Warning! SPOILERS for Superman & Lois season 2, episode 14.
Superman’s loss of his powers is building up Superman & Lois' season 2 finale in several key ways. After fully transitioning into Parasite, Ally Allston (Rya Kihlstedt) sets about on her plot of merging the Bizarro World and Earth Prime into one. Unfortunately, Superman is unable to actively stop her, due to Ally draining his powers from him in order to initiate her plan.
Superman receives bad news from the hologram of his mother Lara Lor-Van (Mariana Klaveno) that it could be an extended period before his powers return. As Kal-El and those closest to him try to find a way to expedite the process, Superman & Lois season 2 finale “Waiting For Superman” has the highest stakes the show has ever seen. That itself is one of the key reasons for Superman remaining de-powered going into the finale.
With Superman unable to lend support like he usually does, Superman & Lois is ending the season on a battle with apocalyptic ramifications. The Steel-suited John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks), his similarly equipped daughter Natalie (Tayler Buck), and the Kent boys Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) are doing everything possible to fight Ally as Superman normally would. Meanwhile Lana Lang Cushing (Emmanuelle Chriqui) is doing her best as the new mayor of Smallville to calm the populace from spiraling into panic.
If Superman had his powers at the beginning of Ally unfolding her plan, the stakes would still be quite high, but more manageable with the Man of Steel able to fill his normal heroic role. Until his powers return, Superman can only do his best to help Lana in stopping a panic as his friends fight on the frontlines. That also leads into the third reason for Superman & Lois holding off on Kal-El’s powers returning, which, of course, is to make that pay-off as impactful as possible, along with especially challenging Jordan Kent with his own powers.
The title of the finale “Waiting For Superman” implies a very last-minute recharging by Superman, assuming his powers even return at all before the very last minutes of season 2 or the beginning of season 3. Ally’s draining of Clark’s powers also came close to killing him, his life saved by the intervention of Natalie. For Superman & Lois’ finale to hit as hard as it can, Superman’s powers being removed is the basis for the build-up to it being strong.
Superman & Lois has quite a lot on its plate going into the season 2 finale. On top of everything going on in stopping Ally's plot, John Diggle (David Ramsey) is set to appear while the season finale will also finally clarify Superman & Lois' relationship with the Arrowverse. With such an epic and cataclysmic season 2 finale unfolding, Superman & Lois season 2 definitely wants to stick the landing. The best way to make that happen is for it to withhold Superman flying again for as long as it can.
Superman & Lois' season 2 finale airs on the CW on June 28th at 5 pm PST/8 pm EST.