| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | |
| Season 3, Episode 3 | |
 | |
| Air date | October 1, 1995 |
| Written by | Chris Ruppenthal |
| Directed by | Daniel Attias |
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Lois's apparent abduction by aliens is revealed to be the work of a crooked executive attempting to keep Superman occupied. This episode features the first appearance of recurring character Star McAdams.
Plot[]
While driving home after a dangerous investigation, Lois's car mysteriously stops and she disappears in a beam of light and smoke. When she gets home the next morning, she is greeted by Star McAdams, who is moving into her apartment building and is a fan of her work. Noticing Lois's frazzled state, Star uses psychic abilities to correctly guess (on her third attempt) that Lois was abducted by aliens. Impressed by Star's psychic gift and sincere friendliness, Lois invites her into her apartment and tells how she returned to her car 11 hours after her abduction with vague memories of large-headed aliens examining her. Lois was traumatized by the experience and finds it a relief to talk it over with a sympathetic listener.
After Lois leaves for work, Star heads after her and brings her books about alien abductions, loudly mentioning Lois's close encounter to the entire newsroom. This draws the ridicule of the Daily Planet staff and the concern of Clark, who has already been overprotective of Lois of late.
Nanoware Software head Bob Fences is financing UFO expert Dr. Martin Solsvig to build a microwave transmitter that will act as a beacon for extraterrestrials. Solsvig needs special microchips, so Fences activates a hypnotized sleeper agent at Zenith Chip Corporation. The sleeper agent lets in Fences's hired thieves. At the same moment, Lois goes into a trance. She, Clark, and Jimmy Olsen are riding in a helicopter to survey the site of her abduction, and Lois suddenly throws herself out of the helicopter. Clark jumps after her, changes to Superman mid-flight, and carries her safely to the ground. Lois's peril acts as a distraction to prevent Superman from interfering with the robbery.
Lois and Clark consult Dr. Solsvig, who suggests Lois undergo hypnosis to find out what really happened during her abduction. She refuses for fear that she might give away Superman's secret identity. Solsvig tells them that while alien abductees often go into trances after their experience, they do not usually put themselves in jeopardy as Lois did. After the interview Lois goes into another trance and walks into traffic. Clark surreptitiously uses Super Breath to gently blow her out of harm's way.
Despite these terrifying experiences, Lois refuses to allow Clark to guard her that evening. She instead talks with Star about her fear of commitment over a pint of ice cream. Meanwhile, Clark calls his parents and tells them he thinks he should not see Lois anymore, feeling that her repeatedly getting into danger is because of him. They tell him that he needs to talk it over with Lois before making a decision like that, and that he should bear in mind that there is no way a person can protect someone from everything, even if he's Superman. Lois's talk with Star prompts her to go over to Clark's to say she's ready to accept his marriage proposal, but before she can get it out he notices a mysterious puncture mark on her neck.
The next day Lois and Clark consider the possibility that Superman being distracted from the robbery by Lois's first trance was deliberate, and ask Jimmy if there were any robberies at the time of her second trance. He confirms that at that time someone broke into Quantum Post Industries and stole a prototype of an advanced pulse amplifier. With both robberies there is a suspected "inside" accomplice; Lois recognizes both suspects as people who were abducted with her.
Lois and Clark decide they can trust Star enough to have her put Lois under hypnosis and dig into her memory of the abduction. During the session Lois remembers seeing Fences's reflection on the mechanical arm of the needle that injected her. She realizes the "alien abduction" was faked in order to keep her from catching onto the real plot: Fences planted post-hypnotic suggestions in the abductees so that they would commit the robberies and Lois's peril would distract Superman.
Solsvig is murdered when he begins to suspect Fences's plans for his transmitter. Clark and Lois confront Fences with their knowledge that he brainwashed Lois and murdered Solsvig, hoping to spook him, but Fences nonchalantly pleads innocence. Clark uses X-Ray Vision to peek at what Fences is doing after they leave, but catches only a glimpse of his computer screen before he turns it off. Star uses hypnosis to focus Clark's memory of the computer screen, and he reads on the screen a letter to the prime minster of Pacifonesia demanding a ransom of one billion U.S. dollars by 5 p.m. or the capital of Pacifonesia will be destroyed. Lois and Clark's research has uncovered that the items Fences stole could be combined with Solsvig's design to create a weapon of mass destruction, so they race to Fences's headquarters.
With the ransom not met, Fences initiates the firing sequence and activates Lois's trance, but Star has already deprogrammed her. Superman bursts in with Lois and uses Heat Vision on the transmitter, which then explodes. Superman gathers together everyone in the room at Super Speed and shields them from the explosion with his cape, but Lois gets a concussion. While recuperating, Lois again tries to accept Clark's proposal, but stricken with guilt at her injury, Clark interrupts to say he is breaking up with her to prevent her from being endangered again.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman
- Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane
- Lane Smith as Perry White
- Justin Whalin as Jimmy Olsen
- K Callan as Martha Kent
- Eddie Jones as Jonathan Kent
Recurring role[]
- Olivia Brown as Star McAdams
Guest starring[]
- Patrick Labyorteaux as Bob Fences
- Larry Hankin as Dr. Martin Solsvig
- Rochelle Swanson as Simone
Production details[]
- First episode with Lois's new haircut.
- This is the third time the series mentions Mel Gibson, following "Witness" and "Resurrection".
Quotes[]
Clark: "Lois, did something happen last night?"
Lois: "No, nothing. Sorta. No! Just... my car stalled, and a big white light engulfed me, and I saw some aliens, and I woke up in my front seat eleven hours later and it felt like two minutes. ...Did I mention floating?"
Star: "But you two love each other. I mean, it's not like you think you're gonna wake up one morning and find out that he's shaved his head and tattooed the entire third act of Henry the Fourth on it, and then just gone off to live in some commune in Brazil where they all worship a giant butterfly named Fred, and then two years later he sends you a note and says he can't come back 'cause he's allergic to psychics, is it? ...Oops."
Lois: "Forget the books. Call the cops and see -"
Clark: "- if there was another robbery yesterday -"
Lois: "- at exactly 3:00, particularly -"
Clark: "- at a high tech firm. Ask for everything -"
Lois: "- they've got."
Jimmy: "Did you guys practice that?"
Lois: "Ha, ha."
Lois and Clark: "Go!"