The Last Word

Lois & Clark The New Adventures — (May 1996) I just finished watching the season's finale of Lois & Clark. I'm stumped. I've always had some minor problems understanding why the writers weren't putting a lot more effort into making the storylines a little more believable, and always shrugged it off as them not really knowing what Superman is capable of. However, the trend that began to bother me around these days is how Supes appears to be highly gullible *and* stupid. Now, they've introduced a storyline which brings up a "New Krypton", survivors who's set up shop on a new planet and are trying to continue the Kryptonian way of life there. Right off the bat, this ruins the whole idea of Superman's uniqueness. A whole planet of people who, under a yellow sun (or earth, if you want to nitpick) are nothing short of gods? What's wrong with these people?

Ok, I'm not even going to go in that direction, but there is definitely something I want to address in terms of believability. According to the two beings who came to earth (one of them being Kal's wife), there is someone on New Krypton who wants to rule the planet. From all indications, this man is brutal, ruthless, and evil. Problem number 1: Evil folks always want power. The more they get, the happier they are (and, of course, the more they want). Now, if this guy is so bad, why would he decide to waste his time living on a planet under a red sun when he can get away to earth and RULE over people who have barely a chance to topple him? Why fight, plot, and struggle to rule a planet where everyone is equal? If I'm an evil dictator, I wouldn't trust anyone and would set about creating a place where none could touch me. On earth, no one would be able to. So, I would have eagerly left New Krypton to conquer Earth. It doesn't make sense to me for a power-hungry individual to want to stay weak when he can be invincible.

Ok, so lets pretend that this guy is a complete ignoramus. Ok, fine. He's sent an assassin to kill Kal. He failed. Bad guy knows this. Bad guy also knows that Kal is on his way back to "regain" his "throne". Bad guy could easily figure out when. Would bad guy not have a zillion other ships as well as all manner of weapons trained on good guy so the minute his ship gets close enough, good guy gets splattered all over the spaceways? Doesn't good guy realize this?

I don't know. Maybe it's just me, expecting intelligence in the things I want to watch. Heck, maybe the bad guy recognizes that he needs to get rid of Supes so he devises this plot to get him off Earth and kill him. But why? If Supes' wife and bodyguard could create a green-K laser beam, couldn't bad guy?

Bah. Even if this all does turn out hunky dory for Supes, and he is victorious and somehow finds his way back to Earth, unless N.K. is completely destroyed, the idea of other superbeings of his caliber being "out there" is not one I find comforting. Again, the "stranger in a strange land" angle wouldn't cut it any more.

Whatever. Maybe I'm just grousing for nothing again. I should simply be happy that this show even exists. Of course, I would be a lot *happier* if John Wesley Shipp were to make an appearance on the show... perhaps chasing after Mark Hamill who's up to his old tricks again and who's planning on killing someone... someone who knows he's coming and thus hired Rick Springfield to act as a human target...

That's me, always dreaming of a perfect blend of 4-color and live-action adventures... *sigh*