Previously – Lois Lane located Gretchen/Cheryl, a woman who had been working with Lex Luthor, in an attempt to flip her. Luthor learned that Carol was out of hiding, and he sent an arsonist to take care of her. Jonathan Kent attempted to save her, but he needed Superman’s help. Superman took care of the arsonist but revealed to the world that he’s alive.

17 years ago, Lex Luthor talks to his wife, Erica. They had been married for 14 years, but because she feels that he has been distant and not putting any work into their marriage, she wants a divorce. Erica insists that Luthor’s mother made it so he can’t love anyone else, including their daughter, and she will only talk to him through a lawyer.

In the present, Luthor’s associate Amanda tells him that they are closer to using facial recognition to find Luthor’s daughter, Elizabeth. Luthor sees an article announcing that Superman is alive, and he says he’s returning to Smallville.

In the Kent Home, Lois is worried that Luthor will send Doomsday after Superman again. Clark takes advice from his mother and says they need to try and talk to Luthor and reach his heart. Lois is less than thrilled about this plan and decides to take another course.

Jonathan and Jordan meet some friends from school, who are going to have a party and set off fireworks. Jonathan’s one time girlfriend Candice, who had to leave town to get away from her father, is returning to Smallville. Denise, who we had seen a couple episodes ago when Doomsday killed Superman, reveals that she knows Superman is Jonathan and Jordan’s father. She will keep the secret, but the boys worry about it.

As Luthor drives down a dirt road, Superman lands in front of the car. The two talk. There hasn’t been a lot of interaction between just Lex Luthor and Superman before, especially since Luthor has been targeting Lois, but now that Luthor knows Superman is Clark, things have changed. In a good twist that shows his restraint and compassion, Superman appeals to Luthor as a father. Luthor insists that Lois destroyed his life and took his daughter away from him, and while Superman is sympathetic to his situation, he encourages Luthor to break the cycle. Luthor refuses to understand Superman’s reasoning.

In a flashback, Luthor doesn’t have a lawyer but Erica does. She wants to take Elizabeth to London, but Luthor wants her to stay in Metropolis. Their discussion becomes a full blown argument, and Elizabeth enters the room to see her parents fighting.

Jonathan and Jordan wait for Candice’s bus to arrive while they worry about Superman’s secret getting out. Lois calls Jonathan and needs his help with something, so Jonathan leaves Jordan to pick up Candice.

After having gone through her father’s files, Lois has located Elizabeth. She needs Jonathan to fly her to France. Elizabeth is shocked because Sam Lane promised he could keep her hidden, but she quickly learns that Sam is dead. Lois sees that Elizabeth is six months pregnant. Lois explains that Luthor was falsely imprisoned for years because of her and he wants revenge. Elizabeth tells Lois to hide, but she can’t for the sake of her family. Elizabeth needed Sam’s help, and now Lois needs Elizabeth’s. It’s worth noting Elizabeth is reading The Magus by John Fowles, a book about an Englishman caught up in the psychological machinations of a rich man.

So we’ve finally seen Elizabeth Luthor, and she is played by Elizabeth Henstridge. Superhero fans will recognize her as Jemma Simmons from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but Henstridge has directed a couple episodes of Superman & Lois in the past and is the director of this episode. Weird that she’s also playing a character named Elizabeth and acting opposite Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane, but this show has juggled multiple “John”s before so it’s no big deal.

Clark and Lois compare their notes. Clark might need to take the boys to the Fortress to hide from Doomsday, but Clark gets the idea of studying his fight with Doomsday in the Fortress. Lois gets a call from Elizabeth. Great timing for her; terrible timing for Jonathan. When he tries to come up with a lie as to why he couldn’t pick up Candice, he has to lie again to take Lois to see Elizabeth.

At the Fortress, Clark reasons that since Doomsday is a version of him from another Earth that he should be strong enough to beat him. The Fortress’ hologram of Lara can’t help him because she has no records of anything like Doomsday. Clark uses a device to re-watch the fight but doesn’t come up with any answers.

The mysterious “Milton” is mentioned again, and he sends Luthor footage of Lois meeting with Elizabeth. Luthor barges into the Gazette and demands Lois tell him where his daughter is, and Elizabeth is there and was just about to go see him.

Clark returns to the Gazette and tells Lois he didn’t come up with a solution to Doomsday, and the two of them watch Luthor and Elizabeth at the diner across the street.

The conversation is about as awkward as you can imagine. Elizabeth says Luthor doesn’t get to know who the father of her unborn child is and that she stopped writing to him because she had to leave that part of her life behind to move on. Luthor insists he’s not a monster and that he was innocent of what he went to jail for, but Elizabeth knows he has done horrible things.

A flashback returns to young Elizabeth hiding in a closet because her parents are fighting over her. Luthor admits a lot went wrong in his marriage but he will fight for his daughter. In the present day, Luthor asks to be Elizabeth’s father again.

Jonathan, Jordan, and Candice make it to the party. Jonathan tries to come up with a believable story about helping Lois out investigating missing puppies. Candice doesn’t buy it and demands to know the truth or she will leave.

Back at the diner, Luthor points out that Elizabeth now has an English accent and that he has been keeping up with her life. She knows his men had been watching her. Luthor calls her “Lil” and continues to blame Lois for taking him away from her. Frustrated that he can’t take responsibility for himself, Elizabeth leaves.

Clark leaves the Gazette to talk to Elizabeth while Lois thinks about Luthor’s ability to call Doomsday. Clark does his best to convince Elizabeth to give Luthor another chance. He points out that he and Elizabeth were the same age when they lost their respective fathers. Clark says she should talk to Luthor again for her own sake.

It’s become night, and Jonathan struggles to get Candice to stay at the party without telling her the truth. It’s uncertain how much time has passed, but Luthor is still at the diner. Elizabeth does return to talk to him.

Luthor admits to Elizabeth that his parents were terrible to him. His father left his family, and his mother beat him. Echoing Clark’s words, Luthor wants to break the cycle with Elizabeth. He offers his hand, and she takes it. A flashback reveals young Elizabeth did choose to stay in Metropolis with her father rather than leave the country with her mother.

Lois has Sam Lane’s signal device and goes to an unpopulated area atop a bridge to activate it. At the party, Jordan tries to give Jonathan a pep talk. Candice hasn’t left, but she is talking to other people. Both of them hear Lois’s signal, and Jonathan leaves. Jordan makes a decision. Jonathan arrives at the bridge just as Doomsday answers Lois’ call. Jonathan wants to get Lois out of there, but Lois talks to Doomsday and tries to get him to remember his old life.

The tension between Luthor and Elizabeth is gone. She tells him more about her life, including the fact that she’s having a boy. She asks him about Metropolis, but he admits to spending more time in Smallville. Elizabeth realizes Luthor is doing a lot to get back at Lois. She tells him that to break the cycle, he has to let his vendetta against Lois go. Luthor just can’t forget that Lois cost him 17 years of his life. He says that she has to pay for this. Lex Luthor, being his own worst enemy, drives his daughter away. Elizabeth refuses to expose her son to this kind of hatred and leaves Luthor alone in the diner.

The final flashback of the episode sees Luthor dropping Elizabeth off at her school. Superman shows up to arrest him. The police allowed Luthor to see his daughter one more time. Luthor says Superman and Lois have ruined his life and he won’t forget it. Despite Elizabeth wanting to stay in Metroplis, Luthor being sent to prison meant she had to go to London with her mother. In the present, Clark watches Luthor exit the diner. They lock eyes before Luthor gets a phone call and takes his leave.

Jonathan returns to the party, but Candice isn’t mad at him anymore. Jordan has told her the truth, and she understands what Jonathan has been going through. They watch the fireworks together.

Clark returns home to find Lois on the porch. He tells her that things didn’t work out with Elizabeth, and while he is worried about retaliation from Luthor, Lois isn’t. She says they were appealing to the wrong heart. Luthor returns to the subway where he had been keeping Doomsday, but the monster is no longer there.

Lois was able to remind Doomsday of who he was and the family he had. She says going after his family won’t bring her family back. She begs him not to destroy her family, and he flies away. The Kents may not have been able to convince Luthor to break the cycle, but Lois did give Doomsday something to think about. The episode ends with Luthor left thinking about his next move.

Discuss this article on the Toonzone Forums!

The post Superman & Lois: “Break the Cycle” Episode Recap appeared first on Anime Superhero News.