Previously – With the town of Smallville getting more suspicious of Clark being Superman, he tried his best to throw every individual person off his trail. After being publicly confronted by Emmitt Pergande, Clark decided not to hide any more. He not only admitted that he’s Superman, he also gave a live interview telling the world his story.
As Lex Luthor gets fitted for a new suit, Amanda McCoy gives him updates on their associates, Bash and Milton Fine. Amanda is hatching a plan to get the world on his side.
General Hardcastle’s men have been protecting the Kent home. Clark makes his way past them. Lois is more concerned with learning her latest test results. Jordan and Jonathan are reacting to their recent fame, even getting friend requests from Jamie Kennedy. They are worried about their mother, but Lois wants them to hang out with their friends.
Natalie Irons has the opposite problem. John Henry Irons insists they finish their work for the DOD before she can go out and have fun. John Henry then worries about the stress this is putting on his daughter. He says that with Clark back and both Jordan and Jonathan having powers that Natalie can quit if she wants. She declines, and John Henry wonders if she’s doing this for her late grandfather, Sam Lane. They are alerted to an overturned car, so Steel and Starlight fly into action. They quickly save a panicked man.
Jordan and Jonathan buy movie snacks from Brit & Dunn’s, but soon notice a crowd of people outside waiting to catch a glimpse of them. Clark and Lois go to Hob’s Bay Medical in Metropolis to hear Lois’ test results. Lois is clean and doesn’t need any more surgery, but before the happy couple can celebrate, they see Lex Luthor on TV. Luthor is being interviewed by G. Gordon Godfrey
(played by Arrowverse veteran Tom Cavanagh), and Luthor gives his own twisted version of what went down between him and Lois. He thinks it was convenient Lois knew Peia Mannheim (who was involved in Luthor’s framing) and she only issued a retraction to get ahead of the backlash. When Godfrey asks if Lois apologized, Luthor says he was the one to come to Lois. He even tried to bring LuthorCorp to Smallville to create jobs, but Lois kept standing in his way. Luthor calls out Lois for a public debate on Godfrey’s show that night.
Lois and Clark consider their options. Clark doesn’t want Lois to debate Luthor and thinks he’s desperate since the DOD is close to getting Otis to talk. Lois wants to defend her reputation, but she agrees to write a rebuttal rather than debate Luthor. Clark flies her to the Gazette.
Jonathan and Jordan visit Natalie at her place. She uses her advanced AI to check showtimes for Honey, I Shrunk the Slaughter Cabin. Jonathan is puzzled as to where Candice is, and when he checks his phone, he learns that she broke up with him.
Luthor feels like a fraud, but Amanda encourages him. She says they want the same thing, and she also knows how this will end.
A crowd has gathered outside the Gazette, but Lois and Clark continue to work. He proofs her profanity-laden article, and John Henry enters and delivers some bad news. Otis Grisham was found hanging in his cell. The DOD will never get his testimony. A brick flies through the Gazette window, and Clark catches it at super speed. It says “LIAR” on it.
Lois wants to debate Luthor, but Clark worries. He points out that Luthor picked the moderator and has the home court advantage. Lois isn’t worried because she has Superman with her. After Lois leaves, John Henry wonders why Clark was slow to react to the brick. Clark admits he has been losing his hearing, and John Henry wants to run tests.
Amanda gets a call from Milton Fine. He has been mentioned in a handful of episodes before, but this is the first time we have seen him. It’s the same man Steel and Starlight saved from the overturned car. Amanda’s plan has entered the next phase.
Back at the Irons’ place, Jordan and Natalie watch on, concerned,
as Candice breaks up with Jonathan over the phone. Candice can’t handle all the online harassment she has been receiving from being Jonathan Kent’s girlfriend. Jordan can’t offer any useful advice, but Natalie says if Jonathan really loves Candice, he should see her in person.
Lex Luthor has been examining himself in mirrors all episode. He is clearly uncomfortable, and seeing Godfrey’s crew in his penthouse has made him even more antsy. He wants to shut the whole thing down because there are too many variables, but Amanda says he just doesn’t like it because it’s not his plan. She forces him to go through with it.
John Henry takes Clark to his workshop and analyzes him. He explains that the hearing loss could be a symptom of heart disease. Clark admits to feeling weaker, more tired, and having a scar that won’t heal. John Henry shows Clark some data and concludes that having a human heart means Clark’s powers will eventually fade completely.
Clark flies Lois to Luthor’s apartment. They are greeted by Amanda, who immediately goes on the offensive against Lois. Lois is unfazed and wants to get the truth out. Godfrey greets them and bows to Superman.
Godfrey moderates the debate between Luthor and Lois. Lois sets the record straight and says she didn’t meet Peia Mannheim until recently and Luthor has no evidence otherwise. Luthor fires back and says Clark attacked him, and Lois says he hired Otis to kill Lana. Luthor admits to meeting Otis in prison but he says they never had any dealings. Luthor says Lois can’t prove that, especially now that Otis is dead. Luthor does have evidence of Clark’s attacking him, however, and Godfrey runs the recording. Apparently, Luthor had cameras set up with those red sun lamps when Clark confronted him a couple episodes ago.
Jonathan goes to Candice’s place to talk to her. Jordan and Natalie wait in the truck. Candice says a reporter offered her a lot of money if she talks about Jonathan, and Candice just can’t handle this kind of attention (apparently she had quite a different reaction to being friend requested by Jamie Kennedy). Jonathan wants her to tell him she doesn’t love him. Jordan asks Natalie about Matteo (Bruno Mannheim’s son whom she began a relationship with), but she hasn’t had much time for him because of her work with the DOD. Jordan tells her that she can quit, and she mulls this over as Jonathan and Candice kiss.
Luthor continues to show footage he captured. This time it’s Lois and Jonathan breaking into his hotel room. Lois becomes agitated, even aiming some of her anger at Godfrey and calling him a carnival barker. Lois has evidence of her own. She can call his daughter, Elizabeth, and have the audience listen to her take on Luthor. Amanda has to move quickly, so she calls Milton and gives him a go ahead.
John Henry watches the broadcast from his workshop, and his feed gets hijacked. It’s Milton Fine. Milton speaks to John Henry as he remotely activates the Starlight and Steel armor and tells him that Steel is going to kill Superman. John Henry tries to shutdown his equipment with verbal commands and even smashes his AI, but the Starlight armor flies off and the Steel armor covers John Henry.
Jonathan and Jordan tell Natalie and Candice about taking Sarah to the Greek Islands. The girls are intrigued, and the boys say they can fly them there. They suddenly hear Natalie’s Starlight armor coming towards them. Jordan flies to intercept it.
Luthor and Lois argue about Elizabeth. Lois begins calling her when Clark hears John Henry in the Steel armor in the distance. He quickly changes into Superman and bursts out the glass window.
Jordan collapses as the Starlight armor advances on Natalie. It fires a missile at her, but Jonathan catches it. Natalie tries verbal overrides and command codes to shut down the armor, but they don’t work. Jordan recovers, and both he and Jonathan have to use their heat vision on the armor, melting it down completely.
With John Henry trapped in his armor, Superman has to engage him in aerial battle long enough for it to lose power. John Henry, talking to Milton Fine through his armor, tells him Superman is going to win. Milton says it’s only because the Steel armor is inferior, so he opens the armor up and calls it away. John Henry plummets to the ground, but Superman saves him. Superman tries listening for the armor but can’t locate it.
Everyone has cleared out of Luthor’s apartment, but Godfrey remains to wrap things up in front of the camera. Despite initially saying that he’s a neutral party, Godfrey is clearly on Luthor’s side (and he didn’t take too kindly to Lois’ “carnival barker” jab). He points out that everything the public knows about Superman was written by the woman that turned out to be his wife. Godfrey poses the question of whether or not Lois can be trusted. Clark and Lois watch this from their home. Clark says they have bigger problems and begins to tell Lois about John Henry’s tests.
Luthor reflects on the ordeal and worries that Lois almost got
Elizabeth on the phone. Amanda assures him that she would never let that happen. She says that the two of them do want the same thing, and they kiss. Every girl may not be crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man, but Amanda clearly is. Milton calls Amanda to tell her that he has “it”.
Natalie is more sure of her mission. She tells John Henry that she was doing it for her grandfather, but now she’s in it for herself. She remembers the Lex Luthor of her world and how he was a computer genius but this one doesn’t seem to be. John Henry says Luthor isn’t but he is working with one.
Jonathan and Jordan arrive in the kitchen where Clark and Lois are waiting for them. Lois tells them the good news about her being free of any trace of disease, but Clark has to tell them the bad news about the toll Sam Lane’s heart is taking on him. He may only have as many years as Sam would have had, and his powers will eventually diminish until they are gone.
Luthor and Amanda visit Milton in his lab. He has acquired the Steel armor and is working on modifications. Luthor admires it and says “Now that is a killer suit.”
It’s interesting to note that Clark Kent no longer wears glasses. However, Superman is wearing his wedding ring. Michael Cudlitz directed this episode, and it sees Tom Cavanagh playing another Arrowverse character (I’ve lost track of how many he has played). G. Gordon Godfrey in the comics had a huge secret, but that may not be a the case on this show. Justice League Unlimited had a gag about Lex Luthor getting a “power suit” only for him to be dressed in a business suit rather than power armor. This episode played with the idea of various concepts of “suits”. Natalie mentions a computer genius named “Mr. Gorman” from her Earth, which is a reference to Gus Gorman, Richard Pryor’s character from Superman III.
