| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | |
| Season 2, Episode 18 | |
 | |
| Air date | March 26, 1995 |
| Written by | Jack Weinstein Lee Hutson |
| Directed by | James Bagdonas |
| Episode Guide | |
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Lois and Clark are brought back to the past by H. G. Wells in an attempt to stop a citizen of a future utopia from killing the infant Superman.
This episode is the first appearance of Tempus. He returns in the third season episode "Tempus Anyone?".
Plot[]
A man wearing late 19th century clothing approaches Lois and Clark at The Daily Planet, introduces himself as H. G. Wells, and says he has come from the future. Lois and Clark naturally take him for a kook, but he gets Clark's attention by whispering that he knows he is Superman. Wells tells them that in order to prove to his colleagues that his time machine works, he brought a man named Tempus from the 22nd century, by which time the world has become so peaceful and crime-free that he expects Tempus would be traumatized if he witnessed the "savagery" of the 1990s. This Utopia was founded by Superman's descendants with the values and principles that Superman lived by. The time machine uses gold as fuel, and Wells needs Lois and Clark to get him more.
However, Tempus has wandered away from Wells's time machine and become enamored with the 20th century's muggings and guns, denouncing Utopia as unbearably dull by comparison. He robs a gun store, taking a semi-automatic handgun, ammunition, and gold chains. While Clark runs off to check out the robbery as Superman, Tempus returns to the time machine and orders Wells at gunpoint to take him back to 1966 Smallville using the gold chains for fuel. He plans to kill Superman as a baby, thereby ensuring Utopia will never exist. Wells surreptitiously leaves the plans for his time machine behind and sets the controls to 1866 instead of 1966.
Superman and Lois build a second time machine using the plans. Superman then leaves to change to Clark, claiming Superman had to deal with a volcano in China and left stopping Tempus to him and Lois. They travel to 1966 Smallville. Seeing an enactment of the "Great Smallville Bank Robbery" with lookalikes of Tempus and Wells, Lois and Clark realize Tempus went to 1866 and needed more gold for fuel. They head to 1866, but Clark is distracted by an attack on Jonathan Kent's ancestors by the James-Younger Gang, leaving Lois to confront Tempus alone.
Lois asks Tempus why, if his goal is to kill Superman, he would go to Smallville. Tempus reveals to her that Clark is Superman, says she is "the most galactically stupid woman who ever lived" for not having figured it out, and heads to 1966 with Wells. When Clark shows up, Lois slaps him in outrage at his secret identity. Clark explains to her why he used the secret identity and tries to get her to understand how difficult it was for him, but she remains indignant.
Tempus takes the infant Clark from his spaceship along with the Green Kryptonite pieces in its wake. Finding the infant gone, Clark and Lois visit the Kent household and get a lead on where Tempus and Wells went.
Lois apologizes to Clark for being so hard on him over his secret identity. Clark is becoming sickly and weak, and Lois realizes Tempus's actions are erasing him from existence. She finds Tempus with the infant Clark and attacks him with a branch. Tempus temporarily gets the upper hand, but Clark forces a puff of Super Breath to knock him off-balance, and Lois subdues him with karate. She then takes the infant away from the kryptonite and unties Wells.
Clark returns the infant to the spaceship so that the Kents can find him, and rockets through the sky to become the "meteor" which attracted the Kents to his location. While he is away, Wells assures Lois that Tempus's "galactically stupid" comment was misplaced. He takes Tempus back to 1866, where Tempus's rantings about time machines lead him to be thrown into an asylum. He drops Lois and Clark off back before he first met them so that they will have no memories of their encounter, ensuring that history will not be changed by Lois learning Clark's secret identity early. Forewarned of this, Lois writes "Clark is Superman" on a note for herself, but after they return Clark spots it before her and tears it up. Wells observes the scene and chuckles.
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 roles[]
- Lane Davies as Tempus
- Terry Kiser as H. G. Wells
Guest starring[]
- Robert Costanzo as the gun store owner
- Don Swayze as Jesse James
- Joshua Devane as Frank James
Co-starring[]
- Adam Grupper as Man in Alley
Quotes[]
Clark: "So what'd you get him?"
Lois: "Checked suspenders."
Clark: "Didn't you get him those last year?"
Lois: "Yeah? He liked them, didn't he?"
Tempus: "Well, this is a special pleasure, Ms. Lane. I'm Tempus. I'm from the future that you and Superman created."
Lois: "Me and Superman?"
Tempus: "A world of peace. A world with no greed or crime. A world so boring you'd blow your brains out, but there are no guns!"
Tempus: "I'm going to kill Superman, of course."
Lois: "Nobody can kill Superman."
Tempus: "Unless you could get hold of him when he was a helpless little baby. Gee, if only I had a time machine!"
Clark: "You think it was easy for me, sitting there watching you swoon over Superman, at the same time ignoring me?"
Lois: "That's ridiculous. You are Superman!"
Clark: "No, Lois. Superman is what I can do. Clark is who I am."