Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Season 2, Episode 6 (30 Oct. 1994): “Operation Blackout”
by Kate Boutilier, Michael W. Watkins

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 6

Title: “Operation Blackout”

Medium: television series episode

Original airdate: 30 Oct. 1994

Publisher:
Written by: Kate Boutilier
Directed by: Michael W. Watkins

6 characters in this story:

Character (Click links for info about character and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)	Religious Affiliation	Team(s) [Notes]	Pub.	# app.
Superman (Clark Kent)	Methodist / Kryptonian religion	Kryptonians; Super Friends...  The Justice League		13,409
Lois Lane	Catholic	Raleigh College [Superman's girlfriend, then wife]		3,859
Jimmy Olsen	Lutheran	The Legion of Super-Heroes [Superman's pal]		1,896
Perry White	Baptist; Elvis worship (ordained)	[Superman's (Clark Kent's) boss; Daily Planet editor]		1,574
Jonathan Kent	Methodist	[Superman's adoptive father]		816
Martha Kent	Methodist	[Superman's adoptive mother]		827

Timecode: 6 minutes, 17 seconds: Clark Kent and Lois Lane walk on a downtown Metropolis sidewalk, heading to the forwarding address Lois obtained for Molly Flynn, the woman who was her best friend in college.

The reason that Lois and Clark are trying to find Molly Flynn has to do with the events from the first scene in this episode. Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen were at the demonstration of a new "killer robot" being unveiled by the U.S. military. The device is meant to replace scores of human soldiers with a single powerful robot on wheels which can aim and shoot enemy targets. The robot seemed to go out of control, however, and it shot at the crowd. Jimmy Olsen was to scared to get any good photos of the robot shooting at people, but in one of his photos Lois Lane sees a face she recognizes: Ryan Wiley.

Ryan Wiley had been engaged to Lois Lane's best friend, Molly Flynn, during college. But Wiley was supposed to be dead. Everybody was told that Wiley died a year ago. Wondering what is going on, and if he might be involved in causing the military robot to go on a murderous rampage, Lois and Clark decide to try to find him. They start by tracking down Molly Flynn.

Clark Kent: Did the military ever say how this guy died?

Lois Lane: Just that it was an accident. There were rumors that it had to do with the Hawkeye Strategic Defense System.

Clark Kent: What's that?

Lois Lane: It's top secret. Molly couldn't talk about it much. But I think it's some sort of killer defense satellite. Whatever it is, Ryan was dead, and that was that.

Clark Kent: But . . . now he's alive.

Lois Lane: It's pretty weird, huh? What am I gonna say to her? Your boyfriend's back, we think he's starting trouble. Hey la, dey la. [Referencing a popular song.]

[Clark sees the address they have come to find, the forwarding address for Molly Flynn. Lois is shocked when she sees the place - a New Age bookstore that sells a variety of religious/spiritual books and paraphernalia. In the bookstore window is a display of books titled Technology Is Killing Us, written by Molly Flynn.]

Lois Lane: Well, this can't be right.

Clark Kent: It's the forwarding address her mailman had for her.

Lois Lane: Molly's a computer engineer. What's she doing running a flaky place like this?

Clark Kent: [looking at the books on display in the window.] Technology Is Killing Us by Molly Flynn.

Lois Lane: What?! When did she start writing this junk?

Clark Kent: Why do I get the feeling that you and Molly aren't exactly on the friends-and-family program.

Lois Lane: So we drifted apart a little. I suppose you've kept in touch with all your college friends?

Clark Kent: Well, yeah.

Lois Lane: Well, sure. I mean, that's easy when you go to Smallville U., with a graduating class of 10 farmers and a cow.

Clark Kent: Just hate losing those arguments, don't you?

[Lois Lane enters the bookstore. We see the sign above the door: Molly's Greenhouse Bookstore. Inside the store we can see that it is very much a New Age bookstore. Incense is burning. Buddhist and other Eastern mystic tradition postesr abound. People are dressesd like hippies who survived into the 1990s migth dress.]

Customer: What is it?

Molly Flynn: [speaking to a customer] You hang them in the corner of your room, and they act as a spiritual air cleaner.

Clark Kent: Is that her?

Lois Lane: Just barely. I can't believe it.

Molly Flynn: [Noticing Lois and Clark, she excuses herself from talking to the customer.] Excuse me. [Walks toward Lois and Clark.] May I help you?

[Lois and Clark just look at each other for a moment. They are speechless. New Age practitioner Molly Flynn is not the kind of person that Clark Kent is accustomed to, and she is not at all the way Lois Lane remembers her.]

Molly Flynn: Lois?

Lois Lane: Molly.

[Lois and Molly both chuckle. Molly embraces Lois.]

Molly Flynn: Come here. You look wonderful!

Lois Lane: Well, you just look so . . . So not yourself.

Molly Flynn: [Chuckles and smiles.] I know. [Gestures to the store as a whole.] So, what do you think?

Lois Lane: Oh, it is, uh, just quite, uh . . .

Clark Kent: Well, you had a word for it out front. I think you said it was--

Lois Lane: Nice. Very nice.

Molly Flynn: Thank you.

[Cut to some time later, as Molly Flynn shows Lois and Clark various New Age items, including healing crystals.]

Molly Flynn: They have incredible healing properties. You can either wear them, or you can meditate with them by placing them on your forehead.

[Lois Lane tries placing a smooth stone on her forehead.]

Lois Lane: Wouldn't it fall off?

Clark Kent: Uh, Lois, you're supposed to do that while you're lying down.

[Molly Flynn chuckles.]

Lois Lane: Oh, well, I knew that. It was just a little New Age humor.

Molly Flynn: [chuckles] Same old Lois. Still can't admit you don't know everything.

Lois Lane: That's not true, is it, Clark?

[Clark can't answer. This is one of his own complaints about Lois Lane. She can't admit that she doesn't know everything. She always has to be the person who knows it all and she has an attitude that suggests that she can't ever by wrong. Lois can see what Clark is thinking when he refuses to agree with her on this, and her face shows she is perturbed. Rather than lie to Lois about how he feels, Clark changes the subject.]

Clark Kent: So Lois tells me that, uh, you used to be a computer engineer.

Molly Flynn: That's right. I gave it up after working on the Hawkeye project. The machine that can kill from space. It made me realize what a horror technology has become.

Lois Lane: Are you serious? Without technology, we'd be in the dark ages.

Molly Flynn: Lois, it's killing us. We have got to release its death grip and free the the human spirit.

Lois Lane: Jeez, I feel like I should yell, "Amen!"

[Clark picks up a book. He is standing next to a book shelf. One of the shelves has a handwritten label on it categorizing the books on the shelf: "Earth Religions." Clark reads the book in his hands at super speed. This is the book that Molly Flynn wrote. Lois Lane and Molly Flynn do not see that Clark is doing this.]

Molly Flynn: Maybe it would help if you read my book, Lois.

Lois Lane: Sure. Do you have it on tape?

Clark Kent: Uh, Molly, I notice that you mention your boyfriend's death on the last page, but you don't go into any detail. Did the army ever tell you what happened?

Molly Flynn: You went to the end of the book first?

Clark Kent: Yeah. I, uh, I read a lot of mysteries. It's a bad habit.

Molly Flynn: Oh. Well, uhm, they said he was installing the trigger system on the satellite when somehow it exploded. They said that the blast was so bad that there weren't even any remains.

Lois Lane: I wonder what they'd say if the knew he as at Fort Truman this morning.

Molly Flynn: What?

Lois Lane: [showing Molly the photo that Jimmy took] This was taken at a weapons demonstration.

[As Lois and Molly talk about the photo of Ryan, they walk by a book shelf on which we see a small golden statue of the Buddha. One of the shelves is labelled "Herbology."]

Molly Flynn: Do you know much about Chinese herbs, Clark?

Clark Kent: Well, actually, when I was in China--

Lois Lane: Molly, could we get back to Ryan?

Molly Flynn: Lois, he's dead. What more do you want?

Lois Lane: A little more than the military's official story would be helpful.

Molly Flynn: That is the only story that I know. [Resuming her attempt to talk to Clark, and change the subject from what Lois is asking her about.] Now, this one is supposed to slow down the aging process by calming the organs of the body. You might consider trying some, Lois.

[Lois Lane looks at Molly without smiling. She clearly realizes that Molly was being catty and insulting her, suggesting that Lois is looking older than she should for her age.]

[Lois and Clark leave the bookstore.]

Clark Kent: You two have a very interesting friendship.

Lois Lane: It's Ryan. He's the only thing we ever argued about. He was a user, and she just couldn't see it.

Clark Kent: Let me guess. You tried helping her see the light, but in her love-struck state, she mistook your sound advice for meddling.

Lois Lane: You think you're so smart. She never used the word "meddle." But I'll tell you this, I was right about him then, and I don't believe her now.

[Molly Flynn walks to the window of her shop, watching Lois and Clark walk away. Ryan Wiley walks up behind her and gently puts his hands on her shoulders. Clearly they are in a relationship, and clearly Molly is well aware that Ryan is alive.]

[Also, note the New Age religious pictures we can see through the window.]

Timecode: 11 minutes, 20 seconds: Lois and Clark enter Lois Lane's apartment. They have continued talking about Molly up to this point.

Lois Lane: I just can't believe that you agree with her.

Clark Kent: I didn't say that. All I said was she's not alone. There are a lot of people who realize that there are drawbacks to technology.

Lois Lane: Really? Well, tell me one technological advancement you would be willling to live without.

Clark Kent: Oh, how about cable television. Oh, wait a minute! You said "advancement," didn't you?

Lois Lane: What is wrong with cable? We're talking about five hundred channels. That opens up a world of possibility.

Clark Kent: Including the possibility that you may never again speak to another human being.

Lois Lane: That is not true. First of all, there will always be an operator on standby someplace. And second, last year I got to know my cable repairman so well that we exchanged Christmas gifts.

Clark Kent: Lois, you're missing the point. Just look at your trip back here. You got money from the ATM. You paid for your gas at the pump. You used a security card to get into your underground parking. And you did not interact with another human being the whole time.

Lois Lane: Sometimes that's a good thing.

Timecode: 17 minutes, 34 seconds: Somebody has caused all of the traffic lights to be stuck on green. Needless to say, this has caused all kinds of traffic problems. This has also endangered the lives of the citizens of Metropolis. Fortunately Superman was on hand to help out and prevent anybody from getting hit by cars while crossing the street. After getting things under control, Superman changes back to Clark Kent and goes to the offices of the Daily Planet.

Clark Kent: Lois, any idea what caused this?

Lois Lane: Uh, sounds like sabotage. The Department of Traffic got an anonymous note saying: "Cars are isolating us from each other. Walk among your fellow man."

Clark Kent: Lois, that is a direct quote from Molly's book. You think--?

Lois Lane: No. No, not Molly. She's an activist, but she's the last person who would do something like this. It's probably some nut who read her book.

[Lois talks to Clark about a story she was writing about the killer robot that the military was demonstrating. Suddenly, her computer goes blank. Perry White emerges from his office, complaining that his computer froze. He picks up a phone to call the newspaper's MIS (Manager of Information Systems). But the phone lines are dead.]

Perry White: Judas priest, the phone lines are dead.

Jimmy Olsen: Chief!

Perry White: I thought I sent you out to get some pictures.

Jimmy Olsen: The guard downstairs found this taped to the lobby door.

[Jimmy hands Perry White the note he retrieved from downstairs. Perry reads it.]

Perry White: The phones in Metropolis are mute. Its computers silenced. We have released the death grip of technology and freed the human spirit." What kind of sophomoric claptrap is this?

Lois Lane: It's exactly the claptrap Molly was ranting about yesterday.

Clark Kent: Looks like Molly's graduated from activist to terrorist.

Lois Lane: I guess. There's nothing Molly couldn't do with a computer system.

Perry White: No, no, now . . . You know who wrote this?

Lois Lane: Well, yeah. Obviously not as well as I thought.

Perry White: Well, what are you two hanging around for? Get on it.

Timecode: 19 minutes, 43 seconds: Cut to the inside of Molly Flynn's New Age book store. Candles are burning. A man in a blue shirt and loosely tied tie sits on the floor and chants. Incense is burning. Two pregnant women sit on the floor near him, chanting quietly with him. A third woman sits behind them in the lotus position. Two other men sit off to the side. The group is listening to soft, faint chanting music on a portable stereo (ghetto blaster) while they chant.

Man in blue shirt: Om ma nee pa nee hen. Om ma nee pa nee hen.

[The door to the shop opens. Clark Kent and Lois Lane enter.]

The look on Clark's face tells us he thinks this is a strange site indeed. Despite Clark's many world travels, he simply doesn't expect to see Buddhist chants and New Age practices right here in Metropolis, practiced by white American people. Clark sort of expects foreigners to practice "foreign" religions and Americans to practice American religions, like the Methodist faith he was raised in while growing up in rural Kansas.

Clark Kent: It sounds like some kind of religious chant.

[Lois Lane leans over to whisper to the non-pregnant woman sitting on the floor.]

Lois Lane: Excuse me. Have you seen Molly?

[The woman continues to stare straight ahead while chanting. Everybody ignores the presence of Lois and Clark. Lois walks over to the man in the blue shirt who appears to be leading the group's chanting session.]

Lois Lane: Excuse me. I'm looking for Molly.

[Lois is ignored while the group continues chanting.]

Lois Lane: [Speaking more loudly.] Excuse me. Has anybody seen Molly?

[Seeing that nobody will answer her, Lois leans down and turns off the portable stereo that was softly playing chanting music. The man in the blue shirt instantly stops chanting, opens his eyes, and looks at Lois.]

Man in blue shirt: [Clearly agitated.] Hey, what are you doing? We're chanting here.

Lois Lane: We were just wondering if anybody had seen Molly Flynn.

Man in blue shirt: No, we haven't!

Lois Lane: Well, who let you in?

Man in blue shirt: We have a key. Okay?

Lois Lane: Um . . . Just what exactly are you chanting for?

Man in blue shirt: Inner peace and brotherhood. Now go away.

[The man pushes play on the portable stereo system. The soft music resumes. The man resumes leading the group's chant. Lois and Clark walk away from the group, heading to the back of the store.]

Clark Kent: He must be new to the group.

[Lois Lane points to a passageway, festooned with hanging beads, that leads from the store proper to a room in back.]

Lois Lane: Clark, there's an apartment.

[Lois and Clark enter the humble apartment in the back of the store. Lois eyes the old refrigerator.]

Lois Lane: Well, I guess anti-technology stops at the refrigerator.

[Lois Lane opens a closet door.]

Lois Lane: All her clothes are gone. Big surprise.

[Clark Kent opens the refrigerator.]

Clark Kent: Nothing much here. Yogurt, tofu, a couple of bottles of Golden Springs beer.

[Upon hearing Clark mention the Golden Springs beer, Lois rushes over to the refrigerator to look. She explains to Clark that this is Ryan's favorite brand of beer. It is something that must be special ordered. It isn't in regular stores. Molly never drinks to. Lois realizes that this means Ryan has been spending considerable time at Molly Flynn's apartment. Lois knows now that Molly was lying about being unaware that Ryan is alive.]

Timecode: 21 minutes, 57 seconds: As Lois and Clark leave the apartment Molly Flynn lived in at the back of her New Age bookstore, Clark's super hearing hears a man crying for help. Clark decides to change into Superman and help the man. He makes up an excuse so he can be separated from Lois Lane.

Clark Kent: I'm gonna stay and talk to the chanters. They might know something.

Lois Lane: See if they know any chants for missing persons.

Timecode: 29 minutes, 8 seconds: The offices of the Daily Planet. Staffers work by lamp light. There is a city-wide blackout.

Lois Lane: Do we know what caused the blackout?

Perry White: Well, we think its your friend. [Referring to Molly Flynn.] The power company got a note that said something about electricity being the evil handmaiden of technology.

Timecode: 29 minutes, 30 seconds:

Andy: Ha, ha! Here's the first copy, Perry! Hot off the press!

Perry White: Andy, good work.

Clark Kent: You just pulled off a miracle, chief.

Perry White: I couldn't have done it alone . . . Andy, you're the best.

Jimmy Olsen: [reacting to the large font size of the headline and the unfamiliar typeface they had to use without computers and electricity to print the newspaper] I don't know. It kind of looks like one of those papers that say stuff like, "I Had Elvis' Alien Love Child."

Perry White: Jimmy, just remember: What looks like a plow hourse may just run like a thoroughbred.

Timecode: 35 minutes, 0 seconds: While infiltrating the Fort Truman military base as part of her investigation, Lois Lane stumbles upon Molly Flynn - who is tied to a chair. They talk and Lois learns that Molly was not actually involved in the acts of terrorism and disruption of phone and electrical lines in Metropolis. Molly did lie about not knowing that her boyfriend Ryan Wiley was alive, but the thought Ryan was hiding from the military after stumbling on military secrets. Molly did not know what Ryan was really planning, and when she learned something, Ryan kidnapped her and tied her up, keeping her prisoner on the military base he took over.

Ryan Wiley, along with base commander Colonal Fane, plan to use the Hawkeye Satellite to blow up Fort Truman, which will kill hundreds of dependents who live on base.

Timecode: 36 minutes, 0 seconds:

Ryan Wiley: I'm using the mobile remote system. You remember that system, don't you, Molly?

Molly Flynn: I'm sorry I ever designed it.

Ryan Wiley: Spoken like a true anti-technology queen.

Lois Lane: No, it's people like you she's against, not technology.

Molly Flynn: Yeah. Actually, I am against technology, Lois.

Lois Lane: Molly, don't be ridiculous.

Molly Flynn: I'm serious.

Lois Lane: We're talking about scientific advancement.

Molly Flynn: If there were--

[They start to argue vociferously. Lois strenuously defends technology and Molly sincerely is against technology. Ryan Wiley interrupts them.]

Ryan Wiley: Ladies, ladies! You only have ten minutes left to live. Don't waste it arguing.

Lois Lane: So, what are you gonna do? Use the satellite to blackmail governments, so you can feel like the big man you never were.

Ryan Wiley: Oo. We are getting catty. But you're right. All in the name of the great anti-technology author, Molly Flynn.

The process of listing characters who appeared in this source is not yet complete. Webpage for Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 6 (30 Oct. 1994) created 15 January 2008. Last modified 11 June 2014.

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