Pilot (Superman & Lois)

For other uses of Pilot, see Pilot (Disambiguation).

"Pilot"

Episode
Title Card

Information

[[Season 1 ()|Season 1 » Episode 1]]

Episode number

1 of

Airdate

February 23, 2021

Chronology

Followed by
Heritage

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“	Eventually, I moved to Metropolis to become who I was meant to be.	”
— Clark Kent^[src]

Synopsis

After years of facing megalomaniacal supervillains, monsters wreaking havoc on Metropolis, and alien invaders intent on wiping out the human race, the world's most famous superhero, The Man of Steel aka Clark Kent and comic books' most famous journalist, Lois Lane, come face to face with one of their greatest challenges ever - dealing with all the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today's society. Complicating the already daunting job of raising two boys, Clark and Lois must also concern themselves with whether or not their sons Jonathan and Jordan could inherit their father's Kryptonian superpowers as they grow older. Returning to Smallville to handle some Kent family business, Clark and Lois are reacquainted with Lana Lang, a local loan officer who also happens to be Clark's first love, and her Fire Chief husband Kyle Cushing. The adults aren't the only ones rediscovering old friendships in Smallville as the Kent sons are reacquainted with Lana and Kyle's rebellious daughter, Sarah. Of course, there's never a dull moment in the life of a superhero, especially with Lois' father, General Samuel Lane looking for Superman to vanquish a villain or save the day at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Superman and Lois' return to idyllic Smallville is set to be upended when both a mysterious stranger and impassioned self-made mogul Morgan Edge enter their lives.^[1]

Appearances

Characters

Protagonists

Superman/Clark Kent (Kal-El) (first appearance)
Lois Lane (first appearance)
Jonathan Kent (first appearance)
Jordan Kent (first appearance)
Sarah Cushing (first appearance)
Lana Lang Cushing (first appearance)
Kyle Cushing (first appearance)
General Sam Lane (first appearance)

Antagonists

Captain Luthor (first appearance)
- Captain Luthor's AI (first appearance)
Morgan Edge (first appearance; pictured)
Superman (Kal-El) (first appearance; mentioned)

Other Characters

Benny (first appearance)
Cobb Branden (first appearance)
Dr. Frye (first appearance)
Dr. Donner (first appearance; name seen)
Dr. Reeve (first appearance; name seen)
Eliza (first appearance; video call)
Engstrom (first appearance; mentioned)
God (mentioned)
Jonathan Kent Sr. (first appearance; flashback)
Jor-El (first appearance; indirectly mentioned)
Kal-El's Mother (first appearance; indirectly mentioned)
Lois Hannigan (first appearance; mentioned in flashback)
Lueck (first appearance; mentioned)
Margie Kelton (first appearance; mentioned)
Martha Kent (first appearance)
Max "Maxy" Mencken (first appearance)
Pastor Lindquist (first appearance)
Perry White (first appearance; flashback)
Pete Ross (first appearance; mentioned)
Raiden (first appearance; video game)
Samuel Foswell (first appearance)
Sean Smith (first appearance)
Shuster (first appearance; name seen)
Siegel (first appearance; name seen)
Sippy (first appearance; mentioned)
Sophie Cushing (first appearance)
Steve Lombard (first appearance; mentioned in flashback)
T. Welling (first appearance; name unseen)
Tag Harris (first appearance)
Timmy Ryan (first appearance)
Whit (first appearance)
Luthor (first appearance) (mentioned)

Teams and Organizations

Ace Chemical (first appearance; name seen)
Facebook (first appearance; mentioned)
FFA (first appearance; mentioned)
Galaxy Holdings (first appearance; mentioned)
- Daily Planet (first appearance)
  - Daily Planet Network (first appearance)
HowToBasic (first appearance; mentioned)
HUD (first appearance; mentioned)
Instability Strip (first appearance; poster)
KIFR (first appearance)
Luthor Wayne (first appearance; name seen in video game)
Megachord (first appearance; poster)
Metropolis Meteors (first appearance)
Metropolis Police Department (first appearance)
Oberlee Foods (first appearance; mentioned)
Seek & Keep Thrift Store (first appearance; flashback)
Sequoia (first appearance)
Smallville Crows (first appearance; name seen)
Smallville Emergency Medical Technician (first appearance)
Smallville Fire & Rescue (first appearance)
Smallville Police Department (first appearance)
Soul Asylum (first appearance; mentioned)
United States Army (first appearance)
United States Postal Service (first appearance; name seen)

Events

War on Superman (first appearance)
- Ambush on Superman (first appearance)
Explosion at Shuster Mines (first appearance)
Resurrection of Krypton (UE-33) (first appearance) (mentioned)

Species

Artificial Intelligence (first appearance)
Bass (first appearance; mentioned)
Humans (first appearance)
Humans (first appearance)
Kryptonian-Human Hybrids (first appearance)
Kryptonians (first appearance)
Kryptonians (first appearance; mentioned)
Vulcans (first appearance; mentioned)

Objects

Steel's Ship (first appearance)
Steel War Suit (first appearance)
Clark Kent's Glasses (first appearance)
ELT (first appearance)
Green Kryptonite (first appearance)
Green Kryptonite (first appearance)
Kryptonite Dagger (first appearance)
Injustice 2 (first appearance)
Kent Farm Truck (first appearance)
Kal-El's Pod (first appearance)
Rory's First Kiss (first appearance; flashback)
Sunstone Crystal (first appearance)
Superman Suits (first appearance)

Locations

Undesignated Universe (first appearance)
- Earth (first appearance)
  - China (first appearance)
    - Shanghai (first appearance)
  - Fortress of Solitude (first appearance; flashback)
  - Fukushima (first appearance; mentioned)
  - United States of America (first appearance)
    - Elison Nuclear Power Plant (first appearance)
    - Hudson Nuclear Power Plant (first appearance)
    - Kansas (first appearance)
      - Rice County (first appearance)
        Smallville (first appearance)
        Kent Farm (first appearance)
        Kent House (first appearance)
        
        Kent Barn (first appearance)
        Storm Cellar (first appearance)
        
        Main Street (first appearance)
        Seek & Keep Thrift Store (first appearance; flashback)
        
        Sequoia (first appearance)
        
        Shuster Mines (first appearance; mentioned)
        
        Smallville Church (first appearance)
        
        Smallville Community Bank (first appearance)
        
        Smallville Cemetary (first appearance)
        
        Smallville Firehouse (first appearance; mentioned)
        
        Smallville High School (first appearance; mentioned)
    - Metropolis (first appearance)
      - Ace Chemical (first appearance; name seen)
      - Daily Planet Building (first appearance)
      - Kent Townhouse (first appearance)
      - Metropolis High School (first appearance; mentioned)
    - Oyster Creek (first appearance; mentioned)
    - St. Louis (first appearance; mentioned)
    - Twin Cities (first appearance; mentioned)
    - Wichita (first appearance; mentioned)
- The Sun (first appearance; mentioned)
- Krypton (first appearance; mentioned)
Undesignated Universe (first appearance; mentioned)
- Earth (first appearance; mentioned)
- Krypton (first appearance; mentioned)

Notes

This episode had a TV special called Superman & Lois: Legacy of Hope that aired after it.
This is the longest ever episode in the Arrowverse.
Jonathan Kent is named after Clark's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent Sr. and Jordan Kent is named after his biological father, Jor-El.^[2]
When Clark enters Jordan's room, he is playing as Raiden in the video game, Injustice 2 as opposed to playing Superman.
The emblem on Superman's first suit is the same as the crest in the 1941 Fleischer Cartoons.
- The flashback scene where clark saves a young boy from a falling car is inspired by Action Comics 1 with the line "my mom made it for me" being directly lifted from it.
Dr. Frye is a reference to the character of the same name from the 1978 Superman film.
Two notes in Clark Kent's Apartment have various references to individuals associated with Superman.
- One mentions Shuster and Siegel which is a reference to the creators of Superman, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel and Dr. Donner which is a reference to Richard Donner who directed the 1978 Superman film.
- Another note mentions Dr. Reeve which is a reference to Christopher Reeve who portrayed Superman in the Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology franchise.