So, whodunit? There are several suspects. One is the detective in charge of the investigation, one Kurt Bowman, who lost out on a promotion because of an article Lois did on police corruption. Second is Lex Luthor, an idea that gains more credibility when Lois' scientist friend (and source for the article) Edward Lytener finds that the device that took control of her car came from LexCorp.
Lois investigates Lex, but for once he denies any involvement, saying that if he did do it, he wouldn't be nearly as sloppy, and promises to investigate himself. Lois survives a few more over-the-top assassination attempts, including a flying elevator, but still refuses to get out of the action. See, she has a third suspect now- Edward Lytener. His alibi for the original assassination attempt was that he was working at his lab, which has no TV or radio (he finds them distracting), but when they first met, he congratulated her on her award. How would he know that if he hadn't been at the event, and why would he lie about it unless he were the killer?
This action gets her stuck in yet another death trap, but luckily Superman has also identified Lytener as the most probable suspect after Luthor kept his word and found out how the LexCorp device got into Lois's car- Lytener stole it. Lytener fights Superman with a strength-enhancing harness, but still doesn't last very long. Lois Lane is safe... until the next time she does some thing reckless and needs help.
Tropes:
- Catapult Nightmare: Lois has one in which she dreams that her attacker breaks into her apartment while she's in bed and tosses her off her balcony.
- Damsel in Distress: The Episode; Lois needs to be saved from a falling crystal sword, an electronically hijacked car, a booby-trapped elevator, and Lytener directly, leading Superman to swoop in and save her every time.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Lois realizes who's after her when, while calling Clark to complain about stress-induced nightmares and having to take time off of work, Clark tells her that a friend of hers saw the Excalibur Award ceremony on the news and had called the office to congratulate her; she immediately escapes her own police protection to meet the one person that congratulated her but shouldn't have known about her victory.
- Foreshadowing: When the audience first meets Lytener, he tells Lois and Clark how he's been in his lab all night and all day. Then he congratulates Lois on winning the award. As Lois later points out, this was the clue that incriminated him as her would-be assassin, because if he was cooped up in his lab all day with no television or radio, how else did he know she won the award?
- Foreshadowing for a Future Episode: In the climax, Lytner utilizes a superpowered harness against Superman, which he claims to be powered by the effects of a red sun. When he makes his official supervillain debut as Luminous a few episodes from now, his whole scheme involves weakening Superman by using satellites to give the sun a red sun effect.
- Detective Bowman is mentioned to have a grudge against Lois because her exopsé on police corruption cost him a promotion. The Late Mister Kent sees Bowman devolve into a full blown antagonist, trying to prevent the truth behind his Frame-Up from being revealed.
- If I Wanted You Dead...: When Lois confronts Lex with evidence that makes him a suspect, he says he'd never leave something that obvious. He's telling the truth. The evidence was stolen from LexCorp by the real culprit after Lex fired him.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Edward Lytener implicates himself by congratulating Lois on her award. He doesn't keep a radio or television in his laboratory, so if he had indeed been there all night, as he'd claimed, then the only way he could know that was if he was the one who'd attacked her at the awards ceremony.
- Mythology Gag: When Lois Lane is trapped in the elevator Superman rescues her and says that "I believe this is your floor," the same line he spoke to Lois when rescuing her from an elevator in Superman II.
- Not Me This Time: Lois suspects that Lex Luthor is trying to kill her after a series of near-death experience, especially in the light of her writing an expose on LexCorp, and that one of the device found in her car was made at Lex's company. However, Lex denies any wrongdoing and even promised that he'll investigate how the device got there in the first place. Sure enough, he was telling the truth. The person who tried to kill her was an ex-employee of Luthor who acted as a informant on the article, and he took the device from the company shortly before Lex fired him.
- Red Herring: Luthor and Bowman are likely suspects and the viewers are informed of their respective motives to want Lois dead. Both of them are innocent despite them each being a Villain of Another Story.
- Shout-Out: The scene when Lois is in the elevator and Superman says "I believe this is your floor" is a reference to Lois' rescue from the Eiffel Tower elevator in Superman II.
- That Came Out Wrong: After the first attempt on Lois' life at the awards ceremony, a worried Clark says that he'd be happy to spend the night with her; when Lois looks bemused, Clark clarifies that he meant to help protect her.
- Villain of Another Story: Luthor, as per usual in his presence, and Detective Bowman, who would not be the main Villain of the Week until “The Late Mr. Kent”.
- Wham Line: Lois has small talk with Lytner on her second visit to his lab. But when she asks if he has a television or radio, he casually responds that he doesn't because they act as distractions. ...before it dawns on him and he says in a familiar, calmly ominous voice "You know, don't you?"
