"The Jewel of the Techacal" | |
---|---|
Series Superboy Season 1, Episode 1 | |
![]() | |
Air date | October 8th, 1988 |
Writers | Fred Freiberger |
Director | Reza Badiyi |
Producers | Buck Allen; Sara Fuller; Alexander Salkind; Ilya Salkind |
Starring | John Haymes Newton; Stacy Haiduk; Jim Calvert |
Episode guide | |
Previous — |
Next "A Kind of Princess" |
"The Jewel of the Techacal" is the first episode of season one of the superhero fantasy series Superboy, and the first episode of the series overall. It was directed by Reza Badiyi with a teleplay written by Fred Freiberger. It originally aired in first run syndication on October 8th, 1988.
Synopsis[]
Professor Thomas Lang (father of Lana Lang) and his assistant Gerald Haines return to the United States after uncovering an ancient Mayan treasure known as the Jewel of the Techacal. They are putting the jewel on display at Shuster College.
At Shuster, Clark, Lana and T.J. White wait for Professor Lang's plane to arrive. Lana has a bad history with her father, citing that he always chose his career over his family. His obsessive nature ultimately resulted in divorce some ten years back. Lana herself hasn't seen her father in two years. While waiting for the plane, Lex Luthor and his confederate Leo approach Lana. Lex offers her concert tickets, but Lana is disgusted by him and rebuffs his offer. Lex swears to get revenge against her for publicly embarrassing him.
As Professor Lang's plane taxis in, the landing gear malfunctions and he runs out of fuel. He radios an S.O.S. and response crews begin sending out fire trucks. Lang receives orders indicating that he cannot land the plane.
Clark excuses himself from Lana and T.J. and changes into Superboy. He performs a quick repair job on the landing gear and the plane lands safely. Lana meets her father, but their reunion is bittersweet. It quickly becomes obvious to her that he cares more for his Mayan treasure than his own daughter.
Sometime later, Lang and Gerald Haines are setting up the display in the museum when the jewel begins radiating a strange energy. Great electrical surges discharge through the room and tornado force winds blow the windows out. Clark Kent enters the museum wing and finds Lang protecting the display case covering the jewel. He uses his super-strength to prevent a collapsing beam from falling on top of Gerald.
Later that day, Lana asks her father to have dinner with her. He cannot make it however, because he's going to spending all night cleaning up display room. Lana walks away in tears.
That night, Professor Lang and Gerald are prepping the jewel case. When Lang gets close to the Jewel of the Techacal he falls to the floor. He is taken to the hospital and placed into intensive care. The doctors are not optimistic about his condition.
Lex Luthor and Leo break into the museum wing and uncover the glass case covering the jewel. Lex plans on stealing the jewel and selling it off to the highest bidder. Lex places it inside of a lead-lined box. As they turn around, they find Superboy blocking their path. The two exchange quips with one another and Superboy snatches the case from Lex's hands. He opens it to inspect its contents and the radiation given off by the jewel causes Superboy to collapse. Lex scoops up the jewel and takes off with Leo. When Superboy recovers his strength, he flies off after Lex. He finds the two thieves speeding down the highway in a mustang. Superboy tells Lex to pull over, but he ignores him. A police vehicle notices Lex's speeding car and gives chase. Lex violently swerves to avoid capture and drives the car into a swampy ditch. Superboy pulls the car out of the water, then flies the jewel of the Techacal back to South America.
Back at the hospital, Professor Lang recovers and pledges to improve his relationship with Lana. Clark and T.J. visit him in the hospital room.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
John Haymes Newton | Superboy, Clark Kent |
Stacy Haiduk | Lana Lang |
Jim Calvert | T.J. White |
Guest Starring[]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
Peter White | Professor Thomas Lang |
Scott Wells | Lex Luthor |
Michael Manno | Leo |
Co-Starring[]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
Gregg Todd Davis | Gerald Haines |
Forest Neal | Dean Thompson |
Bob Barnes | Doctor Spencer |
Notes & Trivia[]
- There are no notations or trivia available for this episode at this time. Be the first to add some! Just click on the edit tab under the section heading and start typing. This may include all out-of-universe as well as in-universe information relating to the episode. Acceptable notations may include:
- The production code number for the episode.
- Home video availability for the episode (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, etc.), as well as which services provide digital download copies and/or streaming video services.
- The rating for the episode (TV-14, TV-MA, etc.)
- How many episodes in this series the director may have worked on.
- How many episodes in this series the writer may have worked on.
- Unique spelling or mis-spelling of selected cast and crew member, which may differ from how they are identified in other works.
- Character appearances and other annotations.
Allusions[]
- There are no allusions available for this episode at this time. Be the first to add some! Just click on the edit tab under the section heading and start typing. An allusion is an incidental reference made to a character, person, event or other miscellaneous piece of media that can be found somewhere in the episode itself. In most cases, this refers to characters or events from previous episodes.
Quotes[]
- There are no quotes available for this episode at this time. Be the first to add some! Just click on the edit tab under the section heading and start typing. The preferred format for quotes is an asterisk, followed by the character's name (bold and hyper-linked), semi-colon then the quote itself (without quotation marks. Quotes should be separated by four elipses (....) unless multiple quotes are used between characters as part of a conversation.