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Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995): “Whine, Whine, Whine”
by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara, Michael W. Watkins

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21

Title: “Whine, Whine, Whine”

Medium: television series episode

Original airdate: 14 May 1995

Publisher: ABC
Written by: Kathy McCormick, John McNamara
Directed by: Michael W. Watkins


7 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 Superman (Clark Kent) hero
CBR Scale: S Methodist / Kryptonian religion
Kryptonians; Super Friends...  DC 13,409
Lois Lane Lois Lane supporting character
CBR Scale: I Catholic
Raleigh College
[Superman's girlfriend, then wife]
DC 3,859
Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen supporting character hero
CBR Scale: I Lutheran
The Legion of Super-Heroes
[Superman's pal]
DC 1,896
Perry White Perry White supporting character clergy/religious leader
CBR Scale: S Baptist; Elvis worship (ordained)
[Superman's (Clark Kent's) boss; Daily Planet editor] DC 1,574
Jonathan Kent Jonathan Kent supporting character
CBR Scale: S Methodist
[Superman's adoptive father] DC 816
Martha Kent Martha Kent supporting character
CBR Scale: S Methodist
[Superman's adoptive mother] DC 827
Agent Dan Scardino supporting character
CBR Scale: A Jehovah's Witnesses
[briefly dated Lois Lane] Warner Brothers ABC, etc. 3

Timecode: 0 minutes, 0 seconds: Outdoor carnival being held right outside the Daily Planet building during the daytime. A poster identifies the scene as the "Daily Planet Carnival." The newspaper that Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Clark Kent and Perry White work for is sponsoring a carnival event for charity. Jimmy Olsen stands at the entrance to a fortune teller tent, acting as a barker, encouraging people to have their fortunes told. Lois Lane and Clark Kent, nibbling on cotton candy, approach.

BELOW: Acting as a barker, Jimmy Olsen ushers carnival-goers into see psychic fortune teller 'Madame Malovsky.':

Acting as a barker, Jimmy Olsen ushers carnival-goers into see psychic fortune teller 'Madame Malovsky.' larger larger larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Jimmy Olsen: Step right up. Step right up, folks. Step right up and have your futures told by Madame Malovsky. She knows all,she sees all and she tells all.

Lois Lane: How much of my dollar's going to charity?

Jimmy Olsen: A hundred percent. One hundred pennies of your dollar will go to charity. See your destiny with Madame Malovsky.

Lois Lane: Okay, I'm sold.

[Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent both laugh. Perry White's voice can be heard from within the fortune teller's tent.]

Perry White: Lois, is that you?

[Perry White emerges from the tent, dressed as the fortune teller "Madame Malovsky." He has a fortune teller's "psychic" turban on his head, along with a wig of long brown hair. His face is made up and he wears a garish Gypsy-style costume.]

Perry White: Honey, I need some help. I cannot keep these fingernails on. How in thunder you women put up with all of this is beyond me.

[Perry White nabs a passing carnival-goer and ushers the man into his fortune teller tent. Then he asks Lois to come into the tent too, to help him with his fingernails.]

Perry White: Come on, Lois.

[Lois Lane chuckles at seeing Perry's antics and funny attire. She starts to follow Perry into the tent. Before she enters, she turns to talk to Clark.]

Lois Lane: You'll be right here when I get back? You're not gonna have some sudden urge to buy a video or put money in the parking meter or get yourself new shoelaces?

[Perry emerges from the tent again, grabbing Lois gently by the shoulders while speaking in his drag "Madame Malovsky" voice.]

Perry White: Lois, I'm about to lose a customer.

[Perry pulls the smiling Lois into the tent. Jimmy takes Clark aside and speaks to him privately, no longer using his "carnival barker" voice.]

Jimmy Olsen: Is this your idea of a date? Do you think Scardino takes her to silly street fairs, buys her cotton candy?

Clark Kent: Jimmy, I don't care what Scardino does.

[Agent Scardino, wearing casual attire, walks up.]

Agent Scardino: Oh? Hi, guys. Lois around?

Clark Kent: Yeah, and she's, uh, with me.

Agent Scardino: Yeah?

Clark Kent: Yeah.

Agent Scardino: Like, a date?

Clark Kent: Yeah. Like a date. You know, where she and I are together for a period of time, as a couple. You know, she is with me and I am with her.

[The voice of a man in distress can be heard. Across the street, Clark Kent, Agent Scardino and Jimmy Olsen see a technician struggling to hold onto a massive speaker which towers above a stage. A musician warms up on the stage, strumming an electric guitar. The speaker is tipping, almost out of the technician's grasp. The speaker will certainly fall. If it lands on the guitarist (whose name is Calvin Dregg), it will probably kill him. Clark Kent dashes off, changes into Superman, and flies at super-speed to rush the guitarist out of harm's way before the speaker can land on him.]

[After saving the guitarist, the man proclaims that his wrist has been broken. He insists that Superman take him to the hospital. Superman does so. Lois Lane emerges from the fortune telling tent in time to see Superman save the guitarist. As she looks around after the rescue, Lois is disappointed to learn that Clark Kent has disappeared once again. Agent Scardino is there, however, and the two spend the afternoon together at the fair. Much of this episode focuses on Lois Lane trying to resolve her feelings and choose between three men: Agent Scardino, Clark Kent, and Superman.]

Timecode: 3 minutes, 26 seconds: Lois Lane spends time with Agent Scardino (a man she has been on many dates with) at the carnival. She is visibly still angry at Clark for disappearing without explanation, but she defends him to Clark's romantic rival, the rather critical Scardino.

Lois Lane: He probably had a good reason.

Agent Scardino: Yeah, sure he did. He probably had to go buy some pies. I'm sorry, Lois. The guy ust brings it out in me. Yeah, I don't understand what you see in him.

Lois Lane: He's nice and he's kind and he's patient.

Agent Scardino: Oh, I thought you were mad at him.

Lois Lane: I'm mad at both of you.

Agent Scardino: Me? Why me?

Lois Lane: Because you deliberately horned in on my date with Clark and you tried to make him look bad.

Agent Scardino: I didn't have to try very hard.

Lois Lane: And because you think gifts solve everything. And because you won't talk to me about your work.

Agent Scardino: Woa, woa, Lois. You know that's not personal. But I'm here. I'm here because I wanna be with you, whenever I can. Now, can you say that about Clark Kent? I mean, he's the one you had a date with. Where's he?

Timecode: 4 minutes, 8 seconds: Cut to the outside of the emergency room of a nearby hospital. Calvin, the guitarist saved earlier by Superman, has his arm in a sling. He rants and raves. He is obviously a very unpleasant man. The episode's title "Whine, whine, whine" refers principally to Calvin. Although not a typical "super-villain" or evil scientist, Calvin emerges as this episode's principle villain or antagonist character. Central to this episode's plot is Calvin suing Superman for damaging his wrist while saving his life.

Calvin Dregg: I'm a musician! I'm an artist! I need both my hands. What would Jimi Hendrix have been with one hand? I'll tell you what, he'd have been nobody! He'd have been nothing! He'd have been--

[Calvin's wife Elise tries to calm him down.]

Elise Carr: He'd have been alive! You're alive, Calvin, and you're gonna be fine.

BELOW: Calvin Dregg (the man who sues Superman) cruelly berates his long-suffering wife, Elise:

Calvin Dregg (the man who sues Superman) cruelly berates his long-suffering wife, Elise larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Calvin Dregg: You don't understand anything! Your a waitress, for God's sake. You serve slabs of dead cow to fat businessmen. You wouldn't know art if it jumped up and bit your kneecap.

[Superman stands a few feet away, listening to Calvin cruely berate his wife. Superman can't help but to interject. Arms crossed, speaking sternly, he approaches Calvin.]

Superman: You know, people whoh love each other are supposesd to be kind to each other.

Calvin Dregg: What are you, a greeting card on steroids? [mocklingly] You fly around butting your nose in other people's business. Who asked you?

Superman: Listen, I've never beensorry that I've saved anyone's life before, Mr. Dregg. I'd hate to start now.

Calvin Dregg: Why are you still here? What are you waiting for, gratitude? You ruined my life!

[Elise covers her face with her hands, feeling great shame in Calvin's behavior.]

Superman: It will heal.

Elise Carr: [to Superman] Please go. He won't calm down unless you go. Really, I'll be fine. [sincerely, gratefully] And, thank you.

[Superman nods yes to her. It is obvious that Elise is a kind, sweet person and that Calvin Dregg is a horrible human being, literally the "dregs of humanity." Superman flies away.]

Calvin Dregg: [looking skyward, shouting at Superman] You ruined my life!

[Elise shakes her head in shock and disgust at the behavior of the man she loves. End of scene.]

Timecode: 5 minutes, 53 seconds: Lois Lane is pacing in the office of psychiatrist Dr. Friskin, there for a session. Despite Lois Lane's frequently exhibited disdain for psychiatrists and psychology in general, she has so many problems in her emotional/romantic life that she has returned to Dr. Friskin. (Dr. Frisken was introduced in the previous episode as a temporary therapist for the red kryptonite-affected Superman.) Lois Lane is answering the question: What does she want. Specifically: What does she want in a man.

Lois Lane: I just want one man. One whole man. Is that too much to ask for? And what do I have to choose from? I've got one man who's really wonderful, but disappears when I try and talk to him. [Referring to Clark Kent.] And one guy who's really exciting to be with, only he won't talk to me about his work. What do people talk about if they don't talk about what they did all day? [Referring to Agent Scardino.] And one guy who is out of this world, literally. [Referring to Superman.]

Dr. Friskin: I thought you'd given up the Superman fantasy.

Lois Lane: Well, my head has, but, you know, my heart is just conflicted.

Dr. Friskin: So it would seem.

Lois Lane: Could we just go over my options?

Dr. Friskin: Well, your current options are one wonderful guy who's apparently afraid of commitment. One exciting guy who, uh, wants to control the conversation. And one super-hero who is apparently unattainable. [pause] Or it could be that none of them is right for you.

Lois Lane: You know, you just seem to have this annoying little habit of repeating back to me everything that I just said.

Dr. Friskin: Sometimes we can't hear what we're saying unless somebody reflects it back.

Lois Lane: They make me really mad!

Dr. Friskin: And what do you think you might wanna do about that?

[Lois Lane pauses, not sure how to answer. Then she decides what to do, at least at this moment. She lets out a loud, primal scream. End of scene.]

Timecode: 7 minutes, 28 seconds: Lois Lane is working at her desk at the Daily Planet. Clark Kent tries bringing her coffee and tries talking to her, but Lois starts out ignoring him, giving him the silent treatment, pretending he isn't there. When Lois finally acknowledges Clark's presence, she chides him for his many lame excuses and unexplained disappearances. Clark leaves her alone for now, realizing she is in no mood to listen to anything he has to say.

Timecode: 8 minutes, 14 seconds: Calvin Dregg lazily watches TV. His wife Elise has been doting on him, but now she needs to go to work. She is dressed in her waitress outfit. She sweetly kisses him and starts to leave, but he complains. He whines, asking what he'll do if he needs to write something down or open a can of beer, etc. He is focused entirely on himself and his injury. Finally, while apologizing profusely and trying to console him, she leaves for work. Calvin here is obviously a cruel, self-centered person. After Elise leaves, Calvin sits down to continue watching TV. He sees an advertisement by Barry Barker, an oily trial attorney who promises to sue anybody for anything. Calvin decides to call the attorney and sue Superman.

Timecode: 9 minutes, 9 seconds: Calvin Dregg meets with attorney Barry Barker in his law office. Barker is clearly a weasely lawyer with no sense of decency or morality.

Barry Barker: Superman? Superman? Finally, I'll be famous. Finally, I'll get respect. Finally, women will sense my power. [laughs happily]

Calvin Dregg: Excuse me! This is about me!

Barry Barker: Of course it is, my boy, I know. I never lose sight of the true objective. I'll take your case, and it won't cost you a cent. I'll be working entirely on contingency. Forty percent of the settlement when we win.

Calvin Dregg: Forty percent?

Timecode: 10 minutes, 5 seconds: Barry Barker threatens to push his mother out the window of a skyscaper window, thus getting her to scream and attract Superman's attention. When Superman arrives on the scene, Barry Barker serves him with a subpoena.

Timecode: 11 minutes, 4 seconds: Street-level informant Bobby Big Mouth is eating Chinese take-out foot while talking to Lois Lane on a pay phone. Lois is in her apartment. Bobby Big Mouth is at a pay phone outside a Chinese take-out joint in a seemy, crime-ridden section of Metropolis.

Bobby Big Mouth: Oo, oo. Slippery shrimp. Now, I love slippery shrimp. Nirvana.

Lois Lane: What?

[Lois Lane has heard that word before recently (in the previous episode), in the course of her investigation into current Intergang activity. At first it sounds like Bobby Big Mouth is saying "Nirvana" as a way to describe how much he loves eating the shrimp. But as he continues speaking, it clear that he is referring to the word as a code name for a secret project that Lois asked him to ask around about.]

Bobby Big Mouth: It's what you asked for. It's a code name. "Project Nirvana." Hey, Lois, are you sure your boyfriend, Scardino, is with the DEA?

Lois Lane: He's not my boyfriend.

Bobby Big Mouth: Al right, all right, it's a figure of speech. According to what I'm hearing on the street, he's not DEA. He's FDA.

Lois Lane: What?

Bobby Big Mouth: Food and Drug Administration, Lois. He's one of those guys that can say yes or no to companies that wanna market new drugs.

Lois Lane: Well, you must have the wrong Scardino.

Bobby Big Mouth: All right. All right. If you say so.

Lois Lane: Well, so what else did you get?

Bobby Big Mouth: Project Nirvana's got something to do with Intergang. I don't know what. And I'm not sticking my neck in that noose, and you didn't hear it from me, and that's all I know. Hey, and you know what else? We're even.

BELOW: Food-obsessed Bobby Big Mouth tells Lois Lane about Intergang's Project Nirvana (named after the Buddhist religious concept):

Food-obsessed Bobby Big Mouth tells Lois Lane about Intergang's Project Nirvana (named after the Buddhist religious concept) larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Lois Lane: Bobby?

Bobby Big Mouth: Great dumplings, Lois. [hangs up]

[Note how Bobby Big Mouth is constantly eating during this scene. In fact, he is constantly eating during nearly ever scene in which he appears in this series.]

Lois Lane: Bobby? [hears dial tone, and sighs]

[A knock at the door is heard. Lois answers the door. It is Agent Daniel Scardino.]

Timecode: 12 minutes, 54 seconds: Agent Scardino has been talking with Lois Lane in her apartment.. He gets a page and stands up to go to the phone so he can make a call. Lois tries mentioning the word she heard, thinking that maybe his current work has something to do with the Intergang case she is investigating. When Lois says "Nirvana", she ties it into what they have been talking about. But, really, she is interested in seeing Scardino's reaction to the word. She sees in his startled reaction a clue that tells her he is indeed working on something that has to do with Project Nirvana.

BELOW: Lois Lane cites religious and Utopian concepts of the perfect life: Nirvana, Utopia, Camelot, Eden:

Lois Lane cites religious and Utopian concepts of the perfect life: Nirvana, Utopia, Camelot, Eden larger larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Agent Scardino: I think-- I think you're looking for something that doesn't exist, Lois. The perfect man, the perfect relationship, the perfect life.

[Agent Scardino stands up so he can go to the phone to call the number he just saw on his pager.]

Agent Scardino: Excuse me for a minute, this won't take a second.

Lois Lane: Nirvana?

Agent Scardino: [startled to hear Lois say this word] What?

Lois Lane: The perfect life. Nirvana, Utopia, Camelot, Eden?

[As Lois Lane mentions other concepts for "the perfect life," Agent Scardino is relieved. Lois has covered herself. She has made it seem like she is talking about Nirvana, the religious concept, instead of "Project Nirvana," the Intergang project. Scardino thinks that her use of the word is just a coincidence and he relaxes.]

Agent Scardino: Yeah. Those places dont' exist, Lois. The real world is what we have to deal with.

[Superman appears floating in the window behind Agent Scardino. Lois Lane's eyes shift from Scardino to look at Superman. Scardino follows her gaze, turns around, and sees Superman as he floats through the open window.]

Agent Scardino: Oh, super.

Lois Lane: [to Superman] Hi.

Superman: Can I talk to you?

Agent Scardino: Take a number, pal.

Timecode: 13 minutes, 48 seconds: Superman talks to Lois Lane in her apartment. Agent Scardino is still there.

BELOW: Superman wants an honest lawyer, if there is such a thing:

Superman wants an honest lawyer, if there is such a thing larger larger larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Superman: I've never really been sued before, Lois. So I'm not exactly sure how to pursue this.

Lois Lane: Well, you need a lawyer. I know a guy who handles stuff like this. He's never lost a case.

Superman: Yeah, but is he a good person?

Lois Lane: He's a lawyer.

Agent Scardino: Bad for your Boy Scout image to be represented by a scuzzball?

Superman: Surely there must be one honest lawyer out there?

Agent Scardino: I know one, for all the good it'll do you.

[An extended series of scenes begins in which Superman searches for an attorney to represent him. The first attorney he visits is Constance Hunter, the lawyer that Agent Scardino recommended. She is highly principled, but she is so burned out on the reality of practicing law that she never takes cases. So Superman visits about a dozen other attorneys, all of them willling to take his case but none of them satisfactory to him. Superman sees that all of these other lawyers are greedy, dishonest, immoral. They pledge that they will try to win his case at any cost, no matter who they hurt or what lies they need to tell. None of that is acceptable to Superman. Finally, he returns to Constance Hunter, pleads with her to take his case, and finally convinces her to do so.]

Timecode: 14 minutes, 18 seconds: Superman explains his situation to Constance Hunter, the only honest, decent lawyer in Metropolis.

Superman: His hand will heal, and since he has no job, there will be no loss of income.

Constance Hunter: So, other than his medical bills, he has no case.

BELOW: Calvin Dregg, the man suing Superman, is the narcissistic type of person who always whines and is negative about everything:

Calvin Dregg, the man suing Superman, is the narcissistic type of person who always whines and is negative about everything larger larger larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Superman: Yes, and I've offered to pay for the medical expenses.

Constance Hunter: And his response?

Superman: He has only one response to everything. He complained.

Constance Hunter: I know the type. They want, they need, they deserve. Nothing is ever enough, and nothing is ever right. They stand alone, at the center of the universe, whining for more. I really hate them.

Superman: You must be great in front of a jury.

[Constance Hunter humbly nods and says nothing.]

Superman: So, you'll take the case?

Constance Hunter: No.

Timecode: 16 minutes, 20 seconds:

Constance Hunter: I don't try cases any more. I gave it up because I never won. I never won because I believe that justice should be about truth, not about who the better liar is.

Superman: But that's exactly what I need. Someone who understands that justice is about truth.

Constance Hunter: No, no. You need to win. Otherwise, you're gonna spend the rest of your life in court answering to greedy plaintiffs and their noxious attorneys. Is that what you want?

Superman: No, of course not.

Constance Hunter: Then you need someone who sees an open wound and automatically reaches for the salt. You need a real lawyer. [Stands up and holds out her hand to shake hands with Superman.] I'm sorry.

Timecode: 19 minutes, 5 seconds: At an outdoor cafe, Calvin Dregg watches the Jerry show on a portable hand-held television. Sleezy talk show host Jerry (a satirical portryal of Jerry Springer, played by actor Adam West of Batman fame) interviewed Calvin Dregg about the "horrible" wrist injury he suffered at the hands of Superman. Clark Kent sits at a nearby table, listening to the TV program being played on the hand-held TV Dregg's wife brough him. Finally, Clark can stand it no more. Without anyone noticing, he uses his heat vision to damage the TV enough that it stops working. Calvin Dregg is incensed and cruely berates his long-suffering wife.

BELOW: Self-centered Calvin Dregg (this episode's litigious villain) once again yells at his kind wife:

Self-centered Calvin Dregg (this episode's litigious villain) once again yells at his kind wife

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Calvin Dregg: You idiot! You bought a defective TV! I'm gonna have to find another one.

[Calvin Dregg stands up and walks away from the table and his wife, still sitting there, so that he can find a TV to watch. He doesn't want to miss seeing any of his own debut on national television. Elise looks saddened at Calvin's treatment of her. She stands up and rushes after Calvin.]

Clark Kent: [speaking to Lois, who is sitting at his table with him, about Calvin] A little unpleasant.

Timecode: 19 minutes, 50 seconds: After seeing Calvin Dregg's interview on the Jerry show, countless people get a similar idea. Seeing Superman arrive at the scene of a minor traffic accident, dozens of un-involved bystanders rush to the scene and pretend to be injured. They all want to sue Superman. Superman leaves the scene realizing he has a big problem.

Timecode: 21 minutes, 28 seconds: Facing law suits by dozens of people and feeling strain in his relationship with Lois, and feeling he doesn't have time to do his job as a reporter, Clark Kent tells his parents he doesn't think he can continue leading a double life. He feels he will need to choose between being Clark Kent, or being Superman.

Timecode: 22 minutes, 20 seconds: Here begins the scenes in which Superman searches, in earnest, for an attorney (having been turned down by Constance Hunter). This montage sequence lasts about 1 minute, thirty seconds, during which time we see Superman talk to five different clearly immoral attorneys. (These scenes are played by laughs, with the attorneys played by recognizable guest star actors, including Ben Stein.)

Timecode: 23 minutes, 40 seconds:

Lawyer: And I trained myself to think that way. I show no mercy. I wanna draw blood. I wanna kill, kill, kill.

Superman: Uh, I really have to go save someone or something.

Lawyer: Ki--

[The aggressive lawyer Superman is talking to starts to emphasize his point further by once again saying "kill," but then a beeper goes off and reminds him of something. His demeanor instantly changes from aggressive to peaceful as he looks at his watch.]

Lawyer: Right. I got a yoga lesson. Uh, we'll talk soon, huh? Ciao. [turns to walk away]

BELOW: A bloodthirsty lawyer takes a break to practice Yoga:

A bloodthirsty lawyer takes a break to practice Yoga larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

[The camera shifts to focus on a statue of a blindfolded woman holding the scales of justice.]

Timecode: 24 minutes, 16 seconds: Lois Lane approaches Superman, who sits dejectedly on a park bench.

Superman: Lois, what are you doing here?

Lois Lane: I've been finding out abou the bum who's suing you. He has quite a track record back in England. Seems he loves suing people, loves getting sued so he can countersue. Establishes a real pattern.

Superman: It would if it were admissible.

Lois Lane: But isn't it? I mean, he's clearly vindictively litigious.

Superman: I'm sorry, Lois, but thanks for trying.

Lois Lane: Tell me what I can do to help. Please.

Superman: I'm afraid this is one battle I'm going to have to fight on my own.

[Superman flies away. This disappoints Lois, who wanted to talk to him about something else: Their relationship.]

Timecode: 25 minutes, 57 seconds:

Agent Scardino: Lois, there are things going on you can't know about.

BELOW: Intergang wants to market a mind-altering drug called Nirvana (named after the Buddhist religious concept):

Intergang wants to market a mind-altering drug called Nirvana (named after the Buddhist religious concept) larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Lois Lane: Really? Like your posing as a corrupt FDA researcher? And the man you just met with is the president of Omnicorp, who wants you to push through a new pain pill called Nirvana that the DEA thinks might have mind-altering effects.

Timecode: 27 minutes, 1 second: Charles Knox, the president of Omnicorp planted a listening device in the briefcase full of cash that he gave to Agent Scardino, so he was able to listen in on most of Lois Lane's recent conversation with Scardino. The president of Omnicorp calls Bill Church Jr., the head of Intergang. Despite having kidnapped Perry White (along with countless other crimes), Bill Church Jr. recently was released from jail, thanks to the efforts of his clever and dishonest attorney. Bill Church Jr. is in a limousine with two beautiful women pawing at him amorously.

Charles Knox: It's about Operation Nirvana.

Bill Church Jr.: Nirvana, huh?

BELOW: Operation Nirvana:

Operation Nirvana larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Charles Knox: The synthetic nerve-blocker we were developing, disguised as aspirin. Makes people susceptible to suggestion.

Bill Church Jr.: Yeah, right, right, right. Uh, people take it for headaches then buy our crap because they just believe what they're told. What's the problem?

Charles Knox: Are you alone, sir?

Bill Church Jr.: I just got out of jail, Knox.

[By this Bill Church means that he is not alone, because having been deprived of his freedom and the company of women for many weeks, he is now anxious to partake in pleasures of the flesh with anonymous whores. But when Charles Knox mentions that Lois Lane and a DEA agent are onto them, Bill Church Jr. has the limousine stop. He kicks the two women out of the car and continues talking to Bill Church Jr. Aware that the Agent Scardino and Lois Lane will be testifying in Superman's upcoming civil trial, Bill Church Jr. orders Knox to plan a deadly explosion at the trial that will kill Scardino and Lois Lane.]

Timecode: 27 minutes, 54 seconds: Superman has returned to the office of honest attorney Constance Hunter to plead with her to take his case.

Superman: I can't find a lawyer out there I'd like to spend five minutes with. Let alone entrust my entire career to. Please?

Constance Hunter: You're being pathetic.

Superman: I know. I'm sorry.

Constance Hunter: No, don't say you're sorry. It's pathetic. I can't say no to pathetic. I never could. And you being pathetic is really pathetic.

BELOW: Superman thought he had seen every perversion known to man, law and God:

Superman thought he had seen every perversion known to man, law and God larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

BELOW: Superman doesn't understand the greed in some people's hearts:

Superman doesn't understand the greed in some people's hearts larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Superman: Ms. Hunter, I thought I'd seen every kind of evil there is, every perversion known to man, law and God. And I thought I knew how to fight them all. But there's something out there I can't fight because I don't undestand it. Greed. Ms. Hunter, I need an ally. Someone who understands greed but doesn't wanna be a part of it. And if that's pathetic, well . . .

Constance Hunter: [shaking her head, not believing that she is about to say yes.] Just once, I would like to have a client walk in here with a case I thought I could win.

Superman: So you'll do it?

Constance Hunter: Go to . . . you know, wherever it is you go and rest up. We'll start tomorrow at 9. You'll bring the bagels.

[Superman flies away. End of scene.

Timecode: 29 minutes, 9 seconds: A montage scene begins, to the sound of a lonely, romantic ballad about confusion, anger, pain and love.* Clark Kent and Lois Lane both toss and turn in their beds in the middle of the night. They think only about each other. They try to call each other, unfortunately at exactly the same time, so they both hear busy signals. They try going to each other's apartments to talk, but of course they miss each other. Finally Lois Lane returns home to find Agent Scardino waiting for her on her doorstep. She invites him into her apartment to talk to him. She wants to firmly break off their dating. But Superman only sees him with her, and he is sad, thining he is losing Lois to him.

*The song is "Old Love" by Eric Clapton. (Thanks to Cathy for writing to us to point this out!) "Old Love" was a collaboration between Clapton and Robert Cray. The complete song lyrics, most of which can clearly be heard during this montage sequence, are as follows:

I can feel your body
When I'm lying in bed
There's too much confusion
Going around through my head

And it makes me so angry
To know that the flame still burns
Why can't I get over?
When will I ever learn?

CHORUS:
Old love, leave me alone
Old love, go on home

I can see your face
But I know that it's not real
It's just an illusion
Caused by how I used to feel

And it makes me so angry
To know that the flame will always burn
I'll never get over
I know now that I'll never learn

CHORUS

Timecode: 32 minutes, 7 seconds: Clark Kent talks things over with his parents. Clark is still planning to stop leading a double life. He can't stand the problems caused by his continued lying to Lois. He and his parents also wonder what will happen to Superman if he loses the civil case in the law suit against him.

Timecode: 32 minutes, 41 seconds: Lois Lane has another therapy session with psychiatist Dr. Friskin. Lois talks about her pattern of difficulties with romantic relationships. Why does she choose the kind of incommplete, or problematic men that she chooses? Dr. Friskin likens it to her affection for chocolate, which she eats even though she knows it's not healthy for her.

Timecode: 33 minutes, 51 seconds: The civil trial. Calvin Dregg's attorney, Barry Barker, has Dregg's wife Elise Carr on the stand, lying for Dregg. Barker paints an inaccurate picture of Dregg as a talented musician whose promising career has been permanently ended by Superman's injury to him.

Timecode: 34 minutes, 40 seconds: While the court is in recess, Charles Knox, the president of Omnicorp (and also an agent of Intergang) receives a chemical-based bomb from a criminal bomb maker. The bomb is housed in an innocent-looking briefcase and will easily pass through metal detectors so that Knox can bring it into the courtroom. The bomb is comprised of two globs of liquid C-12 separated by a tiny piece of plastic. The bomb is designed to kill everybody in the court room, so that it doesn't look like Agent Scardino and Lois Lane are the only targets.

Timecode: 35 minutes, 10 seconds: During court recess, Lois Lane confronts Calvin Dregg's wife, Elise Carr.

Lois Lane: Can I ask you a question? How can you lie on the stand like that for a man that won't even admit that he's married to you?

Elise Carr: How did you--?

Lois Lane: The kind of degradation that you want to tolerate in your personal life is your business. But you are ruining an innocent man and I'm not gonna stand here and--

Elise Carr: Excuse me.

[Elise starts to walk away.]

BELOW: Lois Lane knows Clark truly loves her because he wants her happiness more than his own:

Lois Lane knows Clark truly loves her because he wants her happiness more than his own larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Lois Lane: He doesn't love you, Elise. You can tell when a man loves you by the way he treats you, by the way he looks at you, by the way--

Elise Carr: Look, Miss Lane, if you've found the perfect man, then I'm happy for you--

Lois Lane: No, he's about as far from perfect as you get. But I'll tell you the difference between him and Calvin. I know that he wants my happiness more than his own.

Timecode: 35 minutes, 54 seconds: The trial continues. Constance Hunter interviews her client, Superman, who sits on the stand.

Constance Hunter: Sitting here, listening to all of this damning testimony, I would like to know, why do you want to be Superman? It seems to me it hasn't offered you much, other than exposure to danger and ridicule.

Superman: No, that's not true.

Constance Hunter: Explain.

Superman: All the things that I can do . . . All the powers that I have, I've asked myself a thousand times, "why?" And the only thing that I can come up with is . . . to help. As quickly and as decisively as possible. And maybe because of that, I've become a target. And maybe there are things that I will never have. But when I save a life, in that instant, I know two things that most people will never figure out. Why I'm here and how I can make a difference.

BELOW: Superman explains why he believes God has given him his powers:

Superman explains why he believes God has given him his powers larger larger larger larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

[The crowd in the courtroom, including Perry White and Lois Lane, is visibly moved and impressed by Superman's words. The plaintiff and his attorney, however, are unmoved.]

Calvin Dregg: [to his lawyer] Fry him.

Barry Barker: In oil, kid. In oil. [loudly, to whole courtroom] Well, that was a heart-rending speech. Can I get anybody a tissue?

[People in the courtroom chuckle. Before Barker can continue with his arguments, Superman smells the plastic barrier within the chemical bomb begin to melt, prepartory to the joining of two separate packets which will trigger the explosion. Superman stops the trial proceedings and concentrates until he finds the bomb. He flies through the ceiling to take the bomb away just moments before it explodes, thus saving everybody there. Calvin Dregg makes a shameful display of getting dust from the ceiling in his eyes. He loudly proclaims that he has been blinded, even though nobody else was so adversely affected. It is clear to the jury and the judge that Calvin Dregg is a terribly fake and a perpetual whiner and liar. Finally Elise can take it no more.]

Elise Carr: Calvin, shut up!

Calvin Dregg: Elise.

Elise Carr: I have had it with you, Calvin! We'd be dead if it wasn't for Superman. And there's nothing wrong with your eyes, except you can't see anything but yourself.

BELOW: Elise points out what is reallly wrong with her greedy, self-absorbed husband, Calvin Dregg:

Elise points out what is reallly wrong with her greedy, self-absorbed husband, Calvin Dregg

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Barry Barker: Your Honor, this witness has been excused!

Elise Carr: [ripping off Calvin's sling] And your arm will be fine. [to the courtroom] And he'll play guitar just as lousy as he ever did. He just wanted the money, and he got me to lie for him.

Calvin Dregg: Elise, honey--

Elise Carr: You don't speak for me any more. I want a divorce. Not that anyone ever knew we were married.

Constance Hunter: Your Honor, in light of this new evidence--

Judge: Save it, counselor. [bangs gavel] Case dismissed!

[The crowd cheers. Barry Barker asks Elise if she needs a lawyer.]

Superman: [after the court room has cleared out] Well, I guess your losing streak is over, Miss Hunter.

Constance Hunter: Well, it helps when you save the judge's life. It tends to make them more lenient.

Superman: Thank you for believing in me.

Constance Hunter: No, thank you. [Shakes Superman's hand.]

[Constance Hunter leaves. Lois tells Elise she did the right thing, and Elise leaves. Lois approaches Superman.]

Lois Lane: Congratulations.

[Lois kisses Superman on the cheek. Then she continues looking at him. It is clear to Superman she has something to say.]

Superman: What?

BELOW: Lois Lane to Superman: You live above us:

Lois Lane to Superman: You live above us larger larger larger larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Lois Lane: Oh, I just think I understand something that I didn't before. Why I don't really know you. Why no one does. You live above us and when we try and bring you down here, we just end up showing the worst sides of ourselves. I tried to love you. I realize that that was selfish. Because you're not just here for me, you're here for all of us. I'll always need you, and I'll always be your friend. But there's someone here who needs me, and I just need to figure out how to get him to see that.

Superman: Lois, I need . . . to say to you . . . um, thank you, for being such a great friend.

[Superman was about to say he needs Lois, but he stopped himself. Now he turns and walks away. Lois has essentially told Superman that she will no longer pursue him romantically.]

Timecode: 41 minutes, 42 seconds: Clark's parents are helping him pack so he can leave Metropolis for good, but Jonathan says he just can't do this. Jonathan doesn't want Clark to move away from Metropolis or stop being Clark Kent or stop being Superman. Clark's parents encourage him to work things out another way. They suggest, without coming out and saying it, that if he really loves Lois and if it tears him up to be dishonest with her, that he should tell her that he is really Superman.

Timecode: 42 minutes, 22 seconds: Agent Scardino arrives at Lois Lane's apartment, holding a newspaper headline announcing the arrest of Omnicorp president Charles Knox. Scardino congratulates Lois on this. Lois invites him in and breaks the news to him that she no longer wants to date him. She wants to focus her romantic efforts only on Clark Kent. This "break-up" takes place off camera.

Timecode: 42 minutes, 53 seconds: Lois Lane arrives at Clark's apartment. He is sitting on a couch thinking when she arrives. He is half-packed up to move.

Lois Lane: Hi.

Clark Kent: Hi.

BELOW: Normally disdainful of the psychiatric profession and Freudian beliefs, Lois Lane can hardly believe she is seeing a therapist:

Normally disdainful of the psychiatric profession and Freudian beliefs, Lois Lane can hardly believe she is seeing a therapist larger larger

Source: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 21 (14 May 1995). Written by Kathy McCormick, John McNamara. Directed by Michael W. Watkins.

Lois Lane: Planning a yard sale? No, wait. That's a form of distancing. My therapist-- I know. I have a therapist. Can you believe it? She says that I say things like that to distance myself so I don't actually have to deal with anything. It's all very complicated. It has to do with some boring childhood trauma. Can I come in?

Clark Kent: Yeah.

Lois Lane: I told Superman that I just wanted to be friends and that there was someone else. And Dan and I--

Clark Kent: Look, Lois, if you came here to tell me that you and Dan--

Lois Lane: We're not gonna be seeing each other any more. [Pause. Lois looks around.] Wait a minute. This isn't vacation-packing, is it? This is forever-packing.

Clark Kent: I was thinking of moving, but now I'm not so sure.

Lois Lane: So what were you going to do? You were just going to slip out in the middle of the night and not tell me? Send me a postcard from--? I'm distancing. I'm sorry. I didn't expect this. You leaving.

Clark Kent: Lois, you and I haven't exactly been getting along lately. It's my fault. I should tell you--

Lois Lane: Yeah, it's your fault. It's your fault. And it's my fault. You know, we let ourselves get distracted, and we work too much, and we fight about silly things. And all because we're trying to hide from each other, and I'm sick of it. The only reason to hide is because we're scared.

Clark Kent: Of what?

Lois Lane: Of the fact that we're partners. And best friends. And this.

[Lois kisses Clark. He kisses her back. They hold each other close.]

Lois Lane: Clark, if you're gonna run away from this, tell me now.

Clark Kent: I'm not gonna run, Lois. I'm ready to take the next step if you are.

[While Lois and Clark continue to kiss each other with compassion and love, a nature show playing on the television in Lois Lane's apartment offers commentary which is appropriate to the scene.]

Host of nature show on TV: We seek the comfort of another. Someone to shape and share the life we choose. Someone to help us through the never-ending attempt to understand ourselves. And in the end, someone to comfort us along the way. For the Nature Station, I'm Marlin Pfinch Lupus, remind you to stay.

[End of scene. End of episode.]