This episode managed to do a lot. Lois and Clark became partners, we got to learn more about Lois' background, and Lex Luthor really got a chance to shine.

I always thought that having Lois and Clark become partners was a really smart move. It allowed them a chance to get closer and explained why they were always working on the same story.

The poker scene was really well done. As I rewatch the show, I keep noticing that they really went out of their way to make Clark Kent/Superman more relatable in this version of the character than in other versions. Having him consider using his powers to cheat at poker helped make him more relatable because most of us would have at least considered it if we had his powers, but by not actually having him cheat in the end, they kept to Superman’s moral code and therefore stayed true to the character.

I think this episode is probably one of Lex Luthor's strongest episodes. The way he managed to eliminate Menken and win points with Lois at the same time was brilliant. This episode is a perfect example of why Lex Luthor is one of my favorite villains from the show.

Seeing Lois’ father told us more about who she is as a character. The reason why Lois has a need to prove she’s the best at everything became clear in this episode when we found out that her father never really praised her for her accomplishments.

I was trying to think of some fanfics specifically based on this episode but couldn't. I actually checked the LCFanfic Database and looked for the "Episode-Related" tag - none for this episode, surprisingly enough.

However, I've read numerous fanfics where the events of this episode were cited. This seems to have quite a bit of "foundational" stuff - as you said in the post above, we find out about Lois's relationship with her father, we learn more about Superman's moral code, we see Lex's villainy, etc. So many of those things play huge roles in fanfic.

This is a pivotal episode and the foundation of Lois and Clark's relationship is built here.

A very telling exchange is between Perry, Lois and Clark when they turn in a 'watered down' version of the story. Perry is amazed they turned in such a 'puff piece' and asks Clark if its genuine. Clark says "I stand by my partner."

Enough said.

Yep. Foundational stuff. It stands at the base of the relationship between Lois and Clark.

I thought I read on another thread recently about several boxing stories, which I considered might be retellings of this episode (I've been too busy writing to read lately). But that just be my anti-boxing thought-process coming through that WHY would they revisit boxing? Yawn. It must be a retelling of this episode.

There is a lot going on in this episode that isn't directly referred to, as well.

I've always wondered why Lucy shown so well in the first three episodes wasn't even mentioned in this one with Lois' dad. She disappears ( right after Jimmy Olsen asked her out when Lois and Clark went missing during "Strange Visitor"... had he done away with her -- why do I see a Tank story on this theme in the future?) and nobody, including Lois, ever noticed?

When re-watching that inital scene with Lois and Clark coming out of Menken's Gym and running into Dr. Lane, I realized how hopeful Sam was to re-establish a relationship with his daughter. She was certainly the one doing the pushing away.

Sam seems excited at first to see her. "Why are you here?" It was as if his hope is that she came to see him, and then when he realizes the truth (for a story about the fight) replied "Of course, the fight". Very telling. It seems to me that Sam Lane is trying to mend fences in a huricane. Lois isn't willing to forgive everything that went on beforehand (in her childhood) and Sam is trying make amends as best he can, which is why he's willing to risk his life and career (later on in the episode) for her to further his daughter's own.

Lex also has a couple of strange conversations with himself and his dog, (who also later seems to disappear -- of course, with all this dog knew, it's life expectancy couldn't have been expected to be long) in this episode. It makes him seem creepier and less mentally unstable.

Also, do we see some inner workings of Murray Brown's effect on Superman's charitable giving here? Had Brown agreed (on Superman's behalf) to the fight that Garrison refers to - the winner fights Superman? Or was that just a veiled attempt to remind the comic readers that there was once a Superman vs. Muhammad Ali comic (I think it ended in a draw ). I couldn't ever see Superman agreeing to fight these guys in a boxing match, especially as Clark states "I usually try to stay out of fights". He IS a boxing fan (obviously, when Lois and Clark spout boxing facts to one another when they first enter Menken's Gym). So, had he agreed to this one?

Why would Menken and Garrison be going to Dr. Sam Lane's office during the off hours anyway? To bully him into not saying anything to Lois? Wouldn't they have double checked to make sure he was THERE first before coming all the way down to his office?

Also, in the last scene we see 4 cyborg boxers. Yet, somewhere... Luthor, Menken, or Dr. Lane mentions (or maybe it was LnC when they were going through the files) 5 boxers. I found it... Luthor tells Max... "We created Five men of inordinate human strength..." So, where's #5? WHAT happened to the fifth boxer?

And Clark's mysterious "Uncle Ennis" (with his office that has a similar setup to Dr. Lane's)? Where was he when poor alt-Clark got orphaned? Or did Clark make him up? Tsk-Tsk.

I'm pressed for time, so this has to be quick...

I absolutely loathe the way Lois' parents were portrayed in the last couple of seasons, most especially Sam. This ep is what I base my impressions of her dad on. He's like a real person in this episode and not a cartoon.

I'm also really surprised that Lois (as well as Menken and Garrison) drop the whole "Earthquake" angle. Wouldn't Lois be somewhat curious what really happened at her father's office, if there HADN'T been an earthquake in Metropolis? Wouldn't she investigate with the building super or something?

I preferred the way Sam was portrayed in this episode, too.

I've been thinking about this episode a lot recently as I touch on it in my current story. And a thought came to me this afternoon about Allie Dinello’s line to Lois from Requiem “How’s Perry? Does he still cheat at poker?”

It makes me wonder how Perry and Allie got to know each other. Did Perry once cover the sports circuit, which is how he met Allie and possibly Sam Lane? Did Perry know Lois from her visits to the gym with her father, while he was covering sports? Was that where they met? So when she came to him for a job, he considered it either older generation helping out the younger or helping out the daughter of a friend of his (Sam Lane), since he knew her since she was a youngster. It would also explain how Perry knows Lois so well and considers her the daughter he never had.

Although the other problem with this line is that Perry doesn't really react with any noticable sadness to Allie's passing. It could be why he doesn't believe Lois's cover story (it was just a hit and run), and sent her and Kent to the doghouse.

Maybe in alt dimension Uncle Ennis was killed off in some way. I mean, they killed off everyone else around Clark. Presley lived and was president, Charlton Heston was president, Clark having an uncle who died earlier too for some reason is a minor change compared to all the others.

I just finished Terry Leatherwood's excellent story The Circle Squared . While it doesn't exactly deal with Menken and Dr. Lane's cyborgs, it is a terrific another universe story about boxing and Luthor's involvement in the sport. I'm not a boxing fan (by any means), but Terry really knows how to draw the reader in no matter what the subject matter. Kudos.

I can't believe I forgot "The Circle Squared"! It's a great fic. I love that Lois is the boxing coach and Clark is the reporter writing about her.

Lex Luthor, of course, (SPOILER, but a pretty obvious one in this context) is the evil villain who's attempting to fix the boxing matches.

As Virginia says, Terry really knows his stuff and he writes an engaging and satisfying fic.

Just wanted to add another recommendation for a fanfic based on this episode. It's Virginia R's not-yet-completed-as-of-this-date epic, Wrong Clark . In this sprawling fic, there is a significant plot line about the cyborgs and about Lex actually managing to shoot Lois.

I started reading Wrong Clark when we were in the midst of the whole boxing episode. Specifically the episode that involved Lois telling Clark that he has to stop Superman from fighting the boxers.

This is where Wrong Clark truly starts breaking in major ways from canon, although I guess you could argue there are significant changes from the start.

I watched this episode last night, and I had some thoughts on it.

I liked the poker scene, but the scene where Perry invites/mandates that Clark attend was really weird. Perry was being unnecessarily vague, and it almost seemed like he was coming on to Clark. We've already seen that sexual harassment is apparently a common and accepted thing in that office (i.e., all of Cat's behavior so far), so Clark wouldn't be off the mark to think that Perry was suggesting something inappropriate. Or at least inappropriate in a boss/employee context (i.e., Clark would be in trouble at work if he didn't hang out with the boss after hours).

In fact, there are several things that happen at the office that don't sit well with me. First, Lois balks at almost every assignment that she gets from Perry. I've never understood why L&C Lois has such disdain for actually reporting the news. She seems to have some arbitrary method of determining whether an event is "worthy" of her attention. That doesn't sound like an attribute of a strong or valuable reporter.

Then, Perry's reaction to Lois and Clark killing their story was off. Sure, Lois was so sure that Allie had been murdered, and it's quite an about-face to then turn in an article saying that it was a random accident, but Perry has no real basis to think that there was a major story that they were ignoring. Besides which, it seems that it would be more responsible and timely journalism to write an article stating that a man was hit by a car and killed and that police think it was an accident, then look into it. If they then uncover evidence that it wasn't, do a follow-up piece. And what if it actually had been an accident? Perry was "punishing" them (by giving them local news assignments that they should be doing anyway...?) for a car accident not being some big conspiracy. That doesn't hold water.

And what about all the damage to Sam Lane's office from the "earthquake"? The only people who were there and would claim that there was an earthquake weren't supposed to be there and wouldn't say anything. What was the explanation for all the damage? And that was pretty extreme damage. I imagine that Lois has never been in an earthquake by her comment that it was "at least a 5". A 5 earthquake shakes the room around, but it's not going to make the ceiling fall down and ruin everything like what Clark did. I'd say he mimicked a 7, minimum, and close to the epicenter. All in all, simulating an earthquake seems like one of the worse ideas that Clark could have come up with to prevent him and Lois being found.

Virginia wrote:
Maybe the dog died because he fed it too much booze?

I have to agree the earth quake was the oddest thing Clark did.

In fact, I think in that situation, the most justified action would have been to use his Super-abilities to get Lois out of there. True, it would have given away his secret, but I think saving her then would have made it worth the risk.

Thinking about it, it sounds like a good story premise.