Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Superman & Lois Season 3 Episode 3To separate itself from other superhero content, and especially other Superman content, The CW’sSuperman & Loishas shifted gears and brought us into the life of Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) after at least two decades of the couple being together. Clark is well-established as Superman, Lois is the famous reporter we all know and love, and the titular duo has twin teenage boys Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jonathan(first played byJordan Elsass, now byMichael Bishop)who may or may not have powers. However, to help the show feel more grounded (as the life of the Kent-Lane family is anything but ordinary), we also follow the normal, small-town Smallville lives of the Lang-Cushing family: Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Sarah (Inde Navarrette), Kyle (Erik Valdez), and occasionally Sophie (Joselyn Picard). While the Lang-Cushing family might be considered more normal by many standards, they certainly bring their own unique drama to the series, dealing with more than their fair share of familial issues as the third season gets underway. And, as a result of said issues, it’s getting really hard to root for Lana.
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Anger Is Lana’s Main Personality Trait in ‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3
The first season ofSuperman & Loisintroduced the audience to a much different Lana than we have before us now in Season 3. After spending her life in Smallville, watching families suffer and businesses collapse, Lana did everything in her power to help her neighbors, especially if that was just offering a little bit of kindness. She was arguably more empathetic than even Superman, constantly trying to find a way to help everyone and make Smallville better. She became involved with Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner) and his evil scheme for this reason, but we also saw this during our brief glimpse of her job at the local bank. The attention and care she has for her hometown and its residents haven’t changed, for the most part, but Lana’s personality certainly has.
After the first season, Lana slowly becomes harder and colder. The moment this change can be traced back to is probably when she learns that her husband, Kyle, betrayed and cheated on her with another woman for six months. She’s stunned to learn of this, filled with anger and hurt over his actions, and she struggles to deal with it. Instead, she turns nearly all of her attention to the upcoming mayoral race and running against George Dean (Eric Keenleyside). She throws herself into her campaign, and Dean only causes Lana more grief and anger by using her husband’s affair against her to promote himself. Later in the season, when Lana finally learns Clark’s deep, dark secret, anger is once again Lana’s first instinct. She lashes out over the secrets and lies, particularly at an undeserving Lois. Instead of showcasing the aspects of her personality from the first season, where Lana would have put some serious thought into the nuances of Clark and Lois keeping this secret for so long, Lana’s personality continues to devolve. As we begin the third season, it looks like it’s only going to get worse.
The Events of ‘Superman & Lois’ Do Not Excuse Lana’s Actions
When they finally blow up at one another, Sarah accuses Lana of becoming Smallville’s Mayor to feel better about herself — not to help the town or the citizens — and of being completely selfish, throwing in a nasty comment about how that’s probably why Kyle cheated on her. Then, Lana slaps her. It’s been a long time coming, but the two are finally at a stalemate and tired of the mistreatment they have been receiving from each other. Sarah is fed up with her mother prioritizing work and is clearly upset over her parents’ divorce, while Lana has had enough of her daughter’s constant disrespect. When they finally blow up at one another, Sarah accuses Lana of becoming Smallville’s Mayor to feel better about herself — not to help the town or the citizens — and Lana slaps her. Later in the episode, Lana is begging for Sarah’s forgiveness at her closed bedroom door. Lana mentions her own mother and how she never wants to become like her. From how it appears, and unless there’s a major overhaul of the character in the near future, it’s a little too late for that. Lana has now crossed a line the character never would have if she was still written to be the kind-hearted, good-natured, sympathetic woman we saw in the first season.
Granted, Lana has been through quite a lot over the seasons. She’s been manipulated by Edge, her body taken over by Clark and Edge a.k.a. Tal-Rho’s Kryptonian mother, betrayed by her husband, and recently came close to dying at Onomatopoeia’s hands. However, none of that excuses the way Lana has been behaving. The series has allowed Lana to feel justified in her actions for too long, never fully taking accountability for how she’s been mistreating those around her. Aside from now slapping her daughter, Lana is always painted out to be the character in the right no matter what situation she finds herself in. For example, the way she treated Lois after learning the Superman secret was completely out of line, but she never really had to apologize or make things right with Lois. Instead, Lois agreed that she was in the wrong (and she absolutely was not). In Season 3, the two are picture-perfect friends again.
Over the second and third seasons (so far), the series has done a major disservice to Lana. As the third main character of the show, next to the titular duo, it’s becoming a chore to watch her aggressively roll through everyone in her life. In the same episode where she slaps Sarah, she also completely overreacts and chastises Kyle for getting a little jealous over her new connection with John Henry (Wolé Parks), effectively sealing the nail in the coffin of their relationship and any chance of their rekindling the flame in the future.
This direction for Lana has turned fans against the character as it’s becoming harder and harder to root for her. She shined with her pure and compassionate personality early on, but the constant anger/yelling is more than tiresome. Lana slapping Sarah could be the much-needed turning point to finally have Lana self-assess and get some help for the shift in her behavior, which is more than likely a result of the pain and emotional trauma she’s experienced in the last few years. If not, this downward spiral for Lana is going to become unfixable, as everyone will be actively rooting against her. However, given the show’s history with Lana, it seems more likely they’ll have her give a simple apology and later have Sarah apologize to her mother for Lana slapping her. Hopefully not, but it’s hard to imagine a different route that the writers would take at this point. (Who would have thought, way back in the first season, thatwe would end up rooting for Kyle over Lana?)
