Superman & Lois (2023): Season 3 Finale Recap and Review

Read this review to find out if Superman & Lois episode “What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger” is worth watching.

If you want to avoid spoilers for this episode then skip to the overall section at the end.

Warning: Spoilers for Superman & Lois Season 3 Episode 13 What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger

Recap Superman & Lois (2023): S3E13 – What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger

It’s over a month after Lex Luthor’s (Michael Cudlitz) release from prison. Lois’ father, General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh), goes to see Clark (Tyler Hoechlin). He advises his son-in-law to ease his punishment on his son Jordan (Alex Garfin) for publicly showboating as a superhero. Meanwhile, Smallville fire chief Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez) discovers his girlfriend Chrissy Beppo’s (Sofia Hasmik) pregnancy.

On the other side of town John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) asks Lana Lang Cushing (Emmanuelle Chriqui) on a date. Sam offers John Henry a job and gives his daughter Natalie (Tayler Buck) an opportunity to enroll in the Department of Defense’s academy. But back in town, Superman determines Judge Tara Regan (Karen Holness) has been murdered. Lois deduces it was revenge for sentencing Luther to prison. Yup, Luthor is out for blood.

While all this is happening Sam is dating a new woman in his life named Gretchen Kelley (Rebecca Staab). Unfortunately for him it turns out she’s working for Luthor. Poor guy can’t catch a break. But Clark encourages Jordan to reconcile with his old girlfriend Sarah Cushing (Inde Navarrette), but they decide not to be friends moving forward. Back at Bruno Mannheim’s laboratory Luthor has the captive Bizarro, also played by Hoechlin, under his control. A flashback reveals that every time Bizarro is killed, he revives stronger than before, turning Bizarro into Doomsday. This is a wonderful nod to Doomsday’s origin in the comic books.

With Sam taken off the board by Gretchen, Luthor plans to use his monster to eliminate Lois’ last line of defense: Superman. Kyle publicly proposes to Chrissy, and it’s a sweet moment in their relationship. They were on the rocks a few episodes back and now their stronger than ever. Back on the Kent farm Superman intercepts Lex Luthor when he approaches. But Doomsday overpowers him, and Clark regains the strength to resume their fight. The episode ends with the Man of Steel battling the creature on the Moon.

Overall Superman & Lois (2023): S3E13 – What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger

“What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger” showcases the communal aspect of Superman & Lois, which was great for its first three seasons. The show made the rural town of Smallville the primary location and built out its cast, giving it a fresher approach to the superhero genre. Season 3 saw the usual superhero stakes taking a backseat as Lois battled cancer and the rest of Smallville endured personal crises.

The season finale showcased the emotional performances of Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch, who delivered strong performances in the scenes where Lois is ready to be intimate again after her mastectomy. The Kent family, including Alex Garfin, and Micah Bishop, also provided strong performances. The big draw of the finale was Lex Luthor making his move against Superman, with Michael Cudlitz shining as Lex. He is ruthless, angry, and bitter. His mutating Bizarro into Doomsday was a nice twist on last season. In season two they teased Doomsday and delivered Bizarro instead. Now it’s been reversed.

I complained about the lack of Superman in this show, but clearly they were saving the VFX budget for the finale. Despite the cutbacks, the show’s VFX budget was dedicated to the fight between Superman and Doomsday, which was well executed and displayed the level of the monster’s strength. The cliffhanger ending displays confidence and stands as a great hook for audiences for the fourth season.

It’s been announced that the cast has been drastically reduced for next season. So we may have just seen the last performances from Parks, Walsh, Valdez, Navarrette, and Picard. It’s really a shame because the characters were just coming into their stride.

The season three finale is the best episode of the season because of the moving character moments and the killer action scenes. You’ll want to catch up on the season but it stands alone as a wonderful time.

Rating: Four 1/2 out of five stars

Click on the link to read more television reviews