Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Season 2, Episode 22 (21 May 1995): “And the Answer Is...”
by Tony Blake, Paul Jackson, Alan J. Levi

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 2, Episode 22

Title: “And the Answer Is...”

Medium: television series episode

Original airdate: 21 May 1995

Publisher:
Written by: Tony Blake, Paul Jackson
Directed by: Alan J. Levi

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

0 minutes, 0 seconds: Clark Kent arrives at Lois Lane's apartment to take her out for breakfast. He wants to take this time, before they go to the restaurant, to tell her that he is Superman. But before he has a chance to do so, Lois gets a phone call that interrupts his attempt to tell her. Oddly enough, the phone call is for him, even though nobody should know he is there.

[The phone call is from a man who claims to know that he is Superman. The man threatens to expose Clark's secret unless he goes to a nearby dumpster to retrieve an envelope. The man turns out to a person who acquired the diary of Tempus, the villainous time traveller from the future who H.G. Wells stranded in an insane asylum in 1866 Smallville in an earlier episode. The man uses his knowledge of Clark Kent's secret to blackmail Superman. The man who possessed the diary is working with Lex Luthor's old assistant, Nigel.]

Timecode: 5 minutes, 48 seconds: Superman speaks to Jason T. Mayzik, the man with the diary, via a hand-held audio/video communicator that he retrieved from the envelope in the dumpster described to him in their initial phone call.

Superman: Only a fool would believe the ravings of a madman.

Mayzik: At first, I thought he was crazy too. But this diary accurately predicts every single major event from 1866 to the present. I mean, he makes Nostradamus look like a freaking palm reader.

Superman: He's till wrong about me being Clark Kent.

Mayzik: Well, then won't I have egg on my face when I tell everyone. Now, here's the deal: There's $20 million in uncut diamonds in a safe in Mayzik's Jewelers. You bring them to me, your secret's safe. I'll be in touch.

[Mayzik wants to rob one of his late father's jewelery stores. His father left everything to his brother. He feels the diamonds rightfully belong to him.]

Timecode: 12 minutes, 59 seconds: Daily Planet offices. Just as Clark Kent is about to finally tell Lois Lane that he is Superman, he is interrupted by Jimmy entering the room, telling him he has a phone call. Jimmy tells him it's something about a "dumpster," so Clark knows the call is from the blackmailer. Lois is infuriated when Clark cuts off their important conversation in order to take the call.

Mayzik: Did I call at a bad time?

Clark Kent: There won't be any more bad times. I hate to ruin your fun, but I've decided to go ahead and tell everybody that I'm Superman.

[This is an interesting development, but seems logical to a point. If Clark tells the world that he is Superman, then Mayzik won't be able to blackmail him by threatening to reveal this secret. Unfortunately, as Clark is about to learn, there is a major problem with this strategy.]

Mayzik: [laughs] Interesting change of attitude. Your folks didn't have anything to do with this?

Clark Kent: My folks?

Mayzik: Oh, we're sharing some quality time together now. Well, at least that's what I call it. They call it kidnapping.

[The camera pans over to reveal that Nigel is holding Clark Kent's parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, prisoner at gunpoint. The walls of the room they clearly metal.]

Mayzik: Heh. They're good people and I know you wouldn't want anything to happen to them.

Jonathan Kent: [shouting so Clark will be able to hear him on the phone] Clark, we're in a lead-lined room--

[Nigel backhands Jonathan Kent in the face, knocking him over and silencing him. Martha Kent screams.]

Martha Kent: Jonathan!

Clark Kent: [to Mayzik, on the phone] Let 'em go. They mean nothing to you.

Mayzik: Sure they do. Because now you have to do what I want no matter what happens.

Clark Kent: I can't steal for you.

Mayzik: You can do anything. You're Superman, remember? [laughs and hangs up.]

[Clark Kent looks very worried. He frantically tries to think about what he can do.]

[Mayzik and Nigel left few clues when they kidnapped Clark's parents from his apartment. But they did leave a scent. Superman uses his super sense of smell, along with a lot of difficult detective work and perseverance, begins working to track down Nigel and Mayzik.]

Timecode: 19 minutes, 14 seconds: Unfortunately he is unable to do so by the time the blackmailer's midnight deadline comes. Dressed in black clothes and wearing his glasses, Clark Kent enters the jewelery store and steals the diamonds that Mayzik told him about. Clark is able to use his x-ray vision to discern the correct combination for the safe. He is thus able to steal the diamonds without doing any damage to the store. As he leaves the jewelery store, we see that Lois Lane was watching from across the street. She just have followed him or figured out where he was going this night. Lois knows nothing about the blackmailer. What must she think Clark is up to?

Timecode: 22 minutes, 15 seconds: Clark Kent waits at Mayzik's designated meeting place in a park late at night. He receives a ring on the video phone the blackmailer gave him.

Mayzik: Oh, you look fabulous in black, Clark. Where are the diamonds?

Clark Kent: Right here.

Mayzik: Show them to me. No, don't bother. Nah, I'm sure you wouldn't double-cross me. Not as long as I've got your parents.

Clark Kent: Look, I've done what you've asked. Now, where are my parents?

Mayzik: Now, I don't think that they're enjoying their visit. They keep trying to find a way out.

Clark Kent: Tell me where they are.

Mayzik: It warms my heart to watch them. There's something so . . . bovine about them.

Clark Kent: Well, I'm glad you find them so heartwarming. Now, tell me where they are.

Mayzik: Drop the diamonds in the fountain.

[Clark drops the bag of diamonds in the fountain.]

Mayzik: Thank you very much. And, Clark, don't wait for the courier. Don't follow the courier. If you do, Ma and Pa will die.

[Mayzik is about to hang up.]

Clark Kent: Hey!

Mayzik: Yes, Clark?

Clark Kent: I bring you these diamonds, you release my parents. Was that the deal? Was that what we said?

Mayzik: Yes, Clark.

Clark Kent: Well?

Mayzik: I lied.

[Mayzik hangs up.]

Mayzik: [to Nigel] Isn't this fun?

Nigel: Getting greedy, are we?

Mayzik: I'm thinking maybe another little job or two. Might as well get stinking rich before we kill him. [chuckles, quite pleased with himself]

[End of scene. Mayzik has obtained kryptonite, from Nigel, which is what Mayzik plans to use to kill Superman once hs blackmail scheme is complete.]

Timecode: 23 minutes, 43 seconds: Clark Kent walks to his apartment. Lois Lane is there, waiting for him at the entrance.

Lois Lane: You look good in black. It's perfect with your skin tone. Perfect for a funeral. Maybe yours. Perfect for robbing a jewelry store.

Clark Kent: Lois, I can explain.

Lois Lane: Boy, do I know how to pick 'em. I thought I knew you. I thought that you were a decent and straight-up guy. I thought that you were the last honest man. I thought that you were . . . I thought that you were Clark Kent. Who are you?

Clark Kent: Lois . . . my mom and dad have been kidnapped.

Lois Lane: What?!

Clark Kent: My mom and dad have been kidnapped.

Lois Lane: And that's why you ran off this morning? That's why you robbed a jewelry store?

Clark Kent: Yeah. He threatened to kill them. I had to rob that store.

Lois Lane: Did you call the police? The FBI?

Clark Kent: I can't take that chance, Lois. If I do anything that makes him suspicious -- anything -- he might kill 'em.

Lois Lane: Well, is he gonna let them go now?

Clark Kent: I don't think so. I think he wants more.

Lois Lane: Clark, I'm so sorry. Oh, God. You know, I'll do anything I can to help.

Clark Kent: Thank you, Lois.

[Clark tenderly cradles Lois's face in his hands while she tries to comfort him. End of scene.]

Timecode: 25 minutes, 15 seconds: Lois Lane works the phones trying to track down clues to help Clark figure out who kidnapped his parents.

Timecode: 27 minutes, 0 seconds: Sergeant Zimack of the Metropolis Police Department brings a photo from a security camera at the jewelry store. He talks to Clark Kent, pointing out that the man in the photo -- the man who robbed the jewelry store -- looks just like Clark. But Sergeant Zimack doesn't believe it was Clark because he knows Clark and thinks of Clark as an absolutely honest, upstanding person.

[With the help of Lois Lane, Clark Kent is able to figure out that the kidnapper was Nigel, and that his recent airfare to the United States was paid for by Jason Mayzik, of the Mayzik family who owns the jewelry store that Clark robbed. They make an appointment to talk to Jason Mayzik. At the appointment, it is clear that Clark recognizes Jason Mayzik's voice. Clark knows that Mayzik kidnapped his parents, and Mayzik knows that Clark knows this, but Mayzik still holds the upper hand because he has Clark's parents captive. Lois is still unaware that Clark is Superman, but her presence there bothers Nigel, who listens from another room. Nigel pressures Mayzik to get rid of Lois Lane, who has been a thorn in his side in times past, when he worked for Lex Luthor.]

Timecode: 31 minutes, 59 seconds: Mayzik calls Clark and gives him his new assignment. Mayzik tells Clark to kill Lois Lane and deliver the body to him within thirty minutes. After hanging up, Lois sees the look on Clark's face and realizes that he had been talking to the blackmailer. Clark tells Lois what Mayzik wants. Clark urges Lois to get out of town, but she wants to help. She asks Clark to have Superman meet her. She says she has an idea.

Timecode: 33 minutes, 5 seconds: Lois Lane's apartment:

Superman: Freeze you?

Lois Lane: Yes. Like cryogenics. You know, people who fall into frozen lakes and then they get revived? You could freeze me with your breath. Fast. I've seen you do it a hundred times. And then I would look like I was dead, and you could take my body--

Superman: Lois, do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You could have arterial ruptures, permanent brain damage. Lois, you could die.

Lois Lane: Yes. I could die. But Clark's parents will die unless we help them. Please, Superman. You haven't seen him. You don't know what he's going through. He needs me. And I have never needed you more than I do right now. You just can't turn me down. You can't.

Superman: All right.

[Superman stands back. Lois steadies herself.]

Lois Lane: If anything happens . . . tell Clark that I love him.

Clark Kent: He knows. But I'll tell him. Close your eyes.

[Superman cradles Lois Lane's face in his hand. It reminds Lois of what Clark did earlier.]

Lois Lane: The way you just touched me . . .

Superman: Close your eyes.

[Superman uses his super breath to freeze Lois Lane's body.]

Timecode: 35 minutes, 36 seconds: Superman lays Lois Lane's body down at the meeting place arranged by Nigel and Mayzik.

Nigel: Well, well, well. Dream all you want, but nothing quite prepares you for the thrill of the moment.

Mayzik: There's not a mark on her. How'd you do it, Superman?

Superman: Where are my parents?

Mayzik: "Where are my parents, sir?"

[Superman lifts Mayzik up by his jacket in a threatening gesture.]

Nigel: Now, boys, boys, let's not fight. After all, it wouldn't be quite fair . . . to Superman.

[Nigel opens a lead-lined box he was holding behind his back, revealing a glowing green rock: kryptonite. Superman stumbles backward, instantly weakened by the rock's unique alien radiation.]

Nigel: It's relatively simple to use, Jas. Very few moving parts. Short term exposure leads to lasting effect. Give it a whirl.

[Nigel and Mayzik shove the groaning, struggling Superman into the lead-lined room they are holding Clark's parents in. They continue holding the kryptonite close to Superman.]

Mayzik: Oh, now, I know you're in a lot of pain right now. But here's the good news. It'll all be over real soon. [laughs gleefully.]

[Mayzik puts the kryptonite down on the floor. He and Nigel exit the lead-lined room and lock Clark in. After the room is sealed, Mayzik presses a button. Gas starts pouring through vents, filling the room. Mayzik and Nigel walk back to where Lois Lane's body is.]

Mayzik: Oh, you must feel very pleased, now that Lois Lane is dead.

Nigel: Yes, it would warm my heart . . . if I had one.

Mayzik: [laughs] My father always said: "Close a good deal with a toast."

[Offers Nigel a drink from his alcohol flask.]

Nigel: Obviously a man of excellent breeding.

Mayzik: He was a pig. If it hadn't been for that diary . . .

Nigel: Ah, yes, the diary. The subject of our next negotiation.

[Nigel pulls out his handgun and points it at Mayzik. Mayzik doesn't seemed surprised at all. He isn't even phased.]

Mayzik: Oh, man. I guess I should've known.

[Mayzik points to the diary in his pocket and then pulls it out.]

Mayzik: This says that you double-crossed Lex Luthor.

Nigel: Well, it is what I'm best at.

Mayzik: Did I ever tell you how my old man died?

Nigel: No.

Mayzik: I poisoned him.

[A look of understanding and then panic appears on Nigel's face. He suddenly starts choking and falls to the ground, dead.]

Mayzik: [pointing to the diary] I guess it's true what they say: Reading is fundamental.

Timecode: 38 minutes, 25 seconds: The gas is killing Superman/Clark Kent and his parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent. But before they die, Martha uses her wits and Superman's last remaining super freeze powers to figure out how to escape. Martha has Superman freeze a ceiling vent so that it is brittle, and then she has Jonathan throw the kryptonite through the vent. When the kryptonite is thus far enough from Superman to have no effect on him, he is then able to easily escape. Clark and his parents rush to Lois Lane's still-comatose body.

Martha Kent: My God, Lois!

[Superman has his parents stand back. He uses his heat vision to warm her up again.]

Superman: Okay, live.

[Superman puts lips to hers and blows air into her lungs.]

Superman: Come on, Lois. Come back to me. Fight, Lois. Come on, fight.

[Superman blows air into her lungs again.]

Superman: Don't you die on me, Lois. Don't give up. Come on. Breathe.

[Starting to dispair, Superman puts his head on Lois Lane's chest. Finally she stirs, coughing.]

Superman: Okay. That's it. Come on. Okay. Okay.

Lois Lane: I heard you calling. I heard you calling.

Timecode: 40 minutes, 0 seconds: Superman arrives at Mayzik's office. Mayzik is surprised. He had thought Superman would be dead from the kryptonite and gas.

Mayzik: Superman, I think you should know, I had a horrible childhood.

Superman: Well, it will seem idyllic compared to where you're going.

Mayzik: I'm not going anywhere. [holding up the diary] Not unless you want the world to know that you're Clark Kent.

[Superman grabs the diary from Mayzik's hand. He flips through the pages, reading the whole book at super speed.]

Superman: I've decided that's not such a good idea. You've helped prove to me that if the world knows too much about me, the people I care about can get hurt.

Mayzik: [laughs] Not much you can do about that, is there? [points to his forehead, indicating his brain.] I know the truth.

Superman: Unfortunately for you, we live in skeptical times. Where people demand proof.

[Superman destroys the diary with his heat vision.]

Superman: And you don't have any.

[Superman takes Mayzik to jail.]

Timecode: 42 minutes, 3 seconds: Daily Planet office.

Perry White: Jimmy, you heard from Lois?

Jimmy Olsen: Yeah, she's feeling better.

Perry White: Got any idea how they bagged this?

[Perry puts the latest front page down on the desk. The headline reads: "HEIR KILLS EX-SPY." The article is accompanied by photos of Jason T. Mayzik and the late Nigel.]

Jimmy Olsen: Nope. They're a couple of clams.

Perry White: Yeah. You ever get the impression that we'll never know everything that's going on with those two.

Jimmy Olsen: Chief?

Perry White: Yeah.

Jimmy Olsen: Instead of always standing around watching Lois and Clark, wondering what they're doing . . . What if we got lives of our own that were a little more interesting?

Perry White: Now, son, you just hit the bull's eye. It's like we're supporting characters in some TV show that's only about them.

Jimmy Olsen: Yeah. Yeah. It's like all we do is advance their plots.

Perry White: And I tell you the truth, I'm sick of it!

Jimmy Olsen: Man, me too.

Perry White: Come on, son, I'm buying.

[They walk out of the office.]

Timecode: 42 minutes, 54 seconds: Lois and Clark walk at night time in the same park where Clark previously delivered the now-recovered stolen diamonds. Clark has his arm around Lois Lane's shoulders.

Clark Kent: You chilly?

Lois Lane: No.

Clark Kent: "No." Heh heh. [pause] Lois, I've been thinking.

Lois Lane: Me too.

Clark Kent: What about?

Lois Lane: You first.

Clark Kent: Okay. [pause] Sometimes . . . you think you're immortal. And you start to think that the people around you are too. And it just takes a second to realize how wrong you are . . . about everything. What I'm trying to say, Lois, is I almost lost you . . . and I feel . . . ashamed.

Lois Lane: Ashamed? Why?

Clark Kent: I kept pushing you away even when I promised I'd stop. If you died without ever knowing why, I'd never be able to forgive myself. Because I love you.

[Clark Kent has Lois sit down. Suddenly, thunder is heard and the sky lights up with lightning. Clark looks up into the sky as rain starts to fall. Clark sighs in exasperation. He wonders if God himself is interfering sent rain to test him or interfere with his marriage proposal. So many things have thwarted this moment in the past, why not God, too?]

Clark Kent: Come on, give me a break!

[Clark says this with humor. He isn't angry at God. Perhaps he think God is just exhibiting a sense of humor. After all, it is just rain. It won't stop Clark from his appointed course. Clark smiles and Lois Lane laughs.]

Lois Lane: You wanna go back?

Clark Kent: If the earth opened up at my feet, I wouldn't move until I'd said this.

[Clark kneels on one knee.]

Clark Kent: Lois . . .

[Clark takes a diamond ring out of his breast pocket and shows it to Lois.]

Clark Kent: . . . will you marry me?

Lois Lane: Clark . . .

[The scene freezes. The words "To Be Continued . . ." appear on the screen. End of scene. End of episode. End of Season 2 of Lois & Clark.]

Extra Features on Season 2 Disc 6

Lois & Clark: Secrets of Season 2

Timecode: 1 minute, 54 seconds:

Dean Cain: I guess I approached it like studying football film. I watched the shows and I said: Hmm, that sort of works for the character. This doesn't work. So I would try to modify things based on that. It was a very natural role. It was very fun. I modelled my Superman character after Christopher Reeves' character, and the way he played Superman. So that was simple. That was Superman. But, uh, the Clark character was just well very written and it came very naturally.

[Snippet of a scene from a Season 2 episode:]

Lois Lane: You are Superman.

Clark Kent: [sigh] No. Lois, Superman is what I can do . . . Clark is who I am.

Dean Cain: My idea was that Superman is a man of action. He comes in. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Saves the bus. Goes away. Foom! Let him go! And let Clark do all the rest of the stuff. Plus it was much more comfortable to act in, like, a regular suit and a tie and glasses as opposed to tights and the whole nine yards. [laughs]

Timecode: 4 minutes, 31 seconds:

Paul Jackson (Supervising Producer): You have the same villain every week [referring to Lex Luthor], at some point your Superman doesn't look too super. We got rid of Lex, and he was dead at the end of Season One.

Dean Cain: Well, I love John Shea. He's a fantastic actor. He was suave and debonaire and a good rival. But Superman has a lot of different villains to conquer and deal with and we certainly came up with a number of different villains.

Timecode: 10 minutes, 0 seconds:

Dean Cain: It [Season 2 of Lois & Clark] was a really wonderful season. It was the season, again, where we hit our stride and found a real nice niche in television and people really started tuning in.

Marveling Metropolis: The Fans of Lois & Clark (2005)

Timecode: 7 minutes, 55 seconds:

Dean Cain: A show's life going on beyond the years of the show is a fantastic thing. You know, it means maybe that you made a quality show that people enjoy. And that's hopefully what we did with Lois & Clark. Thank you to anybody who watched the show, supported the show, enjoyed the show. And I hope we were able to provide fun entertainment a good time for people. And a good family show, which I really believe Lois & Clark was.

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 22 (21 May 1995) created 28 March 2008. Last modified 11 June 2014.

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