Superman & Lois How The CW Hurt Its New Show (& How Season 2 Can Fix)

Superman & Lois: How The CW Hurt Its New Show (& How Season 2 Can Fix)

While being well-produced and well-received, the first season of Superman and Lois was hurt by various factors that must be addressed in season 2.

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Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Superman and Lois season 1.

While being well-received by fans and critics alike, the first season of Superman and Lois still suffered from a number of complications that must be avoided in season 2. Chief among these were the pacing issues brought on by three hiatuses and scripts that were oddly free of references to the larger Arrowverse setting.

Spinning out of Supergirl and the events of the Arrowverse event Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman and Lois offered a new status quo for the Man of Steel and the World’s Finest Reporter and a new challenge beyond saving the world: raising teenagers. While Lois had just given birth to her first child as Crisis on Infinite Earths started, reality was rewritten so that her infant son became twin boys and so that Lois and Clark got married and started a family much earlier on the new Earth-Prime than they had on Earth-38. The new series focused on the Kent-Lane family as they moved to Smallville following the death of Martha Kent and faced challenges raging from anxiety and young love to a murderous new enemy known as the Stranger, as well as a sinister plot involving corrupt billionaire Morgan Edge.

With the story of Superman and Lois season 1 having come to a close, the season as a whole can be assessed and the buildup to season 2 critically weighed. On the whole, the series has been a smash success and one of the highlights of The CW schedule, despite a steady decline in viewership after its pilot episode became the most highly-streamed premiere in the network’s history. This decline is largely attributed to a turbulent release schedule and three poorly timed hiatuses that killed the momentum of the season’s otherwise tightly plotted storyline.

Superman & Lois Felt Disconnected From The Arrowverse

The biggest problem with Superman and Lois season 1 was that it often felt like it was taking place independent of the other Arrowverse series. This was something of a problem given that one of the main reasons the Arrowverse adapted the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline from the comics was to fulfill the promise of making Arrowverse crossovers easier to pull off by setting most of its series on a single Earth. This plan was largely put on hold during the 2020-2021 television season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine conditions for the various Arrowverse series making it impossible for the actors to migrate between shows in a timely manner.

Presumably, the intention of Superman and Lois’ writers was to make the show as accessible to new viewers as possible by eliminating references to the larger Arrowverse. There is some logic to this idea, as Superman is one of the most recognized pop-culture icons in the world and the general mythology of Clark Kent and Lois Lane is well-known outside of the Arrowverse fandom and comic book readers. Given that, there was a fair chance that more casual viewers, who normally don’t watch superhero shows, might be willing to take a chance on a series centered around Superman and Lois Lane than on earlier shows, like Arrow and The Flash, which were devoted to more obscure DC Comics characters.

Unfortunately, while this decision did seem to attract a larger audience, it also confused some Arrowverse devotees. Many fans wondered why Kara Danvers (who is Clark Kent’s cousin) wasn’t present for Lois and Clark’s wedding in the flashback scenes showing their early life before they became parents and why the Fortress of Solitude on Superman and Lois looked so different than the one depicted in Supergirl. The season’s central storyline was another point of confusion, being heavily focused upon Superman’s work with the US Department of Defense in repelling an invasion of evil Kryptonians. The idea of the American military fighting multiple evil Kryptonians was presented as something that had never been considered as a possibility before, despite such an invasion taking place during the first season of Supergirl and no reason was given for why Supergirl couldn’t be called upon for help.

Superman & Lois Was Undermined By The Mid-Season Break

One thing that didn’t help Superman and Lois in maintaining its audience was three lengthy hiatuses. As already mentioned, the first two hiatuses (which came after episode 5 and episode 11 respectively) were caused by production shutdowns brought about after crewmembers tested positive for COVID-19, necessitating that filming stop until everyone was given a clean bill of health. The third Superman and Lois hiatus (prior to episode 14) came about because of the 2021 Olympics and The CW not wanting to air any new programming against the quadrennial athletic competition. While it is good that The CW was mindful of their employees’ health, each break between episodes led to a decrease in the number of viewers coming back when the show returned. The greatest loss was a 41.96% drop following the first hiatus after episode 5, and the Superman and Lois season 1 finale had slightly over one-third the viewership of the premiere.

Superman & Lois Is The Arrowverse’s Strongest Show (For Now)

Despite the dipping ratings and erratic scheduling, Superman and Lois remains one of the flagship series of The CW and its first season is widely regarded as the strongest of the Arrowverse series to air during the 2020-2021 season. The series merited an 88% Fresh rating from critics and a 69% positive score from fans on aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Beyond that, Superman and Lois fixes Arrowverse’s problem with uninteresting non-powerful characters, and it has been singled-out for its cinematic special effects. Additionally, the show has received praise for how well it balances its superhero storyline with slice-of-life family drama. Fans also enjoyed how it makes Clark and Lois equal partners in action, with just as much attention being paid to Lois’ work as a crusading reporter tackling real-world issues as Superman slugging it out with various villains.

How Superman & Lois Season 2 Can Do Better

There is very little that Superman and Lois needs to do to improve itself during its second season, apart from maintaining its current high level of quality and arranging more nods to the other Arrowverse shows. Despite some minor hiccups, the series itself was fantastic and most of the factors that led to its erratic scheduling were outside the control of its cast, crew, and creators. The most important thing is that The CW must promote the series more heavily when Superman and Lois goes on hiatus and keep it in the same time slot with as few delays as possible once the season starts in earnest. Thankfully, this should be easy to accomplish, as the network no longer has to maintain the staggered release schedule brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/superman-lois-cw-schedule-bad-hiatus-season-2/

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