‘Superman & Lois’ Season 4 Review: A Touching Farewell To DC At The CW

The final remnants of a universe long forgotten, Superman & Lois, has finally come to an end after four seasons. Read our Superman & Lois season 4 review below. 

Left with a gigantic cliffhanger from the previous season, Superman & Lois season 4 had a lot on its plate. Between the story beats and the cancellation of the planned three further seasons, the show had to grapple with a lot. And grapple they did, because when it comes down to it, this season is one of the most unique, succinct and emotional seasons in all of The CW’s DC catalogue. 

‘Superman & Lois’ Season 4 Review

Superman & Lois follows the trials and tribulations that the Kents face as they balance their lives as a small-town family and fully fledged superheroes. The show’s first season witnessed the showdown between our heroes, Captain Luthor (later revealed to be John Henry Irons), and Morgan Edge while the second season would take audiences into the Bizarro world with Ally Allstone serving as a villain. The third season saw Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) battle cancer while an overarching threat in Bruno Mannheim lurked, before Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) and Doomsday emerged from the shadows in the final few episodes, setting the stage for the grand finale. The show’s fourth season started with a bang, the death of Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) at the hands of Lex Luthor’s Doomsday. The show would go down a path where it juggled themes of mortality, life, and family, and ended with an explosive finale that really ended up being a tear-jerker for me. 

The show is far from perfect, often suffering from key CW complaints such as feeling like a soap opera with sometimes contrived writing. And while that is definitely a problem with this final season, it’s a big improvement compared to prior seasons, where the level here kind of feels nostalgic and endearing. It is hugely compatible with the friendship and family lessons that the show loves to hammer into its audience and something I can applaud. 

What was the biggest issue to me this season was how the show suffered at the hands of its cancellation. The show lost most of its main cast, a chunk of its episode count, and a future three seasons. And while I do not think that necessarily affected the story itself, it’s obvious in the absences these budgetary cuts forced the creators into. There are really only one or two episodes where it feels like a true Superman & Lois episode, but I can’t really complain when the flip side is so enjoyable and concise. 

On a final note regarding the season, and the final episode, it is one of the saddest things DC has done in terms of adaptations, rivalling Doom Patrol’s finale and the Alfred nod in The Dark Knight Rises. I truly implore every fan of Superman to check out this season, if not the series, which ended up being my favourite adaptation of Superman to date.

‘Superman & Lois’ Series Retrospective

I truly will miss this series for the enjoyable dynamics created by the core family, their friends, and their layered antagonists. From the brotherly relationship between the Superboys to the romantic love story that boils between our titular protagonists, there is just too much to love here. But it wasn’t always that way.

I first started this series on a whim back when the second season was airing. I found it to be good, but not necessarily captivating and when I was faced with watching something else, I put this on the backburner. Ahead of the final season, I finally caught up with the third season and found myself completely and utterly enthralled in the captivating season that was created. In between when I first saw the first two seasons, and then, I’m not sure if the series grew better, or if me and my taste had matured. Whatever it may be, the show has since become one of my favourite takes on the character of Superman and James Gunn has a big task ahead of him if he wants to match this portrayal. 

That brings us to the end of a two-decade journey of DC television at The CW. It deserves most of its criticism, but when it comes down to it, it’s credited with creating and popularizing a trend of comic book television that resulted in some of the best adaptations of the media as a whole. While I haven’t even made my way through the full catalogue, there are some definite highlights and to me, so far, Superman & Lois is the epitome of these. 

Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent / Superman, Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane, Alex Garfin as Jordan Kent, Michael Bishop as Jonathan Kent, Dylan Walsh as Sam Lane, Inde Navarrette as Sarah Cortez, Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lana Lang, Wolé Parks as John Henry Irons / Steel, Tayler Buck as Natalie Lane Irons, Erik Valdez as Kyle Cushing, Sofia Hasmik as Chrissy Beppo, Michael Cudlitz as Lex Luthor and Chad L. Coleman as Bruno Mannheim. The full season is now streaming on The CW and Max. 

Thanks for reading our Superman & Lois season 4 review. For more reviews like this, stay tuned here at Feature First.