dragonfire88's Full Review: Lois & Clark - The Complete Second Season
In the fall of 1993, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman began to air. I watched the show the entire four years it was on and was disappointed when it was cancelled. In June I picked up Lois & Clark: The Complete Second Season DVD set.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was an updated version of Superman as a romantic comedy. For this show, there was more emphasis on his life as Clark Kent and the relationship with Lois Lane. The show was a bit more light hearted since it was a romantic comedy. I thought making the show a romantic comedy worked for the subject, especially since the show gave more attention to the relationship between Lois and Clark than the movies had done. The show did get a little silly in some of the episodes. I wasn’t bothered by that and still thought the show was entertaining. There were a few times when I wondered what the writers had been thinking.
The first season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman introduced the main characters. None of Clark’s childhood had been shared and he was still learning things about himself and his powers as an adult. He arrived in Metropolis at the beginning of the first episode of the series and things were slowly revealed about him. Lois and Clark didn’t get along that well at first, mainly because of how Lois acted. The two eventually developed a working relationship and friendship.
Dean Cain didn’t play Clark like he was a geeky nerd, something that had been done in other versions of Superman. Cain’s Clark was more confident even though he did have a clumsy moment every so often. Cain seemed to be a little more comfortable in the part and he wasn’t as stiff as he had been more often in the first season. His acting still wasn’t great, but it had improved a little bit. Lois was still devoted to her career. She had finally realized that she had feelings for Clark, though she kept them to herself for the most part. She was still stubborn and still jumped into danger without thinking things through as much as she should. For the most part, Lois didn’t annoy as much as she had in the first season. Terri Hatcher continued to do a good job with the part.
Jonathon and Martha Kent, the couple that raised Clark like he was their own son, continued to be important characters in the second season of the series. They had instilled values in Clark when he was growing up that made him want to use his powers to help people. Jonathon and Martha made several visits to Metropolis throughout the season and even developed a friendship with Lois, Jimmy, and Perry. Even if they weren’t visiting Clark, Jonathon and Martha tended to show up at least briefly in most of the episodes, usually through a telephone call with Clark. I really liked that Jonathon and Martha were such important characters in the show. I liked k Callan and Eddie Jones in the parts. They were believable as a couple that had been married for years and still in love.
There were some cast changes for the second season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The character of Catherine Grant was completely gone with no explanation for why she wasn’t there anymore. That didn’t really bother me because while I hadn’t hated her, she wasn’t a favorite character. Most of the time in the first season, she was just around in slinky outfits hitting on Clark or talking about her many dates. I didn’t miss her. Jimmy Olsen started to act more like a photographer instead of just a gopher. I had liked Michael Landes in the first season, so I was a bit disappointed when Justin Whalin took over the part. I read somewhere that the producers of the show felt that Landes looked too much like Dean Caine and that was why the part was recast. Perry White was still obsessed with Elvis. He didn’t always know what was going on, but he did care about Lois, Clark, and Jimmy.
I don’t want to say too much about Lex Luthor because of how things ended with him in the first season. All I will say is that he did return in the second season, though he was really only in one episode. He still hated Superman and had a new plan to kill him. John Shea was back as Lex in the episode and he was still very good in the part. His Lex had been a bit different since all other versions of Lex have been bald and he had hair. That changed in this episode. Shea really didn’t look good bald.
The second season added two new characters in a few episodes that seemed to mostly be around to keep Lois and Clark apart. Mayson Drake was a new district attorney. She seemed to hate Superman even before she met him. She was crazy about Clark when she first saw him and spent most of her time trying to get Clark to take her out. She was only in four episodes, so it wasn’t like there was a lot of time for a relationship to develop between her and Clark, but she acted like she was madly in love with him. I didn’t like the character that much and didn’t think her feelings for Clark were realistic. Farrah Forke was fine in the part. I don’t think I would have liked the character regardless of who was cast. Agent Dan Scardino showed up late in the season to investigate a murder. He hit on Lois and acted like a cocky jerk most of the time I thought. I didn’t like him either. I was glad that Mayson and Dan didn’t become regular cast members. A few guest stars, including Raquel Welsh, turned up in different episodes.
Main Cast
Dean Cain - Clark Kent/Superman K Callan - Martha Kent Eddie Jones - Jonathan Kent Terri Hatcher - Lois Lane John Shea - Lex Luthor Lane Smith - Perry White Justin Whalin - Jimmy Olsen
The work that Lois and Clark did for The Daily Planet was very important to the show. They were usually working on a story during each episode. Many of the stories ended up being like small mysteries for them to solve. None of the mysteries were that complex, so Lois and Clark didn’t have too much trouble figuring out what was going on. The newsroom looked different in the second season because of something that happened late in the first season. At least some of each episode took place there even if not much actual work was shown. Lois tended to rush into things when working on stories. That frequently got her into dangerous situations that Superman would rescue her from.
Even though more attention was given to Clark, Superman appeared in every episode to deal with different criminals. Most of the criminals were created just for the show, though a few of them were from the comics, like Metallo. He was changed a little bit for the show. Superman did get into fights with some of the criminals, which added some action. Those scenes didn’t make the show violent. Superman used his powers in every episode, especially his ability to fly. Special effects were used for his abilities. The effects looked a little better than they had been in the first season. The effects were good for the most part, especially considering when the television show was made.
Most of the episodes in the second season continued to included humor. Some things that happened were a bit silly or even corny but that didn’t make the show less entertaining or enjoyable for me. Some things might be too silly for some viewers. Perry and his obsession with Elvis added humor several different times like it had in the first season. Jimmy also said and did a few things that added humor throughout the season. Some of the episodes were funnier than others. Season’s Greedings, the Christmas episode had a plot that was a bit silly but it was really funny. I really enjoyed that episode and thought it was one of the funnier ones.
The relationship between Lois and Clark/Superman has always been important in the history of Superman even though there has usually been more focus on his crime fighting. That wasn’t the case with Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. There was more emphasis on Clark in general in the show which allowed for more attention to the relationship as well. Lois and Clark were getting along much better in the second season. They did still have disagreements and they were both unsure of if they should try to move their relationship forward. Just when it seemed like they were finally moving forward, something happened to mess things up. I got really annoyed with that happening over and over. I was really irritated when Agent Scardino showed up late in the season and started chasing after Lois. I was even more irritated when Lois seemed to return his interest. It made Lois seem like she really didn’t have feelings for Clark by having her get so interested in Scardino so fast.
The DVD set for Lois & Clark: The Complete Second Season has six discs in the same type of unfolding case as the first season DVD set. There were once again two discs on each panel, one slightly below and on top of the other disc so the top disc has to be removed to either take out or put back the bottom disc. I really don’t like cases that are set up this way. On the panels of the case that didn’t hold discs was an episode list that included very short summaries, original air dates, and who wrote and directed the episodes.
There weren’t many extras with this DVD set. Dean Caine did a commentary for the Christmas episode. There were two features on the sixth disc, Lois & Clark: Secrets of Season 2 and Marketing Metropolis: The Fans of Lois & Clark. Deborah Joy Levine, the creator and producer of the show, talked on each one as well as some of the cast and crew. Some fans were featured in the second feature as well, talking about different aspects of the show. It was talked about how the internet was used to help promote the show. Levine also talked about how she and the writers kept thinking up ways to keep Lois and Clark apart. I hate when that happens and have stopped watching shows because of it.
Episode List
Madame Ex Wall of Sound The Source The Prankster The Eyes Have It The Phoenix Top Copy Return of the Prankster Season’s Greedings Metallo Chi of Steel Lucky Leon Resurrection Tempus Fugitive Target: Jimmy Olsen! Individual Responsibility Whine, Whine, Whine And the Answer Is...
Lois & Clark: The Complete Second Season is a good DVD set for fans of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Fans of Superman may also like the show even though it did get a little silly at times.
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