| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | |
| Season 3, Episode 2 | |
 | |
| Air date | September 24, 1995 |
| Written by | Eugenie Ross-Leming Brad Buckner |
| Directed by | Michael W. Watkins |
| Episode Guide | |
| ← previous We Have a Lot to Talk About |
next → Contact |
On Perry's insistence, Lois and Clark take time out on an island resort to work on their relationship, but their attempts to relax are hampered by Spencer Spencer, owner of the resort, who is determined to steal Superman's body to replace his own deformed one.
Plot[]
After Lois writes an expose linking Spencer Spencer, publisher of the lifestyle magazine Love Fortress (thinly veiled fictionalized versions of Hugh Hefner and Playboy), to organized crime, her police source tips her off that four headless bodies were discovered in a shallow grave, all four identified as people who were last seen in the Love Fortress mansion. Ever since his body was grotesquely disfigured, Spencer has been gone into seclusion in a refurbished fallout shelter and hides his body from his personal attendants by enclosing it within a motorized wheelchair. He has employed scientist Dr. Pescado to develop a procedure to transplant his head onto a new body - specifically, Superman's.
Now that Lois knows his secret identity, Clark has been using his powers to fetch her gifts from far-off locales. Lois is put off by both these gestures and Clark's continuing habit of running off mid-conversation to save people as Superman; she tells Clark that she gave up her crush on Superman (in the episode "Whine, Whine, Whine") because he is a fantasy, and she realized that she wants to live an ordinary life with an ordinary man. Clark in turn derides Lois for her declining Perry White's offer of a remote island getaway, saying that she is a workaholic because she is afraid to live an ordinary life and spend a romantic vacation with him. Lois and Clark agree to a dare: if Lois goes with him on the vacation, he will not use his powers or Superman guise the entire trip.
The boat hired to bring Lois and Clark to the island resort instead drops them off on a deserted stretch of beach. Clark refuses to fly over the island and see where the hotel is because doing so would violate the terms of their dare. Lois becomes increasingly frustrated at his stoicism, yearning for the comforts of civilization.
Unknown to Lois and Clark, Spencer paid the boatman to bring them to his island hideout, planning to use the two of them as bait for Superman. To further encourage them to call to Superman for help, he releases a feral tiger into the area. Since Lois is napping, Clark uses Heat Vision to make the sand in front of the tiger painfully hot, discouraging the tiger from coming any closer while leaving Lois unaware that he broke the dare. Spencer also has his men contaminate the water supply, but Clark spots the danger with enhanced vision and surreptitiously breaks open a rock formation in order to tap a natural spring for them to drink from. Lois and Clark begin to bond over the wild camping experience, discussing the prospects of getting married and starting a family, teaching each other wilderness survival skills, and kissing.
Impatient at Lois and Clark's disinterest in calling for help, Spencer has armed men bring them to his underground compound. They inject Lois with a lethal toxin before bringing her to Spencer, holding the antidote as a bargaining chip to ensure Clark's cooperation. Spencer explains his body transplant plan to Lois, and she realizes the headless bodies were a result of experimentation to develop the procedure. When a guard tells Clark that Spencer wants Superman, he reveals his secret identity to Spencer in order to save Lois. Spencer is skeptical but has a piece of green kryptonite brought in, which confirms Clark is Superman when he reacts to it.
Spencer has Lois returned to her cell and Dr. Pescado prepare for surgery. Lois notices that Clark burnt the lock on the cell earlier with heat vision, and slips out. She knocks out Pescado's nurse Heidi and dons her scrubs to infiltrate the operating theater, where Pescado has used the kryptonite to soften Superman's skin so that he can remove his head. Lois grabs the kryptonite and runs away with it. Pescado attempts to proceed with the surgery, but the removal of the kryptonite has allowed Clark to recover enough to fight free. Heidi tries to freeze Clark with the gaseous nitrogen they kept on hand to preserve his body, but he uses Super Breath to blow it back, freezing Spencer, Pescado, and Heidi. The guards fire at Clark, but their bullets ricochet off his steel skin and shatter the frozen villains.
Now tired of the vacation, Lois persuades Clark to fly her home. After writing up her story about their abduction by Spencer Spencer, Lois comes to the realization that although it can be overwhelming at times, she can be happy with the "Superman" side of Clark as well as his ordinary side.
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
Guest starring[]
- David Leisure as Spencer Spencer
- Carlos Lacamara as Dr. Pescado
- Vincent Guastaferro as Belzer
Trivia[]
- This is the last episode where Lois has her original haircut from Seasons 1 and 2.
Quotes[]
Dr. Pescado: "I know that only a few specimens exist. How can you get it?"
Spencer Spencer: "I'm getting a body transplant! You think I can't pull off a piece of kryptonite?"
Clark: "No scooping, no flying."
Lois: "You have been scooping and flying - on a fairly regular basis - ever since I have known you, and now - now that we are surrounded by crazed insects and murderous plants - now you think would be a bad time!"
Clark: "Lois, you challenged me to let the world get along without me for a weekend. Me and the world, we seem to be doing just fine. You, on the other hand, are a wreck."
Clark: "I don't know how I feel about you. There is no one way. I feel so many things, and all at once. Happy... kinda scared, too. Excited. Calm. Lost. Found. I feel safe in a way that I've never known, but... in danger, too. This... thing between us, whatever it is... it's stronger than me. Being with you is stronger than me alone."