Lois & Clark:
The New Adventures of Superman

Season Four

Lord of the Flys (Part 3 of 4)

Battleground Earth (Part 4 of 4)

Lord Nor's forces arrive on Earth, taking over Smallville. The remaining Kryptonians return to do battle, but their work is complicated by Nor's taking of hostages. Lois and Clark infiltrate the town and pose as fellow hostages while trying to learn Nor's plans. Nor, in a surprisingly cunning move, maneuvers Clark into a trial for treason against the people of Krypton. Ching rescues the condemned Clark, but only long enough to fight Nor in a dual to the death.

PART THREE: Easily the best hour managed by the writers, "LOTF" is still riddled with inconsistencies. The Kryptonians are shown to be an emotionless race, yet Nor's batch are acting like party animals after 24 hours. The force field is as resilient as the script needs it to be. The telepathy introduced in the previous episode is forgotten. And then there's that cameo by Leeza Gibbons...still, the special effects are jaw-dropping and Sgriccia keeps it moving, for the first three acts anyway, at enough of a pace to keep you from noticing the absurdities for a time. The writers do deserve commendation for lightening the hopeless tone of the previous hour.GRADE: C-

PART FOUR: Ross-Leming and Buckner pull off a hysterical and magical scene of Clark and Ching practicing for his duel while Lois cooks fudge and tries to talk to Klein, but it isn't enough to save the hour. Too many logical quandaries, too many fumbles (like Kryptonian steel suddenly also becoming super-strong under a yellow sun) and no attention to continuity. The Clark who would once do anything to save Lois and his parents goes meekly to his death, condemning them to a life of slavery under Nor. On the other hand, there's the long shot of Metropolis, which looks beautiful, and a very neat subplot involving the military's willingness to kill Superman. GRADE: C-

Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding

Lois and Clark get a little heavenly action on their side when Myrtle Beech, the media-dubbed "Wedding Destroyer," breaks out of prison to ruin their happy day. The duo are finally married in a small, private ceremony...somewhere.

Considerably more intelligent than it deserves to be, the wedding destroyer business is actually treated pretty well, and the guardian angel subplot, functioning, as in episode 62, as a metaphor for the production process, is interesting. The casting of David Doyle as the "angel" Mike works a lot better than the casting of Delta Burke. The "real" wedding is no doubt loved by the romance brigade, but it's very cheesy, bordering on stupid. A simple lunchtime visit to the magistrate would have been preferable and, given the circumstances, logical. GRADE: C+.

Soul Mates

HG Wells interrupts the wedding night to inform Lois and Clark that a sorceror placed a curse on their souls centuries previously. Our heroes must make trips to medieval Europe and the Old West to right history, coming into conflict with earlier incarnations of Tempus in both eras.

A very silly, but hopelessly fun diversion suffers from the sappy notion of Lois and Clark's spirits being entertwined throughout history, and the baffling idea of a hand-held time machine that traces souls. Still, this one manages to defy logic without being insulting and Kern's dialogue sparkles. Friedman keeps things moving at a perfectly frantic pace, and both Davies and Kiser put in excellent work. Shame on the producers for giving Clive Revill so little to do, though. GRADE: B

Brutal Youth

Lois and Clark look for a link between a friend of Jimmy's who has died after aging 70 years overnight and the breakout of a criminal after 50 years in the Metropolis pen.

An exceptional debut from newcomer Minear manages to avoid even a single silly moment. The villains are played straight, Lois, Clark and Perry act like journalists for the first time in a year and all that romance stuff is played better than either of the preceding "relationship" hours. Jack Larson's brief turn as an aged Jimmy is a revelation: given the opportunity to play Olsen as he used to, the actor instead acts as a logical extension of Whalen. Obviously a better actor than anyone has considered him, it's a shame we had to learn this late in his life. GRADE: A

The People v. Lois Lane (Part 1 of 2)

Dead Lois Walking (Part 2 of 2)

A remote-controlled gun goes off in Lois's hands while pointed at one of her old informants. The scheme is orchestrated by an old enemy recently released from prison with access to advanced hologram technology. Lois is convicted of murder and Superman breaks her out. On the run, Lois and Clark learn that their tormentor is an old foe named Dr. Jefferson Cole, an ex-STAR Labs researcher who intends to destroy Metropolis with a storm of hybrid kryptonite lethal to humans.

PART ONE: The legal portion of the episode is full of holes and too much of it happens off-camera, but Rosenberg does a great job keeping things moving in this occasionally dark story. The mysterious man from Lois's past is a great enemy with believable quirks, and the corrupt DA bent on the governor's seat provides a new and different challenge for our heroes. GRADE: B+

PART TWO: Ross-Leming and Buckner succeed in wrecking a good setup for the second time in six months. "DLW" transforms the intriquing, manipulative Dr. Cole of part one into another megalomaniac nutcase with a bone to pick with everyone. Clark once again has brains leaking from his cranium as he tries to drive Lois out of the police grasp. Then there's a much-hated scene in which Clark convinces a humorless cop that Lois isn't in his motel room. It's one of the worst scenes in the series. The actors and the director pull out all the stops and there's enough relationship stuff to keep even the most stone-hearted viewer smiling, but the A-plot is an absolute mess. GRADE: C-

Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark

The Kents' new friends are actually globetrotting assassins who scheme to use Lois to get to a reclusive billionaire. Matters are complicated when Bob, in his costumed identity as Deathstroke, reveals himself to have magnetic powers that affect the iron in Superman's bloodstream.

One of the best action hours in the series finds Antonio Sabato Jr. in a magnificent turn as another powered character and Sydney Walsh doing beautiful work as his scheming wife. The show moves effortlessly back and forth between the two couples and their amusingly similar conversations and the fight scenes are certainly worth watching. It's grating that they used the name of an established DC character, and once again a great fight scene is staged in a deserted alleyway, but this is definitely a step in the right direction and Kenneth Mars is wonderful. GRADE: A-

Ghosts

A shady real estate developer must purchase Lois and Clark's brownstone before his mob contract comes up and resorts to black magic trickery to convince them their home is haunted. He's just as surprised as everyone when he conjures up a real ghost...

An out-of-the-blue delight from "Remington Steele"s Michael Gleason, many fans were wary of "Ghosts" when it was announced, fearing it to be another case of sweeps stunt-casting. However, both Carey and Kinney are excellent in their roles and the script manages a perfect balance between cosmic and silly. Very few episodes of the series have met with the near-unanimous positive reaction that this story was awarded. GRADE: A

Stop the Presses

Lois is promoted to editor-in-chief when Perry takes an upstairs job and kills one of Clark's stories, one involving a missing hacker. The decision causes marital stress and distracts Clark from the hacker's plan: to kill Superman using stolen STAR Labs files.

What could have been an exceptional episode becomes merely an ordinary one thanks to a subpar Superman plot and the embarassing overacting of villain Charles Esten, who does one of the worst Jim Carrey impressions in entertainment history. The newsroom and relationship plots are nothing short of outstanding, but this is one episode, for once, that did not need any Superman material. GRADE: B-

Twas the Night Before Mxymas

Mr. Mxyzptlk, an imp from the Fifth Dimension, arrives in Metropolis. He puts the planet into a time loop that only Superman consciously notices, but the lack of tomorrow is making everyone else increasingly hopeless. Mxyzptlk will only release the planet if Superman leaves Earth.

Twenty seconds of holiday mush at the very end of the hour prevent this episode from being the high point of the series. Until this moment, the first appearance of longtime comic book foe Mxyzptlk is a rollercoaster. Malevolent and unethical, Mxyzptlk is brilliantly played by Howie Mandel without a hint of the camp silliness that has drowned so many of this show's other villains. The plot has been accused of being derivative of "Groundhog Day," but time loops have been a common telefantasy theme for years, from "Doctor Who" to "Star Trek." Utterly brilliant television. GRADE: A+

Lethal Weapon

Two ex-cons, an inventor called Mr. Gadget and Perry's son Jerry, team up to blackmail Metropolis with a sonic device while sabotaging Superman's powers with red kryptonite.

Another very good episode gives Lane Smith the chance to shine while again playing with the always welcome red kryptonite, this time kicking Superman's powers into uncontrollable overdrive. Very good special effects and believable villains are icing on the cake. The continuity is excellent, and we're once again given another hint that the government is willing to kill Superman (though here it is the city of Metropolis and not the feds). It is becoming a little tedious seeing Superman turned on by the army or the mayor and nothing being done to follow up. You'd think Lois would have gone off on someone. GRADE: A-

Sex, Lies and Videotape

A tabloid media magnate engineers a scandal that threatens to ruin Superman's reputation as the Man of Steel mediates a vital peace conference.

Flawed not by Jack Wagner's great performance as Goode but by the character itself, "SLV" investigates in great detail the nature of Superman's character as opposed to Clark, and two scenes with our heroes discussing the problem (compromising photos of Lois making out with Superman) rank among the series best. However, Goode is yet another villain disaster. He is out to destroy Superman simply because our hero beat him out for a man of the year award. He murders an employee for calling him "sleaze king." His character is drawn in pencil while the others are truly fleshed out in oil paint. GRADE: B

Meet John Doe (Part 1 of 2)

Lois and Clarks (Part 2 of 2)

Tempus escapes from an asylum and begins his bid for world domination. With a device connected to the telephone network, he subliminally influences voters to elect him, under the name John Doe, to the presidency. He then rids the world of Superman by throwing him through a time doorway into eternity. HG Wells arrives soon afterward, and, learning what has happened, brings the Clark from the alternate universe (episode 57) to help. However, Tempus has arranged for his inauguration and ex-President Garner is very forthcoming with the US nuclear missile codes.

PART ONE: Another smash from Minear. "Meet John Doe" suffers from having to set the action up for what seems designed from the ground floor as a two-parter with HG Wells in the second part. There are more canny Tempus asides, a hysterical line about the Amish not having phones, and Superman just about angrier than we've ever seen him. The cliffhanger is the best in the series. GRADE: B+

PART TWO: Two good lines and some nifty sets do not an episodic drama make. Ross-Leming and Buckner once again destroy a promising opening, leaving Lois a weak, sobbing bubblehead and the alternate Clark an underdeveloped pseudo-character. "That" Clark is completely identical to our own, from hairstyle to mannerisms and morals, which rather undermines the whole idea that Clark Kent owes everything to Lois. This could have been a powerful exploration into how Superman would act in a world without Lois and where his identity is public knowledge, but instead the producers just go for easy solutions and a high sap quotient without bothering to come up with an interesting story. GRADE: D+

AKA Superman

While Lois and Clark investigate a missing astronaut, a lovestruck Superman fan looks into the possibility that he may have a secret identity and matches Jimmy Olsen as the Man of Steel.

Humorous in some places and stunningly original in others, "AKAS" is a smashing debut from "X Files" scribe Jeffrey Vlaming. The only real annoyance in the episode is a scene in which Penny seduces Jimmy and the music, for the first time in the series, is intrusive and annoying. This script is a real winner, the direction establishes Ginty as one of the program's best, and the guest artistes are all top-notch. GRADE: A

Faster Than a Speeding Vixen (Part 1 of 3)

Superman meets a new hero named Vixen while Lois and Clark meet Leslie Luckabee, the new owner of the Daily Planet. Vixen is actually an amoral being who sees little wrong with vaporizing criminals and Luckabee is actually the son of Lex Luthor...and both have a connection with a misshapen man named Troll who lives under the city. Luckabee and Troll unite to reform LexCorp.

For two consecutive episodes, a small quirk of production is the only negative side to an episode: Troll suffers from the worst makeup job possible. Otherwise the character is outstanding, one of "L&C"s best villains. Every other inch of the production drips quality. The effects and the acting are superb, Vixen is a good effort and Luckabee looks like a lot of fun. Final quibble: again Superman has a powered fight in a deserted alleyway! GRADE: A

Shadow of a Doubt (Part 2 of 3)

Luckabee and Troll cement their evil alliance looking for Luthor's final secret and send an assassin named Hanson to erase all evidence of their involvement with Vixen. Hanson was changed in an accident and now exists as a shadow, and when he learns Troll is lying to him about a cure, he decides to derail Luckabee and Troll's plans by killing Lois. Superman visits Dr. Klein to see about having children and his identity is revealed to Luckabee and Troll on an audio journal Luthor had left behind.

Hanson is another great villain, similar to the old Hawkman foe Shadow Thief, and the effects are wonderful. Taken on its own and with no knowledge of the rest of the series, this episode would probably thrill anybody. However, Luckabee's scheme to drive a wedge between Lois and Clark is way too similar to angst past and the discovery of Superman's identity, again, is now very old. That "cliffhanger" revelation is a total bore, obvious from about halfway into the episode. On the other hand, there's more newspaper stuff than we usually get, and Clark actually seems excited to get an assignment for once. Depicting Lois and Clark as one step ahead of the villains at the end is an unusual and effective climax, only slightly dampened by the "cliffhanger." GRADE: B

Voice from the Past (Part 3 of 3)

In a surprise revelation, Leslie Luckabee tells the world he is Lex Luthor's son and is driven to make up for his father's bad deeds and plans to start by lowering rates on LexCorp's utility companies. However, the real surprise comes below the surface: it is Troll who is actually Lex's son; Luckabee is just an actor. However, both men are driven to possess Lois. Troll puts a neurotransmitter in Lois and forces her to do his bidding and shoots Leslie in the back, but he too meets his end underneath Metropolis near the site of Luthor's death.

A lethally dull and dark wrap-up to the previous two fun and upbeat hours, "Voice" is technically a fine show (Troll's makeup excepted). The regulars put in great work, Cassidy and Brunsmann are excellent and director Grossman once again proves his work. However, the script is a sad rehash of earlier angst. When Lois is forced to tell Clark she wants a divorce, it fails to tug at any heartstrings, rather it feels hackneyed. Troll's love for Lois is even more annoying than that of Scardino, Deter or Melrose Lex, because we've seen it before and the producers should know we never liked it. Troll should never have been revealed as Luthor's son as it damages the character, and he should have never fallen in love with Lois. Been there, done that. GRADE: C-

I've Got You Under My Skin

A criminal on the lam uses psychic powers and an ancient crystal to transfer his soul into Clark Kent's body and get close to a mob boss. Then he learns that he has the body of Superman as well.

The concept is one of the silliest in the series, and Shaun Toub's formerly menacing Asabi suddenly seems more like Apu in "The Simpsons" than the Bond villain bodyguard he was in season one. However, the acting is exceptional, the threats menacing and the direction very inventive. Given that Eugenie Ross-Leming, as a writer, has so far failed to contribute a single sentence not burdened with cliche, this is especially refreshing. At the time of broadcast, Tim Thomerson was known for playing faux superhero The Blur in a series of Baby Ruth ads; this episode solidly proves his range. GRADE: B

Toy Story

A mad toy designer takes revenge on CEOs who have stolen his teleportation prototype by kidnapping their children.

One of the more uneven shows of the season. Shaud, quite surprisingly for this program, comes off wonderfully: manic, psychotic and dangerous. His costumes are excellent as well, a rare triumph for the costume department. On the other hand, you have to wonder how this fruitcake got hired in the first place so he could be fired, much less find the money to finance his killer toys. The Perry subplot, featuring a personal ad, is woeful, and Dean Cain looks visibly bored. Shaud isn't the Toyman as promised, either, as he is never referred to by that name and he isn't Winslow Schott. GRADE: B-

The Family Hour

Clark learns that he cannot have children with an Earthling, so he and Lois divulge the secret identity to Lois's father in the hopes he can help. Sam's partner is targetted for death by a vengeful cult leader named Dr. Mensa who possesses extreme telekinetic powers. Lois and Clark are later awakened by the beginning of a never-resolved cliffhanger: someone who knows Clark's identity and fertility problem has left a baby inside their apartment!

What an utter waste. Possessing all the "all-talk/no-plot" aspects of every Eugenie and Brad script, this is a terrible way to end a series. Harry Anderson looks alternately bored and embarassed in his ridiculous makeup, Dean Cain clearly doesn't want to be there and isn't even trying anymore and Beverly Garland chews every inch of scenery. The cliffhanger is embarassing. Rather than ending on this absurd note that will never be resolved, the network should have cut earlier in the scene (when Clark hears something and Lois asks what it is) rather than given this show such a weak, cop-out ending. GRADE: F