The Ides of Metropolis

**The Ides of Metropolis** is the fifteenth episode of the first season.

## Plot

Houseguests. Lois shares her apartment with a fugitive convicted murderer she believes is innocent and Clark has a new roommate: Jonathan who fears Martha is having an affair with a younger man.

## Plot Summary

Eugene Laderman is sentenced to life imprisonment in front of a court of his peers, for a murder he swears he didn't commit. Lois bribes a security guard with football tickets to get him to allow her to speak to Laderman, but he has escaped.

Superman finds a man walking around Clark Kent's apartment in the dark, but it's just Jonathan (the apartment fuse box blew). Jonathan is worried that Martha is having an affair with an artist, as he has drawn a portrait of her naked.

Eugene tries to get Lois to help him with an ill-fated threat at gunpoint. Lois takes the gun away from him, knowing that he was never going to shoot her, and that he is innocent. Eugene is accused of killing his lover's husband, but he swears he didn't do it and is confused as to why the woman never communicated with him while he was in court.

Clark comforts Jonathan and gets a phone call from Martha, who tells him that she's on her way to Metropolis.

Eugene's lover, Lena Harrison arrives at the Daily Planet and speaks to Lois and Clark, begging them to protect Eugene, who she claims is guilty of the murder. Detective Reid also questions Lois, suspecting that she has information on Eugene's escape and swearing that she will catch him again. Lois informs Clark that Eugene is hiding out in her apartment while she tries to find evidence that will free him. Clark is skeptical of the man's innocence, but allows Lois to try and convince him, without calling the police.

Eugene explains to Lois and Clark that Lena's husband, Henry Harrison was working on a computer program known as 'The Ides of Metropolis'. He says that when Harrison realized how much Laderman knew about the program, that he grew angry and frustrated. Eugene also explains that Harrison was abusive towards his wife, who would show up to work bruised and beaten. He even threatened to kill Harrison if he continued to mistreat Lena. When Lois and Clark tell him that Lena is convinced of his guilt, Eugene tells him that he took the fall for her and that she is guilty of the murder.

Lois and Clark interview Harrison's personal secretary of fifteen years, who insists that Harrison loved his wife and left her all of his money, which Lois believes was only to pay off his debts. Either way, Harrison's secretary is convinced that Eugene is guilty of the murder.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor is shooting clay pigeons on the penthouse floor of LexCorp Tower. Lois and Clark arrive to talk to him about Henry Harrison's connection to LexCorp. When Clark asks him what would happen if he were to miss a clay pigeon, Luthor informs him that he never misses, but if he did the pigeon would kill someone. Lois and Clark ask Luthor about Harrison, who he describes as ambitious and a brilliant and original thinker. Clark asks it's true that Harrison was fired from LexCorp less than a month before he was eligible to retire with a pension, to which Luthor confirms: when LexCorp downsized during the recession of hundreds of employees were forced out; Luthor and the company did their best to relocate them to new jobs while Harrison wanted to be his own boss and cut all ties with them. Luthor also feels bad about Harrison's death and asks if the Police caught Eugene yet. When Lois answers in the negative, Luthor feels that she has doubts about Eugene's guilt.

Jimmy follows Lena to the Lexor Hotel, where he films her meeting a lover whose features are disguised by a hat and sunglasses. Lois and Clark are convinced that Lena isn't as innocent as she seems and that she is connected in the scheme to frame Laderman.

Jonathan and Clark get some grief from an arrogant bodybuilder while working out at the gym. Clark uses his super strength to make a workout machine impossible for the bodybuilder to use. When Jonathan takes over the machine, Clark uses his strength to allow Jonathan to lift greater weights with ease, impressing the other patrons and shaming the arrogant bully.

Detective Reid arrives at Lois' apartment and searches the premises. Clark hides Eugene outside; while Eugene stands on the ledge, Clark hovers beside him. Reid tells Lois that Lena couldn't have been involved in Her Husband's death, as she had an iron-clad alibi.

Perry reveals that he knows about Laderman and where he is staying, but that he already knows too much and asks Lois and Clark not to make it so obvious in the future.

After much computer-hacking, Eugene discovers that 'The Ides of Metropolis' isn't a program: It's a virus, capable of shutting down every major computer system in the country.

Martha arrives in Metropolis. She assures Jonathan that she's not having an affair and that she's simply meeting new people and developing her own interests. They reconcile happily.

Reid digs up Harrison's body and discovers that it's not him. She explains to Lois that it's possible that his fingerprint matches were falsified by computer and that Lena was the one who identified the body; further implicating her in the scheme.

Citizens all over the United States discover that vitally important computer systems have become completely obsolete, at the hands of 'The Ides of Metropolis'. Eugene desperately searches for a cure, by trying to hack into Harrison's database by guessing his password. Detective Reid finds him and tries to arrest him, but Lois and Clark convince her to allow him to continue searching for a cure. Reid and Lois decide to go to Harrison's company, Harritech to see if they can find Harrison there. Unfortunately, Harrison is waiting for them and holds them up at gunpoint. Lena arrives and the two reveal how she helped Harrison fake his death to avoid substantial debts due to massive losses his company made. Their scheme was to hold the country to ransom through his virus. Harrison puts Lois and Detective Reid into a Trash Compactor.

Eugene cracks the password by correctly guessing that the name of the virus refers to the 5th day of the Roman Calendar, "The Ides of March". He discovers that the only way to stop the virus is to upload the cure to three separate service stations in three different locations across America. The problem is that with the virus active, the connection is too slow and that the only way to do it before the virus takes over completely, is to upload the cure-disk manually in each of the locations. Clark tells Eugene that he knows of a way, and takes the floppy disk from him, flying them to the locations himself as Superman.

Lois and Reid finally start being friendly to one another as they wait to die in the trash compactor. Luckily, Superman uploads the vaccine in time for Laderman to shut the power down in HarriTech and facilitate Lois and Reid's escape. Reid arrests Lena and Henry Harrison.

Nigel and Lex discuss the impact the virus would have had. Lex, momentarily phased, misses a clay pigeon, which plummets to the streets.

Perry congratulates Lois on another great story and Lois tells Clark to be more mindful of the goodness in peoples' hearts in future, rather than simply looking at the facts.

## Guest Cast

### Guest starring

* Todd Susman as Eugene Laderman
* Jennifer Savidge as Lena Harrison
* Melanie Mayron as Detective Betty Reed
* Paul Gleason as Henry Harrison
* Debbie Korkunis as Aerobics Trainer
* Richard Whiten as the Bodybuilder

**Episodes:** Pilot • Strange Visitor (From Another Planet) • Neverending Battle • I'm Looking Through You • Requiem for a Superhero • I've Got a Crush on You • Smart Kids • The Green, Green Glow of Home • The Man of Steel Bars • Pheromone, My Lovely • Honeymoon in Metropolis • All Shook Up • Witness • Illusions of Grandeur • **The Ides of Metropolis** • Foundling • The Rival • Vatman • Fly Hard • Barbarians at the Planet • The House of Luthor