Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: The Messenger/Prometheus story...

*clears throat*

I'm working on a rewrite of the one episode I never wanted to rewrite in the first place: the pilot. *shrugs* It's for my cross-over ficathon story. (and hey, believe it or not, I have seven whole pages of it already!)

Anyway, I'm desperately trying to make this story work, but I ran into a "snag" of some sort.

Ahum... OK... this is the thing: no matter how many times I've watched the ep (and that's not so many, really 'coz it's not my favorite at all) and I read the script and I've read adaptations from others and... well, anyway, the thing is this: I don't understand the story very well at all. I'm trying to. Really, I am. But it seems to me there are plot holes the size of my house in that and... well, let's just say it's a good thing they threw in Clark in a towel, or I might not ever have wanted to see that episode again anyway.

Can someone just please explain a few things to me? I mean, I get that Baines & Luthor are working together to sabotage the space program, for monetary gain - that's the obvious part.

What I don't get is how did Lois & Clark ever manage to get a front page article with Baines pic and a title that says it was all her doing...

First they seem to figure everything out, but they don't have any hard facts, right? And Perry yells at them to get some.

Then, they end up in the warehouse and they talk to her and she explains things to them, basically implicating herself -- but how is that hard facts? How do they even link that to her? She blew up...

And how does Clark figure out that Luthor is behind any of this? Without Lois getting a clue? I mean, it has to be something only Superman knows, but as far as I can see it, everything Clark (or Superman!) knows about the case and/or Luthor, Lois knows, too. So if Clark suspects something, wouldn't it be as obvious as the nose on your face, and therefore Lois would be a really BAD investigative reporter for not seeing it?

(and um... if anyone's still reading this... let's say I wanted to take Lex completely out of the equation... Other than monetary gain, is there anything that would make someone like Baines want to sabotage the space program anyway -- cause she's head of EPRAD, so she's jeopardizing her career, right?)

Thaaaaaaaaaank you!!

It was because of what Toni Baines said about "seizing the high ground" (watch the look on his face when she says this) - it was the same thing Luthor said to Clark at the White Orchid Ball when Lois wasn't with them, so he suspected that Toni had picked up that phrase from Luthor.

As for the "hard facts" that Perry wanted, they took pictures of the wreck when they were inside the warehouse, so they could prove that it had been sabotaged. Not sure how they proved that Toni was the saboteur, but since Luthor offed her in order to tie up loose ends, I think he might have also planted evidence to make it look like it had all been her doing.

Huh. I hadn't caught the "high ground" thing, but that's good.

There's also the fact that Lex's wonderful new space station was the one that would be replacing the messenger. No point blowing up the old one to make money if you don't have a link to the new one... (Don't know how Lois missed that.)

And then... there's the gut reactions.

Lois has been chasing after Luthor for some time. She finally gets to meet him, and she finds him rather charming. Not charming enough that she won't snoop through his stuff when he's not looking, but then, it's Lois. I don't know if anyone is that charming...

Clark, on the other hand, sees Luthor and has this instant reaction. When he met Lois, it was love at first sight. When he met Luthor, it was arch-enmity first sight.

So he was naturally inclined to think the worst of Luthor, whereas Lois, focused on the mysterious and charming billionaire willing to give her the first exclusive interview, wasn't ready to be quite so suspicious. The fact that the annoying farmboy she'd been saddled with had this gut-level theory (her specialty, after all) might just have made her more contrary, too.

Of course, it's also possible that Clark, with his superhearing, overheard something that he couldn't tell anyone about...

Yeah, but that would be fanwanking . The "high ground" thing is canon (like I said, watch Clark's reaction) and it's in the script.

I agree with you on the instant dislike aspect, though. I think it contributed to Clark suspecting and then confronting Luthor instead of just concluding that Toni and Luthor using the exact same (and not that common) phrase was coincidence.

Thanks guys! Much appreciated!!

If I remember correctly dead people can't sue for liable. So newspaper lawyers are more willing to let stories with less support get printed since they can't get sued for it.

Lois and Jimmy both heard her, their word vs hers might not stand up in a criminal trial but is still fairly solid. I'd expect that the investigation afterwards that you ever see in the show would uncover unaccounted money in bank accounts of hers etc.

As far as I understand, the A-plot is thus:

[1]Platt comes to Lois claiming that Messenger (part of the Prometheus expedition) is sabotaged to explode. When it actually explodes (killing Cdr. Latterman.. that's around the time Clark gets hired for his theatre story), Lois sets off to prove Platt's claims and find the saboteur.

[2]Platt tells Lois and Clark how it's sabotaged (coolants instead of heating device), but he does not know who or why. He claims to have sent a report regarding this coolant discovery to Baines. When Lois and Clark interview Baines, she denies any knowledge of this report instead saying Platt was using, mentally and emotionally disturbed, set fire to a lab, and was eventually fired. Platt gives L&C a copy of this same report (scraps of paper).

[3]Lois and Clark try to piece together his report but are largely unsuccesful. When they go back to visit Platt, he is found dead. Police autopsy declares it's suicide. Lois and Clark don't think so. Mrs. Platt confirms their suspicions saying he knew something and that got him killed. Lois also thinks that because of this murder, the colonial transport itself could be in danger.

[4]Meanwhile, Jimmy's contact(s) at Star Labs are able to comprehend this report, make a simulation and prove that it was indeed sabotaged. So the explosion was no accident. Lois, Clark, Jimmy are jubiliant, goto Perry with the info in order to print it, he is furious... no hard facts. Because their only source is Platt, who is unreliable and officially committed suicide.

[5] Lois decides to get physical evidence in form of pictures. They find that the shell that is being inspected for sabotage is phony, it does not have one whole side blasted off. While Jimmy shoots pictures, Baines catches them. Clark soon arrives, gets caught. Baines admits she was involved for "profit"

[6] As mentioned above, Clark reacts at the "seize high ground" and suspects Luthor. When the helicopter explodes, others think its because of the chemical explosion, but Clark's expressions shows he suspects a higher power.

[7] Story is published, EPRAD investigates, ensures safety of messenger. Congress of Nations declines Luthor's offer, says they expect no problems and Prometheus will continue its launch. Lex is angry, plants a bomb... Lois sneaks in, finds the bomb, attracts attention by cutting some wires, Superman arrives.... yada yada.

Also, Lex is known to be a philanthropist, finger in every pie, noone blinks an eye when he offers space station Luthor.. it's what he does.. make investments. And noone except Clark knows who the higer power could be.

Maybe my retelling was too long winded.. and totally unnecessary.. sorry, or maybe it helped..

Thanks soooo much for the thorough explanation. Very helpful!

And just some logic that I didn't think about till I read another fic is that Luthor's spacestation had to be premeditated. If our ISS blew up tomorrow, there's no way Bill Gates is going to step up and say, "Malfunction? No problem, I've got an extra space station under my bed!" Even if he would just throw money at it for repairs, that would have to take some kind of planning. I forget, did Luthor build a whole new station, or was he just going to work with the previous Messenger?

Yay, a pilot-rewrite!
JD

I don't think it had been built yet. He was just offering to fund it. At the White Orchid Ball he said in this speech: "Therefore, I have decided to commit my total financial support toward the building of a privately owned space laboratory."