The Adventures of Superboy (1988) s04e19 Episode Script

(male narrator) Rocketed from a distant
planet, to a bold new destiny on Earth.
Found by a Kansas family
and raised as Clark Kent.
He learned he possessed
the strength of steel
the speed of light
and the desire
to help all mankind.
He is Superboy!
[music continues]
[explosion]
(male news announcer) The program regularly
scheduled for this time will not be seen
so that we may bring you
this special news report.
(news anchor) Nobody knows who
he was or where he came from.
And in only a few
short years, the name Superboy
has come to symbolize
all that is right in America.
Courage.
Determination.
Resourcefulness.
He was a guardian.
[assault gun firing]
An inspiration.
Above all else,
a truly American hero.
[audience applauding]
(Superboy)
Thank you.
I like to think of myself as
a man of action, not of words.
(news anchor) He could
fly, see through solid rock
and even bend steel
with his bare hands.
Because of these gifts
many people actually thought
he was immortal.
But the events
of the last few hours
have proven them
sadly mistaken.
For at this moment, the world
waits in a grim vigil
for the body of Superboy
to be recovered
from the floor
of the icy Atlantic.
I'm Fred Mandel,
and this is Night Time.
I've more after these words.
[news bulletin music]
Hehe was the embodiment
of the heroic myth.
And by that, I mean,
he wasn't just a hero
he was Hero, if you can
understand the distinction.
He was the ultimate
mythic archetype.
The Nietzschean ideal.
He was ubermensch.
He was cute, and he was so cool.
We love you, Superboy.
He's not dead.
He can't be.
But apparently,
Superboy is dead.
[sighs]
The facts are
still sketchy at this hour
but based on eye witness
accounts and government sources
the Night Time staff
has been able to put together
the following chronology.
At 2:10 this afternoon,
the coastguard received
a distress call from a yacht
called the Bohemian Star.
(Fred) According to its captain,
the ship was taking on water
approximately 50 miles
south-east of Capitol City.
The Coast Guard immediately
alerted its nearest cutter
the Sequoia, then,
12 miles north of the scene.
Just as the cutter got within
hailing distance of the yacht
several of the Coast Guard's
men spotted Superboy
landing on the deck
of the yacht.
But thendisaster.
Only seconds later, an enormous
explosion ripped through
the yacht's hull,
sinking it almost instantly.
Superboy was lost
and presumed dead.
We go now
to Captain Harold Nicholson
of the Coast Guard
cutter Sequoia.
- Captain, can you hear me?
- Yes, sir.
We got a bit of a gale
out here, though.
Okay, I'll be brief then.
Uh, captain, has there been
any sign of Superboy yet?
- Any sign at all?
- No, sir.
We've got divers underwater
for the past two hours
but they haven't been able
to see anything.
We're about to deploy a mini sub
equipped with
the new H.D.S. system.
- H.D.S.? I--
- High Definition Sonar.
If there's anything down
there, it should pick it up
with more clarity
than standard sonar.
What about the yacht,
the Bohemian Star?
Any survivors?
We haven't been able
to find any or any bodies.
And this yacht
wasn't the Bohemian Star.
The real Bohemian Star is
in the Indian Ocean right now.
Who is this yacht
registered to, then?
As best as we can tell, no one.
An unregistered yacht,
with no passengers or crew
and then an explosion.
Captain, could this have
been a deliberate attempt
on Superboy's life?
We're investigating that.
What about reports
that traces of kryptonite
were found amid
the debris of the site.
We're trying to verify
that right now.
But, captain, we have
independent reports that seem
to very strongly indicate that--
Sorry, sir. I really can't
get into it now.
Alright, I understand.
We'll be coming back
to you as events dictate.
Right now,
however, we're going
to the Bureau for Extra-Normal
Matters in Capitol City..
where a press conference
is about to begin.
[indistinct chattering]
I have brief statement, then
you can ask whatever you want.
(Fred) This is Matt Ritter. A
senior field agent at the bureau.
Everyone at the bureau
is shocked and saddened
by Superboy's death.
He was a friend
to all of us here.
But his loss will be felt
by the entire world.
(female reporter) Will there
be a statement from Lana Lang?
As soon as she's ready.
(female reporter) What was
your relationship with Superboy?
He was a friend.
Somebody I could
always count on.
And he taught me a lot..
about dedication
and sacrifice.
And something else too.
Most people
only dream about flying.
And I was no exception.
But thanks to him, I got
a chance to experience it.
And I'll never forget it.
- Thank you.
- Mr. Ritter, wait..
[indistinct chattering]
Yes, uh-huh, there's been
a new development.
One of the communication
satellites began to malfunction
about five minutes ago.
There's a scrambled
reference to Superboy.
Source unknown
and then we lost the feed.
Our engineers are trying
to recalibrate the audio
and visual signals right now.
They have? Okay.
We go now
to the satellite feed
with apologies
for the reception.
[buzzing]
[Bizarro grunting]
Him can't be dead.
Apparently, Bizarro has broken
into the communication satellite
and cut into the feed.
Superboy and Bizarro
was best friend.
Who killed him?
Who killed my friend?
Bizarro, find out.
Then, Bizarro going to..
[grunting]
What we do without Superboy?
Bizarroam sad.
He am my brother.
He is my brother.
[buzzing]
Sentiments of Bizarro.
An imperfect copy of Superboy.
Imperfect in every way,
I guess, except one.
His heart.
And now, the equal-time
doctrine obliges us
to go to Capitol City
State Prison
for an interview
with another person.
Standing by is Mr. Roger Corben,
better known as Metallo.
- Mr. Corben, can you hear me?
- Yeah.
[clearing throat]
- Yeah. Hi, Fred, love the show.
- Thank you very much.
Yeah, I get to see a lot of TV
lately, you know what I mean..
I, I imagine you do.
Now, Mr. Corben, your feelings
for Superboy are obviously
very different from
those of his friends.
Oh, hey, you know,
when I die
those kiss-ups
are probably gonna
say the same things about me.
But the truth of it is, he was
basically just a stiff guy
who didn't know how
to have any fun.
I mean, you know, him and me..
we could've run
this city together.
I mean, hell,
the whole country
buthe didn't have
the guts to do it.
You think it really was
lack of guts, Mr. Corben?
Or was it principle?
Well, you know in my book one's
just an excuse for the other.
Did you have anything
to do with Superboy's death?
Did I have any?
[laughing]
Come on, hey, look at me.
[coughing]
We've just gotten a call
from one of Superboy's
most persistent
adversaries, Lex Luthor.
He's on thehe's
on the line right now.
Hello, Mr. Luthor. Hello?
Are you still there?
(Luthor on telephone)
For the moment.
I know those
busy police operators
are trying to trace this call.
Then why are you
calling at all?
Why, to express my sorrow
and sense of deep personal loss
over the apparent death
of Superboy.
Do I detect a note of sarcasm
in your voice, Mr. Luthor?
Gosh, Fred.
I don't know, do you?
Superboy and I
had our differences
but I never expected it
to end like this.
Oh, of course, not. Did you
have anything to do with it?
[Luthor laughing]
You're awfully blunt,
aren't you?
Occupational hazard.
Well, did you?
Afraid, I'll have to invoke
the Fifth on that one, Freddy.
Okay, let me put it this way.
Are you glad that he's dead?
I don't think
I know that he is dead.
Assuming that he is,
would you be?
Well, let's put it this way,
I'm saving the champagne
till I'm sure.
With all due respect, this
is going nowhere, Mr. Luthor.
If we can, let's switch back
to the Sequoia for an update.
Make it snappy, Fred.
I'm a busy guy.
(Fred) Captain Nicolson, have
there been any developments?
Well, the sonar has spotted
something on the bottom, but--
A body?
It's shaped like one,
but the sonar waves
aren't bouncing off it
like they would off flesh.
More like it's made
out of steel.
Steel?
We're going to try
to haul it up now.
I've gotta go talk
to the divers now.
- So, if you'll excuse me.
- Of course, we'll be back.
- Yo, Fred. Remember me?
- How could I forget?
I suppose you
have a comment. Hello?
[cork popping]
Luthor, are you still there?
What was that?
Oh, I'm still here, alright.
And that was the champagne.
[Luthor laughing]
[dial tone]
We'll be back after
these words from our sponsors.
[news bulletin music]
My relationship with Superboy
was pretty intense.
And he was always arresting me,
putting me in jail
which I certainly didn't enjoy.
I was on a quest for knowledge
and I think Superboy respected
me for that, I really do.
But the fact that I take
pleasure in experimenting
on human beings
really bothered him.
I-I dunno, the last time
I saw him, we parted as friends
you know, and that was cool.
I'd very much like
to conduct some experiments
on Superboy's cadaver.
I'm optimistic that,
that will happen
and I think that's what
Superboy would have wanted.
I really do.
He's not dead.
I know it. He can't be.
To recap, sonar
has located Superboy's body
at the site
of a massive explosion.
Divers are working
to recover it, as we speak.
And it was just confirmed
during the break
that traces of kryptonite
were indeed found at the site.
As we wait for our
next live interview
we're going to look
at footage that was shot
a month ago
by a local station.
It is apparentlySuperboy's
last interview.
I think the one thing
everyone's always wanted
to know about you
is, why you do it?
Pardon?
You risk your life this way,
over and over again.
You could be spending
your time making money
running for public office
anything you wanted to do,
but you do this instead.
Is it a sense of duty,
sense of obligation?
No, I don't feel obligated.
Everything I've done it's
because I wanna do it.
When you're brought up,
your parents give you
a sense of right and wrong.
And hopefully
the courage to step in
when things start to go wrong.
That's all I've
ever really done.
But you've made
so many enemies.
I've had to. It goes along
with the territory.
Besides, you think
I'd really want to be friends
with Luthor, Metallo or Chaos?
Well, since you put it that way,
what about the risk?
I mean, your life is
in almost constant jeopardy.
I never really thought about
that. There'd be no point.
I couldn't back away
because of the risk.
It wouldn't be right.
You'll have to excuse me.
Ironic epitaph
for the Boy of Steel.
As of this moment divers work
to recover his body
from the ocean floor.
We now turn to one of Superboy's
closest friends and confidants.
Someone who has shared peril
after peril with him..
until this final one.
Lana Lang.
I know this is
difficult for you
but please, if you would
tell us what you're
feeling right now?
I didn't agree to do this
to tell you what I'm feeling.
I'm doing this to let whoever
is responsible to know
that if it takes my
last breath, I'll make you pay.
I don't know how, but I will.
Uh, could you tell us
what your relationship
was with Superboy, again?
I just don't understand
how someone could do this.
He was so strong and powerful.
But you never felt thaty-you
only felt his gentleness.
Hmm.
Anyone who could have
hurt him is not a human.
It's pretty clear that you felt
very strongly for Superboy.
Would you say those
feelings were mutual?
I don't know.
[giggling]
- I always hoped.
- Hmm.
But he always had so much to do.
He never had time
for a relationship.
Would you have preferred
that he'd not gotten involved
in so much?
That he had taken the time?
- I used, I used to wish that.
- Hmm.
But then I realized that
he wouldn't be who he was.
And I-I wouldn't love him.
Well, then you got just exactly
what you deserved, didn't you?
Luthor? This is unexpected.
Well, the telephone
is so impersonal.
And that photo
you have of me
just the tad unflattering,
don't you think?
(Fred) I wouldn't say that
this was much of an improvement.
And it's not exactly
anonymous, either.
Isn't that the Capitol City
train station behind you.
Oh, gosh. Now that
you mention it
I think you might be right.
Not that it matters.
After all who's gonna
come catch me, Super Corpse?
You are so cold, Luthor.
Cold? I'm just
being objective.
After all, isn't that what
television news is all about?
You did it, didn't you?
Didn't you?
Come now,
my crimson haired gummy bear.
You don't expect me
to just blurt it out, do you?
You are garbage.
[mocking] He was so powerful,
but you only felt the gentleness.
Apparently, they've brought
something up.
We go now to
the Coast Guard cutter Sequoia--
No!
Looks like I better put
another magnum on ice.
Y-you killed him!
You keep saying that,
would it make you feel
any better, if I said I did?
No? Well, I can only assume
it'd make you feel worse.
In that case let me
just say unequivocally
yes, I did it.
The old Kryptonite bomb
routine neatly stored aboard
a radio controlled yacht.
Embarrassingly simple, really.
The only glitch was
having to wait so long
for 'em to recover
the body.
Now, I got the world
on a string.
(Fred) Wait a minute, are you
really saying that you did it?
In front of millions of people,
are you admitting to murder?
Why not?
Now that
the Boy of Steel has gone
to that
big junkyard in the sky
there is nothing
and no one to stop me.
[taunting]
We go now to Captain Nicholson
of the Coast Guard
cutter Sequoia.
Captain Nicolson, have you
brought up Superboy's body yet?
- Uh, kind of.
- Kind of?
Well, you see,
High Definition Sonar is still
in the developmental stages
and someday it's going to be
a very effective tool--
But captain, 15 minutes
ago you said
you discovered Superboy's body.
That's not what I said.
I said, we found a human figure
that wasn't flesh.
Right, you said steel.
But who else could it have been?
Well, if your cameraman will
pull back, I'll show you.
Came from an old sailing ship
called Hope Town.
Went down in 1836. It was an
understandable mistake.
A figurehead from an old ship.
But that still leaves a question
open, where is Superboy?
Cat got your tongue, Luthor?
(Superboy) No, I do. Took you
long enough to show yourself.
You thought I was dead? I had
to let everyone think that..
until whoever set
the bomb stepped forward.
Somehow I wasn't surprised
when it was you.
(Fred) Uh, Superboy, you
weren't affected by the bomb?
I would have been,
if I'd been aboard
the ship when it went off.
But just before that,
I scanned the hull for leaks
and spotted the bomb,
so I went out through
the bottom of the ship,
into the water.
And what about
the figurehead?
I saw it underwater,
so I moved it closer
to the wreckage to buy
myself some more time.
Incredible.
Absolutely incredible.
(Luthor)
Luck! Dumb luck!
[choking]
- Oh, Lana, I apologize.
- No, I-I understand.
- No, I shouldn't have.
- It's okay. You had to.
Thanks.
Oh, Lana.
I heard what you said before,
and the feeling is mutual.
Ms. Lang. Ms. Lang.
The interview is not over.
Yes, it is. I have more
important things to do.
But..
Can, uh, can we
go to tape?
We can.
[chuckling]
Alright, then. I'm Fred Mandel
and this is Ben Night Time.
Incredible.
Absolutely incredible.
[news bulletin music]
Told you so.
[theme music]