- Title: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – Strange Visitor (From Another Planet)
- tv.com: link
With a new Superman in now in theaters every now and then I’ll continue to take a look back at the hero’s more memorable moments on both the big and small screen. Much of the First Season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman centered around the various machinations of Lex Luthor (John Shea), but there were a pair of episodes that presented the Man of Steel with a completely different kind of adversary. “Strange Visitor (From Another Planet)” begins with shadowy government agent Jason Trask (Terence Knox) taking over the newsroom of the Daily Planet and hooking both Lois (Teri Hatcher) and Clark (Dean Cain) up to lie detectors in hopes of finding out more about the “alien menace” of Superman.
Investigating the man who no legitimate agency will claim leads Lois and Clark to uncover the existence of Bureau 39 and the secret warehouse filled with all the government’s knowledge on UFOs, unexplained events, and even a small spaceship that landed in Smallville a little more than two decades ago. Believing that Superman is nothing more than the first of an alien invasion, the out of control Trask, who even kills his boss (Joseph Campanella) to further his plans, kidnaps both Lois and Clark and throws them out of a plane in hopes of drawing out Superman.
When Trask is unable to kill Superman he flees, but that won’t be the last we hear from him (more below). The episode is also memorable for the idea of Jimmy (Michael Landes) dating Lois’ sister Lucy (Elizabeth Barondes), sadly Lucy would be quickly written out of the show leaving the prospect of an Olson and Lane romance in the dust. This episode also gives us the first mention of Lois Lane’s romance novel, which we’ll see much more of a revised Clark-centric version later in the series when Lois actually becomes Wanda Detroit. And “Strange Visitor (From Another Planet)” also allows Clark to get a view of the spaceship that sent him to Earth and, when Lois isn’t looking, pocket a small glowing orb that will fill in pieces to Kal-El’s past later down the line as well.
- Title: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – The Green, Green Glow of Home
- tv.com: link
When a neighbor of Martha (K Callan) and Jonathan Kent (Eddie Jones) goes missing after discovering an unusual meteorite and tight-lipped government agents from the EPA begin digging up his farmland, Lois (Teri Hatcher) and Clark (Dean Cain) head to Smallville to investigate. The more they uncover the less they believe the cover story that Wayne Irig (Jerry Hardin) left his home voluntarily and that the agents are searching evidence of pesticides the farmer used for decades. What they are really after is the meteorite Jonathan secretly shows to Clark that give Superman the first cold in his life and drains him of his powers which only slowly return over the next day.
Doing his best to hide the existence of the rock and Superman’s connection to Smallville from Lois, Clark soaks in the Kansas atmosphere and eventually gets the big city girl to let down her hair and do the same. We’re also introduced to Clark Kent’s prom date (Joleen Lutz), now the Smallville Sheriff who isn’t a big fan of Lois Lane. The episode officially introduces Lois to Martha and Jonathan for the first time (in an amusing manner in which Lois speculates the Jonathan may be a crossdresser). And, just as important, the episode introduces Kryptonite (which will be named by Lois and Clark in the episode’s final scene).
Eventually Clark’s powers return in time for Superman to save his parents from Trask, destroy the meteorite, and successfully hide most of the truth from Lois whose Daily Planet cover story tells of a deranged former government agent thinking a reporter was an alien from another planet and seeking a meteorite that doesn’t exist. Trask is killed by the episode’s end, as will be the case over the course of the series those learning Superman’s secret identity usually don’t have much time left in this world.
This pair of episodes introduce several key concepts which will be later developed and explored over the course of the series. We get our first mention of the planet Krypton, Lois and Clark’s first kiss, the first appearance of Kryptonite, and Lois finally meeting Clark’s parents (and her eventual in-laws). The episode also introduces the idea the Lex Luthor isn’t the only one who is distrustful of Superman’s arrival on Earth and even the U.S. Government has factions who would like to see the Man of Steel taken down.
