Superman & Lois Admits DC Repeats A Story Trick Way Too Often
Warning: SPOILERS for Superman and Lois season 2, episode 9, " 30 Days and 30 Nights."
Superman and Lois made a joke out of one of DC's most overused plot devices, which is how often Lois Lane has been kidnapped over the years and why it has become more of an annoyance than a problem. Ever since her first appearance in Action Comics #1, it has often been Lois Lane's lot to be the damsel in distress that required Superman's help. Many stories and comic book adaptations have deconstructed this point, however, either by making Lois jaded about the prospect of being abducted after having survived so many encounters with dangerous criminals or by having Lois get into trouble as a result of her reporting rather than as a side-effect of being Superman's love interest.
The action of Superman and Lois season 2, episode 9, "30 Days and 30 Nights" found Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) and her father, General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh), investigating the source of the X-Kryptonite drug in Smallville. Following a tip, the two discovered a site where the X-Kryptonite was being refined into the drug Yellow Mist. Unfortunately, they were discovered before they could contact the authorities.
Once the two were tied up inside the criminals' base, Sam began trying to wiggle free of his bonds. An exasperated Lois told him not to bother, pointing out that the ropes restraining them had been tied in a fireman's chair knot, which grows tighter the more one struggles against it. She added that he could probably pull free of a hobble knot, but rope burns were all he had to gain from his efforts. Stunned by his daughter's knowledge of knots, an incredulous Sam Lane asked Lois just how many times she had been tied up. Lois replied that it was better he not know, a tongue-in-cheek reference to just how often it's happened to the character over the years.
While the scene made a joke of Lois Lane and how often she's been tied up and taken hostage, the problem is not unique to Superman and Lois, nor is this the first time jokes have been made about Lois' role as a perpetual hostage. The first season of Harley Quinn found Harley and her gang abducting Lois Lane in a bid to get Superman to agree to become the fame-crazed Harley's arch-nemesis. To her annoyance, neither Superman or Lois took Harley seriously as a threat, and they casually discussed the details of their dinner date that night while pointedly ignoring Harley's demands. Similar things have happened in the comics, with various criminals running in terror upon realizing who they had taken captive, knowing that Superman would be there shortly.
Thankfully, Superman and Lois takes steps to make it clear that, despite Arrowverse Lois' trait of getting into trouble, she is no damsel in distress. Beyond showing that Lois is knowledgeable about escapology and has some experience getting herself out of a jam, the episode keeps Lois in control of her situation even when she's seemingly at a disadvantage. She maintains her calm, speaking so her son Jordan can hear her with his super-hearing, and instructs him on when to act so he can save her and his grandfather, never looking truly troubled until her son is in danger.
New episodes of Superman & Lois release Tuesdays on the CW.