Episode Title: Blank
Original Airdate: April 27, 2005
Episode Recap:
We open, strangely enough, with Lois Lane working at the Talon. The place is incredibly crowded and Lois is very pre-occupied when suddenly a guy walks over to the cash register and grabs a handful of cash. Lois stops him, but he holds his hand up and zaps her. Lois shakes her head, and asks the man if she can get him anything, apparently forgetting what had just transpired. Chloe and Clark walk into the Talon shortly after, discussing the possibility of Clark going to University of Miami. Chloe makes an order and when Lois opens the cash register, she sees that it’s empty. Clark rushes to the alleyway to catch the mysterious guy, and when he does the man zaps him as well. In a very cool moment, we see quick clips from past Smallville episodes, including some quick images of Shelby (the dog), Pete (!!!), Dr. Swann (Christopher Reeve), Clark with Alicia when they got married, Lois, Lana, and Chloe as witches, meeting Lois for the first time, Chloe as a cheerleader, himself flying, Lionel in jail, the armor with the crest suspiciously similar to the Superman symbol, himself as a baby, and his parents and Lana. When he opens his eyes Chloe is standing above him and asks “Clark, what happened?” to which Clark replies “Who’s Clark?” Very cool opening scene.
Chloe drives a memory-erased Clark over to Kent farm, in hopes that his memory will be rekindled by a familiar place. Chloe asks if he recognizes anything, but Clark’s drawing a blank. Clark goes to open the front door, and completely rips it off of its hinges and throws it across the lawn. A stunned Clark says “it was stuck…” to which Chloe answers “Actually, it was locked.” Clark looks confused as he walks into the house. Lois enters shortly after and asks what happened to the door. Clark is about to confess when Chloe jumps in and says that a freak wind blew it right off. Lois then explains that the Kents are in Metropolis for a couple of days. When Chloe explains that Clark has amnesia, Lois says “Again?” and adds “at least you have clothes on this time” in a nice homage to the season premiere. Chloe says she’s going to go to the Torch to do some research on amnesia, and Lois offers to have Clark stay with her. She throws him a bottle of jelly to open, but before he tries to open it (and risk showing off his super strength) Chloe stops him and says she’ll take him up to the barn to see if anything jogs his memory. She tells Clark “we need to talk.”
Lana walks into her apartment to see Jason standing there. She seems a bit uncomfortable. Apparently Lana got accepted into Central Kansas, which Jason is very happy about. Lana confesses that she may not go to college, and tells him that they haven’t been able to recapture the magic of the summer in Paris, and that this relationship has basically turned into the same relationship she was trying to escape. A jealous Jason asks if this is about Clark, and she says that it’s about them and that there are too many secrets. Jason gets enraged and violently grabs her, and tells her that she’s the one part of his life that made him forget what he turned into, and begs her not to give up on him. He warns that she has no idea how much he’s been protecting her, and then storms out.
At the farm, Chloe hands Clark a crowbar and asks him to bend it. When he does so with ease, he asks her how he did it. Chloe answers “why did I always picture myself on the other end of this conversation?” She explains to Clark that a meteor shower hit Smallville and changed a lot of people. Clark asks if he’s some sort of alien, to which Chloe ironically answers “no, of course not.” Clark is somewhat unsettled, to which Chloe assures him that he’s saved her life several times, and that she thinks it’s amazing that he’s made himself the town’s self appointed hero. Clark remarks that they must have been great friends for him to trust her about this, and a somewhat hurt Chloe tells him that he didn’t, but she understands why.
At the Talon later that night, Chloe and Clark do some investigating. Clark accidentally uses his x-ray vision to find something. Chloe covers her blouse with her jacket and asks “are you telling me you can see through solid objects?” Clark says he wants to reveal his secret to people, but she tells him that if he hasn’t told people, he must have had a lifetime of reasons for it. In the midst of this conversation, Clark sees Lana walking down the stairs of her apartment. In an awesome moment that never stops getting funny, Clark’s eyes start hurting and he shoots fire out of them. In one of the best lines ever uttered, Chloe states “Pre-mature combustion, that’s one I didn’t need to know about.” Call me immature, call me sophomoric, but the whole thing with Clark shooting fire from his eyes because he’s aroused always makes me laugh. Clark asks who that girl is, and a hurt Chloe answers, “that….is Lana Lang….the love of your life.”
That night at the barn, Clark is staring at drawings of the cave walls when Lois comes up to check on him. He tells her that Chloe is very protective of her and that he guesses there are a lot of people he can’t trust. Lois tells him to trust his gut when it comes to who to trust. Lois leaves, and Clark looks at a picture of Lana.
The next day at school Clark confronts Lana, who is a bit surprised to see that he’s at school. She seems very uncomfortable the entire encounter, which only gets worse when he asks about what happened between them. He tells her he’d really like to know, to which she says “so would I.” When he fears that it was his fault, he tells her he doesn’t want to know what happened, because “this time it will be different.” Lana very uncomfortably says “this time?” and tells him she doesn’t think they should talk about this right now.
Lois (who is strangely at school) and Chloe see Clark and Lana talking. They tell Clark they were able to track down who is behind the memory erasing.
The memory eraser (Kevin) is in his home taking some stuff when his dad asks him what he’s doing there. He tells his dad that after what he did he can’t expect his dad to look at him, and that the place turned him into a freak. When he asks what he means, Kevin zaps his dad. Moments later there is a knockin’ at the door, and Clark and Lois are standing outside. Apparently Kevin is getting treatment at Summerholt. The father tells them that while hunting, Kevin accidentally shot and killed his brother Dylan. Kevin couldn’t live with himself, so they took him to Summerholt to get the memory erased.
Lois goes to have a look around, when Clark discovers that he has super hearing. When he hears Kevin get on a motorcycle and ride away, Chloe tells him “Trust me on this one Clark, run!” Clark uses his super speed, which he can’t quite control, and runs away, ultimately finding himself at a farm.
Chloe and Clark are at Luthor Manor to ask Lex if he still has his contact at Summerholt institute. Lex tells them that he’ll mark a few calls, and asks Chloe if he can have a word with Clark. Chloe uncomfortably tells Lex she promised the Kents she’d get Clark home. Clark tells her that she can probably use a break anyway, and says he’ll stay. In a great shot, just before Chloe leaves she whispers very quietly (so only Clark can hear) “Clark, be careful.” The camera then pans to Clark’s ear, and then out to see Lex looking at him somewhat sinisterly. Lex tells him he might know something that can job his memory.
We then find ourselves at the caves, where Lex tells Clark the two of them have been working together to solve the mysteries of it (lie). Clark slips that he has drawings of the cave in his loft, to which Lex says that they were documenting them (lie). Clark then slips that there’s a room behind the wall, and Lex suggests that they go back to the loft to look at the pictures so that he can explain them to him. Clark catches on that something isn’t quite right, and tells Lex that he should get home so his parents don’t worry.
At Summerhold institute, Chloe roams the halls to do some investigating. She finds some disturbing videos on a computer and e-mails them to Lois. Moments later, somebody grabs her from behind.
Clark rushes into the Torch where Lois is looking at the videos that were sent to her. Apparently Kevin was not responsible for his brother’s death, and that when his memory was erased, they put a new one in there. Clark says he’s going to find Kevin at the place where his brother died.
Kevin is in the woods at the scene of the accident when Clark suddenly arrives. How exactly did Clark know where that place was, given he lost his memory and couldn’t even remember where his own house was? Kevin seems to feel legitimately bad that he wiped all of Clark’s memories, as he thought it would only wipe out the last couple of seconds like with everybody else. After a great deal of probing, Clark finally gets Kevin to remember that he didn’t kill his brother, his father did. The two decide to break into Summerholt.
Lois and Sheriff argue with the receptionist at Summerholt about Chloe’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Clark tears open the back entrance. Kevin asks “wasn’t it locked?” to which Clark answers unconvincingly “I think it was broken.” Ah, lyin’ Clark is back. As the two walk through the halls, Clark becomes exposed to Kryptonite and starts feeling very sick and weak. He tells Kevin he’ll catch up.
Elsewhere in the institute, Chloe is all hooked up to the mind erasing machinery. Kevin’s father tells Chloe that he would like to only wipe the memories of the past couple days, but he can’t take that risk. Kevin hurries into the room before the father can do anything. The two start scuffling and the father quite violently throws Kevin across the room, saying that nobody regrets what happened more than he does.
Clark is still in the hallway writhing in pain from the exposure to Kryptonite. He pulls a lever which ultimately knocks over the Kryptonite and out of his vicinity.
Chloe is still hooked up to the machinery as Kevin’s father makes the final preparations. A green beam/zap is about to hit Chloe in the head when Clark (with super speed and all) runs to the rescue, forcing the beam to hit his head instead. This was another exceptionally well done shot, as you actually see the beam head towards Chloe, as you see the super speed image of Clark intercept it. There is another montage of fast clips of Clark’s memories returning to him, and then a nice shot of Chloe and Clark looking at each other. Two large columns fall and are about to land on Chloe and Clark, but Clark catches them. Lois and the Sheriff see this, and Clark seems unsure of what to say. Lois remarks “I guess I shouldn’t call you ‘Smallville’ anymore.” Kevin wakes up, sees this, and zaps the memories of Lois, the Sheriff, and Chloe so that they don’t recall what they just saw.
In the aftermath of everything, Clark goes to talk to Kevin. Clark admits that he doesn’t remember anything from the last couple days, but he feels like he owes Kevin. Kevin remarks that they’re now even, and thanks Clark for the chance at a clean slate.
Clark returns home to see Lex parked outside of the barn. Lex congratulates him on retrieving his memories, and Clark tells him he doesn’t remember the last 24 hours. Clark asks Lex what they talked about at the mansion, and Lex tells him that he told him about his own memory loss, thinking it would be comforting (lie). Later, Lex is at Luthor mansion, looking at Clark’s drawings of the cave walls.
That night, Lana arrives at Clark’s house just as Clark is coming outside. She apologizes for being early, and tells her she’s a little nervous. Clark asks what she’s nervous about, and asks if they were supposed to do something. She seems a bit hurt but tells him it’s probably for the best. Clark asks if their plans were date plans, and asks about Jason. Lana tells him that he just wanted to talk, and it’s nothing that can’t wait until later. She begins walking away but Clark stops her, telling her he can’t do this. He tells her he can’t let her walk away, not again. He tells her “this time will be different.” In a touched, happy voice, Lana answers “this time?”
At the Torch the next day, Clark thanks Chloe for all of her help watching over him. Chloe tells him he never realized how complicated his life was, and a nervous Clark asks if he did anything unusual. Chloe tells him “you had a clean slate to start all over again, and you made all the same choices, except for one.” Still nervous, Clark says “I need you to be completely honest with me.” He then asks her what he did. She answers “You trusted me.”
Episode Review:
I want to apologize for the longer than usual recap, but I felt like a lot of things were really significant this episode, especially the scenes with Chloe and Clark. Also, I’ve received some mails with comments from people who read my review last week, and I want to thank everybody who took the time to do that. I really appreciate any comments anybody may have, and I respond to all the e-mails I receive. So please feel free to send me an e-mail if you’d like.
The name of this week’s episode was “Blank” and it was a very appropriate title. While this initially may be a simple allusion to Clark’s amnesia, the idea of a “clean slate” extended far beyond that. In one way or another, Clark, Lana, and Kevin were all given a clean slate, whether it was forced upon them or it was something they actively sought after. In fact, in this episode all three characters at one point or another refer to what they’re experiencing as getting a clean slate.
I thought the scenes between Clark and Chloe were handled tremendously, and I don’t think I have a single complaint about them. This episode, Chloe obviously cared more about teaching Clark and protecting Clark than trying to take advantage of his situation by trying to find out his secrets, which is exactly what Lex did (which I will get to shortly). In fact, this week Chloe found out a number of new things about Clark’s abilities (his x-ray vision, his heat vision, and his super hearing) and, again, she didn’t probe or anything. Not once during the entire episode did she attempt to take advantage of his vulnerability and trust. Compare this to a year ago in “Truth” (when Chloe had the ability to make everybody tell the truth) where Chloe took advantage of her abilities to try to find out secrets about Clark numerous times. In that episode, Chloe’s thirst for discovering whatever Clark was hiding took precedence over Clark’s privacy and their friendship.
I also really enjoyed the amount of trust displayed between Chloe and amnesia Clark. Chloe said something along the lines of “the heart remembers before the mind” when he saw Clark talking to Lana, and I think that comment can be used in regards to their relationship as well. Lois made a similar sentiment when she told him to trust his gut when it comes to people. Throughout the episode Clark trusted everything Chloe told him, and I personally believe he made a tremendous sacrifice when he saved Chloe from getting her memory erased. He basically jumped in front of the proverbial bullet, because he had no clue what kind of damage that beam could have done for him. Nevertheless, he yelled out “Chloe!” and took the memory beam for her. I also thought it was impactful when Chloe remarked at the end of the episode that the only thing he did differently was that he trusted her. I was also incredibly worried that they were going to wipe Chloe’s memory so that she doesn’t remember anything about Clark’s secret, and was very relieved when they opted not to.
Last week I complained about Chloe’s jealousy over Clark dancing with Lana at the prom. This week, however, I thought her jealousy over amnesia Clark’s feelings for Lana was appropriate. For the first time ever, Chloe had a piece of Clark that nobody else in the world did. He was completely reliant on her, and she was the only person he could trust. Purely from a friendship standpoint, I think she finally had the relationship with Clark that she always desired. He trusted her, opened up to her, and knew she would never betray him. I can definitely understand why she would be hurt by the idea of finally having that relationship, only to be blown off by him (again) because of his feelings for Lana. And despite the pain she was feeling because of it, Chloe was still honest with Clark about his past with Lana.
I found Jason’s reaction to Lana breaking up with him very intriguing, because it echoed Lex’s sentiments to Clark a great deal. Jason argued that Lana was the one thing in his life that made him forget what he had become. On numerous occasions, Lex has told Clark that he’s the one person in his life that has kept him from going to the dark side, so to speak. Lana is Jason’s light in the darkness much like Clark is Lex’s light in the darkness. I imagine this parallel is intentional, and I’m curious to see where it’s going and what it means.
I know a lot of people are probably dreading the whole Clark/Lana reunion, but I really don’t mind too much. They did a really good job keeping the two of them apart from each other for much of the season (there are a number of episodes that they don’t share a single scene), so it seems somewhat more fresh than it did a year ago when every week it seemed like they were going to get together but then didn’t. It’s also very significant to note that twice in the episode Clark said “this time things will be different” and both times Lana responded by saying “this time?” However, the first time Lana said it, she did so in a nervous, uncomfortable tone. The second time she said it, the tone was distinctly different. Instead, she said it in a happy, almost excited way.
The stuff with Lex and Clark was very interesting. In the past, Lex has done some less than admirable things in regards to Clark. However, it always seemed like an impulsive thing that he could not resist. His actions in this episode, however, scream of premeditation. The fact that he asked Chloe to leave him and Clark alone speaks volumes of his intentions. Taking him to the cave and then chronically lying to him about their partnership in trying to figure out the symbols and secrets was downright malicious. Then after all of that, he goes to Clark’s loft and steals the drawings Clark accidentally told him about, which was clearly a premeditated crime. I thought the scene with Clark, Lex, and Chloe was especially well done. Chloe whispering “Clark, be careful” was particularly fantastic, because it shows that people outside of Jonathan Kent (who has been viewed as being overly cynical) consider Lex less than trustworthy. Directionally speaking, it was also a very well shot scene.
I really enjoyed Kevin’s mini-plot as well. It occurred to me a while ago that they make every “freak of the week” (people exposed to Kryptonite) to be this psychotic person who has no qualms about becoming a serial killer. It was refreshing to see somebody who had a conscience, who didn’t want to hurt anybody, and was just looking to get a clean slate. It was nice to see him feel genuinely guilty for erasing Clark’s entire memory, and I liked that he erased Chloe, Lois, and the Sheriff’s memories to protect Clark’s secret.
Sidenote: I’m not extremely knowledgeable about the comic Superman, so can somebody help me out with what the significance of Summerholt is in the comics? There’s usually at least one or two episodes per season devoted to the institute, so I was wondering if it appears at all in the comic series and if so, what role it plays. Thanks.
