Superman and Lois is the last remaining CW show based on the superheroes of DC Comics. It was originally planned to be a part of the Arrowverse, but the showrunners decided to keep it separate once the shared TV universe came to an end. The show centers on Clark Kent and Lois Lane as they raise their teen sons in Smallville after inheriting the Kent farm when Clark’s mother passes away. It focuses on the drama of the small town but never shies away from epic superpowered battles and sci fi mysteries. 

It’s overall a fantastic TV series, but is dragged down by one of the primary side characters, Sarah Cushing/Cortez. Sarah is the daughter of Lana Lang and friend of Lois and Clark’s sons, and she’s the absolute worst.

The actress, Inde Navarrette, is incredibly talented and does a terrific job in the role. The character is just written in the most frustrating manner possible. Having teen angst in a drama series is nothing new and can be and has been done well. The drama with the other teen characters is fine too. For whatever reason, the writers just couldn’t figure out how to make it work for Sarah.

There are a slew of plot points that make the character exhausting or just plain annoying. The first and biggest is that she cheated on Jordan Kent. Obviously, the show is designed in a way that the audiences will always side with and root for the Kents. Sarah doing something so cruel to one of them will immediately pit audiences against her.

Not only did she cheat on him, she was offended that he was upset by it. Who wouldn’t be upset by that? To top it off, she wanted to introduce him to the person she cheated on him with and wanted them to be friends, which is both weird and insulting. There’s no way this character doesn’t see how this behavior is abnormal or upsetting to those around her.

Sarah is insanely self-centered. She’s often upset that other people have issues that aren’t about her. She’s upset that her mom is stressed with her job as the mayor. She’s upset that the Kent boys are occupied with dealing with their parents or supervillains. She’s just sort of always upset and expects everyone to cater to her.

The way she deals with Jordan after he tells her about his powers is infuriating. She’s not very understanding of him being busy because he needs to take the time to learn how to use them and to save lives. She needs to realize that her friend is busy with something important and be supportive. She also gets mad at Jordan for saving her life from a deadly car accident. She’d be dead if it weren’t for him, and yet she dislikes that he saved her. Why did the writers think this would make any sense?

Outside of the Jordan drama, there’s a scene that has Sarah watch her younger sister, Sophie, at their father’s apartment. She completely ignores her sibling and doesn’t notice that she runs away. During the panic of finding her, she blames her father even though he left Sophie with her while he went out. The writers are clearly forcing her to be obnoxious for the sake of creating drama, and it’s annoying.

Sarah is a rather central character, too. She appears in just about every episode. Superman and Lois is an overall great show. It’s gripping, thought-provoking, and emotional. Unfortunately, Sarah is so frustrating that it distracts from the better elements the show has to offer. There’s a chance they could start writing well, but until then, Sarah is simply the worst.

READ NEXT: The Arrowverse’s John Diggle Should Have Been Fully Made Green Lantern