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Episode Guide > Season 3, Episode 22

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: Big Girls Don't Fly

 

Episode Score

 
9.1 Superb
45 votes

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Air Date

Sunday May 12, 1996

Production Code

457422

Episode Summary

After passing Zara and Ching's tests, Clark learns that they want him to leave the Earth (and Lois) and go back with them to rule New Krypton. If he refuses, the planet will be ruled by the evil Lord Nor, who sends an assassin to kill Clark before that can happen. When Clark defeats the assassin, he and Lois decide that he must go with Zara and Ching. Clark says goodbye to his parents, to Earth and to Lois, and leaves with Zara and Ching.

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  •  
    8 Great

    This episode really let me cry because Clark left Lois because he is already married. Also a shapeshifter transforms into a blond woman to escape as the neighbour knocks on the door. hide show

    The episode opens with Superman saving two innocents from a fiery building. He soon gets a message from Sarah telepathically saying that he needs to meet them at an abandoned building nearby. When he walks inside, he sees a giant glowing orb and is instructed to walk through it. Once in the hidden room, Sarah (now Zara) and Ching tell him that they are Kryptonians that were chosen to colonize another planet when Krypton exploded. A thousand others were chosen to be a part of this colonization project as well. The people on the new planet are governed by an alliance of noble families, one of which is Clark and Zara. She tells him they were married off as infants, and that he must return with her to the other planet to keep the alliance strong. If he does not return, the evil Lord Nor will take her hand in marriage, and disrupt the peaceful power she holds over the people.

    Clark tells Lois everything and she is shocked to find out he is already married. She reveals to Clark that she is suspicious of the outsiders’ true intentions, and he finally admits that they want him to leave Earth. During this conversation, a horrible creature, Tez, is sent to Smallville by Lord Nor to murder Clark.

    The next day, Lois and Clark begin discussing what Clark should do in regards to Zara and Ching’s proposal. Clark is torn between his love for Lois and his curiosity about his heritage. He gets another message from Zara to meet them again, so he and Lois go to talk to them in the conference room. When Lois and Clark question their motives, Zara decides to give Clark proof of their marriage. They also warn Clark that Tez is after him.

    Tez investigates the Kent household and threatens to kill Jonathan for information on Clark’s location. When Martha walks in, Tez turns into Jonathan, revealing that he is a shape shifter. He leaves Jonathan unconscious in the kitchen as Martha returns upstairs, unaware of the imposter.

    Lois and Clark go back to the orb with Zara and Ching, where Clark’s spaceship is now located. When Zara and Clark put their hands on ship together, Clark receives a hologram message from his father that confirms his union with Zara.

    When Clark returns to his apartment, he finds his mother waiting for him. Since he is stressed out, she offers to rub his shoulders. Clark doesn’t realize that she is trying to kill him because he doesn’t feel that she is trying to choke and stab his back. After he receives a call from his mother in Smallville, he realizes the Martha in his apartment is really Tez. Despite Clark’s obvious strength, the creature manages to escape.

    Clark talks to Zara about how he should deal with the assassin. She suggests killing him, but Clark admits he does not agree with murder, even if the villain deserves death. Zara confides in Clark that Ching hates it on Earth, but that she puts up with him because they care about each other. Clark asks why Krptonian’s don’t indulge in their feelings like he does for Lois, and then he tells her he won’t leave Earth. She doesn’t believe that he has really made up his mind, though, which is evident on his face.

    Back at the Planet, Tez takes the shape of Jimmy. Clark hears someone in danger and quickly leaves as Perry calls Jimmy into his office. Lois notices that Jimmy is really the assassin by his odd fingernails, and confronts him. Tez decides not to kill Lois, but insists he will be able to defeat Clark by becoming him.

    Lois pleads with Zara to leave so that Clark is not murdered. She tells Lois there are too many lives at stake, and that she must wait for Clark to make his final decision. Clark continues to ponder what to do on a park bench when he is once again faced with Tez. It is apparent that the creature is using Clark’s strength against him, and will soon be too strong to defeat.

    Lois and Clark travel to Smallville to ask his parents what they should do. They ask him if he believes in their cause, and when he realizes he does, he goes with Lois to tell Zara and Ching that he will return to the new Krypton. The four of them agree they still have to deal with Tez, and Lois suggests that Clark use Tez’s strategy against him. Clark ends up reflecting the creature’s heat vision and using his own to double team his opponent into defeat. That same night, Clark visits Lois to say goodbye. She gives him her wedding ring on a chain to keep safe for her. He promises to guard it, and then says “I loved you from the beginning.” She simply responds with “And I’ll love you ‘till the end.”

    The next morning, Superman holds a press conference at the Daily Planet to say good bye to the world. After his moving speech, he says his final farewell to his parents and Lois before flying off with Zara and Ching. During the night, Lois grieves her loss until she hears Clark’s voice in her head. He calls out to her repeatedly, and when she looks up at the stars she hears him say “Lois, I love you.”

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  • Why would Superman want to say goodbye to Jonathan and Martha Kent and at the Planet Office? It was okay for Lois, since he always claimed to be her friend, but Clark's parents? That's a bit odd. It's possible that Superman had met Clark's parents through Clark, however, and therefore might know them well enough for a public farewell. []
  • This is Jon Tenny's final appearance as Ching. In the fourth season episode "Lord of the Flys" he is replaced by Mark Kiely. Jon was not able to reprise his role of Ching because of his role on the new series Brooklyn South which Mark Kiely also appeared in guest role. []
  • At the end of the episode, we see Clark in the black Superman outfit that has been used in the comics. []
  • This is another season cliffhanger and the end of 3rd season. []
  • (on Clark asking his parents on whether to go or not)
    Martha: When your father and I were young, we marched for civil rights. And people said to us, 'Why would you go there? This isn't your fight.' And I didn't even know what to say, because it was something we believed in.
    Jonathan: We've never been asked to send a son off to war, but if we were and my son would ask me, 'Should I go?' I'd say to him, 'Is this your fight?'
    Martha: Is this something you believe in? []
  • Lois: (to Zara) You're asking me to sacrifice everything for a world I'll never see.
    Zara: I'm asking you to save a world that's robbing us both of the men we love. []
  • Clark: I have loved you from the beginning.
    Lois: And I'll love you 'til the end. []
More Quotes

Allusions

  • The episode title is a play on the title of The Four Seasons' 1962 hit "Big Girls Don't Cry." []
  • The headline, 'A World Without Superman' is the name of the period of time between the death of Superman and his return (in the comics). []
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