S03.E03: In Cold Blood

[scarynikki12]

Quote

Lois and Chrissy pursue a new lead in the Mannheim investigation against Clark's wishes. Meanwhile, Jonathan, Jordan, and Nat face an unexpected obstacle.

 

 

[scarynikki12]

Superman has super nightmares. Metropolis completely imploding is a nice metaphor for how powerless he feels. 

The editor is doing a fantastic job in this montage of Lois telling everyone. 

Aw the boys made breakfast.

Fancy new tech at the Lang house. Can't wait to see what shenanigans will ensue.

James DeStefano? My mind went straight to Stefano DiMera and now I'm imagining him opposite Lois in reporter mode. 

I like hardass Chrissy. It's not her job but I'd enjoy watching her pester Lois about going to her appointments.

Don't let Lex Luthor hear you call Bruno your white whale Lois.

Thank you, John Henry, for reminding Nat Lois isn't her mother. There's totally more to the watch but I'm always down for reminding Arrowverse characters that doppelgängers aren't the same as each other.

I think New Jon and Candace have better chemistry but her dad is still Creepy McSinister so I hope they break up soon.

Metropolis imploding onto Lois is Clark's version of that stress dream where it's right before graduation and we realize we never attended a class.

I'm kind of hoping Clark returns from Nepal right when Lois decides to leave her appointment. Never mind she still left.

I suspect the only way Lois is going to actually start her treatment is if it happens before dawn when Bruno and his associates are asleep.

Uh oh, you're in a lead lined room Lois. 

Lane shut up. I get this is you taking out your fears on Clark but still shut it.

Candace your dad is a creepster who made a point of asking about the truck so it's not a surprise he's Jon's prime suspect.

This fight between Lana and Sarah is random and probably designed to have her move in with Kyle for a bit. 

Oops Bruno's guys have kryptonite weapons.

I love him but Jon really isn't needed in this scene. He should be lookout while Jordan and Nat get the watch and truck.

Maybe Clark should be doing the on site investigating and wear a GoPro or something so Lois can watch.

So Bruno is using Clark's blood for his Frankenstein experiments.

Sigh, back to Chrissy and Kyle. I'd rather watch Sarah move in with him to take some time away from Lana in the wake of their fight and the single dad shenanigans that would ensue. Let their one night be the end of it. 

[cdnalor]

Seeing Clark wake up from those nightmares, I can't help thinking he might start thrashing around in bed, which would not be good for Lois.  Or the rest of the house, for that matter.

I had to laugh at the boys being impressed at Nat's watch that runs on "kinetic energy." It's called a self-winding watch and they've been around for decades, kids.

 

[cambridgeguy]

That Lana/Sara fight escalated way too quickly - there's never been any indication she's a slap your kid for mouthing off type of person.  Grounding your kid for months for bringing up the cheating, on the other hand, might have been the better response.

J&J seem to have the same aversion to masks that Clark has.  I hear they're actually pretty good at hiding your identity, especially in a smoke filled room.

[BeautifulFlower]

Let me get the negative out the way: Sarah was a brat this episode. I was tired of her complaining about being grounded while the others weren't. 1. Lana is not their parent. 2. You weren't grounded for going to the party. You got grounded for LYING about where you were. I had to roll my eyes when she brought up John not punishing Nat. Sweetie, Nat actually told her dad where she was going. 

With that said, I did not enjoy seeing Lana slapping Sarah. I would've been fine with them just having a big argument and Sarah storming off. Slap was unnecessary drama.

I still don't care for Kyle and Chrissy.

 

Moving on:

I like everything else about the episode.

Bitsie is knocking it out the park. I really get how scared Lois feels with her new diagnosis.

I was on John's side about Nat giving the watch to Lois. It's great that you know she isn't your mom, but you still shouldn't give away your deceased mother's watch to her doppelganger.

Selling XK that you took the fall for and caused the football to get suspended, plus her dad stealing your truck, I don't know Jonathan. That sounds like ground for a breakup to me.

It was nice to see the trio getting an action scene.

Umm....how did they get Clark's blood?

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

12 hours ago, BeautifulFlower said:

Umm....how did they get Clark's blood?

I'm sure we will hear the specifics at some point and I'm curious too. But at a guess, there must have been a bunch of times over two decades where Clark has been de-powered or even fully powered and hit by someone on the level of Zod/Doomsday/etc. who can cause him to bleed.

i am curious if they have been scraping up samples from a gazillion Superman fights over the years though. Because if we're to believe all those blood bags are from OG Clark, as opposed to cloned blood or something, that's a lot of fights.

ETA: It's also possible that the blood is not truly from Our Clark, but rather from Bizarro Clark or another multiversal doppelganger. Did the show ever establish what was done with Bizarro Clark's body?

It occurred to me this episode that it's a strange choice for Bruno Mannheim to use a White Supremacist as a guinea pig. I mean, there must be hundreds of disposable people who you can test the technique on who won't pose as much of a threat to you if the effort is successful. 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Chicago Redshirt

[Affogato]

13 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

 

It occurred to me this episode that it's a strange choice for Bruno Mannheim to use a White Supremacist as a guinea pig. I mean, there must be hundreds of disposable people who you can test the technique on who won't pose as much of a threat to you if the effort is successful. 

It can’t be Clark’s blood, Bizarro is a good guess. Maybe he has another kryptonian?

i’m guessing Mannheim’s goal is to have a super white guy terrorize black communities. Discrediting super white guys. Maybe he plans in having a black savior in the wings. Maybe he plans on veing that savior. 
 

is the super blood transformative or a temporary drug? 

[norcalgal]

19 hours ago, BeautifulFlower said:

Let me get the negative out the way: Sarah was a brat this episode. I was tired of her complaining about being grounded while the others weren't. 1. Lana is not their parent. 2. You weren't grounded for going to the party. You got grounded for LYING about where you were. I had to roll my eyes when she brought up John not punishing Nat. Sweetie, Nat actually told her dad where she was going. 

With that said, I did not enjoy seeing Lana slapping Sarah. I would've been fine with them just having a big argument and Sarah storming off. Slap was unnecessary drama.

I still don't care for Kyle and Chrissy.

 

Moving on:

I like everything else about the episode.

Bitsie is knocking it out the park. I really get how scared Lois feels with her new diagnosis.

I was on John's side about Nat giving the watch to Lois. It's great that you know she isn't your mom, but you still shouldn't give away your deceased mother's watch to her doppelganger.

Selling XK that you took the fall for and caused the football to get suspended, plus her dad stealing your truck, I don't know Jonathan. That sounds like ground for a breakup to me.

It was nice to see the trio getting an action scene.

Umm....how did they get Clark's blood?

 

I hearted your post because it brought up everything I thought while watching. Great summation.

[ruby24]

I knew the Lana/Sarah fight was heading towards a slap because I feel like I've seen that scene a million times in movies and TV. It was predictable if anything. Also...Sarah was a horrifying little bitch in this episode. Did she not deserve it? When you say horrible shit like that maybe you deserve it, you little punk. I don't know. I don't like hitting people but whenever I see the "fight leads to a slap" scene in stuff they always have them say the worst, most disrespectful things and I always think right before it happens, they're gonna get hit for that. 

I guess I can't relate. People always say teens are horrible but I could never have imagined talking to my own mom like that at any age (and she never hit or spanked me or anything). And the teens I know now are so close to their moms, they're basically best friends and never fight (I guess that's weird). Movie and TV teens always seem way worse than what I've experienced in real life. Unless the parents are horrible and would have obviously raised a horrible kid (like Candice's dad), I don't get what makes a teen with calm, nice parents act like that. I mean, did Lana do anything to warrant what Sarah was saying to her in that scene? Didn't seem like it.

[Lady Calypso]

I didn't like the Lana/Sarah fight. It felt so wildly out of character for both to get to that point, especially what Sarah said. It just felt so obvious that they needed Sarah/Lana to have tension to get Sarah to move in with Kyle, but was a slap really necessary? The two were downsides to season 2 already; did we really need more ammunition against them this time? It just felt so....unnecessary to have Lana slap Sarah, and have Sarah snap at Lana. 

Lana was wrong in slapping Sarah; Sarah was wrong for telling Lana she basically deserved to be cheated on. Plus, Sarah was wrong in bitching about being grounded. Yes, Sarah, you got in trouble for lying and sneaking out. 

As for the rest of the episode, it WAS another strong one. Lois missing her chemo appointments was so frustrating. I get WHY she was avoiding it, but it felt frustrating to watch someone like Lois avoid something so important when she knew her family needed her to focus on her health. But Sam did call it early; Lois will always chase another story to avoid her health issues. 

I did feel so bad for Sam's reaction to Lois' diagnosis. He's usually so stoic and put together, so to see him cry was a surprise. And I did love Chrissy being pissed at Lois missing her appointments and telling her off every time she missed it. 

But Clark, I know you feel like you need to be saving the world for every single disaster, but I just saw Lois leaving her second appointment from a mile away, so when he went off to Nepal, I knew it would just continue.

But now we have some shady blood stuff in a warehouse? What is Manheim up to?

I did love the Nat/Jordan/Jon team-up. I don't love that it had to do with Candice's dad, though. Do we REALLY care about Candice or her dad's shady businesses? Candice dealt drugs to her boyfriend and allowed him to take the fall for her for weeks, and her dad seems to be involved in some very shady stuff. Jon, you deserve better! No, not Eliza, though. She sucks more than Candice. 

This season is so much stronger than all of season 2 so far. Can it go downhill? Sure. But it's been a lot better thus far.

[rmontro]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:14 PM, cdnalor said:

Seeing Clark wake up from those nightmares, I can't help thinking he might start thrashing around in bed, which would not be good for Lois.  Or the rest of the house, for that matter.

That's the kind of thing I usually think about.  And how he has to be careful when he's making love with Lois.  But that's the kind of thing a series like The Boys would address, I guess.  

And we get another jab from Lois about Clark's driving.  The clue this time is apparently he drives too slow.  He probably follows every traffic law to the absolute letter, like driving exactly the speed limit at all times.  Oh well, that's classic boy scout Superman, don't change him now.  We already have enough anti-heroes.

[bettername2come]

I appreciate the realism of the cancer storyline, but happening on a comic book series to a title character significantly lowers the stakes for me, even if the telling everybody montage was emotional and confirmed that this is my favorite Sam Lane. It was nice to hear from Lucy. I appreciated the boys making her breakfast. Lois missing her Chemo appointment to chase a story is the most Lois Lane thing ever.

I like that Sarah got grounded for being the only one to lie about where she was, which implies the boys did tell their parents Jordan was taking Jon flying. Or they got off on a technicality since they just didn't say where they were going and were home by dark as asked. But the first option amuses me.

John is being too much of a jerk to Nat. His points are valid but I don't like his attitude.

Love that Chrissy is concerned about getting Superman mad at her for Lois missing her appointment. "This freezer. They must've done something to it" gave off me somehow Palpatine returned vibes. Like soundproof it? Don't think that would work. Lead? He'd still hear her. Scramble a signal? Maybe but I thought it was basically just an electronic Superman dog whistle.

Jeez, Lana, don't yell at your mentally ill child who is struggling with her parents' divorce for telling her father basic facts about her life and then slap her. Lana escalated things, and the parental slap by supposedly loving parent feels so overdone and unrealistic. 

I feel like Lois could've screamed before the freezer door opened and it would've worked. Ok, kids, you probably should've just had the superpowered and armored one go in. Although I suppose Jon's the only one with a license. I love that we got two separate Kent/Irons teamups happening simultaneously.

Bitsie's acting in her conversation with Clark neat the end was fantastic.

Yay for Candace dumping Jon! Hope it sticks. She's a really bad influence. And boring. And I didn't even recognize her when she showed up as the waitress. And she had way too much attitude when Jon thought her father stole the truck.

Kyle's transition from amused to shocked when Chrissy said she almost died in a freezer was well-played. He's got no reason to be in on the stuff except for a right to know if his daughter's going to constantly be in danger. I kind of want him to find out now because it's just ridiculous for him to be the only one in the main cast who doesn't know. 

Clark is totally driving Lois so she can't leave chemo this time. 

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by bettername2come

[ukgirl71]

I need Kyle to find out the secret too, for no other reason but to give him more reason to be in the show.  And is anyone else wondering if the “person who will tolerate the treatment more than Atom Man” (I’m kinda paraphrasing) will be someone we know, or have seen before?  

[thuganomics85]

I know seeds have been planted for an eventual conflict, but it definitely feels like they rushed things to get Lana and Sarah to the "Getting slapped because you insulted your mother and blamed her for being cheated on" phase of their struggle.  It still feels like we should be in the simple "Yell and storm out" phase.  But I guess this is going to lead to Sarah possibly spending more time with Kyle: or maybe even move in with him, if they make the argument that Lana slapping Sarah was abusive.

Not surprised that Lois would be one of those "Dive right into work: consequences be damned!" people after her diagnosis.  Hell, even going as far as to miss her chemo appointments, which is definitely troubling.  Frustrating to watch, but Elizabeth Tulloch did an excellent job with all of it and I'm glad she and Clark had an open conversation now, and this will hopefully be a thing of the past for her.  Realistically, I know she was beat this (one way or another), but I like how they are handling it so far.

I guess we'll see if Jonathan and Candice can move past the whole "Yeah, my ex surprised me at the party and we briefly kissed, but to be fair, your dad literally stole my truck and you got mad at me for suggesting it" issues.  We've all been there!

Liked the montage of Lois telling everyone her diagnosis.  Even getting Lucy/Jenna Dewan on the phone.  Sam/Dylan Walsh's reaction in particular was tough.  It's been said one of the biggest fears ever is for a parent to outlive their children and I can definitely see Sam being broken over the idea of watching Lois suffer and possibly dying.

Knew John Henry was more effected by Lois being sick/remembering his wife than he was letting on.  Glad he is better, but I did find Natalie's decision to give Lois her mom's watch still a bit odd.

Bruno's plan involves Superman's blood?  I wonder how he got all of that?

[Affogato]

Sam Lane crying was really great, not least because the men in this show are allowed to have emotional reactions to situations. lI  also really liked Chrissy chewing Lois out for avoiding Chemo. Clark can't believe she would run around without taking care of herself, he just thinks so highly of her and her love for her family, I think.

Clark being a lawful good driver makes so much sense.

I, too, am puzzled by the watch, although engraving something as a gift seems like a good idea. Again, I'd think if we'd seen more of Natalie and Lois growing closer, that would make more sense. It was a depth of emotion from Natalie that didn't seem earned.

Speaking of earned storylines...Have we heard about Lana having a questionable, abusive upbringing before? It would have worked better if I remembered something about that, give the slap some context. I see that she is really stressed out, which makes the slap seem realistic.

[cardigirl]

On 4/1/2023 at 1:46 AM, thuganomics85 said:

I know seeds have been planted for an eventual conflict, but it definitely feels like they rushed things to get Lana and Sarah to the "Getting slapped because you insulted your mother and blamed her for being cheated on" phase of their struggle.  It still feels like we should be in the simple "Yell and storm out" phase.  But I guess this is going to lead to Sarah possibly spending more time with Kyle: or maybe even move in with him, if they make the argument that Lana slapping Sarah was abusive.

To be fair, Lana really upped the ante when she accused Sarah of reporting on her to Kyle. Yikes. 

 

I think the show is killing it this season. Love the storylines, and I wonder if the show would really go there with Lois dying? 

Everything about her cancer storyline felt true. Her reluctance to accept that her life is changing, her not wanting to be treated differently, because that makes the cancer more real. All of the others' reactions to her illness, it all rings true. 

I even like the storyline of Sarah seemingly losing her way, because her stable family is gone. She let Jordan go, although they are trying to be friends, she's not got a lot of support, except from her father. I can totally see a teenage girl and a mother getting worked up enough to say wounding things like "No wonder Dad cheated on you," and mom slapping her as a reaction. Is it good? No. Is it healthy? Of course not, but it's real and may lead to better communication (after a lot of angst).

I've also been puzzled by Lana's hardness toward Kyle, when he clearly regrets his actions, wants to make things better, and is trying to be a good father. That she was hurt by his affair, I totally understand that. I also understand if she doesn't want to get back together with him, but she's been really harsh with him often, so ... I don't know if the show is trying to build sympathy for Kyle, or if there is something else or if I'm totally wrong in my read of Lana. I agree with others voicing the opinion that Kyle needs to know about Clark's true identity soon. 

One thing this show does too much of, it uses conversation as exposition for plot, and I would often rather see it onscreen that be told about it by a character. 

However, I'm really enjoying this season and looking forward to how things move forward. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by cardigirl

[Lantern7]

Not much I can add. Credit to the show for the heartbreaking montage of Lois explaining her cancer diagnosis, ending with Sam breaking down even as he believe his daughter will pull through. And I was okay with Clark's nightmares of powerlessness. If you have the budget to have the globe on top of the Daily Planet buckle and fall on Lois in a dramatic manner, then why not use it?

Anyone else fearing Chrissy will get hurt pursuing leads when Lois is getting treated?

[Affogato]

13 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Not much I can add. Credit to the show for the heartbreaking montage of Lois explaining her cancer diagnosis, ending with Sam breaking down even as he believe his daughter will pull through. And I was okay with Clark's nightmares of powerlessness. If you have the budget to have the globe on top of the Daily Planet buckle and fall on Lois in a dramatic manner, then why not use it?

Anyone else fearing Chrissy will get hurt pursuing leads when Lois is getting treated?

I’ll bet Kyle goes along to support her in some of the adventures. 

[tennisgurl]

I was really worried about Lois having cancer this season, that it was just going to be massively depressing, but I like the way its being handled. They are doing a lot to explore how this is affecting everyone and it all feels very in character. The quiet montage of Lois telling everyone about her diagnosis was so heartbreaking, but its also totally on brand for Lois to skip cancer treatments to follow a lead. Everyone's reactions were great, especially Sam and Clark. It must be horrible to have so much power but none of them can save someone you love, he cant exactly punch cancer in the face. 

I don't think that Lana or Sara came off great in their fight and I found the whole thing contrived anyway. Lana shouldn't be mad about Sara talking to her dad, but Sara was being needlessly bratty. Its also never alright to smack your kid, even when she says shitty things. 

I really enjoyed the Nat/Jordan/Jon team up, although Jon really needs to rethink his taste in girls. Sure Candice didn't actually steal from him, but its not the first time she has been involved in something sketchy.

[blackwing]

I really can't stand Sarah, I don't care for Jordan, but when the two of them are together angsting, it's the worst.  So I was surprised at how much I still disliked her even after she and Jordan had no interaction together.  She's a brat, she was awful to her mom.

Also, I know there was an episode last season or maybe during the first season where she rediscovered her Mexican-ness and changed her last name to the original "Cortez".  But it's odd to me because I think Kyle is still "Kyle Cushing" and I thought that Lana was recently still being called "Mrs. Cushing" by Jordan.

Still dislike Chrissy but I guess she kind of gives Kyle a storyline.

Candice's dad calls her "Candy Lane"... is Lane really her middle name?  He was a creep, and looked like a real life version of Cletus from the Simpsons.

On 3/31/2023 at 1:00 PM, bettername2come said:

Yay for Candace dumping Jon! Hope it sticks. She's a really bad influence. And boring. And I didn't even recognize her when she showed up as the waitress. And she had way too much attitude when Jon thought her father stole the truck.

Did she dump him?  I know she did when she was mad that Jon suggested her dad stole his truck.  But then didn't she come crawling back to him at the end and tell him he was right?  Seems to me that they are still together.  

I didn't see anyone here commenting about Jon saying to her "hey, there's something I have to tell you".  Was it that 1) he kissed his Metropolis ex-girlfriend last week, or worse 2) his dad is Superman.  Seemed really ominous to me, he wouldn't be so stupid to tell her the family secret, would he?

[norcalgal]

5 hours ago, blackwing said:

 

I didn't see anyone here commenting about Jon saying to her "hey, there's something I have to tell you".  Was it that 1) he kissed his Metropolis ex-girlfriend last week, or worse 2) his dad is Superman.  Seemed really ominous to me, he wouldn't be so stupid to tell her the family secret, would he?

I don’t know if Candace and Jon are still a couple but the feeling I got from the scene was that he was going to tell her about the kiss with his ex.  It’d make zero sense for him to reveal the truth about Superman to her…there’s no compelling reason as yet for her to know.

[moonshine71]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:21 PM, cambridgeguy said:

 

J&J seem to have the same aversion to masks that Clark has.  I hear they're actually pretty good at hiding your identity, especially in a smoke filled room.

Not sure how helpful masks or anything else would be, considering the only thing they took was Jon' s truck. Especially once Jon starts driving it around town again.

[moonshine71]

On 4/4/2023 at 3:46 PM, blackwing said:

I really can't stand Sarah, I don't care for Jordan, but when the two of them are together angsting, it's the worst.  So I was surprised at how much I still disliked her even after she and Jordan had no interaction together.  She's a brat, she was awful to her mom.

Also, I know there was an episode last season or maybe during the first season where she rediscovered her Mexican-ness and changed her last name to the original "Cortez".  But it's odd to me because I think Kyle is still "Kyle Cushing" and I thought that Lana was recently still being called "Mrs. Cushing" by Jordan.

Still dislike Chrissy but I guess she kind of gives Kyle a storyline.

Candice's dad calls her "Candy Lane"... is Lane really her middle name?  He was a creep, and looked like a real life version of Cletus from the Simpsons.

Did she dump him?  I know she did when she was mad that Jon suggested her dad stole his truck.  But then didn't she come crawling back to him at the end and tell him he was right?  Seems to me that they are still together.  

I didn't see anyone here commenting about Jon saying to her "hey, there's something I have to tell you".  Was it that 1) he kissed his Metropolis ex-girlfriend last week, or worse 2) his dad is Superman.  Seemed really ominous to me, he wouldn't be so stupid to tell her the family secret, would he?

Why would anyone would think Jon was telling her about Superman? There's nothing to suggest he had any plan to do that, he's never even shown any desire to do so. And clearly, in the context of the scene, he was telling her something "bad" that he had done, not sure how being Superman's son would fit that bill.

[ukgirl71]

sorry, wrong episode!
 

 

I’m sorry, I’m shallow.  I just keep watching that confrontation between Clark and Emmit - absolutely LOVED it, from the pop of the “nope” to the quietly menacing promise of “I will come for you.”  If anyone gave enough of a crap about me to utter that in my defence, I’d die a happy gal.  And, back to shallow, ridiculously h-o-t - kudos Mr Hoechlin 🔥

Edited April 6, 2023 by ukgirl71

[John Potts]

So unlike any Superman show for him to start with a nightmare - feels more like a Batman thing (which doesn't make it bad, just unusual).

OK, for once I’m with Chrissy here – never mind her own health, Lois is wasting Doctors’ time. Though denial is pretty natural, particularly for somebody like Lois who isn't one to sit around. Unfortunately, Clark can't punch this one for you.

Was that Luthor in the tank?

On 3/29/2023 at 2:00 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Fancy new tech at the Lang house. Can't wait to see what shenanigans will ensue

It’s bound to get possessed by some evil AI* at some point, isn’t it?

On 3/29/2023 at 4:18 AM, BeautifulFlower said:

Umm....how did they get Clark's blood?

They seem pretty connected and I'm sure the DoD and Lex Luthor both have samples - there are probably others.

* Is there any other kind?