The end of Superman & Lois Season 3, and potentially the entire series, looms on the horizon as the conflict with Bruno Mannheim and Onomatopoeia escalates. The season's eleventh episode, titled "Complications," lives up to its moniker as the Kent family faces issues on all fronts, both of the personal and supervillain variety. By balancing these crises, Superman & Lois leans into the emotional strengths it's known for, providing an episode that feels like a conclusive payoff, albeit perhaps a couple of episodes early.
In the wake of Peia's apparent cure and escape from Department of Defense custody, she and her family plot to escape from Metropolis and the long arm of the law. This plan coincides with Lois Lane finally completing her cancer treatment through a double mastectomy, with her family by her side. Meanwhile, the fallout from Kyle Cushing discovering Superman's secret identity and Sarah Cushing's drunk driving accident puts a severe strain on Sarah and Jordan Kent's friendship.
"Complications" is about setting the emotional stage for Superman & Lois Season 3's showdown, paying off on multiple subplots, and laying the groundwork for the season's impending climax. Lois' battle with cancer paralleled Peia's across the entire season, and as Lois prepares to complete her treatment with her family at her side, Peia's malignancy resurfaces as her horrified family can only look on helplessly. The parallels have never been particularly subtle, but Superman & Lois was never a show to really lean into subtlety, instead relying on its genuine heart.
At the center of "Complications" is John Henry Irons and Bruno Mannheim's vendetta, with the animosity between the two men providing much of Season 3's friction. John Henry finally overcomes the Captain Ahab-esque intensity that defined his character arc for much of the season, including several questionable moments, and Wolé Parks delivers on that return to clarity beautifully. Similarly, Chad L. Coleman, who has cut an intimidatingly stern figure as Mannheim all season, brings his most emotionally vulnerable performance in the series to date, and it's a welcome change for the character that potentially closes out his arc.
Even the sequences set in Smallville, completely separated from the main narrative in Metropolis, continues to hold serious emotional weight, reminding audiences why the show is so good even beyond the expected superhero spectacle, with Erik Valdez delivering some of his best work as Kyle Cushing yet. That distinction is especially good because Superman & Lois Season 3 still doesn't have a lot of conventional action set pieces in comparison to its preceding seasons. Performances like Valdez's help remind the audience that Season 3 is more about emotional struggles.
"Complications" feels like the natural conclusion to Season 3, but there are still two episodes to go. Lois' cancer battle and the feud against Mannheim, which spanned the entire season, are both ostensibly resolved before the credits roll, though the concluding stinger promises a big fight on the horizon. With its emotional arcs largely out of the way, the last two episodes of the season are shaping up to provide the action audiences may have been waiting for.
Developed for television by Greg Berlanti and Todd Helbing, Superman & Lois returns Tuesday, June 20 at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW, with episodes available to stream the following day on The CW App.