- Title: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – A Bolt from the Blue
- wiki: link
Superman Sunday takes us back to that time a biodegradable golf club investor was imbued with the powers of Superman. Lightning has had an interesting role in Superman’s history and, like Kryptonite and magic, has plagued him in different ways from time to time. Here, a portion of Superman‘s (Dean Cain) power was transferred to the suicidal William Wallace Webster Waldecker (Leslie Jordan) when the pair are struck by lightning in a Metropolis cemetery where Lois (Teri Hatcher) and Clark were looking for clues as to what happened to the body of Lex Luthor. The power transfer is witnessed by Lex’s mad scientist Dr. Gretchen Kelly (Denise Crosby) but goes unnoticed by both Lois and Clark.
Taking on the alter-ego of Resplendent Man, Waldecker shows up the next day to save Lois from being run over by a car (and leave her a bill for saving her life). While Superman attempts to convince Waldecker he can’t charge people for saving their lives, and stop anyone (including Lois) from learning the truth behind where Resplendent Man’s powers came from, Dr. Kelly begins her plans to recreate the accident and give both herself and the body of Lex Luthor super powers by targeting Waldecker’s crazy sister (Cindy Williams) when her attempt to seduce Waldecker fail.
Lois’ reactions to Walkdecker alone are worth sitting down to watch this episode (her facial expressions while locked in a bomb-laced cage aren’t too shabby either). Lois also has to deal with the fact that Superman lied to her about not knowing where Resplendent Man’s powers came from, although eventually she comes to understand his decision. Superman’s growing frustrations with the new hero (including catching him spying on women in a locker room using X-Ray Vision) provides its share of fun moments as well.
The conclusion of the episode is a little rushed with Dr. Kelly using both Wandamae and Lois to force Resplendent Man to recreate the circumstances of the power transfer and give herself powers which finally teaches him the lesson Superman has been harping the entire episode. Our villain’s super run is short lived, however, as Superman shows up, and, using Dr. Kelly’s laboratory equipment, takes back all of his power from both of them.
The episode ends with Lois conflicted with not reporting the full story to Perry (Lane Smith) but understanding that knowledge Superman’s powers can be transferred isn’t something that should be shared with the world. Dr. Kelly manages to escape and retrieve the body of Lex, allowing that slow-burning story to continue over the course of the season. And, in a fun joke at the end, we learn from the tabloid Jimmy (Justin Whalin) is reading that Super-Rat is still on the loose.
