Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: Lois and Clark

Saturday, June 15, 2013

TV Show Review: Lois and Clark - Season 4

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun superhero show with great chemistry between the leads

Cons: The episodes are uneven this season

The Bottom Line:

Final season not

As strong as previous ones

But still plenty fun

"Clark is So Much Closer to Superman Than I Am."

For better or worse, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman only lasted four seasons. Personally, I really enjoy this incarnation of the most famous superhero, so I wish there had been more. However, I can see how some would have grown tired of the show by the time season four aired.

All the usual Superman suspects are present and accounted for. We've got the dual identity of Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, the biggest newspaper in Metropolis, and Superman, almost indestructible superhero (both played by Dean Cain). The big change in this series is his relationship with fellow reporter Lois Lane (Teri Hatcher). By season four, they are very much an item planning to marry as soon as the universe lets them. Of course, at the paper, we've got editor Perry White (Lane Smith) and photographer Jimmy Olsen (Justin Whalin). Rounding out the cast are Eddie Jones and K Callan as Clark's human parents Jonathan and Martha Kent.

Season three of the show ended with a cliffhanger, and season four picks up exactly where it ended. Superman has just left Earth for New Krypton to try to save the remnants of his people from Lord Nor who is out to gain power by any means necessary. They spend two very interesting episodes wrapping that up before moving on to the rest of the season.

Actually, the season contains several multi episode arcs. Lois is framed for murder (by holding a gun as it fires and kills someone). Even though Lex Luthor is dead, his legacy pops up a couple of times as two young men try to avenge his death and someone with a personal connection shows up to take down Lois and Superman once and for all. The time traveling villain Tempus shows up a couple of times to wreck havoc with our heroes, too.

Of course, there are some great standalone episodes as well. Lois and Clark try to make some new friends, and just happen to begin bonding with a hit man and his wife. Superman is caught kissing a married woman - Lois Lane. Meanwhile, another woman thinks she knows exactly who Superman really is - Jimmy Olsen. And we finally get to meet Perry's ex-wife Alice.

Then there's the wedding. After the failed wedding attempt in season 3, they actually allow Lois and Clark to get married in the third episode, "Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding." Outside of the title, the actual episode, especially the wedding, is a sad disappointment. It wasn't the payoff fans wanted after having waited so long to see these characters get together. Then they couple it with "Soul Mates," which finds Lois and Clark time traveling to break a curse that Tempus put on them. The time travel was fun, but the episode was pretty lackluster over all.

Actually, that applies to several episodes that start out with a fun premise but then the writers go too far by throwing just one more complication into the story. The worst example to me is the one where Lois is framed for murder. In the second part, we find out that the villains had a bigger plan to kill much of humanity. Save it for a separate episode; we didn't need it here.

Another flaw was the returning villain we'd never heard of before. Several times, we have someone trying to get revenge of Lois and/or Clark, but we've never heard of them before. I'd spend the whole episode trying to remember the last time we saw them only to look it up and learn the truth.

That's not to say that all the episodes were bad. While a bit over the top, I enjoyed "Ghosts," if only because it guest starred Drew Carey and Kathy Kinney on a break from season 2 of The Drew Carey Show. This season has one of their stronger Christmas episodes with the villain Mxyzptik straight from the comic books. And I even enjoyed some of the episodes I talk about above despite the flaws I mentioned.

As always, the acting is great. Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher are amazing as the leads. I buy every minute they are on screen together, and their chemistry is outstanding. The rest of the case rises to their level, making caring about these characters easy.

The fourth season featured 22 episodes. Since the show was canceled so late in the run, they final episode has a bit of a cliffhanger, although it's not as bad as some previous seasons. While not a proper send off, it is easy to see a happy ending for everyone. Anyway, the episodes are in their native full frame picture and stereo sound on six discs. The only bonus feature is an interactive timeline of Superman's history (through the Superman Returns movie). There's some interesting stuff in there, especially for someone like me who knows little about the character, but it's a pain to have to click on each picture to see the history of that item.

While flawed, season four of Lois and Clark is still fun. If you are a fan of the show, you'll enjoy catching up with this set. If you aren't that familiar with the show, start with earlier seasons so you'll enjoy season four more.

Season Four Episodes:

1. Lord of the Flys

2. Battleground Earth

3. Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding

4. Soul Mates

5. Brutal Youth

6. The People vs. Lois Lane

7. Dead Lois Walking

8. Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark

9. Ghosts

10. Stop the Presses

11. Twas the Night Before Mxymas