Warning: SPOILERS for Superman & Lois Season 2, Episode 4 - "The Inverse Method"
As Ally Allston (Rya Kihlstedt). But Smallville as the Kents' home base suits the Arrowverse's Superman more than Metropolis would.
Superman has traditionally made Metropolis his home and Smallville was merely the Kansas town he grew up in but escaped when Clark reached adulthood. Until Superman & Lois' revamp, Clark worked as a reporter at the Daily Planet and lived in Metropolis. Therefore, Superman became synonymous with protecting Metropolis, just as Batman is with Gotham City. But Superman is also a global superhero; he may live in Metropolis but his heroism spans the entire Earth and beyond, which is why Superman had a falling out the Department of Defense and its "America First" policy. One of Superman's oldest famous catchphrases: "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" comes from how the citizens of Metropolis react when the caped wonder soars above them, yet Metropolis' concrete jungle has always been confining for the Man of Steel, who can and does fly anywhere and everywhere he's needed.
Just before the Kent Farm is attacked by Bizarro, Clark and John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) shared a quiet moment early in Superman & Lois season 2, episode 4, "The Inverse Method." Gazing at the idyllic Kansas horizon, John remarked that he's "never known a quiet like this" and Clark spoke about the benefits of living in Smallville. It subtly reaffirmed that Superman & Lois moving the Kents, and Superman, in particular, back to Smallville was a smart move. Superman becomes more impressive in this setting because the limitless horizon of America's heartland highlights Superman's best power: his ability to fly. Looking up at the sky and seeing Superman is more poignant when the Man of Steel is soaring in big sky country, as opposed to whizzing past the gleaming skyscrapers of Metropolis.
Audiences may be used to Superman as an urban superhero because of decades of stories set in Metropolis but he isn't similar to Batman, whose iconography and methodology is tied to Gotham. Superman is a sky-bound hero and the vast blue yonder of Smallville is more suited to him. 20 years ago, Superman & Lois finishes what Smallville started and shifted Superman's home base after almost a century of the Kryptonian hero based in Metropolis. As a result, Superman in Smallville not only works but it makes perfect sense.
The Man of Steel has already flown all over the world and into outer space in Superman & Lois but he doesn't spend much time anywhere but home in Smallville with his family. The fact that there are literal miles of fields in between the Kent Farm and its nearest neighbors also enhances Superman's ability to maintain his secret identity, instead of living among the teeming millions in Metropolis. In Smallville, a person pointing to the heavens and exclaiming, "Look up in the sky..." at Superman makes the world's greatest superhero even more impressive because the Man of Steel belongs up there in the limitless sky. By relocating to Smallville, Superman & Lois took a major gamble by changing the hero's tried-and-true Metropolis but the big sky country of America truly benefits and enhances Superman's majesty.
Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays @ 8pm on The CW.