Superman & Lois: The Complete Second Season - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Superman & Lois: The Complete Second Season



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Well, it’s an end of an era. The Arrowverse is officially wrapping up with The Flash Season 9 (review coming soon) and Superman & Lois was officially pulled from the Arrowverse and has been set up as it’s “own” world so to speak. I mean, the series never officially slapped it’s wagon to the Arrowverse, but we all know Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman was introduced as a character in Supergirl (which ironically didn’t start OUT as one of The CW’s shows for the first season) and then got a spinoff show here. However, with the Arrowverse basically being shelved after a good 10+ years the powers that be decided to separate Superman & Lois so it could continue on without carrying the baggage of a scrapped universe behind it. Lukily the series never really alluded too much to what happened in the Arrowverse, so we can just ignore his participation in all of that and continue on.

This season has it’s highs and it’s lows, and while some of the lows were definitely lower than the lows of season 1, it also had bigger highs. Instead of a high flying adventure that was full on “Supes” the show went a different route, cobbling together pieces of The Death of Superman and some of the Bizarro lore into something completely it’s own. I was super worried that we were going to get another rehashed Doomsday and Superman storyline like we’ve gotten in film and the animated shows, but instead the show runners wraps up some of elements from there, creating ubermencsch super soldiers by the U.S. military, and then bringing in Bizarro as an alternate reality verison of Superman later to deal with a bigger threat.

It’s all a bit complex and I don’t want to give away tooooo much, but I really liked the Bizarro storyline. They made him less mentally slow this time around, but more of a rage machine suffering from the issues his creators gave him. It sort of “humanized” him if you will. Giving him am more sympathetic arc than simple pity. He still has his redemption arc as in the comics, but it’s a very unique way of approaching the lore of Bizarro.

My only real major complaints stem from a bit too many character additions. John Henry (e.g. Captain Luthor from Season 1) is now on Supes side and we start to see his transformation into the Super hero Steel from the comics. Then we get his daughter who has to deal with the fact that her “mother” in this universe is not actually her mother. A move which pulls in the traditional CW angst that I was hoping we could eliminate as much as possible. Not to mention the copius amount of subplots with the boys, Lana Lane, and other various bits that get shoved in. That being said, the show plays out as a slower paced Superman show, utilizing old classic lore, some fun new mysteries, and of course the story of both of Clark’s children coming to grips with their heritage. The major story in that side plot dealing with older brother Jonathan finally getting powers of his own, and having to deal with teh overwhelming issues that brings up as well.

Talking about children it’s going to be an interesting 3rd season, as it was just announced earlyier in the year that older brother Jonathan Kent (Jordan Elsass) is leaving the show due to mental health concerns (rumors are also abounding that he’s leaving acting altogether), which his a shame for the viewers as he was an integral part of the brother relationship. On the other hand, if a kid actor is struggling with dealing with acting, I applaud him for taking the steps to get back on track and find a path that suits him. Either way, it’s going to be a loss for next season and from what it sounds like a recasting is in order.





Rating:

Rated TV-14




Video:

Just like last season, season 2 looks great on Blu-ray with some strange visual aesthetics that keep it sort of muted. The show is definitely nice with a good bitrate, but the series creators layer it with blue gray tinges and muted color tones for much of the show. Glowing honey colored light seeps in during indoor shots, and there's not a ton of bright outdoor shots that thrive off of color and natural light. Bright reds and blues on Supes suit are naturally going to pop, as does the red and white on the fake "supermen" that the U.S. military concocts as well. There's some mild black level banding in shadows, but overall this is a very pleasant looking nseason with dark blues, deep grays, and plenty of shadow detail to go around. CGI looks on the weak side as usual (it IS a The CW show), but fans of the previous season should be pleased that the quality has remained the same



Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is on point, with nice deep bass whomps for Supes taking off into flight, and some slamming moments during rockfalls, or other fisticuff battles with Bizarro. Dialog is front and center of the sound stage as per usual, and I really can't find any faults with it. The show has enough action to keep things interesting with surround usage and the like, but at its heart this is a dramatic show ala Smallville etc, with large swatches of time spent on interpersonal issues rather than a non stop action show. Again, nothing that will set it up as the next Arrow or The Flash audio wise, but still a fine mix by any standard.






Extras:

• Fractured: The Heart of Bizarro
• The DC Heroes: Path to Glory

Final Score: ​

Superman & Lois: The Complete Second Season started off almost as rocky as the first season, but then started to catch it's groove when Bizarro came in. Part of me still struggles with the fact that it has been unceremoniously pulled out of the Arrowverse due to the fact that the Arrowverse is literally crumbling apart along with The CW, but it's Tyler does a great job as Clark/Supes, and the show benefits from being it's own thing and not just another in a long line of Arrow tag alongs that plagued the Arrowverse for YEARS (although it does have some issues with "Team Superman", which would become a big issue in basically ever other Arrowverse show, but we'll see how that plays out). The Blu-ray set is barebones for the most part, but of good quality in the audio and video department. Worth checking out, and this coming from someone who is very belaugured and worn out with DC live action super hero shows at the moment.

Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Jordan Elsass, Alex Garfin, Wole Parks, Adam Raynder
Created by: Greg Berlanti, Todd Helbing
Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-14
Runtime: 636 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 27th, 2022

Recommendation: Check It Out