Superman & Lois episode 4 introduced a metahuman who shares his power with a minor character from Smallville. In the episode, Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) had to help his sons deal with a kid named Tag Harris (Wern Lee), whose body shook at uncontrollable speeds. This served as what may be the first of many metahuman-related conflicts that the two Kent boys will be involved with in Superman & Lois.
Humans who possess superpowers have been a common problem for characters in the Arrowverse, particularly the heroes in The Flash and Supergirl. And if Tag and X-Kryptonite are any indication, metahumans may develop a key presence in the Man of Steel’s new Arrowverse show as well. The last TV version of Superman, Smallville’s Clark Kent (Tom Welling), had to fight superpowered humans all the time in his high school years, but they weren’t usually called “metahumans.” Instead, they were referred to as “meteor freaks” and “meteor-infected,” because their powers typically originated from Kryptonite.
It’s interesting to note that the powers of Superman & Lois’ new metahuman are remarkably similar to one of the meteor-infected characters that Clark met in Smallville season 1: Tony Todd’s Earl Jenkins. Earl, a longtime friend of Jonathan Kent (John Schneider), suffered from unnatural, violent seizures that caused his body to vibrate and shake at an amazingly fast speed in the episode “Jitters”. When Earl was going through a seizure, no one was able to touch him without being knocked backwards by the force of his movements. This is essentially the same issue that Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) had with Tag, as the two were injured just by trying to calm him down. Also, like Earl, Tag didn’t want to hurt anyone, and unfortunately had no control over the constant shaking.
There may be also a link between the origin of their powers. Tag got his from being exposed to a mysterious substance, which is likely the X-Kryptonite that was revealed at the end of the episode. That would make sense, considering that the mineral can give humans the powers of Kryptonians on a temporary basis in the comic books. It’s possible that what Tag really had was a less effective version of Kryptonian super speed. As for Earl, he, too, got his powers from the meteor rocks from Superman’s home planet. Exposure to Kryptonite at one of Lionel Luthor’s LuthorCorp facilities is what triggered his seizures. The nature of his abilities and the toll it was taking on his body made him desperate to prove a connection between his strange condition and LuthorCorp. Sadly, Earl couldn’t be saved, but things seem to be looking up for Tag, who was admitted to a metahuman school.
Tag Harris in episode 4 being a loose take on Smallville’s Earl Jenkins would add another fun link to the beloved Superman prequel series. So far, there have been already been a few parallels between Clark’s Smallville story and what Superman & Lois is doing with Clark’s kids. As Superman & Lois season 1 progresses, Jordan and Jonathan may find themselves facing other metahumans similar to Clark’s old foes from Smallville.
