Superman & Lois would be better off outside of The CW's Arrowverse

Observer

The CW's newest Arrowverse series is surprisingly good, says Brandon Katz. But it's biggest flaw is being bound by the network's Arrowverse. "Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet, but his show can’t always escape the pitfalls of TV storytelling," says Katz. "With two 15-year-old sons as main characters, Superman & Lois often defaults to angsty teenage drama. It can be emotional outbursts tailor-made for heightened television conflict as opposed to the more genuine and authentic hormonal tidal waves you remember as a teenager. Angsty teenage drama is almost always a distracting subplot that never approximates the intrigue of the main stories. It’s a mistake Designated Survivor and Homeland have made in recent years. More often than not, these storylines end up sputtering so you’ll have to excuse us if we’re not 100% invested in Jonathan’s quest to become his high school’s starting quarterback or Jordan’s will they-won’t they romance. This is a microcosm of The CW and Arrowverse’s tone and style. The network’s target demographic is 18-34 year olds. There’s an inherent campiness to the Arrowverse that courses through its many series, an exaggerated and affected way of doing things. There’s little room for emotional or thematic nuance. Our heroes and villains are written as thin as the original comic book paper we used to read them on. Black or white, no room for grey. It’s too early to tell if that will always be the case for Superman & Lois, but thin layers of the Arrowverse’s flavor can crop up to the show’s detriment."