It Took ‘Superman & Lois’ Too Long To Address This Problem

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 3 Episode 12 of Superman & Lois.The CW’s Superman & Lois follows the life and adventures of Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), who pack up their home in Metropolis and settle down in a dying Smallville — a location they believe is better suited for raising their teenage sons Jordan (Alexander Garfin) and Jon (first played by Jordan Elsass, now by Michael Bishop). Unfortunately, it’s never that easy, is it? The ongoing third season has ventured further into the lives of Jon and Jordan as they grow closer to adulthood. While Jon works with Kyle (Erik Valdez) at the fire station in Smallville and admirably tries to be a hero without powers, Jordan has donned a costume of his own to become the world’s new hero, but his inexperience is catching up to him, as well as some of his rather distressing antics. But, while it’s new for Superman & Lois to be addressing Jordan’s bad attitude, it’s something that has been painfully present since the first season.

Jordan’s Bad Behavior Has Gone On for Far Too Long

Throughout all three seasons of Superman & Lois, Jordan’s behavior has been a constant — and relatively unaddressed — problem. The biggest issue with Jordan is he constantly thinks of himself as a victim and the show often reinforces this toxic mindset. It’s evident immediately, as Jordan is quickly guilty of taking out his emotions on everyone around him and blaming others for everything wrong in his life. He starts the series with a major chip on his shoulder over his twin brother Jon, who is the popular football player in Metropolis and has a great relationship with their father (as they bond over shared interests). While this rivalry with Jon has faded away, that’s only because of Jordan’s developing powers. He suddenly felt stronger and more important than Jon, so then he could blame Jon for being jealous of his burgeoning powers or dominating their parents’ time, leaving Jon completely on the outside for much of the show.

Additionally, his relationship with Sarah (Inde Navarrette) is a great example of this. He spends very little time considering Sarah’s perspective for all three seasons of the show. He confesses his secret, and his father’s, to Sarah with little consideration for the danger it places her in. After Sarah calls things off with Jordan, he spends every moment with her trying to make her feel guilty and inserting himself into the mix when Sarah talks with other guys. In Season 3, after Jordan saves Sarah and George Jr. (Dylan Leonard) from a life-ending car accident, he’s obviously furious that Sarah isn’t falling to her hands and knees to worship him as her savior. She’s grateful, and she has made that clear, but it isn’t enough for Jordan. In short, he’s unhealthily possessive, and it goes far beyond being a teenage boy hopelessly in love.

But, backing away from that subject, Jordan also clearly has a major ego issue that has made him unlikable from the start of the series. As soon as he develops his powers, it goes to his head. His dynamic with Jon changes, but Jordan also becomes arrogant, cocky, and utterly reckless. He joins the football team to show off his new strength and be the star, leaving Jon as an outlier despite Jordan having no real interest in the sport — and, again, it’s a way to monopolize their father’s time, as Clark has to focus on Jordan not accidentally hurting someone on the field. This recklessness has only advanced since the first season, leading to such a drastic result that not even Superman & Lois could ignore or excuse the issue anymore.

‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3 Episode 12 Only Worsens the Existing Problem

In the penultimate episode of Superman & Lois Season 3, the world is on the verge of discovering that there’s another hero with similar powers to Superman. A former colleague at the Daily Planet is hot on the trail, using all of Lois’ tips from when she was writing about Superman’s arrival. Plus, George Jr. hasn’t been able to shut up about it since Jordan pulled him and Sarah from her car, even going so far as to do an interview to tell his side of the story. After Clark had to reveal his secret to Kyle because Jordan’s recklessness in “saving the day” made Kyle believe Jon had powers, everyone has been doing everything they can do to make sure it doesn’t get out that there is a super-powered person operating in Smallville. Sarah, Kyle, and Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui) are taking the responsibility of the secret so seriously, while Clark, Lois, and Sam (Dylan Walsh) do whatever they can to cover it up, but it’s ultimately for naught because Jordan’s series-long bad behavior has gotten out of hand.

At school, George Jr. continues to try to convince people of the hero he saw on that night, but Sarah, Jon, and Natalie (Tayler Buck) continue to gaslight him. Meanwhile, Jordan takes it upon himself to boast about what a hero and how “badass” this person is, only half-heartedly throwing out the “if there is someone” spiel afterward. When Clark and Lois find out about this, they take away Jordan’s suit and tell him to lay low until things die down, but he immediately disobeys them. When Superman is tasked with stopping a tornado from hitting Smallville, Jordan gets his suit and goes to help. When they’ve finished saving the day, Jordan lands directly next to a group of onlookers that they saved, who praise him as a hero, taking selfies and videos that confirm the existence of the teenage hero in Smallville. Afterward, Clark and Lois confront him, but Jordan admits he doesn’t care if people find out because he wants the attention. When Clark and Lois try to punish him, Jordan uses his powers on Clark in a brief exchange, a line nobody could have expected Jordan would cross.

Being A Teenager Only Excuses So Much

Very little of Jordan’s behavior can and should, ultimately, be excused away from being a teenager. Especially as we’re watching Jon go on a hero’s journey of his own without powers, where he must take accountability for his actions and become a well-versed adult that both of his parents are proud of. Additionally, Sarah’s on a similar journey as she faces consequences for her bad actions, trying to become better and set herself up for the future with help from parents Lana and Kyle. Meanwhile, Jordan is becoming worse with each passing episode and has no interest in ever accepting responsibility for his actions or thinking of himself as anything but a victim. (Seriously, he even made himself a victim because his parents didn’t think it was cool that he completely disobeyed him and outed his existence to the entire world for the sake of an ego boost.) Right now, the only logical path for Jordan is to become a full-fledged villain. He’s incapable of handling the responsibility of having powers, and there’s not enough time left with this show to ever right Jordan’s bad behavior, even with the upcoming fourth season.

However, we know Superman & Lois will never go there. They’ve propped Jordan up as their gold-standard original character (á la Felicity Smoak) since the beginning of the show, so it’s hard to even take the recent episode seriously as, surely, Jordan’s actions will be painted out as something righteous at some point down the road. Regardless, it’s nice to see his behavior called out and not excused for once, but it took way too long. As I said before, this has been an issue since the beginning of the series, and it has driven fans away from Jordan — even more so than giving him Jon’s comic legacy. Change needs to come and Jordan needs to be humbled because even one more episode of this indignant behavior is too much to bear.

Superman & Lois continues Tuesdays on The CW.