"Target" is the seventh episode of the second season of Superman: The Animated Series, and the 20th of the overall series. It depicts a madman 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.
Plot[]
Lois accepts her Excalibur Award.
At the Excalibur Awards ceremony, a group of reporters is nominated for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Lois Lane happens to be one of the nominees, but she soon discovers a warning written on her napkin: "You win, you die!". Lois wins the award for an exposé on LexCorp and goes for her prize. Meanwhile, Clark hears a strange sound and notices an unknown laser device cutting the rope that holds a giant glass sword above the stage. He leaves to appear as Superman while Lois gives her speech. At the last moment, Superman covers Lois with his back just as the glass sword almost falls on her. After the incident, Lois finds that Detective Bowman, a policeman who once lost a promotion due to an article she wrote on police corruption, is in in charge of the investigation. She is sure that he will be of no use.
That night, Lois and Clark drive home in her car and a strange song called "You Win, You Die" comes on the radio. The car then suddenly goes out of Lois's control, and Clark tries to save them both by cutting through the roof of the car, but he is ultimately thrown out. Lois, meantime, is unable to get out of the car due to the airbag activated by the assailant speaking to her on the radio. She almost crashes to her death, but fortunately Superman saves her again. He then finds a remote control device under her car and hands it to her.
The next morning, Lois takes the device to Edward Lytener, a scientist and her main informant for the article on LexCorp. Lytener examines the device and congratulates Lois on winning the Excalibur. After that, he discovers that the device belongs to LexCorp and shows her the company logo on it.
Luthor denies any involvement in attempting to kill Lois.
Lois then confronts Luthor over the discovery, but he denies any involvement with it. However, he promises to find out if the device came from LexCorp and how it ended up in her car. Lois decides to believe him, since the killer's style of warning before killing, as she explains to Clark, isn't something Luthor would do.
Back at work, Lois discovers that some of her assignments have been handed to other staff reporters, such as Julian Frey. Annoyed, she walks into the elevator and soon realizes that she has fallen into yet another trap. The elevator rockets into the sky with a time bomb planted in it, but Superman manages to save her once again.
That night, a masked man sneaks into Lois's apartment and attacks her. Though she tries to fight back, she is ultimately thrown out of a window from a great height. Terrified, she wakes up and realizes it was a nightmare. Meanwhile, Detective Bowman watches her through binoculars from a nearby building's roof and sinisterly smiles.
The next morning, Lois complains about her situation to Clark on the phone. Clark advises her to just lie low for a while and "let other people take the risks". Lois continues to complain but suddenly "agrees" with Clark when she hears about Angela Chen, who, as Clark says, wanted to congratulate Lois on the award that she heard about on the news.
Lytener explains why he targets Lois.
After that, Lois decides to go to Lytener's laboratory and, during the conversation, points out that he has many gadgets but no TV or radio. Realizing that she already knows everything about him, Lytener asks Lois how she managed to figure it out. She explains that he congratulated her on the award, but he couldn't have known about it since he worked all night with no TV or radio. Lytener then attacks Lois, and she asks him why he wants to kill her, as she hasn't done anything to him. Lytener replies that that's exactly the point - she never did anything for him after he helped her expose LexCorp, which cost him his job at the company. Lytener then traps Lois in a shrinking cage of laser beams with the intention of killing her. Meanwhile, Luthor informs Clark over the phone that the device on Lois's car was stolen together with some other equipment by Lytener right after he was fired.
Superman flies to Lytener and attempts to free Lois, but the laser beams prevent him from doing so. Lytener attacks him using his "favorite invention", a suit powered by the energy spectrum of a red sun, which increases his strength to the point where he can hurt Superman. However, Superman's determination and the fact that the suit is not invulnerable to his attacks enable him to defeat Lytener with relative ease. Superman then turns off the cage and releases Lois. Outside, she tells Superman that someday it would be nice to see him when she's not in trouble, to which he replies with a smile, "Someday".
Continuity[]
- Edward Lytener returns as the supervillain Luminus in "Solar Power".
- Kurt Bowman returns as the antagonist in "The Late Mr. Kent".
Background information[]
Home video releases[]
- Superman: The Animated Series, Volume Two (DVD)
- Superman: The Complete Animated Series (DVD)
- Superman: The Complete Animated Series (Blu-ray)
Production notes[]
- When Lex Luthor is testing out his weapon on cardboard targets, the last one he blasts away features an explosion that is reused footage from the gas canisters that Superman ignites in "The Way of All Flesh".
- Likewise, when the elevator bomb detonates, the ensuing explosion is reused footage from the scene in which Mr. Eelan blows a vat of hot lead off its support in "My Girl". This footage is used again later when Superman hits Lytener with a piece of his equipment.
Production inconsistencies[]
- When Superman arrives at Lytener's laboratory to rescue Lois, Lytener attacks him using his "favorite invention," a suit emitting red sun energy. However, it is unlikely that he would have known about this weakness of Superman's, as it had never been disclosed to the public or Superman's Earth enemies.
Trivia[]
- When Lois is in the elevator and Superman says, "I believe this is your floor", this is a reference to Lois's rescue from the Eiffel Tower elevator in the 1980 film Superman II.
- This is one of the few episodes in the DCAU to feature Lex Luthor as an ally rather than a foe.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Tim Daly | Superman/Clark Kent |
| Dana Delany | Lois Lane |
| Clancy Brown | Lex Luthor |
| Robert Hays | Edward Lytener |
| Jonathan Harris | Julian Frey |
| Robert Ito | Awards Presenter |
| Eddie Barth | Detective Bowman |
Uncredited appearances[]
Quotes[]
Lois: I'm not just "one of the other reporters". This was an attempt on my life, you know? |
Lois: (After kicking Lytener) Daddy was a black belt! |
Lois: Someday though it'd be nice to see you when I wasn't about to be killed. |