Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for the Superman and Lois season 3 finale.
The ending of Superman and Lois season 3 provided an action-packed finale. The episode featured the opening salvo of Lex Luthor's renewed war on the Man of Steel and ended on an epic cliffhanger. The excitement on-screen was matched only by the drama behind the scenes, with casting cuts leaving it uncertain just how many of the show's ensemble might return for Superman and Lois season 4.
There is irony that the finale of Superman and Lois season 3 should be so focused on superheroic action, given how the season was largely centered on domestic matters and Lois Lane's battle with breast cancer. This set up an ironic conflict, as Lois and Clark Kent worked to bring down crime boss Bruno Mannheim, whose criminal empire was built upon his desire to clean up his neighborhood and finance a cure for his wife's cancer. In the end, Mannheim surrendered to the authorities, but the heroes' victory proved bittersweet, as they also uncovered proof that Mannheim had forged the evidence that put Lex Luthor behind bars 17 years earlier.
Lex Luthor's Plan Explained
The penultimate episode of Superman and Lois season 3 introduced Lex Luthor, who single-mindedly walked from Stryker's Prison to the Kent Farm to confront Lois Lane directly. Far from being grateful for the reporting that cleared his name, Luthor cared only that it was Lois' investigation 17 years earlier that ruined his public reputation, his marriage, and his relationship with his daughter. Luthor demanded that Lois retire from writing, with the unspoken threat that he would become violent if she did not. He also instructed her to "Tell Superman he's next." The episode ended with Luthor discovering the resurrected Bizarro Superman, hidden in Bruno Mannheim's secret lab.
A flashback sequence in the Superman and Lois season 3 finale detailed how Luthor discovered that the process Mannheim used to resurrect Bizarro had left him unable to die, with the doppelganger's body slowly healing lethal injuries. Luthor also determined that Bizarro would become immune to whatever trauma ended his life. With that knowledge, he struck a bargain with Bizarro, asking permission to keep killing him "so nothing in this world can stop you ever." Beyond giving Luthor a welcome chance to play out his dreams of killing Superman repeatedly, it also let him hone Bizarro into the perfect weapon to kill the real Superman.
Lex Luthor Turns Bizarro Into Doomsday
While Luthor murdered the judge who sent him to prison and arranged for General Sam Lane to be abducted, his ultimate goal was slaying the Man of Steel. Luthor traveled to the Kent farm knowing Superman would hear him coming. After facing his archenemy, Luthor used General Lane's pager to summon Bizarro, who had been transformed into a hulking monster with spikes growing from his body. There was some dramatic irony in this, as Bizarro had been presumed to be Doomsday in his first appearance in Superman and Lois season 2. Now, Bizarro had become Doomsday in earnest.
Superman And Lois Season 3 Finale Ends On A Cliffhanger
Superman's battle with Doomsday stretched from Smallville to Metropolis, with the monster seemingly gaining the advantage and flying an unconscious Superman into space. Thankfully, the sound of Lois Lane's whispering the name "Clark" and the thoughts of his friends and family that spurred gave Superman a second wind, allowing him to turn the tables and force Doomsday onto the moon's surface. The Superman and Lois season 3 finale ended with the two titans charging one another, with the Earth in the background, as the screen faded to black just before their battle began anew.
Every Death In The Superman And Lois Season 3 Finale
Curiously, despite the epic battle between Superman and Doomsday, only one death is implied in the Superman and Lois season 3 finale. General Sam Lane disappears halfway through the episode after it is revealed that his new girlfriend, Gretchen, is in the employ of Lex Luthor. When Gretchen and Otis report to Luthor, he asks if Sam Lane has "been taken care of." This is a common euphemism for murder among criminals and Gretchen assures Lex that Sam Lane won't be an issue anymore. With actor Dylan Walsh reportedly declining to return for Superman and Lois season 4, it seems certain that Sam Lane is dead.
How Superman And Lois Season 3 Finale Sets Up Multiple Character Exits
Apart from Sam Lane's apparent death, most of the ing cast of Superman and Lois characters cut from series regular status for Superman and Lois season 4 were given potential exits from the series, should the actors decline to return as guest stars or recurring cast. Chrissy Beppo confirmed that she was pregnant, prompting boyfriend Kyle Cushing to propose to her. At the same time, a new romance bloomed between Lana Lang and John Henry Irons, paying off a long flirtation between the two newly single parents that had continued throughout Superman and Lois season 3.
Irons felt conflicted about his newfound relationship, however, as he had just been offered a chance to move to Metropolis and establish a business building weapons for the Department of Defense. Genius inventor Natalie Irons was likewise offered a place in the same DOD Academy in Metropolis that her boyfriend Matteo had started attending. Finally, Sarah Cortez made her peace with estranged boyfriend Jordan Kent, but the two agreed to keep their distance from one another and not try to be friends anymore, as the wounds of their failed romance were too fresh.
What We Know About Superman And Lois Season 4
Virtually nothing is known about the story of Superman and Lois season 4. It has been confirmed that Lex Luthor will be the chief villain, though it is unclear if Doomsday will continue to be a problem. It is also presumed the new season will be more focused on the family life of the Kents, given that the only series regulars left are the actors who play Superman, Lois Lane and their twin sons, Jordan and Jonathan.
The finale of Superman and Lois season 3 may offer one hint at how the show might continue without most of its ensemble. When discussing their plans for the summer, Lois and Clark suggest a family trip to Italy, where Morgan Edge had a villa that is going unused. With Lex Luthor on a rampage and the Kent farm largely destroyed by Doomsday, relocating the series out of Smallville would offer both an ideal way to explain the absent cast and an interesting new setting for Superman and Lois season 4.
Superman and Lois season 3 is now streaming at CWTV.com
