Superman on Television

Lois & Clark: Episode Reviews

Season 4 - Episode 3: "Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding"

Originally Aired: October 6, 1996
Directed by Michael Lange
Written by John McNamara

Guest Cast:
Charles Fleischer as Dr. Voyle Grumman
Beverly Garland as Ellen Lane
Harve Presnell as Dr. Sam Lane
Ray Buktenica as Leo Nunk
David Doyle as Mike
Leann Hunley as Emily Channing
Delta Burke as Myrtle Beech
Billy 'Sly' Williams as Lamont
Jerry Giles as Head Paramedic
David Lewman as Messenger

Synopsis:

Lois and Clark discuss the bizarre events that have led to their wedding and wonder if they are cursed. They take solace in the fact that at least the Wedding Destroyer isn't out to ruin their wedding. Meanwhile, the Wedding Destroyer breaks out of prison.

A mysterious but oddly familiar man named 'Mike' wishes Lois and Clark well in the run up to their wedding. The Wedding Destroyer joins forces with sleazy tabloid journalist Leo Nunk, to destroy Lois and Clark's wedding as revenge for sending her to prison.

During a botched surveillance attempt by Nunk, Lois manages to steal his notebook which contains notes regarding a Dr Voyle Grumman - Myrtle's right-hand man. When Lois and Clark question Dr Grummann, Myrtle immediately suspects that Nunk has betrayed her. She and Grumman torture him to discover what information he has given Lois and Clark. They also reveal to Nunk that they are going to destroy Lois and Clark's wedding using a dummy wedding ring that can electrocute the wearer. Grumman then kills Nunk.

After Grumman explains that LoisÕ life is in danger, Lois and Clark gather their families and explain that they are going to go ahead with the wedding regardless of the danger they are in.

On the day of the wedding, Lois and Clark set a trap for Myrtle - Clark convinces Myrtle that she is being manipulated by Grumman and he manages to convince her to hand over the device controlling the lethal ring.

Lois and Clark are compelled by an unexplainable force to fly west to a beautiful tropical retreat. There, Mike meets them along with Perry, Jimmy and the two families. There, at long last, they get married.

Review Rating - 2 (out of 5): It makes sense that the once-and-for-all wedding episode of 'Lois & Clark' would need to be toned down, more down to Earth and scaled back than the larger-than-life Season 3 antics of "I Now Pronounce You". Lois & Clark would understandably want a smaller ceremony less likely to attract attention than the Lex Luthor madness of before. Unfortunately, the episode ends up just coming across as cheap, both in practice and in execution. Indeed, the villainous plot of the episode seems as though it could have originated while the writers were throwing jokes around as to who could conceivably throw a wrench in Lois and Clark's wedding. "I've got it! The Wedding Destroyer!", John McNamara may have said, early in 1996. The episode feels tired - there's a sense of "Let's get this over with..." that lingers throughout. It's quite clear that this wasn't one of the upper-tier episodes where the budget was concerned.

Delta Burke makes for a perfectly serviceable villain for the lame joke she's based on, but she is very forgettable. Similarly, Charles Fleischer as Voyle Grumman has a snarling, reptilian look about him and his character certainly does some fiendish things, but it's never entirely convincing.

I did like Ray Buktenica as Nunk, if only because it's fun that even in the glossy world of Metropolis (where news stories that would be considered tabloid fodder in the real world are printed on page one of the broadsheets), there still actually are sleazy tabloid journalists. It's also quite fun that the show has realized that Lois and Clark would be celebrities pursued by such people, given the amount of high-profile madness on which they report.

The idea of 'Mike,' the guardian angel of seemingly every character in the show is an intriguing one, and David Doyle is great casting - but the fact that it lives and dies in this episode feels like a waste. Given how there were a number of episodes dealing with mysticism and matters of the soul, it would have been interesting to explore that a bit more.

The only special effect worth noting is the electrocution of Nunk - it's perfectly fine but it's nothing special.

I didn't take note of anything particularly interesting this week, but I will say that the scene where Clark uses his X-ray vision on Nunk's photographer's camera to wipe the film bothered me. Does Clark's X-ray vision use actual X-rays?! Because if so, he has exposed A LOT of people to dangerous radiation.

So that's it. Lois and Clark are finally married and it really doesn't mean that much. Luckily, things bounce back in a battle across space, time and the spectral plane in the very good 'Soul Mates'.

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