‘Superman & Lois’ Season 3 Ep 11: Recap & Ending Explained 

Welcome to the ending explained for Season 3, Episode 11 of ‘Superman and Lois.’ The eleventh episode, titled ‘Complications,’ brought us a tragic but deserved ending to Peia’s story, and it’s clear we are heading toward one complicated finale, with the showrunners revealing that there might be a cliffhanger despite the Season 4 uncertainty. 

Lois has undergone a double mastectomy, Bruno Mannheim is finally apprehended, Jordan develops a new set of superpowers while under extreme stress, and one former enemy of Superman makes his appearance yet again, alive and well. But before we spoil everything, let’s see how the episode played out. 

Lois prepares for the surgery, and in Metropolis, Peia is just starting her fight 

Lois’ battle with breast cancer is only halfway done, as she is scheduled to have a double mastectomy to remove the cancerous tissues completely. She prepares for the surgery mentally and physically by spending time with her friends, Lana Lang and John Henry Irons. 

Lois has an excellent support network, as Clark and her sons are doing everything possible to make this easier for her. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty currently surrounding the family, but hope is what remains, and it’s felt throughout every scene of their pre-op dinner. 

At the same time, Peia, Bruno, and Matteo plan their escape from Metropolis. It’s not a sad affair since Bruno and Peia are looking forward to their beach house and finally living far from the eyes of the public. Matteo also feels good, hopeful for a new start for his parents despite losing his girlfriend and most of his friends since he committed a massive crime by enabling Peia to escape. 

This whole intro radiates with hope; with new beginnings, better things await them in the future, and it’s perhaps time to bury the hatchet. Only life barely ever works that way, and we can see Peia’s state getting worse by the hour. Despite appearing okay, Peia is barely able to control her powers. Her disease manifests through a series of coughing fits that trigger her sonic booms. 

At the start of the episode, we’ve seen that Peia has been terrorizing Metropolis with her powers ever since she escaped. It seemed like the cure made her powers more potent, as even Superman couldn’t locate her. Even though the cure made her more powerful, the silver lining was that it was experimental, highly dangerous, and didn’t work. At least not how Bruno imagined it. 

The showrunners did their best to make us feel sorry for Peia. I have a difficult time sympathizing with her because she is a sociopath while she is in full health. Her regrets manifest only when she is in danger, and now she is in more danger than ever. She keeps her symptoms to herself and doesn’t want to show Bruno and Matteo how bad things actually are. 

Clark comes clean to Kyle and reveals that he is Superman 

In the last week’s episode, we saw that Kyle had a pretty good reason to suspect that someone from the Clark household has superpowers since all clues lead to them. Superman was forced to reveal his true nature to protect Jordan and help D.O.D. handle Peai. 

Clark and Kyle talked, and he came clean. Kyle was shocked and surprised, but he took it well enough. However, he got into an argument with Chrissy since she kept this secret from him, and she tried to gaslight him into dropping the issue altogether when he told her that he suspects someone in Smallville has superpowers.

I can’t say I agree with him. He puts his feelings and ego above the need to keep Clark’s identity secret. 

Jordan developed a new set of powers 

The day of the operation arrived, and Lois, the boys, and Clark are in the hospital room preparing Lois for the procedure. Jordan has trouble focusing on what the doctor is saying, and he feels something akin to a panic attack coming on. 

He leaves the room, and Jonathan follows. He finds Jordan sitting on the floor, trying to control himself and calm himself down, but it’s not working. Jordan claims that he can’t close his eyes despite visibly closing them. Clark immediately identifies the issue. It’s obvious that Jordan’s X-Ray vision has finally developed. 

This plunges Jordan into more panic, and Jonathan tries his best to calm him down. He succeeds, and Jordan learns how to “turn off” his X-Ray vision. 

At the other end of Metropolis, Nat has visited the now abandoned Mannheim mansion. She is looking for Matteo since she never got a proper closure with him. John Henry followed her naturally by placing a tracker on her suit. 

He is mad that she went to visit the mansion on her own but understands her side of the story. She is young, in love, and hurt, and there is nothing that he can say to make her feel better, but he can give her some solid advice. 

John Henry is brutally honest with Nat, Matteo committed a serious crime, and if he is caught by the D.O.D. he will be held in prison for a long time. If Matteo keeps himself hidden, they will never see each other again. The relationship simply doesn’t have a future. Nat has trouble accepting that, but John Henry is being as supportive as he can. 

Still, Nat places some kind of a tracking device in the house so that she can be notified just in case Matteo finally reappears. 

And speaking of Mannheims, they are about to depart their hideaway when Peia’s state suddenly worsens. She starts screaming and can’t seem to control her powers any longer. Her sonic powers are so potent at this point that the tremors shake the entire city, and the powers, internet, and gas are cut off in the entire city. 

Bruno thinks another dose of the cure will improve things, and Peia agrees to take another dose. 

Lois’ operation will be a tense affair as Peia is on the loose 

Lois’ needs to start her operation any moment when the power is cut off in the city, Clark asks her whether she wants to reschedule the operation, and she declines this, claiming that it took her long enough to accept this date as it is. 

She is, however, worried about Peia. She is convinced that her state is worsening as something must be behind those frequent sonic attacks. The whole city is in chaos, the ground is shaking, and the D.O.D. has trouble locating Peia and controlling her. Lois is led into the operating room while Superman goes to investigate. Jordan uses his X-Ray vision to ensure the operation is going well. 

Bruno Mannheim administers one more dose of cure to Peia, but she isn’t improving. She is constantly having seizures and is in great pain, unable even to stand up straight. 

An additional dose of the cure does nothing to help her. It makes things even worse. Both Bruno and Matteo are panicking, with Matteo insisting that he should seek professional help. Bruno declines and instead sends his henchman to fetch one more dose of the cure. Just as he is about to leave the room, Peia loses control over her powers and brutally murders him. There is nothing left of him except the splatter on the wall. 

Matteo is totally horrified and runs upstairs to seek help. Bruno tries to stop him, but he can’t leave Peia’s side. Peia begs him to stop, claiming that he can’t save her. She knows she is just about to explode any second now, and she needs to put some distance between them. 

She knows she is close to dying, and there is nothing that Bruno can do to stop it. He played god, and it backfired. Her state is now infinitely worse than it was before, and she puts both her family and the innocent people of Metropolis in danger. 

Not that she cares about it. I mean, she did murder people in cold blood before.

Peia’s screaming causes the basement where they were hiding out to collapse partially, and she escapes to the streets. Leaving Bruno behind in the rubble. 

What happened to Peia & How did she die? 

Matteo makes his way to the mansion, and Nat’s tracking device immediately recognizes him. It takes only a few seconds for Nat to appear at the mansion. Matteo is scared, thinking that she will arrest him. Nat explains that she only wants to talk to him. 

Matteo is apologetic and claims that he regrets freeing Peia, Bruno told him that the cure would work, and he didn’t know any better. He trusted his father, and his father let him down. 

I mean, I don’t feel sorry for Matteo. His father did lie to him every step of the way. He is a dangerous criminal, and he basically used him to free another dangerous criminal in the world. Matteo could have figured out that there was nothing stopping Bruno from lying to him again. 

Still, Nat feels for him and wants to help him, but in that moment, Bruno appears, with his goons, in the mansion and starts threatening Nat. 

Bruno is not the only vigilant father in the neighborhood as John Henry enters the scene, armed and suited up. John Henry is about to seriously hurt Bruno when Peia, somewhere in the city, causes one more tremor. 

Bruno Mannheim does something that we would never expect. He asks whether Superman can help him. 

At the same time, Superman is doing his best to locate Peia as she is about to blow any second, taking the whole city block with her. She is losing control rapidly, and her sonic booms are harder to keep under control. 

Superman finally locates Peia. He can’t even get close to her due to the power of her screams. He tells her to focus on his voice and wants to help her. He doesn’t want her to suffer, and he knows that her family wouldn’t want her to suffer. 

Peia lets her guard down, and Superman manages to lift her in the air high over Metropolis. Matteo and Bruno are witnessing the moment and witness the moment when a massive explosion happens at a high altitude. It’s Peia’s powers. She finally lost control. 

Several seconds later, the screaming stops, and Superman descends, carrying Peia in his arms. 

Peia is dead, and no cure in this world will bring her back. 

Superman tells Bruno and Matteo her last words, that she loves them more than anything. Both Bruno and Matteo are broken, but at least the city is safe, and Lois’ operation can continue in peace. 

The consequences of Sarah’s actions finally caught up to her 

In the last week’s episode, Sarah and George Dean Junior got into an accident, Sarah was driving under the influence, and the only reason why both of them are alive is that Jordan saved them. Prior to the accident, however, Jordan and Sarah got into a massive fight, with both Jordan and Sarah saying some hurtful things. 

Now, several days later, Sarah wants to apologize to Jordan, but he is not having it. He doesn’t regret telling Sarah that he hopes he wishes he never fell in love with her. He also knows that the only reason she is apologetic is because he saved her life. 

This crushes Sarah, although she totally deserves it. She is such an unlikeable character to me. She is snarky and condescending while at the same time contributing little to the overall story. 

Anyway, Sarah is depressed, claiming she ruined her life, Lana wants her to see a shrink, but Sarah says that nothing will fix how she feels and nothing will undo her mistakes. She feels sorry for herself until Kyle has a talk with her. 

He reveals that he used to be an alcoholic and managed to get his life on track, now a functioning and contributing member of society.

Bizarro Superman is alive. He might be the true villain this season 

Lois’ operation went well, and she is at home recovering. Clark tells her what happened with Peia, and even though she is sad, she is aware that there could be no other outcome. 

Both Bruno and Matteo are held at the D.O.D., with Bruno promising to reveal everything he’s done if the D.O.D. can drop all charges they have against Matteo. Despite being a horrible human being, Bruno still wants his son to have the best life possible and realizes that he can’t have that if he is in prison. 

Bruno gives himself away to save his son, and John Henry Irons promises to see to it that Matteo is well taken care of. This doesn’t surprise Bruno. He finally admits that John Henry is a better man than he will ever be. 

John Henry Irons is beyond based at this point and has proven himself to be a man of principle this season, taking drastic measures when he needs to but also showing he is capable of care and forgiveness. 

The last scenes of this week’s episode reveal that something else has woken up deep inside Bruno Mannheim’s laboratory. We can see the resurrected Bizarro Superman leaving the laboratory and barely controlling himself. 

Bruno didn’t just unleash Peia upon the world, he unleashed something far worse, and Bizarro Superman will likely be the most difficult fight Clark will face this season. 

What do you think about this week’s episode? Let us know in the comments below!

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