| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | |
| Season 1, Episode 15 | |
 | |
| Air date | January 23, 1994 |
| Written by | Thania St. John |
| Directed by | Michael W. Watkins |
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A magician uses his skills to kidnap children and ransom them. Lois and Clark try and track down the magician, but when Superman confronts the kidnapper, he is hypnotized into thinking that "Wrong is right."
Plot[]
There has been a series of kidnappings of children from wealthy families. The kids are always safely returned after the parents pay huge ransoms, but have no memory of their captivity. The Daily Planet staff can't get the high profile parents to talk because they don't want their children hit by the publicity. However, Rose Collins, the mother of latest kidnapping victim Nicky Collins, approaches Lois and Clark because she lacks the money to pay the ransom. She is a housekeeper for wealthy architect Mark Moskell, and Nicky often plays with Moskell's son Chris, so the kidnapper clearly took the wrong child. She implores Lois and Clark to say something in their coverage to let the kidnapper know he made a mistake.
Lois and Clark question Chris about the kidnapping. He tells them he and Nicky found a magic box with a moon and stars painted on it; Nicky climbed in the box and vanished. The Moskell parents return early from a safari and politely but sternly object to Lois and Clark getting involved, saying they intend to pay the ransom in full and are not concerned with finding the kidnapper to stop him from doing the same to more kids.
Cat Grant meets Arthur Chou, the second richest man in the world, through their being on the same charity committee, and decides to seduce him. Since Chou is known for being very conservative, Cat adopts a much more modest style of dress than her norm. However, her efforts prove to be naught, as Chou marries an exotic dancer.
Lois and Clark attend a magic show hosted by Cat's committee, thinking the magic box might mean the culprit is a magician. One of the acts at the show, illusionist Darren Romick and his assistant Constance, uses a curtain with a moon and stars design, raising Lois and Clark's suspicions. Romick is uncooperative when they try to question him.
Perry White and Jimmy Olsen also attend the magic show, and Perry becomes a volunteer for a hypnotism act. Tired of Perry shooting down all his ideas, Jimmy has the hypnotist program Perry to tell Jimmy he's brilliant every time Jimmy says the word "chief". Clark is outraged, telling Jimmy this is an unethical way of advancing his career. Jimmy is undeterred.
Lois and Jimmy, and separately Superman, follow Mark Moskell when he goes to deliver the ransom. Nicky appears. Superman tries to fly him to safety, but Nicky is just a hologram. Superman searches a nearby car, where he finds the masked kidnapper. The kidnapper hypnotizes him so that whenever he hears the words "the moon and the stars" he will follow the kidnapper's orders and wrong will seem to be right.
Constance summons Lois for a confidential interview and tells her Darren Romick recently got a huge infusion of cash. Meanwhile, Clark interviews Dr. Andre Novak, who de-programs Perry and confirms that the kidnapped children were hypnotized to forget their abductions, remembering only the image of the moon and stars. These words trigger the hypnotic suggestion, causing Clark to change into Superman and walk through the streets knocking down parking meters, repeatedly stating "Wrong is right." Even Lois is unable to snap him out of it.
Lois and Clark meet up at one of Romick's performances. Romick goads Lois into being a volunteer for an illusion. He makes her disappear from the stage, falling down a tunnel into a hidden room where she is hypnotized by a video tape. Clark uses x-ray vision to locate Lois, then changes to Superman, breaks into the room, and smashes the projecting television set. He and Lois also find Nicky and the corpse of Dr. Novak in the room. They confront Romick, but Constance tells them that she was behind everything; Romick murdered Novak under her hypnotic influence. Since Superman, Lois, Romick, and Nicky have all been previously hypnotized by her, she puts them all under her command by simply saying "the moon and stars". She instructs Romick to jump from a fatal height, Lois to drown herself in a water tank, and Superman to throw the satellite broadcast switch that will activate her new hypnotic cable channel.
Halfway to the satellite, Superman fights off the hypnotic suggestion. He returns to catch Romick, rescue Nicky, and pull Lois out of the tank. He pursues Constance into a hall of mirrors and fools her with a reflection to capture her.
The whole experience has failed to raise any respect for magic from Lois, who insists that anything and everything can be explained. Clark gives it one last shot, by telling her to close her eyes for three seconds, during which he uses his super speed to buy and bring her a bouquet of roses.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman
- Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane
- Lane Smith as Perry White
- Tracy Scoggins as Cat Grant
- Michael Landes as Jimmy Olsen
- K Callan as Martha Kent
- Eddie Jones as Jonathan Kent
- John Shea as Lex Luthor (opening credits only)
Guest starring[]
- Penn Jillette as Darren Romick
- Marietta DePrima as Constance
- Ben Vereen as Dr. Andre Novak
- Eve Plumb as Rose Collins
- Jarrett Lennon as Nicky Collins
- Stephen Burleigh as Mark Moskell
- Adrienne Hampton as Mrs. Moskal
- Christopher Miranda as Chris Moskell
Quotes[]
Lois: "All this because no one wanted to see you pull a rabbit out of a hat?"