Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / The Adventures Of Superman S 2 E 3 The Man Who Could Read Minds

Go To

Metropolis' police are stumped by the "Phantom Burglar," a thief who's been stealing from rich people's homes without any apparent sign of forced entry. Lois and Jimmy take it upon themselves to go skulking around the affected neighborhood at night, and just happen to see the burglar fleeing a home. Jimmy tackles him unsuccessfully, but does have a clue: a top from a nightclub called Tip-Top.

Lois and Clark visit the nightclub and walk in on a mind-reading act by Swami Amada, who can apparently perceive blindfolded what objects his assistant is taking from patrons' pockets. Clark's super vision spots that this is due to a hidden microphone, but it's actually Lois who eventually figures out the connection to the burglaries: all the victims had seen the act, and specifically had (briefly) handed over their housekeys to the assistant. She tries to set up a sting by disguising Jimmy as a South American millionaire and passing his hotel key to the assistant during the act, and waiting in the room for the thieves to show up. This does not turn out to be a great idea, and Superman has to save their necks again.

This episode contains examples of:

  • Blatant Burglar: The fact that the Phantom is wearing black and a full-face mask is a pretty dead giveaway when Jimmy and Lois spot him.
  • Faint in Shock: Swami's female assistant Lura passes out when Superman barges in on the villains at the end. Hey, it means Superman gets to avoid punching a woman.
  • Fauxreigner: Jimmy pretends to be from Argentina. Also, the Swami and Lura put on accents but are revealed to really be Americans.
  • Phony Psychic: Swami Amada is revealed as a fake almost as soon as we meet him.
  • Saved by the Awesome: While this isn't the only episode where Jimmy and Lois engage in illegal and unethical behavior to catch the criminals, it's especially conspicuous here. Jimmy assaults a guy he suspects of being a burglar, then they put a phony article in their own paper, then they wait in ambush for the criminals with a gun in hand. Of course, they never suffer any consequences because they did finger the real criminals (though they needed Superman to keep them from getting killed doing it).
  • Suicide Pact: The villains plan to make Lois and Jimmy jump off the hotel balcony under the pretense that they had one of these.

Top