Synopsis: In Always My Hero, Reeling from failure, Jordan begins to spiral. Jonathan discovers newfound strength. Gen. Lane recruits John Henry and Natalie Irons, before making a choice that will change everything.
The Story
Carrying on his quest to get his daughter back. Lex Luther targets Lois Lane by threatening the life of her father General Lane with Doomsday. Meanwhile, General Lane and the D.O.D. have recruited John Henry Irons and his daughter Natalie Irons to help defend the nation from Lex Luther and Doomsday, but there is also another plan in play to save the life of Superman.
Back and the Lane household Jordan is struggling with the consequences of his actions and his confronted by his brother Jonathan about his role in the death of their father. As the argument intensify Jonathan learns that he to has inherited superpowers from his father, but does not seem to have the same struggles with adapting to them as his younger brother did. Making matters worse for Jordan is a visit from Lex Luther who plays him a sound recording of his Mother choosing to save Jonathan’s life when given a choice over which of her two sons to save when both are threatened.
Back at the D.O.D. General Lane is fatally wounded when Lex Luther sends a man after him. Knowing that he is on borrowed time he injects himself with a veil of Superman’s blood which kicks off part of the plan to save The Man of Steel.
The Acting
Dylan Walsh puts in a fantastic performance as we are forced to wave goodbye to General Lane in service of the ongoing story. We get some nice flashback scenes to the courtship and subsequent wedding of Lois and Superman in which we see the General trying his best to talk Lois out of marrying Superman. These scenes are nicely juxtaposed with the present-day events in which we see the General waking up to how important and powerful Superman’s love was for Lois.
We also get strong performances from Alex Garfin and Michael Bishop as we see the Kent boys exchange some pretty harsh words, which both boys will likely have regrets about later on. Garfin continues to provide a multilayered performance in his role of Jordan who has always struggled with self-confidence and mental health on the show, which has been both with and without his superpowers. This serves to illustrate that even the strongest of us can have mental health struggles.
Overall
Always My Hero is a solid episode and a fantastic farewell to one of the show’s most interesting characters in the form of Lois Lane’s father General Lane. Throughout the series, the character of the General has always been written in such a way that you see the personal struggle and the fine line that he has always walked between his love of family and his duty to the country that he serves for with pride. Many of the Generals storylines have proven to be at the very heart of this series and this episode in particular was a great send-off for one of America’s fictional heroes and a solid recognition of the sacrifices that are made by the world’s real heroes.
