Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Season 3, Episode 7 (12 Nov. 1995): “Ultra Woman”
by Gene F. O'Neill, Noreen Tobin, Mike Vejar

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 3, Episode 7

Title: “Ultra Woman”

Medium: television series episode

Original airdate: 12 Nov. 1995

Publisher:
Written by: Gene F. O'Neill, Noreen Tobin
Directed by: Mike Vejar

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 (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
Dr. Bernard Klein		[scientist]		16

Timecode: 1 minute, 0 seconds: After scenes from the previous episode are shown, we start this episode's story with the episode's two villains: Two sisters - Lucille Newtrich and Nell Newtrich. These characters are played by actresses Shelley Long (best known as "Diane" on the sitcom Cheers) and Mary Gross (a Saturday Night Live alum and a TV veteran). Oddly enough, Shelley Long's character (Lucille Newtrich) is a Buddhist, although she rarely acts like it. Nell Newtrich is a talented engineer who has created a device that will fire a red Kryptonite laser beam at Superman for the purpose of making him permanently apathetic. The sisters want to do this so they can pull off a big robbery they have planned without any interference from Superman. Their motivation in this episode appears purely to be greed. They aren't particularly bloodthirsty, but they are willing to at least half-heartedly kill people who get in their way, including Superman and Lois Lane. Nell Newtrich is, by far, the more decent of the two sisters. She may not be a truly evil person at heart. She may simply be cowed by her domineering sister.

[Nell Newtrich drops the red Kryptonite rock while trying to load it into her laser machine.]

Lucille Newtrich: I thought you said I could count on you.

Nell Newtrich: You can! [fumbling with the Kryptonite and the device.]

Lucille Newtrich: Tell me this is going to work!

Nell Newtrich: It's going to work!

Lucille Newtrich: Tell me why!

Nell Newtrich: We're Newtriches!

[Nell here speaks as if reciting words her domineering sister has drilled into her through repetition.]

Lucille Newtrich: Which means?

Nell Newtrich: We live by our own code, go our own way, and don't take any crap from anybody!

[Lucille Newtrich seems very pleased that he cowering sister has precisely recited the lessons she has tried to instill in her.]

Lucille Newtrich: And?

Nell Newtrich: And? And . . . we have a red Kryptonite laser!

Lucille Newtrich: Which will?

Nell Newtrich: Which will make Superman permanently apathetic.

Lucille Newtrich: So we . . .

Nell Newtrich: So we can be rich beyond our wildest dreams, spend money like wild baboons, and get back at every creep who was mean to us in high school.

[Lucille Newtrich looks displeased at the last phrase her sister spoke.]

Lucille Newtrich: Mean to you! I was very--

Nell Newtrich: You were very popular! And very well liked. I'm sorry. I always mess up that part.

[End of scene.]

Timecode: 1 minute, 48 seconds: Inside the Daily Planet offices, Clark Kent looks at the engagement ring he has purchased for Lois and tried to present her with a few times before. This scene takes place immediately following the end of the previous episode. Clark Kent decides to "pop the question" again, now that things seem to be going well between Lois and himself. He invites her to dinner that night. She accepts. Clark tells Lois he is going to take her to Paris. Jimmy Olsen, having received news on the phone, yells to Perry White that there's a kid trapped in a nearby deep wishing well. Superman rushes to the scene. There is no child, just a doll with a tape recorder. This was a trap that the Newtrich sisters used to lure Superman to the scene.

[The Newtrich sisters fire their red Kryptonite weapon at Superman. The laser sparks and seems to malfunction. At first the beam seems to have no effect. The sisters run away. Superman tries to fly to chase after the people who fired the weapon, but he can't fly. He and Lois soon discover that Superman's powers have been entirely transferred to Lois.]

[Most of this episode revolves around Lois Lane adapting to having super powers. Clark trains her in the use of his super-powers. Clark's mother sews a spiffy costume for her. Lois adopts the superhero codename "Utra Woman" and wears a mask so nobody will know her secret identity. The Newtrich sisters appear in the episode from time to time, figuring out that their weapon didn't work exactly as they had planned, but it can be used to steal Superman's powers. They plot to lure Ultra Woman into a trap so that they can take Superman's powers from her and give them to Lucille.]

[One interesting theme of the episode is how calm Superman remains after losing his powers. Lois Lane is surprised by this. She thinks he should be upset. But he seems to take it in stride and treat it as if it's no big deal. But inwardly, it is hard on him, as Lois and Clark's parents eventually realize. Clark admirably does not act as if his entire identity is wrapped up in having super-powers and saving people.]

Timecode: 10 minutes, 19 seconds: Clark Kent's parents are working on coming up with a costume for Lois.

Martha Kent: How about a cape?

Lois Lane: Uh, you guys, can we just slow down. I don't think I can do this.

Martha Kent: No cape?

Lois Lane: No, I-- I mean any of it. [Holding up a bolt of brightly colored fabric that Martha had handed to her.] This. I mean, it's not me. It's Clark. You know, he's putting on this brave face, but inside I know this is eating him alive. If he sees me in a cape and tights, how do you think that's gonna make him feel?

Jonathan Kent: Lois, Clark is strong. And I'm not talking about how much he can bench-press. He's strong where it counts and when it counts.

Martha Kent: He'll get through this. You both will. Now. Let's talk boots.

[End of scene.]

Timecode: 12 minutes, 40 seconds: Perry White is talking to Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent in his office. At one point, Perry glances at a clock. The camera focuses on the clock on the wall. When it does, we can clearly see it is yet another piece of Elvis Presley memorabilia, part of Perry's life as a devout Elvis Presley worshipper. The clock is in the shape of Elvis Presley, dancing while wearing a blue suit and blue suede shoes.

Timecode: 14 minutes, 49 seconds: The Newtrich use fire outside the Daily Planet building, which they say will ignite barrels of explosives, to lure Superman out, in order to test whether or not he became apathetic after they used their red Kryptonite laser on him. Superman has no powers, but he tries to put out the fire with a tarp. He has trouble doing so. Lois Lane, in her new costumed guise as "Ultra Woman", appears for the very first time. Everybody from the Daily Planet, including Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, sees her put out the fire. Nobody (except the Newtrich sisters) realizes that Superman is powerless. Nobody (except the Newtrich sisters) realize that Ultra Woman is really Lois Lane.

[Interestingly enough, after Ultra Woman puts out the fire that was leading up to barrels which were full of explosive gasoline, Superman checks the contents of the barrels by dipping his finger in one and touching his finger to his tongue. Superman realizes that the barrels only contained water - and were not explosive, despite what the call-in tip had said. Superman realizes that once again somebody is testing him.]

[The appearance of Ultra Woman Metropolis ignites a media frenzy. People absolutely love Ultra Woman. Jimmy Olsen, in particular, becomes infatuated with her.

Ultra Woman (Lois Lane): It's Perry and Jimmy. They're gonna know it's me.

Superman: No, they won't.

Ultra Woman (Lois Lane): How blind do you think people are?

[Superman looks like he is about to say something about how Lois never recognized he was Superman simply by him wearing glasses,. But he doesn't have time to say anything before an excited Jimmy Olsen and Perry White arrive to introduce themselves.]

Timecode: 16 minutes, 43 seconds: The Newtrich sisters discuss what they witnessed when the tested Superman with the gasoline fire. Lucille is disappointed because Superman obviously didn't seem apathetic, and now a new super-hero has appeared on the scene. But Nell figures out what has really happened.

Nell Newtrich: Lucille, Superman didn't fly onto the scene. He walked. He didn't blow out the flame. He used a tarp. I'm telling you, he has all the super-powers of . . . Batman!

[This is a funny line. Nell Newtrich here says Batman's name dismissively. She is aware that Batman has no super-powers at all. Perhaps to her (a resident of Metropolis), this doesn't make Batman much of a super-hero.]

Nell Newtrich: And she is proof that those powers are transferrable.

Lucille Newtrich: Let's say you're not totally wrong. We don't have the laser any more.

[The sisters abandoned the sparking, malfunctioning laser weapon at the wishing well park when it malfunctioned when they first used it on Superman. But now Nell reaches down and picks up a new red Kryptonite laser.]

Nell Newtrich: Last night, when you were binging and purging, some of us were working.

Lucille Newtrich: What about the red Kryptonite?

Nell Newtrich: Down to our last chunk. So it better work, which means you better practice.

Lucille Newtrich: Sorry?

Nell Newtrich: I'm going to take Ultra Woman's powers.

Lucille Newtrich: Nell, in a partnership, there's a kind of symbiosis. In ours it's inspiration [points to herself] execution. [points to Nell] My dreams because our reality because of you. That's your gift. It always has been.

[Nell looks disappointed.]

Nell Newtrich: [whining] Lucille!

Lucille Newtrich: Hmm mmm mmm. [meaning "no"] "Ultra Lucille", angel, "Ultra Lucille." Practice it. Let it roll off your tongue. Say it with me. Ultra Lucille. Ultra Lucille.

[End of scene.]

Timecode: 18 minutes, 9 seconds: Lois Lane arrives at the Daily Planet to see scores of expensive flower bouquets have been delivered there for Ultra Woman. They come from a variety of people: the governor, Fabio, Brad Pitt, Deon Sanders, Antonio Banderas, and even Jimmy Olsen.

Timecode: 19 minutes, 12 seconds: Daily Planet offices.

Lois Lane: You on to something?

Clark Kent: I think the key here is that red Kryptonite. It's probably that geologist, Gene Newtrich. Remember?

Lois Lane: I remember having put him away. [Looking at a paper Clark showed her.] Oh, he's only had two visitor since.

Clark Kent: Yeah. Sisters. Nell and Lucille.

[When Clark Kent and Lois Lane investigate the Newtrich sisters more, they find that the sisters are from Georgia. Lucille Newtrich was the Homecoming Queen at her high school.]

Timecode: 22 minutes, 0 seconds: Lois Lane, as Ultra Woman, hears multiple desperate calls for help all at once. She struggles, not knowing where to turn or who to help first. This is something Clark Kent (as Superman) has adjusted to. But for Lois, it is quite overwhelming. This theme is touched upon further. Lois comes to appreciate a little bit about what Clark's life is like, and how difficult it is to be Superman.

Timecode: 27 minutes, 20 seconds: Clark Kent, without his powers, tried to prevent a mugging. The three muggers eventually get the better of him and start to beat him. But Clark is saved by the Newtrich sisters, who chase the muggers off with a gun. After Clark thanks them, they take him prisoner at gunpoint. They tie him up to explosives and tell him he'll die in an explosion unless he calls for Ultra Woman. The Newtrich sisters want to lure Ultra Woman there so that they can steal her powers and transfer those powers to Lucille.

Nell Newtrich: If he doesn't yell for help, we're not really going to . . . [Lucille gives Nell a stern look.] Oh, come on! [Pleading]

Lucille Newtrich: It's up to him. Which any Buddhist will assure you slides this whole thing out of murder and into suicide. Keeping us karmically covered.

[Lucille Newtrich cocks her handgun. Inside their secret headquarters shack, Clark Kent struggles to free himself from the ropes that bind him to a chair connected to a laser aimed at him. The Newtrich sisters look at their watches. Lucille sighs. Just as the timer counts down to zero, Clark Kent manages to fall backward. The laser misses him, and gets free from the chair. His hands are still bound, but he is able to run away before the Newtrich arrive on the scene to see if he's dead.]

Timecode: 34 minutes, 35 seconds: Lucille Newtrich pretends to be a suicide jumper, and is saved by Lois Lane as Ultra Woman. She asks Ultra Woman for a hug, and then Nell Newtrich zaps Lois with the laser. Lucille Newtrich thus transfers Superman's powers from Ultra Woman to herself. Without any powers at all, Clark Kent and Lois Lane must use their wits and the Newtrich sisters' original laser machine to defeat the sisters and get Superman's powers back to him.

[At one point Lucille Newtrich has a powerless Lois Lane in her grasp, lifting her off her feet. But Lucille doesn't actually hurt Lois. Later, Lucille Newtrich has a powerless Superman by the throat, but doesn't harm him. Lucille and Nell Newtrich plan to use Lucille's newfound power to go ahead with the robbery they have long been planning. They plan to rob an armored car which replenishes money for banks and ATM machines.]

Timecode: 38 minutes, 10 seconds: An armored car is stopped in an alley. Security guards have been knocked unconscious and lie on the pavement near the truck, their weapons removed. The back door of the armored mail truck has been torn apart. Inside the van, the Newtrich sisters celebrate, looking through all the cash they have stolen.

Lucille Newtrich: You like the way the bullets bounced off my chest?

Nell Newtrich: Oh, yes. Watching you get shot was a real pleasure!

Lucille Newtrich: Oh, this is the way crime should be! Forget about those gangs of guys with uzis, or the getaway chopper! Just rip, punch, and grab!

Nell Newtrich: We're rich! We're rich!

Lucille Newtrich: Ooo!

[Lois Lane, dressed as Ultra Woman, appears. She claims to still have all her powers. She is bluffing, but doing so gets Lucille close to Lois. Lucille is pretty certain that Lois is bluffing. She tells her sister to pick up a gun that had been carried by a guard. Nell picks up the gun and holds it on Lois ("Ultra Woman"), but she is visibly shaking and disturbed at having to do so. Nell seems like someone who genuinely can't stand committing firsthand violence, despite her greed and criminal tendencies.]

Lucille Newtrich: [to Lois] I see fear in your eyes.

Ultra Woman (Lois Lane): That's just extreme modesty.

Lucille Newtrich: Oh, Nell! Let's do a little test. Pick up the guard's gun, there.

Lucille Newtrich: [To Lois] You're familiar with the phrase "faster than a speeding bullet"?

Nell Newtrich: [holding the gun on Lois, but pleading, shaking her head no] Lucille. I-- I-- I--

[She is about to say, "I can't."]

Lucille Newtrich: Nell! She knows who we are. What we did. Now, there isn't a jail on Earth that could hold me. But you . . . You'd be in a lot of trouble if she talked to the police. So, if you're so sure your little laser worked, finish the job.

[Nell hesitates. Superman arrives on the scene in a cab. Lois Lane knocks Nell down with a thrown garbage can lid. Superman approaches Lucille, who picks him up off the ground by his neck. She prepares to throw him into orbit to kill him.]

Lucille Newtrich: Express shuttle now leaving Earth!

Nell Newtrich: Leave my sister alone!

[Nell had not been willing to shoot a helpless Lois Lane (dressed as Ultra Woman, but Nell knew she had now powers. But now that Superman is right there with Lucille, Nell feels that a threat to her sister is more immediate. She points the gun at the powerless Superman and actualy pulls the trigger, aiming right at his chest. At the same time Nell fires her gun, Lois shoots the red Kryptonite laser machine that Superman brought to the scene in the cab. The laser beam transfers Superman's powers out of Lucille and back into himself an instant before Nell's bullet strikes Superman in the chest. The bullet bounces off Superman's chest harmlessly. Superman has his powers back. He and Lois/Ultra woman apprehend both the Newtrich sisters. Superman then throws the red Kryptonite laser into space. (Lucille Newtrich already threw the other one into space after obtaining her powers.)]

Timecode: 42 minutes, 0 seconds: Perry White reveals to his friends, Lois, Clark and Perry, that Alice has left him and he will be moving out of their home at the end of the month. Perry's wife left him because he has put the newspaper first for decades, and she doesn't want to play second fiddle to Perry's job any more.

Timecode: 43 minutes, 0 seconds: Lois Lane retrieves the engagement ring from Clark Kent's desk. They go for a walk in the park that night.

Lois Lane: You know, if somebody had asked me three days ago who the one person I admire most in the world was, I'd have said you. But without really knowing what that meant. Without understanding that the hardest thing about being you, is all the things you can't do. All the cries for help that you can't answer. How that quietly tears you apart. But it never stops you. And after living a little of that myself, I realized something. Something that I never thought was possible.

Clark Kent: What?

Lois Lane: I love you more. More than I ever have. And more than I ever thought I could love anyone. And so, I wanna ask...

[Lois Lane has Clark Kent sit down on a fountain edge and she gets down on one knee. She pulls out the ring.]

Lois Lane: Will you marry me?

Clark Kent: Who's asking? Lois . . . or Ultra Woman?

[Lois laughs. This recapitulates the way she responded to him when he first asked her to marry him.]

Lois Lane: Who's answering? Clark . . . or Superman?

Clark Kent: I'm answering.

Lois Lane: I'm waiting.

Clark Kent: Yes.

[Clark Kent slips the ring on Lois Lane's finger. They kiss. Fireworks are heard. End of scene. End of episode.]

The process of listing characters who appeared in this source is not yet complete. Webpage for Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 3, Episode 7 (12 Nov. 1995) created 22 April 2008. Last modified 11 June 2014.

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