Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Season 3, Episode 2 (24 Sep. 1995): “Ordinary People”
by Eugenie Ross-Leming, Brad Buckner, Michael W. Watkins

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 3, Episode 2

Title: “Ordinary People”

Medium: television series episode

Original airdate: 24 Sep. 1995

Publisher:
Written by: Eugenie Ross-Leming, Brad Buckner
Directed by: Michael W. Watkins

5 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
Martha Kent	Methodist	[Superman's adoptive mother]		827

Timecode: 0 minute, 0 seconds: The scene starts in the Daily Planet offices. Camera focuses on a newspaper headline for an article written by Lois Lane: "LOVE FORTRESS LINKED TO ORGANIZED CRIME."

TV reporter: And Love Fortress International had no response this morning to the Daily Planet story. The newspaper reported that Love Fortress magazine and nightclub operation is little more than a cover-up for crime, including gambling, prostitution, money laundering.

Perry White: Well, you sure scooped that pretty boy.

[Perry is pointing to the television and referring to the TV reporter. Lois "scooped" the TV news by reporting the Love Fortress story before anybody else.]

Lois Lane: Perry. Hi.

Perry White: I just dropped by to congratulate you. This is a heckuva story.

[Lois Lane wrote a newspaper article for the Daily Planet that exposed a link between Spencer Spencer's Love Fortress organization and organized crime. Spencer Spencer is a famous but reclusive pleasure-seeking magazine publisher. Lois Lane and Perry White are very proud of Lois Lane's story. But Jimmy Olsen is a fan of Spencer Spencer, the head of Love Fortress. Jimmy walks up to Lois, upset, holding a Love Fortress magazine.]

Jimmy Olsen: Lois, I can't believe the number you did on my man.

Lois Lane: Your man?

Jimmy Olsen: Spencer Spencer. The owner of Love Fortress International. Have you read his work?

Perry White: His work? [Takes the magazine from Jimmy's hand. Thumbs through the magazine.] This is nothing but a-- Whoa. --skin book.

Jimmy Olsen: Chief, he takes on serious topics.

[Perry White laughs heartily.]

Jimmy Olsen: Hey! Look, I've read him so much I feel like I know him.

Lois Lane: Nobody knows him, Jimmy. He hides out from everyone.

Jimmy Olsen: If I had the looks, the women, the cars, and life he has, I'd hide out, okay?

[Lois Lane's phone rings. She picks it up.]

Lois Lane: Yes?

Woman's voice on phone: Hold for Spencer Spencer.

[Lois covers the mouthpiece of the phone.]

Lois Lane: [whispering to Jimmy] It's Spencer Spencer.

Jimmy Olsen: Oh my God, the man--

Lois Lane: [to person on phone] Hello?

Spencer Spencer: Miss Lane . . . Lois. Spencer Spencer here. Quite a colorful article you did on my little operation. I'd like to make you a proposal. Let's say you meet with one of my spokesmodels and let us give you an accurate picture of my world. Believe me, I can make it worth your while.

[As Spencer Spencer talks to Lois Lane on the phone, the camera pans across the publisher's lavishly appointed home. It seems clear that he is quite an Epicurean. A framed Love Magazine cover features a beautiful model being offered expensive diamond jewelry. "Money" blares the cover in red letters. We see a gold statue of a cherub-like Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and wanton pleasure-seeking. The music we hear sounds like it is played on Greek harp. A framed painting shows undressed Greek figures frolicking. Mostly-naked men and women wearing Greek-style togas with gold trim pour wine, serve sumptuous chocolates and other confections. The furniture is expensive. The decor is expensive. We see a woman actually playing the harp. There is a nude Greek-style marble statue.]

Lois Lane: Mr. Spencer, I have an accurate picture of your world, and a truly disgusting place it is. Read Part 2, tomorrow.

[Lois Lane hangs up the phone. Jimmy is shocked.]

Jimmy Olsen: Lois!

Lois Lane: Mr. Charm. He's probably sitting there in his legendary silk pajamas drinking absynth, girls massaging him.

[Cut back to Spencer Spencer's place. We see he is absolutely furious.]

Spencer Spencer: I . . . disgust . . . her?!?!

[So far the camera has only shown Spencer Spencer via a tight close-up on his face. Spencer Spencer moves his head against a control. The camera pulls back and we see that all of Spencer Spencer's body is encased in an ornately-decorated mobile box. He is apparently a quadraplegic. He can only move his head. The box he is encased in is like a covered wheelchair on motorized wheels. The front panel features a bass relief sculpture of a the body of a muscular man wearing Greek-style clothing and holding a laurel.]

Spencer Spencer: I . . . disgust . . . her?!?! I disgust her!! You're finished, Miss Lane! When I'm through with you, we'll see who disgusts whom!

[End of scene. Roll opening credits.]

Timecode: 3 minutes, 50 seconds: Daily Planet offices. A cheerful Lois Lane approaches an affable Clark Kent. In the previous episode Clark Kent asked Lois Lane to marry him. She said she needed time before she could say yes. At first, Clark was very disturbed by that answer, but he now understands and is taking Lois Lane's delay in stride.

Lois Lane: I know you think I'm not thinking about it. Just because I'm not talking about it doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it.

Clark Kent: Lois, marriage is a very big step. I said I will wait. And I will wait.

Lois Lane: I'm glad you understand.

Clark Kent: Of course, if I was the paranoid type I might think you're trying to avoid the whole thing.

Lois Lane: Ha ha! Of course not. Avoid it? No, I'm not trying to avoid it. Did you ever notice how lousy the cheese sandwiches are in this machine?

[Lois Lane goes on a long riff about cheese sandwiches and French cheese, effectively avoiding talking about or thinking about Clark's marriage proposal. Clark is very good natured about it all, even flying to France to get Lois some of the French cheese that she expresses a fondness for.]

Timecode: 4 minutes, 39 seconds: Perry White has invited Lois Lane into his office to talk to her about something that concerns him. He thinks she has been working too hard. Note the framed photo of Elvis Presley and the framed picture of an Elvis Presley stamp sitting on the bureau behind Perry White's desk.

Lois Lane: Perry, I am fine. Don't worry about me. I'm not working too hard. Can I go back to work?

Perry White: Now, Lois, I read you like a book. Things get a little rough in your life, you wrap yourself up in your work, like it was gonna save you.

Lois Lane: Look, Chief, I gotta draw the line here. I have a professional life, and I have a personal life, and Clark asked me to marry him!

[Lois Lane starts to cry.]

Perry White: Lois, don't you think you oughta try dating first?

Timecode: 6 minutes 23 seconds: While talking to Perry White about her personal life with Clark, Lois Lane receives word about a grisly crime scene. She is happy to have a chance to rush off to investigate the story, which will allow her to continue fretting about Clark's marriage proposal. Before she rushes away, Perry White offers a final word of advice.

Perry White: Hey, Lois! Word to the wise. Honey, there'll always be another headless corpse. But true love . . . comes around maybe once.

Timecode: 12 minutes, 32 seconds:

Lois Lane: Did I ever tell you why I gave up my crush on Superman? Because he is a fantasy. And did I tell you why I fell in love with Clark? Because he's real. That's what I want.

Clark Kent: You do?

Lois Lane: Yeah. He's got problems and insecurities and hat hair.

Clark Kent: I do not have hat hair.

Lois Lane: If I told Clark that I like the scent of tulips from Holland, that is not your queue to go taxing down the runway. It just means that Clark and I would save up and someday take a vacation like a normal couple.

Superman: But . . . I am Clark.

Lois Lane: But you're also that guy who saves the world from killer bees and props up the Golden Gate Bridge.

Superman: Couldn't you just think of me as a very busy, very fast, very strong doctor?

Lois Lane: I need some stability. I need a sense that I am not always sharing you with the five billion other people on the planet.

[With his super-hearing, Superman hears cries for help.]

Superman: If you could just hold that thought.

Lois Lane: I need to know that you will be there for me when I need you.

Superman: I gotta go.

[Superman reluctantly excuses himself and flies away to help people.]

Spencer Spencer, the villain of this episode, is a paraplegic. A brilliant scientist doctor that Spencer Spencer has been funding research for has figured out how to transplant a person's head onto a new body. Spence Spencer wants his head transplanted onto Superman's body. Of course, to do so, he will need to capture Superman first. Spencer Spencer lives on a remote tropical island. In order to catch Superman, he sends an invitation to reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent to come check out his new resort destination.

Perry White practically forces Lois Lane and Clark Kent to go to the island to take a vacation. Lois is unaccustomed to taking vacations, preferring to work excessively, especially when she has troubles or difficult questions in her personal life. In going to the island, Lois Lane bets Clark Kent that she can avoid working for two whole days if he will refrain from using his super powers. Once they arrive on the island, Lois is surprised that it seems deserted. There are no other people in sight, and no accomodations. A boat captain simply dropped them off there and left.

Timecode: 20 minutes, 16 seconds: Lois is sitting on a lounge chair on the beach where they were dropped off by the boat captain. Their suitcases are sitting next to them on the beach. Lois Lane is writing something on a tablet of paper.

Clark Kent: Ah ha! Ha! I knew you couldn't keep our bargain. [Looks at his watch.] Two hours! Already you're working.

Lois Lane: I'm writing my will. This way when they find our bleached bones someone will know my last wishes.

Clark Kent: Well, if these are my last minutes, who better to spend them with? Alone in paradise with the woman I love. It's almost Biblical.

Lois Lane: When you were out looking around, you didn't happen to find any proof that there is a hotel, did you?

Clark Kent: No. But why wouldn't there be a hotel?

[Superman is very worried. She asks Clark to quickly buzz around the island, using his powers. But he won't do it, because he wants to keep his promise that he won't use his powers for two days. Spencer Spencer's plan is for Lois and Clark to become so desperate with their situation that they call in Superman for help.]

Timecode: 22 minutes, 32 seconds: Lois Lane and Clark Kent spend most of this episode on an Eden-like paradise island, a situation that Clark Kent pointedly identifies as "Biblical," thinking about the Genesis account. As with the Biblical Eden, there are dangers lurking on this island. Spencer Spencer releases a terrifically dangerous tiger, hoping it will force Lois and Clark to call on Superman for help. The scene in which Lois and Clark encounter the tiger is interestingly similar to this classic painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (by Lowell Bruce Bennett, see http://www.lds.org/hf/art/display/1,16842,4218-1-1-10,00.html):

Timecode: 26 minutes, 51 seconds:

Clark Kent: My pop used to take me fishing all the time when I was a kid. I got pretty good.

Lois Lane: I've never been fishing.

Clark Kent: He's just an ordinary guy, my father, who loves to do this ordinary thing: fishing. I guess I love it because he loved it.

Lois Lane: Your parents are really wonderful.

Clark Kent: Maybe I want to get married and have kids because they made it look like so much fun.

Lois Lane: Oh, God.

Clark Kent: What?

Lois Lane: I'm just never gonna be as good as a mother as yours was. What do I know about it? Your parents made marriage look fun. Mine made it look like a root canal.

Clark Kent: Lois--

Lois Lane: My mother was always depressed. My sister wouldn't come out of her room. My father only related to cyborgs. I didn't want a family. I ran away as far as I could.

Clark Kent: Okay. So your parents made some mistakes. That doesn't mean that you're gonna.

Lois Lane: How do you know?

Clark Kent: Because I hear that the guy who wants to marry you, is really, really terrific.

[Lois Lane smiles, feeling better. End of scene.]

Timecode: 28 minutes, 0 seconds: Spencer Spencer orders one more test trial of the head transplant procedure. In order to do this, the doctor/scientist must kill a living person that they captured just for this purpose. Spencer Spencer and his scientist/doctor are both cold-blooded murderers.

Timecode: 31 minutes, 11 seconds: Clark Kent and Lois Lane relax together after feasting on roast bananas - the only food they have been able to find on the apparently deserted island. Next to a quiet fire, Lois Lane rests her head on Clark Kent's stomach. Despite the warm temperature on the deserted tropical island, they are fully and modestly clothed.

Lois Lane: You know, I dreamed of this. Spending the night in your arms. First it was Superman I dreamed of. Then it was Clark.

Clark Kent: What happened?

Lois Lane: Well, first you held me in your arms. And then . . . we kissed. [They kiss briefly, delicately and very chastely.] And . . .

Clark Kent: And?

Lois Lane: And then I asked you how you felt about me. [giggles]

[Clark Kent proceeds to make Lois Lane's dream come true by telling her how he feels about her.]

Clark Kent: I don't know how I feel about you. There is no one way. I feel . . . so many . . . things. And all at once. Happy. But kind of 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. It's new to me.

[Lois Lane kisses Clark Kent again. Henchmen from the villain Spencer Spencer arrive on the scene and take Lois Lane and Clark Kent prisoner at gunpoint.]

Timecode: 37 minutes, 0 seconds: Spencer Spencer has captured Lois Lane and Clark Kent. He has had his henchmen bring Lois Lane before him, leaving Clark Kent in a prison cell.

Spencer Spencer: You know, I was gonna kill you for all that crap you wrote about me, but then I thought you might prefer an exciting career opportunity.

Lois Lane: What do you mean?

Spencer Spencer: You can be my sex slave.

Lois Lane: Kill me.

Spencer Spencer: I know. I know. The body. Maybe I shouldn't hide it in a box. Maybe you imagine it worse than it is.

Lois Lane: Maybe?

Spencer Spencer: You couldn't imagine worse than this!! My only chance at girls like you is shootin' them up with cobra venom, and then it's iffy. But all that's gonna change now thanks to modern medicine.

[Spencer Spencer triggers a control that lowers a drape, revealing a painting of his head on Superman's body.]

Lois Lane: Oh, my God.

Spencer Spencer: What, I don't look good in tights?

Lois Lane: The headless bodies. It was you.

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