Episode Title: Mortal
Episode Airdate: October 6th, 2005
Episode Recap:
We begin this week’s episode with Lex Luthor walking through the halls of Belle Reve, talking to a doctor about the well being of his father, whose eyeballs still have no color. What exactly was the point of him shaving his head only to grow his insanely long hair back? I’ve always felt that Lionel’s long hair was almost an “F You!” to the bald headed Lex. Anyway, Lex wants to be notified immediately if there is any change in Lionel’s condition. Meanwhile, some rather large tattooed fellow walks through the halls, while cuffed up. He rams into Lex, which activates his electronic handcuffs. He gets out, punches the security guards, and then releases the albino bald twins alongside him. It seems as if he has the ability to manipulate electricity. The albino twins create some sort of force field to protect them, and the three of them escape the sanitarium. The albino twins ask “where now?” only for the leader to respond “Smallville.”
By the way, it appears as if the opening credits have been fixed, as Kristin Kreuk is back to being “KRISTIN Kreuk,” after inexplicably being “KRISTEN” last week.
We return from our commercial break with the citizens of Smallville literally rebuilding the town after the devastation of the meteor shower. Clark and Jonathan hammer in the foundation of the building, as Clark notes that this is a lot heavier than he remembers. Chloe arrives, as Clark tells her that he enjoys being sore. I guess he told her about him losing his powers. Chloe asks if he’s sure this is what he really wants, and he answers that this is who he is now. Chloe argues that his destiny must be so much more, but Clark insists that she let it go. He walks away and over to Lana, where he responds that Lex pulled some strings with FEMA to get the relief money. Lana snidely remarks “Yeah, he’s a hero.” Martha asks them to go get some nails at the farm. Oh yeah, I’m sure there will be some nailing at the farm all right. Funny? No? Oh well. As they’re about to leave, Lex arrives, calling them “the happy couple.” Lana excuses herself and walks away. Lex notes that he feels like he isn’t her favorite person and Clark tells him that she doesn’t trust him. Lex says that they’ve been given a second chance, and that he hopes they can rebuild more than just the town. Clark echoes his sentiments, and leaves arm in arm with Lana.
Clark and Lana get all affectionate and lovey dovey while racing up the hill. Humorously, Clark holds a piece of Kryptonite as they talk about a second meteor shower. Clark says that he feels like they’ve been given a second chance, and that the past can’t hurt them any more. He then throws the Kryptonite away.
Clark and Lana arrive at the barn. Clark says it’ll only take a second to find the nails, and in a somewhat funny moment says “found them” literally a second later. Just the way it was acted made it seem funny. Clark and Lana start making out, and note that they’re all alone. They go up to the loft and continue their make out session as she takes off Clark’s shirt. I think it would be funny if Clark becomes a fat slob now that he’s lost his powers. Clark remarks that they should take this slow, but Lana says they’ve been taking it slow for four years. Clark says he wants their first time to be special, and admits that it’s his first time. Lana then confesses that it’s her first time too. Clark asks about her and Jason, and she tells him they never did it. She asks about him and Alicia (in a nice touch), and he tells her the same. They continue kissing when suddenly they hear somebody enter the barn. Clark thinks it’s his parents and nervously starts making lame excuses. Unfortunately, it’s Lee (the electricity guy) and the two albino twins. Using their powers, they levitate Clark to the ceiling of the barn, where Lee tells Clark he wants him.
Lee and his minions throw Clark and Lana into the house, where Lee tells them that Clark is a legend at Belle Reve. Clark unconvincingly tells them they’ve got the wrong guy. Lee uses his abilities to send Clark across the room, and the albinos admit that he is not what they expected.
Chloe walks through the caves, and enters the hidden cave wall. She looks down at the stone in the center (or epicenter, as Lex might say). She says “Alright Clark, as long as you’re happy with who you are.” She turns around, where Lex is standing. He notes that the last time they were there together, he ended up unconscious, and she ended up in the Arctic. She says she doesn’t know how she got there, and he asks why she’s been avoiding him then? I gotta tell ya, if somebody forced me into a cave during a meteor shower, I don’t think I’d be grabbing pizza or coffee with them anytime soon either. Chloe answers that she’s been busy, and Lex notes that being a third wheel must be time consuming. Ouch, right for the jugular. Lex says that she thinks she knows more than she’s telling him. Chloe responds that she suspects he’s covering up for the spaceship Lana found. She threatens him to “stop asking questions, or I’ll start asking my own.” Nicely done, Miss Sullivan.
At the Kent house, Lee tells Clark about Level 3, at LuthorCorp. Apparently they did experiments on him, injecting him with Kryptonite, getting him hooked. He wants Clark to break into Level 3 and get the serum, and if he doesn’t, he’ll kill Lana.
Meanwhile, Ma and Pa Kent arrive home. As they’re walking towards the house, Martha says “Clark better have a good excuse for not bringing those nails back.” I love how she says that with such disdain and disappointment, as if he just killed somebody. They enter the house, where Clark is alone, piling up some planks of wood. He tells them that he got sidetracked, and that Lana’s lying down. Martha notes that his shirt is inside out. With a smirk, Jonathan says he’ll check on Lana himself. Clark blows up, telling them they never believe him. Lee and the twins (with Lana in tow) walk into the room, obnoxiously telling Clark that that’s no way to talk to his mother. Jonathan approaches Lee, who sends Jonathan sailing across the room. That really does happen an awful lot. Clark tells him to stop, and that he’ll break into Level 3 to get him the serum.
By the way, at the end of this commercial break they give us a 30 second summary of what’s happened in the episode so far, in case you’re just joining. A nifty little segment, I must say.
Clark and Chloe arrive near LuthorCorp, where Clark tells her everything he knows. Chloe notes that they should just call Lex, as he’d help if he knew what was happening. Clark tells her that he tried calling him, but he’s heading to Washington. Chloe looks through blueprints of LuthorCorp, where they find out where Level 3 is. They go into Chloe’s trunk, where she’s got a load of weapons and tools. A shocked Clark asks where she got all of this, to which she answers (with a cute smile) “E-bay.” Clark notes that she has flash grenade. Clark asks why she didn’t tell him about this stuff, to which she says “we’ve all got our secrets Clark.”
Clark and Chloe sneak into LuthorCorp, I suppose knowing the rotation of the security guards. Perhaps somebody should have told Clark that today would have been a good day to wear a blue shirt, because that bright red one can’t be good for midday trespassing. Clark says that he’d normally just use his super speed, super strength, and heat vision to get the serum, so Chloe responds by saying that he basically has no usable skills now that he’s human. Using her computer, she turns off the power and opens the door. In a humorous bit, Clark tells her to access the cameras, play the same empty hallway loop, and a whole bunch of other hooplah, to which Chloe tells him that that would take hours.
The Sheriff arrives at the Kent house, to which Lee tells them to get rid of her or else Martha is toast. The Sheriff walks inside and tells them that three real mean cusses busted out of Belle Reve. Ha, mean cusses. I’m gonna call people that from now on. Jonathan tells her that he’ll let her know if they see them. The Sheriff asks where Martha is, and Lana quickly answers that she’s at the barn raising. The Sheriff is about to leave, when she spots a cup of coffee. What, she can’t buy her own at the Talon?
Meanwhile, Clark is crawling through some air vents to get into Level 3, as Chloe directs him via some walkie talkies. Clark seems to be getting awfully hot and tired. Chloe remarks that she didn’t know that super whining was one of his powers. Clark remarks that Pete was better at these pep talks, to which an offended Chloe cries out “PETE! You told Pete your secret!” Clark answers that he had to because he saw his ship. An exasperated Chloe says “Pete got to see your spaceship?!?!” This was a hilarious scene. And it’s always nice to hear them mention Pete. Clark triggers some sort of security system, which forces him to rush through the vents before he’s trapped in there. He then falls through one of the openings, but grabs on to the top before dropping to the ground. Chloe asks if he’s okay, to which he says “Yeah, super.” Simple comments like that seem funnier now that he lost his powers.
At the Kent house, Martha is still being held captive as the Sheriff continues drinking her cup of coffee. I can’t help but be bothered by the fact that three psychos with powers are out terrorizing somewhere, and the Sheriff is taking a break from notifying the townspeople (which is why she came to the Kent house in the first place) to enjoy a cup of Joe. Just as she’s about to leave, she notices the pack of cigarettes on the counter. She notes that with Jonathan’s heart condition, she didn’t think he’d be smoking. Lana says that they’re hers, and that she started after the meteor shower. The Sheriff tells her that she should stop before it kills her. As she leaves, she goes onto her walkie talkie and says that there’s a 10-11 at the Kent house. Before she reaches her car, Lee shoots some electricity at her, sending her flying over the hood of her car. Jonathan then dives and tackles Lee off the porch. As they both get to their feet, Lana yells out “Mr. Kent!” successfully distracting him long enough for Lee to get the advantage. Nice move, Lana. Inside, the albinos fight Lana. She grabs a nail gun and shoots it into one of their hands. The other albino seems to feel the pain. Lee continues beating up Jonathan (who is catching up with Lionel with his hippie hair). The albinos put the force field back up as the police arrive.
At LuthorCorp, Clark is climbing down a ladder until he reaches the floor. Chloe tells him to look for a really big door. Upon finding it and opening it, Chloe is standing on the other side. Chloe remarks that it was weird how the guards were only guarding the perimeter outside. Chloe notes that the locking mechanism is thumb print activated. Chloe then whips out her flashlight, which Lex had held in the cave.
The police stand outside the force field, mystified by what they’re seeing. One of the officers asks what the hell it is, to which the Sheriff answers “another day in Smallville.” Inside the house, the albino twins say that they can’t maintain the force field much longer, and that they should maybe count their losses. Martha remarks that they seem desperate, to which Lana responds that Clark will get them out of this, he always does. Jonathan and Martha stare at each other with concerned looks on their faces.
Inside Level 3, Chloe uses a piece of tape to replicate Lex’s thumb print. She presses the tape against the locking mechanism, and the door opens. Lee calls Clark on his cell phone, and Clark tells him he’s on his way. Clark reaches for the serum, but a laser grid badly burns him. Chloe tells him it could take hours to override the system and that without his abilities the lasers would cut him into pieces. Clark says that there might be another way, and asks Chloe to find out where the signal is coming from. Chloe asks what he’s going to do, and Clark answers “Whatever it takes.”
Clark frantically arrives at the Kent house, and starts calling out for the Sheriff. He demands that she put her men back, and that he needs to save his family and Lana. She tells him that this is no time to be a hero, to which Clark answers that he’s not, he just doesn’t want to see everybody he loves die.
Lee tells the albinos to put the field down, as Clark walks through it. They then put it back up. Clark hands Lee a briefcase. Upon opening it, a huge flash of light blinds him. Lee blindly reaches for a source of electricity, and aims it at Clark. Clark dives out of the way, and the electricity strikes the albino twins. Lee reaches for another source, but Clark grabs a sledgehammer and knocks out the electricity. He then walks over to Lee and punches him in the face, saying “Sometimes it’s easier just to turn the power off.”
The Sheriff and her officers cuff up the albinos and Lee as they are escorted out of the house. Is it me, or are those the same exact type of electronic handcuffs that he escaped out of in the beginning of the episode? The Sheriff commends Clark on a job well done, asking him if he ever considered a job in law enforcement. Chloe arrives at the house, and tells Clark that he may have moved on, but other people may not let go of the past so easily. He tells her that she traced the signal at the vault, and there was a secondary feed and that somebody was watching them.
In Lex’s study, he looks at video footage of Clark reaching for the serum and getting burned by the laser grid. He says “this is impossible.” Clark asks “disappointed?” Lex shuts off his computer and tells him he heard what happened, and asks if everybody is alright. Clark responds with a fierce punch in the face. Clark tells him that Chloe traced the feed, and that he was watching him the whole time. Lex says he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, so Clark pushes him to the ground. Clark also notes that he knows that Lex was at Belle Reve the day Lee escaped, and that he knows it was a set up and a test to see what Clark is capable of. Clark punches him in the face again, telling him that he put his family and Lana’s life in danger. Clark tells him he’s through playing games with him and that if he wants to see what he’s made of to do it himself. Clark takes another swing, but Lex blocks it and clocks Clark in the face. Clark looks up, with a bloodied lip. He says “Satisfied?” as Lex looks on in astonishment.
Clark arrives at Lana’s apartment in the Talon, where she notices his face all bruised. She asks what happened, to which Clark tells her that he was saying good bye to an old friend. She tends to his wounds, and things start heating up. They both note that you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and they begin kissing. Lana pulls Clark down to the floor, where they continue making out. She begins unbuttoning his shirt, and I’ll let your imagination take you for the rest of the ride, because I feel like I’m transcribing a porno right now. Well, it’s a good thing they have sex now, because I don’t know if Lana could handle a super ejaculation. Hell, losing your virginity to Superman is setting the bar really high right off the get go. I feel bad for the poor bastard who has to follow that show.
Episode Review:
An enjoyable follow-up to the season premiere. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get any further hints or details about Brainiac, but that’ll happen in due time, I suppose. I like the fact that the writers continue to show restraint in giving Clark back his abilities. The previews for next week indicate that he may get them back then, but even so, I’m enjoying watching Clark have to use his other resources in order to accomplish his seemingly unbeatable tasks. Right now, Chloe is playing a very Pete-like character, where she acts as his partner in crime. Since it’s been a couple of years since we’ve seen this happening with Pete, it still feels fresh.
I was about to criticize the flaws in the episode until it was revealed that Lex had arranged the whole thing. One thing that always annoyed me was the fact that Kryptonite inexplicably makes everybody go mad with power, and suddenly they have no qualms whatsoever with murdering people. With the information we’ve been given, there’s no real reason to think that Kryptonite affects you mentally like that. However, I’m willing to let that pass this week, because Lee was more or less a hired gun, and we don’t really know if he would have killed anybody (it could have just been an idle threat in order to ensure that he’d get what he wanted). Also, the usual lack of security at LuthorCorp is excusable, since Lex wanted them to be able to get inside (Chloe even remarked that for some reason, security was only guarding the outside perimeter). Revealing that Lex was behind it all in order to test Clark’s abilities was a really effective way of tying up many (if not all) of the loose ends from this episode. It also made logical sense.
Speaking of which, it seems as if this is the end of Clark and Lex’s friendship. Interestingly, this really separates Lex from the rest of the cast, as Clark, Lana, and Chloe all have reasons for disliking (or distrusting) him. In the past, Lex was at odds with Clark but still close friends with Lana. At the end of last season and the premiere, Lex was at odds with Lana but still close friends with Clark. Now, Lex is pretty much completely detached from the rest of the cast, which creates a very interesting dynamic. It has always been said by Lex that his friendship with Clark is what prevents him from succumbing to the dark side. With that relationship gone, there’s nothing holding Lex back. I continue to enjoy Lex’s evil character.
This season is also doing a nice job of setting up potential reasons why, in the future, people like Lex don’t put two and two together and immediately realize that Clark Kent is Superman. Lex has now seen that Clark can’t simply reach through lasers, and that punching him in the face will hurt him and make him bleed. All of this may make Lex eventually doubt that Clark has any abilities at all.
The interaction between Clark and Chloe was fantastic, in my opinion. Chloe’s exasperated reaction to Clark telling her that he told Pete about his secret (and that he saw Clark’s spaceship) was a truly humorous moment. It was nice that they mentioned Pete at all (and extra credit for Lana mentioning Alicia earlier in the episode), and I was wondering if he’d ever tell her that Pete knows. I was really enjoying the whole story arc where Chloe knows Clark’s secret, but he doesn’t know she knows…and so far I’m quite pleased with how they’re handling the development that his secret is now out in the open for them. Also, I like how Chloe seems to be genuinely happy for Lana and Clark. I really don’t want the three of them to have any conflicts over this.
Next week looks mighty interesting. I noticed we once again see the Fortress of Solitude, and is that Jor-El we see inside? It also seems as if Clark gets shot. Perhaps Jor-El gives him his powers back, in order to save his life? I forgot to mention this last week, but I was pleased that we got to see a somewhat kinder Jor-El last week. For some reason, he’s always portrayed as being somewhat evil on the series. It was nice to see that he was training Clark so that he can overcome the dark side of Krypton.
