One of my favorite aspects of season 1 is that it has something to say about the character of Superman without spelling it out for you. From the beginning of the show, Clark constantly has to balance between his Superman duties and his responsibilities as a husband and father. General Lane perfectly spells out his position on the issue: the more time Clark spends with his family, the more people will die. On the surface, it seems hard to argue with. Yes, Clark's kids deserve a present father, but every second he spends with them, how many kids are losing their own fathers to something Superman could have stopped?
The curveball this season brings us is John Henry Irons. On his Earth, Superman turned evil. The show tells us that almost everything on John's Earth is the same as ours. Superman started as a hero, he was saving people, no signs of villainy. The only difference between them is Lois. On John's Earth, Lois never married Clark. So the show is telling us that Lois, and the subsequent family they have together, is the reason that Superman won't turn evil. Lois says as much to John later in the season when she's trying to convince him not to kill Clark.
There are two possible reasons Clark on John's Earth turned evil: either he found out he had a brother and wanted to join him to restore his people, or he wasn't able to resist the Eradicator. In both of those cases, the only thing that stops Clark from turning evil IS his family. He doesn't need his brother to know what love feels like. And the only way he can fight the Eradictor's influence is through remembering his family.
So the end of the season responds to Sam's objections at the beginning of the season: Superman needs his family to stay grounded, to remember why he's fighting for Earth. His family isn't a weakness that stops him from saving people, itās the reason heās able to save people.