______________________________________________________________________________ LOIS AND CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN EPISODE SYNOPSIS Season 2, Episode 01 MADAME EX Prepared by Jeffery D. Sykes (sykes@ms.uky.edu) ______________________________________________________________________________ This summary should be distributed free of charge. If you wish to distribute it to another system or archive, please contact me at the above address. All of my summaries and episode guides are available via ftp as follows: ftp://ftp.hyperion.com/pub/TV/Lois-and-Clark ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/hyperion/Lois-and-Clark ftp://ftp.uml.edu/TV/Lois-and-Clark ftp://ftp.hiof.no/pub/Comics/Film_and_TV Look for text files with names beginning with "LC" You may also download them directly, as well as browse the new web versions of the documents, at my new Lois and Clark home page: http://www.ms.uky.edu/~sykes ______________________________________________________________________________ US Airdate 9/18/94 Written by Tony Blake & Paul Jackson Directed by Randall Zisk Special Guest Star: Emma Samms as "Arianna Carlin" Guest Stars: Thomas Ryan, Denise Crosby, Earl Boen, Jack Kruschen, and Barry Livingston The quiet solitude in the late Lex Luthor's tower is broken by the entrance of a Dr. Heller and a smartly-dressed woman. Dr. Heller explains to the woman that the operation went according to plans, and the cosmetic surgery should be a success. In closing his statement, he refers to the woman as Mrs. Luthor, to which she angrily responds that she is no longer Mrs. Luthor -- she is simply Arianna Carlin, the ex-wife of Lex Luthor. They attend to their patient, and when the bandages are removed, they reveal a blond Lois Lane! Clearly satisfied with the work, Arianna turns to the doctor, proclaims that the world will miss his brilliance, and proceeds to shoot him in cold blood. The following day, Superman is soaring through the skies of Metropolis when he spies an accident at a construction site -- a worker has been knocked from the top of the tower. Superman quickly rushes in and rescues the worker, returning him safely to the ground. But even as the worker is thanking the Man of Steel, Superman is met with jeers from the crowd. It appears that a hostility is growing towards the Man of Steel as a result of his failure to save Lex Luthor. Back at the Daily Planet, Jimmy relates an article bearing out just this fact, explaining to Lois and Clark that 20% of Metropolis is now anti-Superman. Strangely, none of them could supply a reason for their hatred. Perry calls the newsroom to order, as he begins an announcement. The new ownership of the Daily Planet, concerned about the well-being of its employees after their recent turmoils, has hired Dr. Arianna Carlin as a staff psychiatrist. When Perry mentions irritability and "short fuses" as symptoms of the problem, Clark shoots an accusing glance at Lois, who indignantly gawks in disbelief. Dr. Carlin has been writing freelance psychiatric articles for the Daily Planet, most of which the staff has ignored, more concerned about the disappearance of their daily word puzzles! When Arianna arrives, she makes a point of seeking out Lois, expressing a desire to meet with the embattled "near-Mrs. Luthor." Lois is, of course, incensed at the thought of seeing a shrink. Lois and Clark proceed to visit the alley where the body of Dr. Heller was discovered, but on the way, Lois admits to Clark how Arianna's comments has upset her -- "Nobody knows me better than I do!" As they near the alley, Lois continues to assert that she is "fine," but Clark points out that she *has* been keeping a stash of chocolate bars in her desk...and we all know what that means! Graffiti adorns the wall of the building against the alley, and Clark points out that the message is an acrostic -- the first letters of each word spell another word of similar meaning. As they step into the alley, a homeless man bursts from behind a dumpster and tears away from them. Clark rushes after, explaining that they just want to ask him some questions. With Lois out of the line of sight, Clark picks up a tire and throws it at the escaping man. The tire falls roughly into place around the man's chest, and Clark hurries to help him up. When Lois arrives and asks how he caught the man, Clark replies that "he got tired!" After Clark convinces Lois to shell out a little money, the man tells them he saw two people dump the body in the alley. He thought they were both men (one had been called "Harry"), but he then saw that they were "chicks." To Lois and Clark's surprise, he identifies *Lois* as one of the perpetrators! That evening, Lois' lookalike appears amidst a Superman protest, and she tells on-hand news reporters that the people of Metropolis deserve to ask the question of whether or not "Lex Luthor's blood is on Superman's hands." After quickly leaving the scene, "Lois" meets Arianna in an empty alley, where the ex-Mrs. Luthor scolds her for using her left hand. Lois is right-handed! Savoring the protest, Arianna remarks about how easily people are manipulated and vows that Lois and Superman will soon pay for betraying Lex Luthor. Arriving at the Daily Planet the next morning (and after stopping to pick up a box of Double-Fudge Crunch bars), Lois finds herself the object of astonished stares. And when she arrives in the newsroom, it essentially stops dead in its tracks to gawk at her. Jimmy strides by, angrily announcing that what she had done took guts, and Perry is even less admiring. With Arianna at his side, he brings up her statement to the press from the previous evening. Lois, of course, vehemently denies responsibility. Calling her actions a "cry for help," Arianna decides that Lois needs to talk, but Lois is adamantly against it. But when Perry "strongly suggests" a therapy session and Clark supports his idea, she reluctantly submits. Clark flies home during the session, and he takes the opportunity to express his concerns for Lois. Given the heavy emotional stress she's been under, he can understand her need to vent, but it seems that she's losing control. Jonathan and Martha comfort him, telling him to be patient -- she'll come around. Back in Arianna's office, Lois admits that she was somewhat confused when Clark retracted his profession of love for her (after Luthor's death), but she believes now that they are best of friends. The truth is (and Clark mentions this to his parents as well) that Lois is in love with Superman. Arianna then asks if Lois was ever truly in love with Lex. As Lois explains that while she was attracted to his power and his humanitarianism, she was never truly in love with him. Bringing up Superman again, Lois causes Arianna to stumble ever so slightly when she asks if Arianna has ever been madly in love with someone who didn't return the feelings. Thinking of Lex, Arianna shakily responds that she had, but her composure quickly returns. Arianna later reports to Perry that Lois is in deep trouble, and she expects that Lois will get worse before she gets better. When Clark arrives at the reading of Lex's will that afternoon, Lois admits to him that speaking with Arianna helped her to get some things off of her chest, something she needed. Their focus is swiftly diverted as the executor of the will reads that the ACL Corp (named for A.C. Luthor, Lex's ex-wife) will receive funds from the auction of Lex's art. Lois is enraged and hurt by the fact that Lex had lied to her about her being his first love, but Clark quickly quiets and then comforts her. Meanwhile, Arianna finds her way to a secret lab, where Gretchen Kelley, Lex's personal physician, is maintaining Lex's body and working on a way to revive him. With a creepy air of devotion, Arianna speaks lovingly to the glass casket, informing Lex that she found the kryptonite in his penthouse. "It won't be long now." Lois returns to the Daily Planet the next morning, where she and Clark inform each other that they have come up with nothing on the search for the ACL Corporation and Mrs. Luthor, but fortunately, Jimmy has good news! He found a newspaper article about Lex's first wedding, and he is now trying to get in touch with the captain of the ship on which they were married. Their talk is interrupted by the arrival of a police officer who informs them that a guard at Lex's penthouse was assaulted, and he has identified Lois as his assailant! Furthermore, her engagement ring, valued at half a million dollars was stolen in the incident. Without an alibi, Lois finds herself under arrest as a smug Arianna Carlin looks on. Perry and Clark waste no time getting Lois out of jail, but they admit that they are not sure what to believe. The evidence seems to be solid. Perry orders Lois to take some time off, and Clark offers to walk her home. As they exit the building, Lois begins to list the odd happenings lately, including the anti-Superman feelings, the death of a plastic surgeon, and the appearance of her double. She refuses to believe they are not related. Finally convincing Clark to help her, they decide to visit Dr. Heller's office. While "Lois" buys a gun, careful to use her right hand to sign the application, Lois and Clark try to catch a taxi. When one speeds by, annoying Lois, Clark waits until she is looking away and draws the cab towards them with a super-intake of air. Upon reaching the office, Lois requests "her" file. But the receptionist is a temp, and since she doesn't recognize Lois, she needs the patient's name. Realizing she's in a corner, Lois tricks the temp into a closet, and she and Clark then look through the files. They find that Dr. Heller's last operation, performed on a woman with body proportions similar to Lois', was funded by ACL Corporation. As they begin to leave, they receive a beep from Jimmy, who reports that he's located the ship's captain. The two reporters pay a visit to the retired captain, who informs them that Lex Luthor's first wife was none other than Arianna Carlin! They rush away, eager to return and confront Arianna. But back at the newsroom, "Lois" walks in. Perry angrily reminds her that he told her to go home, but she proclaims that she no longer needs the Daily Planet and activates a tear gas canister. Lois and Clark arrive to find the gas pouring from the building. As they enter the lobby, Lois spots her double on the way out and quickly changes course in pursuit. Clark continues upstairs, changing into Superman. Once in the newsroom, he uses his super-cold breath to freeze the gas, turning it into a harmless snow. In the alley beside the Planet, Lois catches up with her double, and she takes a moment to admire the similarities. But only a moment. Their encounter quickly digresses into a war of fashion and appearance barbs, but it is abruptly ended by Arianna's arrival. She takes Lois away at gunpoint. By the time Superman makes his way to the alley, all he can find is Lois' purse. Returning to the newsroom as Clark, he tells Jimmy and Perry the truth about Arianna Carlin. Jimmy is about to toss the book written by Arianna that he had purchased for his mother, but when Clark realizes that the book is about subliminal messages, he gets the idea to check Arianna's recent articles. After a moment of concentration, he realizes that the paragraphs form acrostics, spelling out such statements as "Superman is Evil." Looking ahead to the next day's article, they find that its message is "Lane murder of Superman good." At that moment, Arianna calls to tell Clark that Lois is over the edge. She asks that he send Superman as soon as possible. After hanging up, she turns to the bound Lois and reveals her plans to frame Lois for Superman's death. When Lois arrogantly points out that nothing hurts Superman, Arianna reminds her that *she* was the one who penned the name "Kryptonite." She then loads a kryptonite bullet into the gun that "Lois" had bought. She then knocks out Lois with a sedative. Superman arrives at Lex's penthouse to find Lois unconscious on the couch, but his attention is quickly drawn to Arianna, who steps into the room with the gun. He comments that he thought she was smarter than that, but she simply replies, "I am," and pulls the trigger, blasting Superman to the ground with the bullet lodged in his shoulder. Arianna and "Lois" escape to their car on the street below. Mustering all the strength he can, Superman bursts a small hole in the fish tank, and the dousing arouses Lois. Still groggy, she moves to Superman's side and decides to call an ambulance, but he warns her that there's not enough time. She has to remove the bullet. After a firm reassurance, Lois manages to withdraw the bullet with a letter opener. As soon as it is gone, the wound closes and heals, and Superman asks her to get it far away from him -- "the Bermuda Triangle," for example! He then goes after the villains. Still weak, he positions himself in front of the oncoming car, but he is knocked out of the way. However, the impact causes "Lois" to lose control and slide into a fire hydrant. They exit the car and begin to run away. Happening upon a tanker truck, they hop into the cab and force the driver to drive at gunpoint. Noticing that Superman has begun to gain on them, "Lois" gets antsy and orders Arianna to "do something." Arianna, not taking orders well, points the gun at "Lois" and asks if she wants to get out. She reacts by grabbing the gun, causing it to go off. In the struggle, the gun falls to the cab floor. However, the discharge causes the driver to lose control, and Superman must grind the tanker to a halt. Yanking open the door, he is presented the gun by the driver, causing him to remark to Arianna, "I guess *he* didn't read your column!" Later at the Daily Planet, while Lois is working on her story, she admits to Clark that she has learned something about Superman which is very newsworthy. However, the information would be very harmful to the Man of Steel. Clark tells her to use her best judgment, and she decides not to add the information. Perry walks up and tells Lois that she should now take some time off, and to his surprise, she agrees! As she walks away, she says that she might go to the Bermuda Triangle. Once her back is turned, Clark lets slip a knowing smile. In the secret lab, Dr. Kelley informs Lex that Arianna has failed to avenge him. But as she lovingly touches the casket, she tells him not to worry -- he'll always have her...