Previously – Doomsday had killed Superman and ripped his heart out. Jordan Kent took Superman’s body to the Fortress of Solitude in hopes Kryptonian technology could revive him. Without a heart, all they could do was place Superman in stasis. Jordan, as Superboy, confronted Lex Luthor to find where Superman’s heart is. Jonathan Kent investigated Luthor’s hotel room. Jordan believed he found the heart but only fell into Luthor’s trap. Lois sought comfort and support from Lana Lang, but Lois had little time to mourn her husband before learning that both her sons were in danger. A phone call gave Lois a Sophie’s Choice between Jonathan or Jordan, and she made a choice. In a literal heartbreaking moment, Luthor crushed Superman’s heart in front of Jordan. Lois, Jordan, and Jonathan went to the Fortress without a way to bring Superman back. However, Superman did leave a hologram of himself to help guide his family.
The episode opens with a voice over from Lois reacting to losing someone she loved. Clark’s glasses rest on his nightstand as Lois, Jordan, and Jonathan dress in black funeral attire.
Sam Lane finds General Hardcastle at the Department of Defense and asks her about the serum Bruno Mannheim had made from Superman’s blood. She reluctantly agrees to give it to him but demands to be informed about whatever he plans to do with it. In a flashback, Lois and Clark talk to Sam in his office. He is eager to learn what they know about Superman, and they reveal that Clark is, in fact, Superman. Sam is skeptical until Clark takes off his glasses. Interestingly enough, the moment is highlighted by epic music and a blue light when Clark takes off his glasses, as though there were more to the simple removing of glasses to get Sam to see the truth.
John Henry Irons and his daughter, Natalie (two former series regulars who make their first appearance of the season this episode) watch footage of Superman’s ill-fated battle with Doomsday. John Henry wishes he did more and Natalie feels bad for the Kents. John Henry reveals that Sam offered to give them the full backing of the DOD so they could be the world’s protectors in Superman’s absence. It would mean Natalie wouldn’t be able to move to Metropolis or go to school, and Sam needs a decision by the end of the day.
Lois, who finally published her article about Superman dying, is lost in thought until Jonathan and Jordan snap her out of it. Jonathan is upset she let the world know Superman is dead, and he still blames Jordan for losing their chance at bringing him back.
Jonathan needs his space, and goes into the basement where Kal-El’s spaceship is. Jordan 
tries to make things right with his brother, but Jonathan rants at him and blames him for having the best intentions but only making things worse. Jonathan becomes violent, punching support beams and throwing things around the room until he is hit with a burst of sounds and finds he can see through objects. The spaceship reacts to it, revealing that Jonathan Kent has finally manifested the powers of a Kryptonian on Earth. Michael Bishop (who took over the role of Jonathan from Jordan Elsass after two seasons) really gets to show his range in this scene.
After flying to far off cities and timing himself, Jonathan returns to the Kent home. Lois is surprised he has all his father’s powers. Quicker to using his powers than his brother was, Jonathan is eager to help and acknowledges that the timing of his powers emerging might mean he is destined to take over for his father. Jordan is less than pleased.
John Henry tells Natalie they don’t have to take the DOD’s offer. Natalie remembers how an evil Superman destroyed the world they came from. She says they couldn’t save that world but they can save this one. John Henry says she reminds him of her mother, which is the Lois Lane of their world. At this point in the series, Sam and Natalie have formed a grandfather/granddaughter relationship.
When Lois arrives at the DOD, Sam talks about the effects her story had on his people and comforts her. She tells him that Jonathan developed powers, and Sam thinks it’s great because Jonathan is a born leader. It’s interesting to note that Sam trained Jordan with his powers behind Lois’ back, and he had issues with Jordan. Sam seems to favor Jonathan and believes he will be more suited to being a hero. Sam wants Lois to be on board with everything.
In a flashback, Clark visits Sam. Sam believes Clark is there to give him an answer to his offer to join the DOD, but Clark asks for Sam’s blessing for Clark to marry Lois. Sam refuses and points out that Clark’s first and only commitment should be to Superman. Sam doesn’t want Lois to deal with losing Clark if he dies, and Clark says they are both protective of Lois and he intends on marrying her.
Luthor and his associate Amanda watch Doomsday devouring a creature in a rundown subway. Luthor is more comfortable with him than he is dealing with his business. He wants an update on their plan with Sam Lane, the only one who knows where Luthor’s daughter Elizabeth is. Amanda says they only have one shot at this.
As Jonathan experiments with his newfound super senses, Lois tells him that she regrets some of the way she and Clark handled his secret. She wished they had told Jonathan and Jordan earlier about their heritage and Clark’s life as Superman. She tells Jonathan about Sam’s offer to train him at the DOD. Jonathan doesn’t expect to be Superman right away and is willing to learn. Even though Lois and Jonathan are on board with this, Jordan isn’t. He is still upset over the blame Jonathan laid on him and only gives him a half-hearted good luck.
At the DOD, Sam admits to never having the best working relationship with Superman but wants to do better with John Henry and Natalie. Or, Steel and Starlight, as he calls them when introducing them to Hardcastle, a soldier named Jones, and the rest of their support staff.
At the Kent Barn, Jordan thinks back to when his powers manifested saving Jonathan in that barn. Luthor enters, and when Jordan readies his heat vision, Luthor reminds him that didn’t go so well last time. Luthor plays the recording of Lois on the phone from the previous episode. She did, in fact, choose to save Jonathan’s life over Jordan’s. Jordan thinks Luthor is lying, but he insists that Lois is the liar and tells Jordan to ask Lois about it himself. Luthor tells Jordan that Lois will always choose Jonathan.
At the DOD, Hardcastle expresses her worries about Sam having Mannheim’s serum to John Henry and Natalie. She thinks Sam wants to enhance himself and fight Doomsday. John Henry understands how dangerous it would be if there were two of them running around.
Sam, alone, looks at the serum as he remembers the day Lois and Clark got married. It took place at the Kent house, and Sam overheard Martha’s support to Clark about the marriage. This prompted Sam to rethink his stance on Lois marrying Clark.
Jordan confronts Lois as she and Jonathan are at the DOD. He tells her what Luthor showed him and, to Lois’ credit, she doesn’t deny choosing Jonathan. Lois tries to justify it by saying Jordan has powers, but Jordan pointed out he was in direct danger and Jonathan wasn’t. Lois says she loves both her sons the same, and Jordan says Luthor knew she would say that. Jordan echoes Luthor’s words and calls her a liar and says her lies sent Luthor to jail. Lois snaps back at this and tells him not to listen to the man responsible for his father’s death. Jordan uses his super speed to bolt off.
Jones, the solider Sam introduced to John Henry and Natalie, enters Sam’s office with a gun and Luthor on a video call. Luthor threatened Jones’ family, so Jones is forced to demand Sam tell Luthor where Elizabeth is. Sam tries to wrestle the gun away from Jones but is shot. Luthor’s Plan B is to send Doomsday to the DOD, and Jones runs to help everyone evacuate. Sam injects himself with the serum. John Henry and Natalie enter, and Sam says they need to help the DOD evacuate but he needs them to do something for him.
Lois, Jonathan, and everyone in the Department of Defense building exit as John Henry and Natalie suit up and take to the sky. They launch their weapons at the approaching Doomsday, but they don’t do much damage. They are unsuccessful in deterring Doomsday. Doomsday lands, and Sam tells his men not to fire.
In the final flashback of the episode, Sam visits Lois preparing for the wedding. He once 
again voices his fear. Lois marrying Clark reminds Sam too much of Lois’ mother marrying him, which he believes to be a recipe for disaster. Lois insists that Clark/Superman makes her happy, and while Sam still has his reservations, he extends his arm to walk her down the aisle.
In the face of Doomsday, Sam refuses to tell Luthor where Elizabeth is. Sam says he made a promise to her, and while on the surface it seems like he’s talking about Elizabeth, he is actually talking about his own daughter. Luthor orders Doomsday to attack, and he grabs Sam and breaks his neck. Lois and Jonathan run to his side, and Steel and Starlight land. Steel says he needs Sam’s body to fulfill Sam’s last request.
Steel takes Sam’s body to the Fortress of Solitude while Lois, Jonathan, and Natalie return to the Kent home to tell Jordan that Sam is dead. Natalie explains that Sam had a plan. As John Henry gives Sam’s body over to the Fortress’ hologram of Lara, Natalie says that Sam wanted to use the serum to prepare a new heart for Superman. He was in the process of finding a donor, but when Luthor sent Doomsday after him, Sam injected himself with the serum. He figured that he would be killed but they could use his heart, with Superman’s blood running through it, to revive Superman.
Lara explains the risks to John Henry, but he tells her to begin the procedure. Natalie plays a final recording Sam made right before his death (turns out Kryptonians aren’t the only ones who can leave holograms). Sam says his goodbyes to Lois and his three grandchildren. Sam wants Superman to be there for his family and, with Sam’s heart inside Superman, Sam will be there for them as well.
We return to the narration at the beginning of the episode. It turns out that the loved one Lois was referring to was her father, and that everyone was dressing up for a memorial for Sam. Lois, Jonathan, Jordan, John Henry, and Natalie bury Sam’s dogtags. Despite being angry with her, Jordan puts his arm around his mother, and Jonathan joins in on the embrace. The final moments of the episode show Superman in his stasis pod. He opens his eyes and takes in a deep breath.
So with the return of John Henry and Natalie Irons, we say goodbye to Sam Lane. The entire episode was done beautifully, showing the major moments Sam had in the life of Lois and Superman and making a sacrifice to give his daughter her husband back. Superman doesn’t appear until the very last shot, so most of the action of the episode featured Steel and Starlight.
Jonathan Kent finally gets powers in this episode. It’s very late in the show’s run, but it makes sense for Jonathan to have developed his bravery and moral code before getting powers. The extroverted Jonathan took more after Lois while the shy, awkward Jordan took after Clark. Jonathan getting powers was foreshadowed, however, as the Jonathan Kent from Bizarro’s Earth was Superboy.
General Sam Lane injecting himself with a serum that has the potential to turn him into a super strong monster was similar to General Wade Eiling doing that in the comics to become the Shaggy Man (which became the Justice League Unlimited episode “Patriot Act”). The episode of My Adventures with Superman “Two Lanes Diverged”, which aired only a few months ago, also featured flashbacks depicting Lois’s relationship with her father. Sam’s training of Lois involves teaching her to find the North Star. The Sam Lane of Superman & Lois called Lois his “North Star” in his parting message.
We have been getting more and more backstory concerning the early days of Clark and Lois’ romance, which is decidedly different than the one they had on the TV show Supergirl (which featured the same actors but took place on a different Earth). There, Superman didn’t propose to Lois until they found out she was pregnant while in this continuity, there were many steps Clark and Lois took before tying the knot and then having children. A fun freeze-frame bonus in the flashback to the wedding in this episode reveals a man dressed in a green suit and bow tie. It’s the Superman & Lois version of Jimmy Olsen!
