As the third season of Superman & Lois gets underway, it’s easy to notice just how much has changed since Clark (Tyler Hoechlin), Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch), Jordan (Alex Garfin), and Jon (previously played by Jordan Elsass, now by Michael Bishop) moved to Smallville in the series premiere. Lois and Clark are now working with Chrissy Beppo (Sofia Hasmik) at the Smallville Gazette, Lana (Emmanuelle Chriqui) is the Mayor of Smallville, while John Henry (Wolé Parks) and Natalie (Tayler Buck) have found a family of sorts on this new Earth — putting their vendetta against Superman, after what happened on their Earth, to bed. Dynamics have drastically changed, particularly because of the biggest change of all: Clark’s secret isn’t quite so secret anymore. Chrissy, Lana, and Lana’s daughter/Jordan’s love interest Sarah (Inde Navarrette) all know that Clark is Superman. So, the only main character left on the show that doesn’t know about Clark is Kyle Cushing (Erik Valdez). This should change in Superman & Lois Season 3, especially given the stories and new relationship set up for Kyle in the premiere episode.

The Secret Will Hold Kyle Back on ‘Superman & Lois’

Erik Valdez and Emmanuelle Chriqui in Superman & Lois
Image via The CW

To some surprise, Kyle has had quite a bit of growth over the first two seasons. While it ultimately came out that he had been unfaithful in his marriage with Lana, causing the two to split, Kyle took accountability for what he had done. He tried to make the process of splitting up as easy for Lana, who was heartbroken over this betrayal, as easy as possible. He became a more understanding and less volatile character from this experience, paying close attention to his daughter Sarah and how to get back to a new normal as quickly as possible. In the third season’s premiere, Kyle is finally in a good place, has accepted his marriage with Lana is over, and has become a balanced character.

Given how much of his story has been based on keeping secrets and owning the truth, the prospect of everyone in Kyle’s life having to lie to him is already exhausting. His marriage was destroyed over secrets, but he still has a chance to be on good terms and friendly with Lana as co-parents, but that can’t really happen if she is even occasionally lying to him about Clark. The same goes for Sarah, who knows about Clark and Jordan’s powers, but to a greater extent. Lana not talking to her ex-husband about something like this is more understandable, but Sarah should be able to have real conversations with both of her parents. This is a major secret to keep that will inform so many decisions, particularly in her romantic relationship with Jordan if the two rekindle things down the line. It’s tipping the already imbalanced scales even further away from Kyle, which will hurt the character in the long run — and, let’s face it, he’s already not one of the series’ best given their constant underutilization of Kyle and confusion about what to do with him.

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Will the Secret Doom His New Relationship?

Erik Valdez in Superman & Lois
Image via The CW

Likewise, the new season has started an extremely unexpected romantic relationship with Kyle and Chrissy, giving Kyle a second chance at a happily ever after. In some ways, the secret is playing a bigger part in Chrissy’s life than even Sarah’s. Chrissy is working with both Lois and Clark now, so his superheroics are part of her daily life now. She has an entirely new dynamic to figure out now, given the inevitable coverage of Superman’s antics that will be clouded by her feelings for Clark and Lois. Plus, Lois is her best friend, so they are finally about to be completely real in their friendship. It’s an exciting time for Chrissy, really, but it’s also not difficult to see where she might have some trouble down the line. The Smallville Gazette is Chrissy’s life, as she says herself, so she has much more at risk here than just friendships, too.

That said, given Kyle’s marriage ended over a secret, it seems rather counterproductive to the character’s story thus far to introduce a new relationship where there is a major secret being kept from him. If the writers truly want to do right by Kyle, they should be continuing his growth from the first two seasons by being more open and honest. Perhaps they will do so, and his relationship with Chrissy is already doomed because he’ll call things off if and when he learns she’s been keeping this major secret. (It’s not so much about keeping the secret, but the lies necessary to keep the secret.) However, that would be rather disappointing, especially as this could potentially be the final season of Superman & Lois. This new relationship with Chrissy needs to mean something and lead somewhere important for both characters.

The easiest way to avoid the trouble, and any unnecessary drama, is to just bring Kyle in on the secret early on. There’s no reason not to tell him, but there are many reasons for him to know that would allow Kyle to play a more important role on the show. Being the only one from the main cast that doesn’t know the secret is a recipe for disaster. It will continue to leave Kyle in an isolated and all-but-pointless role on the show, never having enough information to be an important part of the story or to be an equal in any of his relationships. The series has always struggled with how to include Kyle, but here is the chance to do just that. Let Kyle in on the secret and let his relationships be completely real and free from secrets and lies. Valdez is a great performer and there’s interesting potential for Kyle’s relationships, especially now that he has become a more bearable and less angry human being. Simply put, allow the character to continue to grow rather than become stagnant or regress, both of which he’s at serious risk of doing this season.

Superman & Lois continues Tuesdays on The CW.