Target (Superman: The Animated Series)
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| Characters | Episodes | Movies | Comics | Video games | Cast and crew | Broadcasting | Awards | DVD releases |
| Superman: The Animated Series episode | |
|---|---|
| “Target” | |
| Image:Stas020.jpg Lois receives an ominous message on her napkin. | |
| Episode no. | Season 02 Episode 20 |
| Writer(s) | Hilary Bader |
| Director | Curt Geda |
| Production no. | 019 |
| Original airdate | September 19, 1997 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Identity Crisis" | "Mxyzpixilated" |
"Target" is the twentieth episode of Superman: The Animated Series. It depicts a mad man stalking Lois after she wins the Excalibur award for an article written about Lexcorp. The stalker uses high tech equipment that even Superman has a hard time dealing with. Now Superman must try to save Lois before the stalker gets to her.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
At the Excalibur Awards for writing, a group of reporters are nominated for an award for investigative reporting. Lois happens to be one of them but discovers a message on her napkin: "You win, you die!" Lois wins for her expose on Lexcorp and goes up. Clark hears a strange sound and notices that a laser is cutting at the cable holding up a giant glass sword over the podium. Clark leaves and becomes Superman as Lois makes her speech. Superman manages to save Lois just before she is killed. After the near assassination, Lois finds the detective in charge of the investigation is Detective Bowman, an officer whom had lost a promotion due to an article she wrote. She is sure that he will be of no help.
Later, Lois and Clark drive home in Lois' car and a strange song comes over the radio: "You win, you die." The car goes out of Lois' control while they are on an overpass. Clark attempts to save himself and Lois by cutting through the roof of Lois' car and is thrown out. However, Lois isn't allowed to escape and is nearly killed. Fortunately, Superman manages to save her again. He finds a device on her car and gives it to Lois.
The next day, Lois takes the device to Edward Lytener: her informant on her Lexcorp article. Lytener investigates the device and congratulates Lois on her winning the Excalibur. Just after this, he discovers that the device came from Lexcorp and shows her the company logo embedded on it.
Lois confronts Luthor over the discovery but he denies any involvement with it. However, he acknowledges that the device is from his company and swears he'll look into it. Lois decides to believe him on the basis that the killer's style isn't something Luthor would attain to.
Back at work, Lois discovers that some of her assignments are being given to other crack reporters like Julian Frey (pronounced fry). Angered, she goes into the elevator and finds that she has walked into yet another trap. The elevator is rocketed into the air but Superman once again manages to save her.
That night a stalker sneaks into Lois' apartment and attacks her. Though Lois tries to fight she is thrown out of her window and falls to her doom below. Lois wakes up terrified by her nightmare.
The next morning, Lois complains about her situation to Clark over the phone. Clark cautions her to just lay low for a while and let others take the risks. Lois continues to refuse but suddenly "agrees" when she hears about Angela Chen hearing of her success in winning the Excalibur on the news.
Lois goes to Lytener and asks him for help. She then points out that he has no TV or radio. Lytener then realizes that Lois knows that he is the one that's after her. Lois claims that there was no way for Lytener to know about her success as he claimed he'd been working the night that she won the award. Lytener traps Lois in a receding cage of lasers. Fortunately, Clark had heard of Lytener's stealing the car device from Luthor and went after her.
Superman attempts to free Lois but finds he cannot get through the bars. Lytener attacks him with a harness that increases his strength to the point where he can hurt Superman. He explains that it's powered by the light spectrum of a red sun, which is what enables him to hurt Superman. However, Superman's superior fighting skill and the fact that the harness is not invulnerable to his attacks, enable him to beat Lytener with relative ease. After beating Lytener, Superman shuts off the cage and releases Lois. Lois tells superman that she'd like to meet him when she's not in trouble but Superman is relatively dismissive of it.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Tim Daly | Superman/Clark Kent |
| Dana Delany | Lois Lane |
| Clancy Brown | Lex Luthor |
| Robert Ito | Awards Presenter |
| Jonathan Harris | Julian Frey |
| Robert Hays | Edward Lytener |
[edit] Trivia
- Though Lois is shown to have skill in the martial arts in this episode, she never uses them in any other.
[edit] Quotes
Lois: (After kicking Lytener) Daddy was a black belt!
