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This one has always been a fan favorite among fans of the show, and since I’ve always enjoyed stories involving time travel, it’s a favorite of mine as well. Hearing about the future that Superman creates and about his future marriage to Lois was a great way to tease the fans about the future for Lois and Clark. I also enjoyed the scenes of the days of Jesse James as well as the scenes of Smallville in 1966.

Tempus’ line about Lois being “galactically stupid” is probably one of the most quoted lines of the show, and it was a good way to poke fun at the fact that glasses probably wouldn’t make for a suitable disguise in the real world. The best part of Tempus telling Lois, though, was that we finally got to see a glimpse of how things would be if Lois knew Clark’s secret.

Tempus has always been one of my favorite villains of the show, and you can tell that he was popular with the show runners as well, seeing as how they kept bringing him back. I thought that Lane Davies did a great job at capturing the humor of the character without coming off as too silly.

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This, "Tempus Anyone?", "Lois and Clarks", and ASU are some of my favorite all-time episodes.

Yes, I'm a big fan of "galatically stupid" and "duh". razz


VirginiaR.
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At least they don't use the memory erase kiss.

At another level I think I am a little ok with the ending because it isn't Clark that erases Lois' memory. ALthough I half wish he had not taken the card away.


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I used to have a problem with the memory erase kiss is Superman II (because, really what kind of power is that?), but recently I realized that in the 50s and 60s in the comics, one of Superman's powers was super-hypnotism, and the memory wipe could be a use of that power. That said, it's still a cop-out ending.

I remember watching the teasers for this episode with Tempus saying, "Hello, duh! Clark Kent is Superman!" and being shocked that they would let Lois know, especially that early in the series. I was also a bit surprised that they gave that plot point away in the ads, but I guess it did serve its purpose in getting me excited to see the episode. I was heartily disappointed to find out that it wasn't THE big reveal of the series.

I agree with VirginiaR in regards to the Kents: why on Earth would they keep a baby they found after a young couple came around looking for a missing baby? When Lois asks them if they found a baby, I always thought that Martha's response doesn't fit at all.

Going off of Martha's comments, I see the conversation going more like this:

"We're looking for a missing baby. Have you found one?"
"We can't have kids, so if we found a baby, we'd love it like our own."
"No, really, we lost a baby, and we want it back."

A more realistic response for Martha would be to ask about the circumstances of losing the baby, is it theirs, or are they helping their friends or relatives look, and other questions that Lois and Clark wouldn't want to answer, which is why I thought Lois shouldn't have mentioned the baby at all. She should have asked whether they had seen anything odd in the sky, or something like that. Or at least after she mentioned the baby, ask the Kents to take him in.


"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then...he shoots fire from the skies, and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him." -Batman (in Superman/Batman #3 by Jeph Loeb)
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Actually thinking about it, in the context why would Martha and Jonathan think the baby dropped from the sky was the baby that this couple had been looking for? Clark flies the spaceship through the sky so the Kent's see it as they are driving along and think that it is just falling. Why would this couple have connections with a baby from a spaceship?


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Hmm... good point. Martha's reaction was still off, though.


"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then...he shoots fire from the skies, and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him." -Batman (in Superman/Batman #3 by Jeph Loeb)
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Originally posted by mrsMxyzptlk:
A more realistic response for Martha would be to ask about the circumstances of losing the baby, is it theirs, or are they helping their friends or relatives look, and other questions that Lois and Clark wouldn't want to answer, which is why I thought Lois shouldn't have mentioned the baby at all. She should have asked whether they had seen anything odd in the sky, or something like that. Or at least after she mentioned the baby, ask the Kents to take him in.
I completely agree. I was always like confused by what the Kents said in that scene, especially Martha. So, this couple just lost their baby and if you found it, you'd keep it as your own? Who are you and what have you done with Martha?


VirginiaR.
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Fanfics involving "Tempus Fugitive" - many. This is one of my favorite episodes, and there are so many fanfics involving this episode, it's tough for me to remember all of them. I apologize in advance to those authors whose works I omit. If you are reading this and can suggest any episode-related fanfics, please do so.

VirginiaR is probably the queen of "alt-universes resulting from Tempus succeeding" fics with her Wrong Trilogy 1 - Another Lois . Obviously, "Another Lois" is just the first in the trilogy; Virginia is working on Part 2 of the trilogy, Wrong Clark , which is still a work in progress.

Speaking of finished fics: There seems to be a desire for fanfic authors to have Lois find the note that she wrote to herself at the end of the episode, before HGW returned out heroes to their time and wiped their memories. Gerry Anklewicz has Lois fish out that envelope from the trash, the envelope where she scrawled "Clark is Superman", in Deja Vu . Judith Tylke uses the same scenario, with different WAFFy results, in her Champagne Truths . And Moonshadow uses the same hook in Clark Equals Superman? . Carol M also writes about it in The Card . Four authors, all with a different take on the same event - that's the beauty of fanfic!

From a more serious point of view: In Before The Beginning , Nan Smith tells the story of Martha and Jonathan before that night in 1966 when they find the baby in the spaceship.

Last, but *certainly* not least, is Tank Wilson. He has perhaps the most hilarious episode-related vignette in A Matter of Perceptions . Don't miss this very short (but great!) fic.

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I just thought of something else which has always bothered me about this episode. How did Lois and Clark rent a car in 1966 Smallville? They don't have 1960's driver's licenses. They don't even have 1960's CASH. Any money they spent was probably minted in the 1980s. Wouldn't any self-respecting bank teller notice the "phony" money floating about?


VirginiaR.
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The Time Machine does run on pure gold. Maybe Clark used converted some of the gold into cash and then bought the car. Since Lois know knows CK=SM, he could even fly off to some other place to covert it without drawing too much attention. Although, with how mad Lois was at him then, it might not have been advised, she might have gone back to the present and left him stranded. Although, I could see her missing Clark and coming back.

I am getting a headache from all the fun time travel possibilities here.


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I am rewatching this episode as we speak... and some of my favorite quotes ever in the show are in this episode. Glasses, secret identity... sounded like a good idea at the time or Clark is who I am, Superman is what I can do. Love the episode and they got so close yet pulled apart once again.

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Originally Posted by CarrieRene
I am rewatching this episode as we speak... and some of my favorite quotes ever in the show are in this episode. Glasses, secret identity... sounded like a good idea at the time or Clark is who I am, Superman is what I can do.
Those are great quotes.

Quote
Love the episode and they got so close yet pulled apart once again.
You've hit the nail on the head (at least the first nail) on how readers/fan view Wells. Yes, because of him Tempus, Soul Mates, and erasing their memories happened... some hate Wells for it and some of us consider it part of his quirky naivety. Personally, Clark and Lois sure did tolerate him longer than many of us with not so forgiving a nature would've.


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In this thread, I see some have pointed out this episode has some plot holes. They're perfectly valid points, but all things considered, I wouldn't be as into Lois & Clark, or Superman in general, if "things making sense" was my first priority :P

L&C often embraces the cheesiness in Superman and most of the time, it actually works pretty dang well. For example, in this episode, Superman's parents' distant ancestors looking exactly like them is extremely goofy, but quite honestly I totally love it all the more for that fact!

Overall, it probably is one of my favorite episodes. Now that I think of it, I might as well post the review I wrote of the episode on IMDb here.

"In many ways, this isn't the most creative episode ever - using time travel to kill someone in the past isn't exactly a new idea, and they don't really do anything mega-different with it either. Despite this, it was definitely a really enjoyable episode overall. Of course it was cheesy and occasionally you have to not think too hard about certain things, but that's hardly unexpected for this show; heck, the cheesiness is a part of its charm! At first it really weirded me out that they just threw out there a few very basic facts about the future from which Tempus came from and never elaborated on it, especially considering the nature of the facts. Superman's descendants make a perfect but boring (well, at least to depraved people - as for others it's not clear) utopia? I dunno, I kinda want a little more explanation - that's awfully intriguing! But as the episode went on, this just sort of faded into the background since it became very clear it wasn't supposed to be an important part of the episode other than to provide the villain's motive.

This episode was definitely fun, but what was even better than the fun was the look we got at the characters. Of course, it was very interesting to see Lois with the knowledge of Clark Kent's secret and dealing with that. Specifically, it was nice to see her evolving from being upset and distrustful to being accepting. I guess you could say it was a little disappointing that most of her emotions were just "anger". I've always thought what would be most intriguing is seeing her try to reconcile her conflicting views of Clark and Superman. I mean, in this continuity her opinions of the two are *relatively* similar, particularly compared to other versions, but I know she doesn't them exactly the same. But overall, it was still definitely interesting and enjoyable to see the two interacting with this new perspective. It was a very special moment to see Lois kissing Superman knowing he was Clark!

Quick and minor footnote - at one point in the episode, after talking to Clark after learning his secret, Lois references Clark pretending to be weak. Obviously this is something that happens often in Superman media, but I actually haven't seen him doing this much in this show. In fact, I...really can't remember any instances of him doing this in any of the episodes before this one, though I admit I could be forgetting something. It also seems kinda weird considering Lois has gotten a good look at Clark's impressive musculature before.

But one of the best parts of this episode was the focus on Clark's family and how much it means to him, from getting to see his parents' ancestors (even though that was of course very silly as well) to seeing Clark meet his own parents before they, well, became his parents. I dunno, it just felt really sweet and gave me so many positive vibes. They certainly weren't blatant about this being a theme or anything, it was just a thing that existed and it gave me lots of good feels. I just love Clark's adoptive parents, their relationship with him, and how they made him who he is. Seeing how important Clark's parents are to him is just so precious to me.

So yeah, overall this episode gave me a lot to enjoy - fun, laughs, an interesting look at characters, and all sorts of positive vibes. Not the most creative episode, and goofy in places, but overall it felt so right. Definitely recommended."


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