry man. He lost his wife and his world. Yet, John Henry got his daughter back, found a new family with the Kents and marrying Lana completed his healing. Perhaps even more importantly, John Henry adopted Superman’s seal and cape, proudly wearing the same symbol of the man who destroyed his world.
The rest of the remaining characters also got their epilogues.Kyle Cushing and Chrissy Beppo were happy with one son and another on the way. The scene with Sarah and Jordan showed that both kids were over the heartbreak of their relationship. They still loved each other, but best friends like Lana and Clark. As the time-jump continued, Jordan and Jonathan raised families of their own and continued their father’s heroic legacy, also wearing his seal. While Natalie Irons’s future was left vague, she too stepped in as a hero, with her father and adopted family.
“Suddenly it came to me. What life is all about: Joy, hope, forgiveness, wonder, friendship, family, love…. I came to this world alone, but when I left it I had so much, and it was all because of love. It’s the thing that makes life worth living.” – Clark Kent’s final narration in Superman & Lois”
Unlike Zack Snyder’s bleak and deconstructive Superman films,Superman & Lois is a bright, hopeful story that gives audiences (especially kids) a Man of Tomorrow to look up to and admire. Yet, the narrative itself is all about family, too. Kal-El arrived on Earth to a lonely existence, hiding the truth of himself from the world he tried to save. Over time, he let more and more people into his life, gaining strength from his super-sons, heroic allies and, eventually, letting the world see who he really is. The world needs Superman, but “It Went By So Fast” makes explicit that Superman needed the world, too. Audiences who were invested in Superman, his family and everyone in his life ever since the series began will undoubtedly leave this finale happy, knowing that everyone is now where they’re meant to be.
Superman & Lois’ Series Finale Ended With a Risky but Worthwhile Clip Show
The Finale Gave Superman One of His Most Definitive Endings Yet
The final 10 minutes of Superman & Lois was a risky move, as it relied on montages and narration to tell its story. When a TV episode — let alone a series’ grand finale — “tells” rather than “shows,” there is every chance that the message will fall flat. Not helping was that Superman & Lois chose to speed-run through the last 32 years of Clark’s life, both as an ordinary person and as the world’s greatest superhero, through a clip show in the series’ closing moments. Given the series’ unceremonious end, cramming as many recaps and epilogues as possible in a quick montage was the only way viewers could find out how a world that was destined to eventually lose Superman would survive.
This clip show hit its emotional peak when Lois dies. When her cancer returned, Lois wasn’t able to beat it again. After her death, Clark got a dog — named, of course, Krypto — until his heart eventually gave out right where his father suffered a heart attack. Kyle, who was the most excited to learn Clark’s identity, saved Superman long enough so that when he died, he did so in the same room his mother did. While viewers might see this as a tragic ending, it’s how everyone’s story eventually ends. It’s just rare to see it with immortal characters like these.
The final scene shows Clark in a version of his home not unlike the Flash-Sideways world in Lost. That Sam Lane or his parents weren’t in his “bardo” is likely down to budgetary restrictions and production realities. Still, Clark sees his friends, family, Lois (in a knockout red dress) and his dog once more. There are two ways to end stories like this. There are open endings, which allow the viewers to imagine the characters living on forever having adventures. Superman & Lois chose the second option, which is to show the definitive ending to the characters’ lives. While a risky choice, the finale executed it beautifully. Not only does this cement Superman & Lois as one of the best retellings of Superman’s story yet, but it’s arguably one of the best and most complete endings in the modern superhero genre. Just as James Gunn’s highly-anticipated take on the DC Universe inches closer to becoming a reality, there couldn’t have been a better way for this iteration of Superman and The CW’s version of this world to close.
