According to her bio on IMDB Daya Vaidya who plays Peia is a two-time breast cancer survivor.
Spoilers "Superman & Lois" Season 3
- Thread starter The Realist
- Start date
They both did. We saw them both die in season one.
Being familiar with the challenges (or ravages) of age, illness and death does not make one better prepared for any of those events when they happen to someone you love, especially on the level of Clark's love for Lois. Some have a spiritual / philosophical part of their mind that will view illness or death from a "grand scheme" point of view (sometimes many years after the event), and it is a way of "managing" heartache and tragedy, but we're also wired to cling to this life, naturally wanting others to live on, so when that desire is threatened, a person (in this case, Clark) is not going to steel himself (no pun intended) and act as if illness or death is expected, or he can handle it.
My husband thinks Peia is Mannheim's wife. That would certainly up the stakes for his arc.
Or maybe his sister. Someone dear to him, clearly.
I believe she's Manheim's wife as well, if you recall two things: how Peia and Lois were bonding over dealing with concerned husbands, and Manheim having the "everything is okay" kind of optimism in the face of the most trying of times.
Here's a fantastic deep-cut Easter egg I can take zero credit for spotting (info and screenshots by way of Reddit):
Eckworth Industries was a corporation in the live-action 1980s Superboy syndicated TV series:
On Superboy, Lex Luthor murdered the company's CEO, Warren Eckworth, and assumed his identity via plastic surgery. This accompanied a casting change for Luthor from the first season's Scott James Wells (terrible) to the second and subsequent seasons' Sherman Howard (brilliant).
I suspect the S&L staff may have been doing deep-dive research on Lex's history preparatory to introducing their own version, and came up with this super-obscure little gem. Or maybe somebody's just a Superboy fan (as am I). Either way, this is pretty awesome.
Eckworth Industries was a corporation in the live-action 1980s Superboy syndicated TV series:
On Superboy, Lex Luthor murdered the company's CEO, Warren Eckworth, and assumed his identity via plastic surgery. This accompanied a casting change for Luthor from the first season's Scott James Wells (terrible) to the second and subsequent seasons' Sherman Howard (brilliant).
I suspect the S&L staff may have been doing deep-dive research on Lex's history preparatory to introducing their own version, and came up with this super-obscure little gem. Or maybe somebody's just a Superboy fan (as am I). Either way, this is pretty awesome.
Which was then ignored in later seasons when they did multiverse episodes revealing that Lex Luthor always looked like Sherman Howard on every alternate Earth. Not that I blame them for pretending that Scott Wells's Lex never existed.
I also find it ironic that they recast both Lex and Superboy in the same episode, yet they built the whole story around explaining Lex's changed appearance while doing nothing to acknowledge Superboy's changed appearance. But I guess maybe that's because Howard was considerably older than Wells, making it harder to pass him off as the same guy.
Superman and Lois
Season 3 - Episode 7 - "Forever and Always"
SM/Clark / Lois / Dr. Irons: Clark sits up with Lois--her treatment causing nausea and vomiting. The next morning, she tries to convince her sons that she's ok, but her obviously weakened condition cannot be explained away.
At the hospital, Peia is put off by Lois' questioning / suspicions of Manheim, leading the woman to (who is on her last treatment) to move to another part of the room. Lois apologizes to Peia, asking her to be her friend (admitting she does not have many), finally promising not to use their friendship as part of her investigation, but Peia resists Lois' offer, stating they were not supposed to have any sort of friendship...
Irons / Natalie / Matteo: A nervous Natalie stresses over Matteo visiting, asking her father to (at least) wear a button-down shirt, etc., but Irons takes his daughter's worries in stride--or so he appears to. Later, Irons runs into a curious Lana (first thinking he was preparing for a date--SEE NOTES), and is so positive about Natalie and Matteo, that Irons is visibly disturbed behind his broad smile.
That afternoon, Matteo arrives and his reaction to Natalie's appearance chills the overprotective Irons. At lunch, things go south quickly as Natalie picks up on Irons trying to place roadblocks between the teenagers. Natalie accuses her father of "short-circuiting" over something, then leaves with Matteo.
Irons discusses his protective nature with Lana, not knowing why he reacted to Matteo in such a harsh manner. Lana reassures him that his feelings--now that Natalie is dating--are normal, which he accepts...until he spots Natalie and Matteo kissing. Lana has to pull Irons back, preventing him from being "angry dad" in his approach to Matteo. Despite Matteo trying to put on a good face, Irons gives the teen a stern warning about the way he expects his daughter to be treated. Matteo agrees, saying his mother raised him to respect women, so Irons should not expect anything less from him where Natalie is concerned.
Manheim / Peia): Clark tries the direct approach in uncovering Manheim's schemes...by visiting the man as a reporter; the interview goes as expected, until Clark name drops guinea pigs Henry Miller and James DiStefano, questioning Manheim about how far would he go (experimenting on the men) to cure cancer. Manheim counters with a cold set of facts, noting the possibility of Lois dying if her treatment fails, so just how far would Clark go to save her?
The two spit accusations at each other, with Clark deducing that Manheim's investments, experiments and behavior points to a personal concern. Manheim takes Clark to the hospital, where he's revealed to be Peia's husband. Peia insists Lois is wrong about Manheim, while the villain--with his motives apparently out in the open--tells Lois she can use this information in any way she sees fit.
After a "screw cancer" ceremony on the hospital's rooftop (where the Kents see how much Manheim cares for Peia), Clark and Lois are beginning to see Manheim as a loving husband more than a criminal...
Peia's condition is worsening, and as Msanheim comforts her, in walks their son--Matteo, who excitedly talks up Natalie, wanting his parents to meet his girlfriend...and her father...
Jonathan II: Jonathan and Jordan visit the fortress, questioning their grandmother A.I. about using Kryptonian technology to help Lois; when their grandmother does not believe alien tech would help, Jonanthan angrily accuses her of reaching that conclusion because she (Lois) is a weak human. This tense exchange is interrupted by the arrival of Clark, who tries to remind Jonanthan that Lois' treatment is not his decision; the teen--beyond frustrated--argues against what he feels is indifference from Clark, who angrily fires back, defending himself regarding his care for Lois and her health. Clark orders the boys back to the farm...
Jonathan is convinced his parents are hiding something from him, and eventually discovers Lois' will and power of attorney papers. He confronts his parents, his rage mounting by the second:
Jonathan: "Things are already bad! W-we hear you getting sick. We see you losing your hair, Not eating. Not drinking. But you never talk to us about anything!"
(to Clark) "..and when we try to get help from your mom about what is going on, you get mad at us?? I mean, what are we supposed to do?!?"
Clark: "Jonathan, you have to--"
Jonathan: "What, dad? Have hope?? Just believe that everything is going to work out fine? You know, maybe that works out for you, as a Kryptonian, but us humans, like mom and me--we can't! 'cause hope didn't stop your dad from having a heart attack. It did not stop your mom from having a stroke, and the last time I checked, hope doesn't cure cancer!"
Lois comes clean about her illness the risks, and wanting to live; when the boys argue that she should explore Kryptonian technology, Clark says if it helped Lois, it would be unfair to those who had no access to it, and exposing it would pose too much of a risk to the greater good. The expression on Jonathan's face is one not only of defeat--but disappointment in what he's hearing (SEE NOTES).
Lana / Kyle / Sarah: At the diner, Lana and her daughters are visited by Chrissy...which ends with Sarah making a snide remark about her relationship with Kyle (SEE NOTES)
NOTES:
We get a glimpse--through flashbacks--of the early years of Manheim and Peia's relationship with each other--and their criminal boss Moxie. The flashbacks build on Bruno's love for Peia, his plans to revitalize Hob's Bay, and a resentment of Luthor--accusing the supervillain of funneling their profits to Metropolis. Apparently, Peia's powers were only revealed to Manheim when she attacked Moxie & his gunmen, as indicated by the look of total surprise on Manheim's face.
Ethical dilemmas were the driving force of this episode, and make no mistake: seeds have been planted in Clark's mind to the point where he's walking the fence separating his determined stand against using methods other than standard chemotherapy from the side now seeing the effects of cancer's threats on loved ones. Manheim read Clark well, wasting no time in personalizing / connecting Lois' struggle with the "what are you willing to do?" question, stopping Clark--and his once-unshakable stand--cold. Think of it: a man Clark considers a brutal criminal made points his caped reality could not dismiss, while the twins pelted him with facts that could not be ignored.
Clark has to hear Jonathan's statement about Clark's parents and--I suspect--wonder if Kryptonian technology could have saved them. He can argue fairness in not using Kryptonian tech on one human being, but is he really so willing to stand on that adopted principle that he would accept the (theoretically avoidable) death of the love of his life--the mother of his children?
Although Lana felt left behind by just about everyone, something tells me she might toss caution to the winds and pursue Irons...well, that's if she will have the time, as I see her trying to ring Chrissy's neck for giving Sarah the Gummies, and probably blaming Kyle for being unaware, or creating an environment where that kind of behavior is encouraged.
Finally, Matteo turns out to be the son of Manheim and Peia, so we know where this is going, considering Manheim's conflicts with Irons. Expect Natalie to blame her father for the downward spiral of her relationship, or ignore anything he reveals about Manheim--the latter probably threatening Natalie's life in order to control Irons for some purpose....
GRADE: A.
Season 3 - Episode 7 - "Forever and Always"
SM/Clark / Lois / Dr. Irons: Clark sits up with Lois--her treatment causing nausea and vomiting. The next morning, she tries to convince her sons that she's ok, but her obviously weakened condition cannot be explained away.
At the hospital, Peia is put off by Lois' questioning / suspicions of Manheim, leading the woman to (who is on her last treatment) to move to another part of the room. Lois apologizes to Peia, asking her to be her friend (admitting she does not have many), finally promising not to use their friendship as part of her investigation, but Peia resists Lois' offer, stating they were not supposed to have any sort of friendship...
Irons / Natalie / Matteo: A nervous Natalie stresses over Matteo visiting, asking her father to (at least) wear a button-down shirt, etc., but Irons takes his daughter's worries in stride--or so he appears to. Later, Irons runs into a curious Lana (first thinking he was preparing for a date--SEE NOTES), and is so positive about Natalie and Matteo, that Irons is visibly disturbed behind his broad smile.
That afternoon, Matteo arrives and his reaction to Natalie's appearance chills the overprotective Irons. At lunch, things go south quickly as Natalie picks up on Irons trying to place roadblocks between the teenagers. Natalie accuses her father of "short-circuiting" over something, then leaves with Matteo.
Irons discusses his protective nature with Lana, not knowing why he reacted to Matteo in such a harsh manner. Lana reassures him that his feelings--now that Natalie is dating--are normal, which he accepts...until he spots Natalie and Matteo kissing. Lana has to pull Irons back, preventing him from being "angry dad" in his approach to Matteo. Despite Matteo trying to put on a good face, Irons gives the teen a stern warning about the way he expects his daughter to be treated. Matteo agrees, saying his mother raised him to respect women, so Irons should not expect anything less from him where Natalie is concerned.
Manheim / Peia): Clark tries the direct approach in uncovering Manheim's schemes...by visiting the man as a reporter; the interview goes as expected, until Clark name drops guinea pigs Henry Miller and James DiStefano, questioning Manheim about how far would he go (experimenting on the men) to cure cancer. Manheim counters with a cold set of facts, noting the possibility of Lois dying if her treatment fails, so just how far would Clark go to save her?
The two spit accusations at each other, with Clark deducing that Manheim's investments, experiments and behavior points to a personal concern. Manheim takes Clark to the hospital, where he's revealed to be Peia's husband. Peia insists Lois is wrong about Manheim, while the villain--with his motives apparently out in the open--tells Lois she can use this information in any way she sees fit.
After a "screw cancer" ceremony on the hospital's rooftop (where the Kents see how much Manheim cares for Peia), Clark and Lois are beginning to see Manheim as a loving husband more than a criminal...
Peia's condition is worsening, and as Msanheim comforts her, in walks their son--Matteo, who excitedly talks up Natalie, wanting his parents to meet his girlfriend...and her father...
Jonathan II: Jonathan and Jordan visit the fortress, questioning their grandmother A.I. about using Kryptonian technology to help Lois; when their grandmother does not believe alien tech would help, Jonanthan angrily accuses her of reaching that conclusion because she (Lois) is a weak human. This tense exchange is interrupted by the arrival of Clark, who tries to remind Jonanthan that Lois' treatment is not his decision; the teen--beyond frustrated--argues against what he feels is indifference from Clark, who angrily fires back, defending himself regarding his care for Lois and her health. Clark orders the boys back to the farm...
Jonathan is convinced his parents are hiding something from him, and eventually discovers Lois' will and power of attorney papers. He confronts his parents, his rage mounting by the second:
Jonathan: "Things are already bad! W-we hear you getting sick. We see you losing your hair, Not eating. Not drinking. But you never talk to us about anything!"
(to Clark) "..and when we try to get help from your mom about what is going on, you get mad at us?? I mean, what are we supposed to do?!?"
Clark: "Jonathan, you have to--"
Jonathan: "What, dad? Have hope?? Just believe that everything is going to work out fine? You know, maybe that works out for you, as a Kryptonian, but us humans, like mom and me--we can't! 'cause hope didn't stop your dad from having a heart attack. It did not stop your mom from having a stroke, and the last time I checked, hope doesn't cure cancer!"
Lois comes clean about her illness the risks, and wanting to live; when the boys argue that she should explore Kryptonian technology, Clark says if it helped Lois, it would be unfair to those who had no access to it, and exposing it would pose too much of a risk to the greater good. The expression on Jonathan's face is one not only of defeat--but disappointment in what he's hearing (SEE NOTES).
Lana / Kyle / Sarah: At the diner, Lana and her daughters are visited by Chrissy...which ends with Sarah making a snide remark about her relationship with Kyle (SEE NOTES)
NOTES:
We get a glimpse--through flashbacks--of the early years of Manheim and Peia's relationship with each other--and their criminal boss Moxie. The flashbacks build on Bruno's love for Peia, his plans to revitalize Hob's Bay, and a resentment of Luthor--accusing the supervillain of funneling their profits to Metropolis. Apparently, Peia's powers were only revealed to Manheim when she attacked Moxie & his gunmen, as indicated by the look of total surprise on Manheim's face.
Ethical dilemmas were the driving force of this episode, and make no mistake: seeds have been planted in Clark's mind to the point where he's walking the fence separating his determined stand against using methods other than standard chemotherapy from the side now seeing the effects of cancer's threats on loved ones. Manheim read Clark well, wasting no time in personalizing / connecting Lois' struggle with the "what are you willing to do?" question, stopping Clark--and his once-unshakable stand--cold. Think of it: a man Clark considers a brutal criminal made points his caped reality could not dismiss, while the twins pelted him with facts that could not be ignored.
Clark has to hear Jonathan's statement about Clark's parents and--I suspect--wonder if Kryptonian technology could have saved them. He can argue fairness in not using Kryptonian tech on one human being, but is he really so willing to stand on that adopted principle that he would accept the (theoretically avoidable) death of the love of his life--the mother of his children?
Although Lana felt left behind by just about everyone, something tells me she might toss caution to the winds and pursue Irons...well, that's if she will have the time, as I see her trying to ring Chrissy's neck for giving Sarah the Gummies, and probably blaming Kyle for being unaware, or creating an environment where that kind of behavior is encouraged.
Finally, Matteo turns out to be the son of Manheim and Peia, so we know where this is going, considering Manheim's conflicts with Irons. Expect Natalie to blame her father for the downward spiral of her relationship, or ignore anything he reveals about Manheim--the latter probably threatening Natalie's life in order to control Irons for some purpose....
GRADE: A.
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This was an excellent one overall, with some really nice character work. They've taken Bruno Mannheim in a very unexpected direction, making him a much more nuanced, sympathetic, and three-dimensional character than I think I've ever seen him portrayed as before (though I know him more from TV adaptations than comics). I like the way Clark used his empathy to pierce the veil with Mannheim -- a reminder that that's his real superpower.
I was bugged by the excuse that they don't use Kryptonian tech to save Lois because then they'd have to share it with everyone. Well, why not share it with everyone? It's not like the existence of Kryptonians is a secret. Everyone knows that Superman and other Kryptonians have been on Earth. So there's no reason not to use it for lifesaving purposes. In the Silver Age comics, Superman often used his advanced technology in the Fortress to research cures for diseases and the like.
And yeah, having Matteo turn out to be the Mannheims' kid is way too Dickensian a coincidence.
It only just hit me while writing this post that "Peia" is short for "Onomatopoeia." Not in-universe, of course, but that's no doubt where the writers got the name. Anyway, the way they showed her powers in the flashbacks was more like Black Canary.
I suspect the flashback references to Mannheim dealing with Lex Luthor are planting seeds for Lex's arrival later in the season. GIven how sympathetic they're making Bruno, I have a suspicion
I was bugged by the excuse that they don't use Kryptonian tech to save Lois because then they'd have to share it with everyone. Well, why not share it with everyone? It's not like the existence of Kryptonians is a secret. Everyone knows that Superman and other Kryptonians have been on Earth. So there's no reason not to use it for lifesaving purposes. In the Silver Age comics, Superman often used his advanced technology in the Fortress to research cures for diseases and the like.
And yeah, having Matteo turn out to be the Mannheims' kid is way too Dickensian a coincidence.
It only just hit me while writing this post that "Peia" is short for "Onomatopoeia." Not in-universe, of course, but that's no doubt where the writers got the name. Anyway, the way they showed her powers in the flashbacks was more like Black Canary.
I suspect the flashback references to Mannheim dealing with Lex Luthor are planting seeds for Lex's arrival later in the season. GIven how sympathetic they're making Bruno, I have a suspicion
that Lex will kill him midseason and take over as the big bad in the second half.
The cancer elements of the season continue to be spot on. The bell at the end of treatment (my wife got to ring the bell back in December), the weakness and listlessness, the difficulty of talking to the kids and the temptation to shield them from the worst possibilities…it was like watching a remake of my family life last autumn. Difficult at times in the moment (memories are very fresh) but also unexpectedly gratifying—not really the degree of verisimilitude one expects of an escapist superhero fantasy, particularly when “more serious” dramas, including some medical ones, don’t do it as well. This season has been by far the best of three, in no small part owing to the handling of the cancer storyline (which, to be frank, I expected to be the weakest element of the season).
Yea. The character of Bruno Mannheim has been reinvented and the levels being hit on are so much deeper than anything before. He was basically just your average throwaway mob boss. Here he's a multilayered character who obviously has done illegal and immoral things, but you can also see he also has 'helped' people in this area of Metropolis. Having him be African-American and fighting for a minority area of the city that was neglected and exploited touches on real life issues and imbalances we see in a lot of major cities in the US because of redlining and that type of enforced 'segregation'.
You are more like to see the 'chemical plant', 'paint factory', whatever been in that exploited part of the city and then later get cancer clusters and things around them because of it.
I think it's not even out of the realm of possibility to see 'Superman' take down Mannheim and see anti-Superman sentiment spring up from the people that Mannheim has helped and the area he's helped to restore/build-up.
I didn't love that, either. It's almost like they were giving Clark a Star Trek-ish "Prime Directive" about not sharing advanced Kryptonian technology with Earth -- or perhaps a variation on the admonition of Superman '78's Jor-El not to interfere with human history. But I can't wrap my head around the idea of a Superman who wouldn't give the world a cure for cancer if he could, or who could stand by and watch Lois's suffering if he could stop it.
The line also struck me as completely unnecessary, since there had already been plenty of dialogue establishing that Fortress tech couldn't help Lois -- that it was simply too dangerous to attempt with her human physiology. I feel like it was kind of a meta moment, with the writers using Clark to explain their own reasoning for not magically curing Lois -- i.e., that cancer patients in the real world don't have access to alien technology, and so it would be inappropriate to give such a "fix" to Lois in the narrative. And they're right about that, as far as the show goes, but to put the words into Clark's mouth means we have to deal with them in-universe.
I choose to interpret it as, "Kryptonian tech can't cure cancer, but even if it could, using it would present these other problems and ramifications." A hypothetical, IOW, and ultimately moot since it wouldn't work anyway.
Quite an endorsement, and high praise. I'm very glad your wife got to "ring the bell." And I'll say what they said at the ceremony (but using a word the show couldn't): Fuck cancer.
Or, alternatively, that making it work invites too much risk. This version of Clark isn't dumb, but I don't think he's quite been presented as the Silver Age omni-genius. Adapting whatever Kyptonian treatments to work with humans reliably would require human experts, and the more people who have access to the Fortress, the more likely it is something dangerous gets into the wrong hands. Or even the final product could be adapted to nefarious ends once it's out in the world, a billion-dollar immortality serum that people sell themselves into ten-thousand-year indenturements to earn, or turning a targeted cancer-killing nanocloud into targeting an ethnic group, or killing all varieties of a food crop that aren't a patented GMO version owned by some big business? And the alternative of having the Jor-El and Lara Memorial Fortress of Oncology in the middle of the ocean so Superman can deliver the treatments without letting the technology out of his sight is still exploitative, it just cuts out the middle-man.
I'm not sure what the right choice would be to having access to world-changing technology and world in need of changing to use it on, but "hands off" doesn't seem like the worst possible option when you're just one (super) man trying to decide what can be introduced and how without leaving everything worse off than when you found it.
Good and thoughtful points, but I don't believe that any of that would prevent Clark from curing Lois if he could. It might not be fair to save her and not others, but I think Clark would live with the unfairness, for the love of his life and mother of his children.
I don't buy that. Any beneficial technology can be twisted to do harm, but it's irresponsible to refuse to do good with it just because you're afraid of the bad. Fire kills people and burns things down, but it also cooks our food, kills germs, allows working with ceramics and metal, and countless other benefits that we choose to use despite the danger. Knives kill people, but they also save them with surgery. Cars kill people, but ambulances save their lives. All power can be used positively or negatively, and the greater the potential for harm, the greater the potential for good, and vice-versa. The responsible thing is not to ban the technology and deprive the world of the good it could do -- that's throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The responsible thing is to develop the good uses while also developing laws, regulations, and safety practices to minimize the potential harm.
Hell, my own cancer, the retinal melanoma I developed in high school, was put into remission by a radioactive cobalt plaque. What if the use of cobalt-60 had been banned because of the risk it could be used to make dirty bombs? At best I'd have a glass eye now; at worst I wouldn't be here at all. For that matter, chemotherapy itself uses poisons, drugs that can kill people in large enough quantities, to kill the cancer cells within them. So when we're talking about cancer treatments, it's utterly nonsensical to say "We can't use this because there's a risk it could be dangerous." All cancer treatments are dangerous! That's why they work!
So stories that say a new technology should be outlawed to prevent its abuse are absolute garbage. It's just a lame excuse to maintain a status quo similar to the real world.
This episode fully convinced me that Jon v2 is a much better actor than the original. His outburst at Clark was very well done.
I'm enjoying the hell out of Manheim here and agree with you all about the nuanced depiction.
Even the Sarah and Chrissy bits were good.
Poor John Henry! Hubby and I made various jokes about having a beautiful daughter and a suit of power armor.
I'm enjoying the hell out of Manheim here and agree with you all about the nuanced depiction.
Even the Sarah and Chrissy bits were good.
Poor John Henry! Hubby and I made various jokes about having a beautiful daughter and a suit of power armor.
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