The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower

"*We have been here for a week, and somebody's already tried to blow up my car.*"
—Lois Lane

## Chronology

### Followed by

"Haywire"

"**The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower**" is the third episode of the first season of *Superman & Lois*, and the third episode overall. It aired on March 9, 2021.

## Plot

The Kent family are painting their house until Clark hears a sign of danger and flies away to help. He arrives in Guizhou and stopped the destruction of and repaired a major bridge that was collapsing. This causes the family to have a conversation about Clark's super-hearing. Lois changes the conversation to the children having the responsibility of keeping the family's secret while at school.

Sarah Cushing has been going to counseling for over a year, but Lana still feels embarrassed. When Sarah goes to Smallville High School, Jordan Kent wants to discuss it, but Sarah does not. Sean Smith grows tired of Jordan's closeness to Sarah, but just as Jordan clinches his fist to fight Sean, Clark arrives at the school. The boys realize that Clark listens. Lois settles the dispute by having Clark apologize and promise not to spy any more.

At the *Smallville Gazette*, Sharon Powell arrives and tells the tale of her son and his disappearance while under the employ of Morgan Edge. After the interview, Lois' car explodes and burns.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Sean end their relationship. Sarah also quits the cheerleader squad as Jordan surprises everyone, including Coach Gaines, by joining the football team. He hits Timmy Ryan with the force of a truck. However, as Gaines elevates Jordan, he punishes Jonathan.

 File:David Fuglestad.png
The twins argue that night because Jonathan feels that football is his endeavor; Jordan admits that he is doing it because he is tired of being bullied by the football players. Jonathan wonders why Jordan is hiding this from their father, if Jordan is doing nothing wrong.

The next day, during a friendly chat, Lana tells Clark that Jordan is playing football.

Sean challenges Jordan on the football field. Though Jordan wins the competition, he apologizes to Sean about his flirtations with Sarah, which Sean accepts. Clark watches from the stands. When Clark and Lois confront their sons, Jordan cites that Jor-El said he was weak, so he wanted to prove otherwise. Jonathan defends Jordan and convinces his father that Jordan should continue to play.

Lois goes to a motel in New Carthage to speak with Sharon Powell further about other people who have disappeared. A hitman with Kryptonian powers is there. Lois uses the ELT and Superman is there in seconds. The two fight, the hitman is equal in strength to the Kryptonian, much to Superman's shock. Lois, tending to Sharon, yells for the hero and inspires him to finish the battle decisively. But, Superman allows his foe to escape as Sharon needs him more.

 File:Leslie Larr using her Heat vision.png
Lana and Sarah hug as they discuss that they are both unhappy and want more for their lives.

Clark permits Jordan to play football, if Jordan can control his powers. Clark becomes an assistant coach, working for free and to watch the twins.

The hitman is leaving Smallville when he sees Leslie Larr on the road, who kills him using her heat vision and warns Morgan Edge.

## Cast

### Starring

* Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent/Superman
* Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane
* T.J.Williams as Shawn Kent
* Jordan Elsass as Jonathan Kent
* Alex Garfin as Jordan Kent
* Erik Valdez as Fire Chief Kyle Cushing
* Inde Navarrette as Sarah Cushing
* Wolé Parks (credit only)
* Adam Rayner (credit only)
* Dylan Walsh (credit only)
* Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lana Lang Cushing

### Guest starring

* Sofia Hasmik as Chrissy Beppo
* Stacey Farber as Leslie Larr
* Daniel Cudmore as David Fuglestad
* Jill Teed as Sharon Powell

### Co-starring

* Danny Wattley as Coach Gaines
* Clayton James as Derek Powell (voice)
* Fritzy-Klevans Destine as Sean Smith
* Zane Clifford as Timmy Ryan
* Wern Lee as Tag Harris
* Austin Anozie as Malcolm Teague
* C. Douglas Quan as Fisherman
* Joselyn Picard as Sophie Cushing
* Chloe Pun as Girl on the Bus
* Rohain Arora as Mitch
* Kelcey Mawema as Denise Olowe

## Gallery

### Videos

Superman & Lois 1x03 Promo "The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower" (HD) Tyler Hoechlin series
## Trivia

* This is the first episode of the series not to feature Wolé Parks (Luthor) and Dylan Walsh (Sam Lane).
	+ This leaves only seven cast members to appear in every episode: Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent), Elizabeth Tulloch (Lois Lane), Jordan Elsass (Jonathan Kent), Alex Garfin (Jordan Kent), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Lana Lang Cushing), Erik Valdez (Kyle Cushing), and Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cushing).
* The episode's title is a play on the Stephen Chbosky novel *The Perks of Being a Wallflower.*
* Jordan calls the Fortress of Solitude "Elsa's ice castle", referencing the Disney film, *Frozen*.
	+ Earlier in the episode, he was referred to as a "walking Disney movie".
* When Jordan is on his way to football practice, he is referred to as "Pee Wee" by one of the football students. This is a reference to the titular character from 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure'.
	+ Pee Wee is also an age and weight division for younger/smaller kids age 9-10-11-12 weight 75-130 lbs(aged 9-10- 11) 75-110 lbs(aged 12)
* At the diner, Sarah asks Jordan, "Since when did you became Mr. All American football player?". This is a reference to the sports drama series, All American'.
	+ Coincidentally, they're both shows distributed by the CW.
* Due to Lana pushing Sarah too far, she reveals all the faults in their family in front of Jonathan and Jordan.
	+ Kyle Cushing sleeps on the couch every night.
	+ Sophie Cushing bullies her classmates.
	+ Lana can't sleep without a taking a pill.
* Lana's helicopter parenting likely stems from wanting Sarah to have a better life than her.
* Jordan's trying to join the football team is similar to the *Smallville TV series* where Clark joined the football team despite his father's misgivings about his powers harming others by accident.
	+ In addition, Clark reveals to Jordan that he tried out for baseball back in his younger years in Smallville. This possibly being a reference to Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman where he played the game by himself.
* In the same episode of *Smallville* which was also the 3rd episode of its 1st season, Lana quit cheerleading whereas in this episode it was her daughter Sarah that quit cheerleading.
* Going by Clark and Lois's deflective comments, the first goof that Clark made with his super hearing was mistaking the sound of someone shouting during sex as a cry for help.
* When Clark saves a bus from falling from a bridge in Guizhou, China, the number on the bus, 38, references the year that Superman was introduced, 1938.
* The bridge Clark saves from collapsing is the Pingtang Bridge, the second tallest bridge in the world.
* Jonathan's joke "don't feed him after midnight" was a reference to the movie, *Gremlins*.
* Jonathan continues to suffer from the move to Smallville. Jordan is stealing his spotlight with using his enhanced strength advantage and the coach abuses his authority to make Jonathan runs laps for keeping Jordan's "football skills" a secret.