“The Eradicator” is episode fourteen of season one of Superman and Lois.
In the previous episode, “Fail Safe”, Morgan Edge, assuming it is still Morgan Edge and that seems doubtful, had flown to the sun and was absorbing power. He still is as voices are telling him he’s the Eradicator.
Three weeks later and Jordan is talking about seeing Sarah and his parents are still concerned about Edge. When asked about who will be there, he mentions Lana is doing another open house; there’s bound to be a responsible adult. It’s suggested he take Jonathan with him. Jonathan declines. He wants to work on the armour with John Henry. He’s a genius who saved his dad’s life. Clark isn’t keen on Jonathan building weapons. Jonathan says either Edge is a threat or not; it can’t be both ways and he wants to be prepared if Edge shows up again. Clark thinks Jonathan is making too much sense. When the boys leave, Lois asks Clark to pick up some lightbulbs. He tells her the hardware store has gone out of business. The fourth business in the last month. It’s like Edge left the town worse than he found it. Clark then hears Sam; he says he sounds upset.
Lois and Clark head to see Sam, who is upset about a story Chrissy wrote about the DoD holding the town hostage. Lois says he’s been here a month and people want to know when he’s leaving. When it’s safe, but Sam can’t say that as it would cause a panic if people knew Edge was still out there. He was going to speak at a town meeting to try to calm people. Lois suggests telling the truth. Sam points out the truth leads back to their family. Sam complains he can’t get it right, protecting the world or his family.
Clark turns up at Lana’s open house, and after chatting as if he was a viewer, talks about her planning to leave. Clark thinks with his mother gone, Lana is the heart of Smallville. Lana thinks that Smallville is gone. People used to look out for each other but after Edge the trust is gone. Outside, Sarah is watching them talk as she’s with Jordan. She thinks they won’t leave as no sane person would move to Smallville; they’ve only had one poor offer. Jordan heard the conversation inside.
Jonathan isn’t so much helping John Henry work on his battlesuit as pestering him with questions. He asks about the insect motive and John Henry tells him it was his daughter’s idea. Jonathan thinks that’s awesome. John Henry says his daughter was 14 and had just seen her mother killed on television. Jonathan should go out and be a normal kid and be with his friends, not play wargames.
Lois arrives at the Gazette and speaks to Chrissy. She trusts Chrissy to ask questions at the town meeting. Chrissy has some bad news. She got an offer to sell the Gazette to a conglomerate. Lois says that would destroy it. Chrissy has no choice. The paper is going broke, the tiny subscriber base dropped even further after Edge and they can’t build a new subscriber base. If she doesn’t take the offer, she’ll be underwater in a month.
Edge – the Eradicator – has finally finished absorbing energy.
Clark and Lois talk about Lana and Chrissy as they head to the town meeting. They can hear shouting as they approach.
Kyler is home and is going to head to the fire station to pick his stuff up. Lana wonders if they’re making a mistake, leaving Smallville. Kyle doesn’t think they have a choice; the town forced their hand. Yes, he appreciates what the Kents have done, but their friendship won’t put food on the table. They can make any place home.
Sarah, Jordan and Jonathan are in the diner when three other kids from the team come in. One’s parents are out of town so they’re going to have a party there.
At the meeting, Lois asks her dad to let her help. He was hoping she’d offer. Sam tells the people that the DoD will leave as soon as they can and they need to clear the mines out of everything dangerous. Some suggest what’s in them is valuable; Sam says it isn’t. Chrissy asks about Edge is in custody and Lois says he escaped and they don’t know where he is. Then Sharon Powell comes in and claims the DoD has been lying for months. She has proof.
After talking to someone at the fire station, Kyle starts to wonder too if they’re doing the right thing. But Smallville is on the verge of imploding. Edge is now ready to do whatever it is that’s planned, and it seems this was his father’s original plan.