The first two-part adventure in the first season of Superboy could almost be considered the second part of an ongoing story.  Revenge of the Alien is a sequel to The Alien Solution and, as before, lifts the series out of its High School limitations and back into the wider world of aliens and science fiction.  The viewer is rewarded for their loyalty by not only this sequel adventure but also the return of Pa Kent (Stuart Whitman) in a far more substantial role than he had in Troubled Waters.

Slightly different (and worse) title music precedes a recap of the earlier episode The Alien Solution…

Remember it?  Oh, good…

REVENGE OF THE ALIEN, PART 1

A break-in at Shuster University sees the frozen bottle containing the alien entity stolen.  SWAT officers transporting heavy weapons come across the thief and try to apprehend him.  A stray bullet hits the canister before the thief is shot.

One of the SWAT officers is forced to play host to the alien before shooting his companion.  Next on the alien’s list is Superboy!

Superboy is working with the only professor to know of his “green rock” vulnerability in order to learn more about himself, but this doesn’t prove easy when you have invulnerable skin.  Professor Peterson reveals a radiated-energy weapon using stored radiation that he captured before they got rid of the crystals.

At first the green laser has no effect, but when the professor increases its intensity, Superboy feels the pain.  The area where the laser hit is now vulnerable and the professor takes a skin sample for his tests.

With a new boss brought in to improve the Shuster newspaper, T.J. is not having the smoothest of days and Clark is chastised for being late.  Their next assignment is at the Agriculture Research Center (hmm, ARC, where have I heard that before?).

The alien is hunting Clark Kent and is directed to his dorm. Clark and T.J. are on assignment when Clark’s father is brought to their room by Lana.  Once Mr Kent has got cleaned up, they plan to meet them at the Agriculture Research Center (something Jonathan Kent has an interest in).

Lana leaves Mr Kent to freshen up before meeting outside at her jeep, but then the SWAT officer turns up asking for the whereabouts of Clark.  Mr Kent sees the officer off with threats of legal action.  Once outside, the alien follows Kent and Lana.

At the ARC, T.J. is taking photos and Clark is making the bad jokes (I dig!).  Mr Kent and Lana turn up, closely followed by the SWAT officer with his van full of high-tech weapons and explosives.

Father and son reunite, and Mr Kent calls T.J. “J.T.”.  They meet for the first time before Lana whisks T.J. away under the pretence of interviewing Professor Peterson, in order to leave father and son alone.

The Kents catch up with each other, but they don’t know that they’re being watched.

A bullet fires out and hits Clark!

With everyone screaming and running for cover, Clark spots the sniper go for his big guns…

Where once there stood Clark Kent, now stands Superboy!

Superboy goes after the sniper, but the sniper has another rocket!

Superboy smashes into the police van, momentarily stunned.  The alien has no intention of giving Superboy the chance to recover.

The sniper fires at the van, causing all of the weapons inside to explode.  Superboy is engulfed in the biggest explosion of his life, while the sniper is killed in the blast.

In the confusion, the alien leaves the body of the sniper and attempts to get inside the unconscious Superboy.  Even unconscious, Superboy is more than a match for the alien entity.

Upset to see his son unmoving, Mr Kent gets in Professor Peterson’s way.

As the Professor helps Superboy, Mr Kent is caught unawares by the alien entity.

Peterson keeps the police from asking Superboy questions, concerned that being unconscious for several seconds may have serious consequences for him.

Worried for Superboy, Lana takes solace in Mr Kent’s assurance that he can take care of himself.  Kent says that he will take care of Lana…

As the first two-part episode of Superboy, Revenge of the Alien, part 1 offers plenty for the loyal viewer.  We see the return of several previously encountered characters and plot devices – including Jonathan Kent (Stuart Whitman) from Troubled Waters, the alien from The Alien Solution, and the “alien rock” from Kryptonite Kills.

Two episodes allows the story more time to stretch its legs, such as with the scenes at the Shuster newspaper (without which, T.J. might not have much to do this week).  In truth, though, this works just as well as a three-part episode (with the “prologue” episode – The Alien Solution).  Together we get a whole hour that’s forced to be suitably active for each of the 20 minute segments.  Often a TV series that’s 40minutes long leaves any action or plot revelations to the very end, but that’s not possible when it’s made up from three episodes.

Stuart Whitman returns again as Clark’s father, although he seems a little out of place here – as though he’s unsure of his role in the episode.   Stuart Whitman and John Haymes Newton don’t seem to play off each other in a convincing way either, which is a little unfortunate.

But, we have episode two yet to come…