Superman & Lois (TV Series)

Pilot (2021)

Elizabeth Tulloch: Lois Lane

Photos 

Quotes 

• Lois Lane : You may have super strength and super hearing but I have super smell and those loans don't smell right.

  Clark Kent : I do have super smell, by the way. I just don't use it very often, you know. Not with two teenagers boys in the house. Kinda gross.

• Jonathan Kent : [about Jordan's powers]  It's probably like learning to drive a car, you know? If cars were indestructible and had giant death lasers as headlights.

  Jordan Kent : [leaving]  Yeah. Thanks.

  Lois Lane : Apologize to your brother.

  Jonathan Kent : I know. Too soon. I know.

• Lois Lane : When we were dreaming about having a family, it didn't look like this, did it? Didn't have lost jobs or... teens with severe anxiety or... or parents gone too soon. No one ever dreams about the problems, but every life has them. Even the extraordinary ones.

• Lois Lane : I get it. There is a powerful something out there that doesn't like Superman or nuclear power plants, and that is a bad combo. But now is not a moment Clark can just take off. His mom just died. I mean it, Clark. The world will always need Superman, and when there is a problem, you will be there for them, but right now, this family needs you more.

• Clark Kent : Everything I do with the boys just... seems like it blows up in my face. Is Jordan right? A-Am I a bad father?

  Lois Lane : Clark.

  Clark Kent : 'Cause right now, it... it feels like it's my fault that this is all falling apart.

  Lois Lane : Your life falling apart doesn't mean you're special. It means you're human.

• Clark Kent : What would you guys think about staying here a little longer than any of us planned?

  Jordan Kent : Like a couple days or something?

  Lois Lane : More like permanently.

  Jonathan Kent : Uh, I mean, I... I have school. Practice, the... the team.

  Clark Kent : We know, we know. It's a big conversation.

  Lois Lane : Yeah, we'll have it tonight at family dinner. We just wanted to give you both some time to process what this would really be like before we do.

  Jonathan Kent : Okay.

  Clark Kent : Well, until then, you two, follow me out to the barn. I want to show you a few things.

  Jordan Kent : Like, Superman things?

  Clark Kent : Like how to attach a plow to a tractor.

  Jordan Kent : What?

  Jonathan Kent : Seriously?

  Lois Lane : Those fields aren't gonna plow themselves.

  Jonathan Kent : Okay, but, dad, we have questions. We just found out our dad's Superman.

  Jordan Kent : Yeah, like, thousands and thousands of questions.

• Lois Lane : So you saved your brother.

  Jordan Kent : I wasn't sure what happened. That's why I didn't say anything. All I knew is, when I fell, I felt something come over me. It was a strength I've never had before. I felt... control. I... I don't know. It's hard to explain.

  Jonathan Kent : What's gonna happen to him?

  Clark Kent : I'm not sure yet. Jordan's powers are manifesting very differently than mine did.

  Lois Lane : But we're gonna help you get through this, okay?

• Lois Lane : Hmnm. Never met a Clark.

  Clark Kent : Oh, uh, I've never met a Lois before.

• Lois Lane : Your daughters are so gorgeous.

  Lana Lang Cushing : Aw, thank you. You look exactly the same as you did in high school. He... he doesn't age.

  Clark Kent : It's, uh, good genes, I guess.

• Clark Kent : [narrating]  My most vivid memories are of the days when my life changed. I remember coming to this Earth, feeling the sun on my face for the first time. Hearing the voices of my parents. My mother called me their greatest surprise. And boy, there sure were lots of them. I remember loving Smallville; the people, the community, how the small things were the big things. And I thought I'd live there forever. But my father's death set me on a different path. Eventually, I moved to Metropolis to become who I was meant to be. But my most vivid memory of all was the day I met her.

  Samuel Foswell : [leading Clark through the Daily Planet bullpen]  Everyone in here, we're the most dependable friends the people of Metropolis have. You remember that.

  Clark Kent : Uh, yes, sir.

  Samuel Foswell : Stick with Lane. She'll show you the ropes.

  Clark Kent : Uh, Lane, sir?

  Lois Lane : Who told you to wear a tie? Let me guess, Lombard? Ignore him. Though he can get box seats to the Meteors. You like baseball?

  Clark Kent : Uh, uh, of course. I mean, who doesn't like America's pastime, Ms. Lane?

  Lois Lane : It's Lois. What'd you say your name was again?

• Lois Lane : You're worried about Jordan.

  Clark Kent : I tried talking to him last night, but he was pretty upset.

  Lois Lane : Well, if he knew who you really were; your parents told you about your real heritage when you were six.

  Clark Kent : That was... that was different. I lived on a farm. I had powers.

  Lois Lane : You don't think Jonathan's got something?

  Clark Kent : Test at the Fortress said it was unlikely.

  Lois Lane : He's about to be starting quarterback at one of the most competitive high schools in the nation, as a freshman.

  Clark Kent : Yeah. Doesn't mean he has powers.

  Lois Lane : Have you seen him throw a deep route?

  Clark Kent : And what about Jordan? Look, all it's gonna do is make him feel more alien than he already does.

• Clark Kent : [about hiding his real identity from the boys]  It's too dangerous for them to know.

  Lois Lane : It's more dangerous if they don't.

  Clark Kent : Lois, they slip up once, say the wrong thing to one person, the whole world knows who I am.

  [seeing her look] 

  Clark Kent : What? Your father agrees with me.

  Lois Lane : Oh, now we care what my dad thinks?

• Lois Lane : Maxy, what's going on?

  Max Manken : Whit. Fired.

  Lois Lane : More layoffs? I knew when Morgan Edge bought the Planet, there'd be cuts, but this is unbelievable.

• Lois Lane : You remember our boys, Jonathan and Jordan.

  Lana Lang Cushing : Hi.

  Jordan Kent : Hey.

  Kyle Cushing : These are our girls. The littlest one here is Sophie. And, uh, well, the one with the perma-scowl over there, that's Sarah.

  Sarah Cushing : Hi. I'm really sorry about your grandma. She was really special. Even my dad liked her, and he hates everybody, so.

  Kyle Cushing : House full of girls. Someone's always pissed at you.

• Lois Lane : Foswell fired you?

  Clark Kent : Look, it's better me than somebody else, okay? I do have another day job.

  Lois Lane : That's not the point! Foswell's no editor; he's a patsy for Edge. All these billionaires that buy media outlets use this "moving to digital" crap as an excuse to destroy journalism, and they don't care about human interest stories or facts.

  [putting coins into a vending machine and mashing buttons] 

  Lois Lane : All they care about is click-throughs. Ow.

  [Clark casually tips the machine over so her snack falls] 

  Lois Lane : You're gonna need a new excuse for being gone all the time now.

  Clark Kent : Lois. We're not telling the boys.

  [his phone rings] 

  Clark Kent : Hey, mom, sorry. This morning's just been...

  [a little confused] 

  Clark Kent : Dr. Frye?

  [glancing at Lois, he whooshes away] 

• Lois Lane : Your mom called while you were in the shower about a visit.

  Jonathan Kent : Are we going to grandma's?

  Clark Kent : I think we're overdue.

  Jonathan Kent : Great. Smallville. A place where you can spend a full year in one afternoon.

  Lois Lane : It's not that bad.

• Clark Kent : All my memories, my childhood, my parents... they're all here. Why would my mom want me to come home just to sell the farm?

  Lois Lane : I don't think she wanted you to sell it. I think she wanted you to save it.

  Clark Kent : How? You know, we're not exactly flush with cash, especially after getting fired.

  Lois Lane : I don't know yet. But those reverse mortgages weren't because the bank was feeling generous.

• Kyle Cushing : See, people like you, you look at Smallville and you think of the past, and you feel a little bad for us, right? People like Morgan Edge, though, now, see, he looks at Smallville and he sees the future.

  Lois Lane : It's not a future I would wanna live in.

  Kyle Cushing : It's a good thing we don't have to worry about that anymore, now, do we?

  Clark Kent : We haven't made any decisions about the farm yet, Kyle.

  Kyle Cushing : But your mother has.

  Lois Lane : What does that mean?

  Lana Lang Cushing : [in a "this conversation is over" tone]  Kyle, go get the girls.

  Kyle Cushing : [finishing his beer and leaving]  Sorry for your loss, Kent.

  Clark Kent : Lana? What's he talking about?

  Lana Lang Cushing : Your mother had some business with us, that's all. Come by the bank tomorrow. Martha was a great lady. The heart of Smallville, really. I'm sorry she's gone.

• Jordan Kent : So that's why? Why you never wanted us in the barn? 'Cause you keep a freaking alien ship in there?

  Clark Kent : Look, I can explain.

  Jordan Kent : Yeah, can you? Can you explain how I fell 30 feet and nothing happened?

  Jonathan Kent : Just... just give him...

  Jordan Kent : All you said is that we got lucky.

  Jonathan Kent : Just give him a chance.

  Jordan Kent : But that was a lie, wasn't it?

  Clark Kent : Yes. Yes, okay? It was a lie. Look... that ship... brought me to Earth. Landed here in Smallville, right in those cornfields over there. I was sent here when my planet, Krypton, was destroyed.

  Jonathan Kent : Krypton?

  Clark Kent : Yes. And because I wasn't from here, I had certain powers. Your grandparents, they took me in. They raised me. They taught me how to control my abilities, how to blend in until the day I was ready to leave and become who I was sent here to be.

  Jonathan Kent : You're saying you're Superman?

  Jordan Kent : No, I've seen Superman before. We've seen him.

  [removing his glasses and giving them to Lois, Clark picks up their truck and lifts it into the sky] 

  Lois Lane : When your father first told me, I didn't understand, either.

• Lois Lane : I shouldn't have lost my cool with Kyle.

  Clark Kent : Do you think he's right? Should I have come back to Smallville more often?

  Lois Lane : No, Clark, he's not right. Your mom knew where you were and who you were.

  Clark Kent : Right before she died, I... I heard her say something as I was flying here.

  Martha Kent : [in flashback]  It's time. Come home.

  Clark Kent : She wanted me to come home. I just don't know why yet.

• Jordan Kent : You lied to protect his secret. All the things I've been feeling. You made me think I was crazy. They put me on pills!

  Lois Lane : Your mental health has nothing to do with who your...

  Jordan Kent : And how do you know that? I'm half human, half whatever the hell he is!

  Clark Kent : Do not yell at your mother, okay? This is not her fault. I'm the one that didn't want you to know.

  Jonathan Kent : Why?

  Clark Kent : Because I knew what kind of burden it would be if you both had powers. Or worse, if one of you had them and the other one didn't.

  Jordan Kent : You think he's the reason we survived yesterday.

  Jonathan Kent : What are you talking about?

  Jordan Kent : Go on, dad. Go tell Superboy here why he's really so perfect.

  Lois Lane : We thought your athletic talents could be latent abilities starting to emerge, and then yesterday...

  Clark Kent : The only way that both of you survived that accident is for at least one of you to be like me.

  Jordan Kent : You wouldn't have it any other way, would you, dad?

  Clark Kent : Jordan!

  Jordan Kent : Don't try to talk to me, all right? You may have been sent here to be some hero, but you sure as hell weren't sent here to be a father.

  Jonathan Kent : [seeing Clark wants to follow Jordan]  Just leave us alone.

• Lana Lang Cushing : So, how are the boys doing?

  Lois Lane : They're fine. They're just a little shaken up.

  Lana Lang Cushing : Ah, it seems luck runs in the family. Did Clark ever tell you about our accident coming home from a Soul Asylum concert?

  Clark Kent : Oh, I try not to talk about my Soul Asylum days too much.

  Lana Lang Cushing : So, Pete was at the wheel. Fell asleep, drove off the road. We came to, the car was a pretzel. Nobody was hurt. Not a scratch. It was the strangest thing. Then again, lots of strange things happened here back then.

• Clark Kent : Mortgage papers? My mom paid hers off years ago.

  Lana Lang Cushing : Her first. About five years ago, at the peak of the farming crisis, banks here were offering reverse mortgages to seniors. Pay now for the opportunity to let the bank purchase the remainder of the farm upon their death if the landowner's heirs couldn't repay the balance of the loan.

  Clark Kent : She... she didn't need that kind of money.

  Lana Lang Cushing : No. But... the Gordons were gonna be evicted from their farm that had been in their family for generations. Margie Kelton's lung surgery made it so she could hardly put food on the table. I have dozens of stories. Everyone in town knew that if you were in trouble, Martha would be there. She was like your friend you always write about, Lois. She was like this town's Superman. Or Superwoman.

  Lois Lane : Sounds like they had a lot in common.

  Lana Lang Cushing : She still protected half the farm's value. She wanted there to be enough money to send the boys to college. So you can either repay the loan, or you can accept a healthy buyout for the remaining value of the property.

• Kyle Cushing : You know, it used to be that, uh, when folks moved away to get their degrees, well, they bring their skills back home, take care of the community's helped raised 'em, you know? That ain't happening anymore. Well, hey, we'll at least get a lifeline if this whole Edge proposal goes through, right?

  Lois Lane : What does Morgan Edge want with Smallville?

  Kyle Cushing : Oh, boy.

  Lana Lang Cushing : He's retrofitting the coal mines to produce alternative energies.

  Kyle Cushing : It's gonna put a lot of folks back to work around here.

  Lois Lane : Until it doesn't.

  Clark Kent : Lois.

  Lois Lane : Morgan Edge ruins everything he touches.

  Kyle Cushing : What's he ruined?

  Lois Lane : He is single-handedly destroying the Daily Planet.

  Kyle Cushing : People quit reading that paper 'cause, uh, you reporters can't keep your politics to yourselves.

  Lois Lane : Edge's companies prey on struggling communities. He busts up unions. He barely pays a living wage. I don't understand how he can keep fooling people.

  Kyle Cushing : Oh, you mean us dumb, backwards, small-town folk?

  Lois Lane : No. No, that is not what I meant.

  Kyle Cushing : I know what you meant.

• Lois Lane : Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

  Clark Kent : Jonathan must have somehow shielded them both?

  Lois Lane : You saw how confused they are. They need to know the truth.

  Clark Kent : What is the truth gonna do to Jordan? It's hard enough on him having a brother that everything comes easy to, but having one that has powers? Like Superman?

  Lois Lane : We don't know what he can or can't do yet. And yes, it will be hard for him, but he will have his family there to help him figure things out like he does right now.

  Clark Kent : I can't lose him, Lois. I can't. He's pulled so far away from me already.

• General Sam Lane : I tried to warn you, Lois.

  Lois Lane : Come on, dad. Not this again.

  General Sam Lane : When you wanted to get married, I tried warning you. You may have fallen in love with Clark Kent, but you married Superman. And Superman doesn't get to have a normal life, no matter how much you want one for him. Or yourself.

• Lana Lang Cushing : I pulled some strings, got you $2,100 an acre, which is well above market value in Rice County.

  Clark Kent : Wow, that... that's very generous. Um... but we decided we're... we're not selling.

  Lana Lang Cushing : You're not?

  Clark Kent : We're thinking of reopening the farm. Run it the way my folks and I used to back in the day.

  Lana Lang Cushing : So you're staying.

  Lois Lane : Well, we're talking it over, but a change might be good for this family.

  Lana Lang Cushing : Okay. Then let's go over the pre-negotiated terms for taking over the loan.

  Lois Lane : Before we do, Lana, I was wondering if you knew that a couple months before those reverse mortgages were offered, a company had secretly acquired your bank.

  Lana Lang Cushing : No, I didn't know that.

  Clark Kent : Galaxy Holdings, whose majority shareholder is Morgan Edge.

  Lana Lang Cushing : Why would someone like Morgan Edge be interested in a bunch of family farms in Smallville, Kansas?

  Lois Lane : That's a very good question.

• Clark Kent : You were right. I should've told them a long time ago. Jordan could've killed someone tonight.

  Lois Lane : We just gotta be on the same page going forward.

  [seeing a handmade embroidered sign framed on the wall, Clark reminisces about Martha] 

  Martha Kent : These are the important years, Clark. Life's a little different in Smallville

  Clark Kent : I think I know what my mom meant when she said to come home. She knew how busy we are in Metropolis, how absent I've been. I've tried convincing myself that the boys would be fine and that it was okay for me to be gone so much, but... I was wrong.

  Lois Lane : You think your mom wanted us to move to Smallville and live on the farm?

  Clark Kent : It's a simpler life. Uh, more time with each other, be part of a community, and now this? I think she felt like this family needs Smallville.

  Lois Lane : As much as the world needs Superman?

  Clark Kent : Look, I know. I know it would be a huge, huge change.

  Lois Lane : Yeah, it would. But I think she was right.

  Clark Kent : [surprised]  Really?

• Lana Lang Cushing : Lois, I read all your stories. I mean, it's so impressive. 'Cause of you, I tell my girls they can do anything.

  Lois Lane : Thank you. Are you still at the bank?

  Lana Lang Cushing : Yep, and Kyle's still at the firehouse, made fire chief last year, and everybody else we know moved away.

  Kyle Cushing : She means "bailed".

  Clark Kent : Lueck?

  Kyle Cushing : Twin Cities.

  Clark Kent : Sippy?

  Kyle Cushing : St. Louis.

  Lois Lane : Maybe you'll see them at the next reunion.

  Kyle Cushing : Kent didn't make it to the last one, now, did he?