| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | |
| Season 4, Episode 14 | |
 | |
| Air date | March 2, 1997 |
| Written by | Tim Minear |
| Directed by | Jim Pohl |
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This episode, which takes its title from the 1941 film Meet John Doe but parodies The Manchurian Candidate, is the first part of a two-part story arc. Under the new identity of 'John Doe', Tempus is running for President, and only Lois and Clark know the truth about him.
Plot[]
Clark has a recurring dream about Lois being taken away from him by a shadowy figure in a mysterious window. He wakes up to find Lois going through insurance forms, and is further upset when she starts looking into writing up her will.
In the Metropolis asylum for the insane, a timekeeper from the future, Andrus, arrives through a time window to take Tempus back to Utopia for his crimes. To avoid raising questions about his disappearance, Andrus places an automated double of Tempus in his place and escorts him back to the future. Tempus knocks Andrus out and takes control of the window. A homeless man sees Tempus emerge from the time window back into the 20th century.
President Garner is considered a shoo-in for reelection, but Clark can't help but wonder about the new write-in candidate, John Doe, who no one has ever seen.
Tempus breaks into a satellite relay station which is used by every major phone service carrier and installs a mind control device from the 25th century called a subliminator. It was banned shortly after its invention, but Tempus stole one from a museum. He tests it on a security guard, directing him to jump out a window when he calls the police. Superman saves him, but the guard has no memory of why he jumped. Tempus sends a subliminal message across Metropolis: "John Doe is a darn nice guy." Clark comes back from saving the guard to find that John Doe has already jumped up in the polls and everyone is talking about him being "a darn nice guy" despite not knowing anything about him or his campaign platform. Following a tip, he and Lois find John Doe outside the hotel he is staying at, and recognize him as Tempus.
Clark comes face-to-face with Tempus.
They go to the asylum to ask about Tempsus's escape, only to be introduced to his double, while the inmate in the next cell rants about the time window. Lois suggests that John Doe may actually be a present day incarnation of Tempus rather than the future incarnation they usually deal with, but Clark recognizes that the "Tempus" in the cell is a fake. To see if John Doe is really Tempus, they interview him at his hotel. Tempus gives evasive answers about his policies and background and threatens to reveal Superman's identity if they try to expose him.
Andrus finds Tempus. He tries to escape in the time window again, but the authorities have deactivated its code. Andrus tells Tempus that the one he used to get back to the 20th century has been coded so only he can operate it. Tempus summons secret security guards to lock Andrus up and steals the time window.
Tempus wins the election by a landslide, with even Garner voting against himself. Though not yet in office, Garner's administration cooperates with him in tying Superman up in red tape: police let criminals go free, saying Superman's word is not good enough to arrest them; the FAA says he needs a license to fly; the IRS comes after him for tax evasion; and immigration demands he show his green card.
Lois finds out that a homeless man who was shot and killed had been speaking out against John Doe, saying he came through a window. Making the connection with the inmate who was talking about the window, Lois and Clark return to the asylum, and the inmate tells them what happened. Tempus sends Lois a subliminal message to drive her car off a cliff, but Superman rescues her. He confronts Tempus in a rage, but realizes that he can do nothing to harm him without violating his moral code. Tempus affects to hold Lois's continued safety as assurance of Superman's non-interference, but actually plots to eliminate him altogether. He tells his staff to enable Andrus's escape and leaves his time window out in the open.
After escaping, Andrus goes to Clark and Lois's house and asks Superman to help bring Tempus to justice. After they leave, the asylum calls to tell Lois that Tempus broke his double out. She drives to the hotel. Andrus and Superman confront "Tempus" (actually the double) and Superman drags him through the time window. The real Tempus bursts in and touches the time window, making it self-destruct as Andrus warned him. Lois arrives just in time to see it explode with Superman trapped in mid-time travel, lost to eternity. Since Utopia cannot exist without Superman's good works, Andrus disappears from existence, leaving Lois with no apparent way of getting Clark back.
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[]
- Lane Davies as Tempus
- Fred Willard as President Garner
Guest starring[]
- Robert Arce as Barrett
- William Christopher as Andrus
- Richard Cody as Randolph
- Dennis Fimple as Homeless Man
- Robert Gallo as Security Guard
- Mary Amadeo Ingersoll as Suit #3
- Shirley Jordan as Cop
- Cynthia Kania as Suit #2
- Ben L. McCain as TV Anchorman
- Victor Raider-Wexler as Doctor Dussel
- Scott Alan Smith as FAA Inspector
Trivia[]
All else aside, John Doe really is a darn nice guy.