NEXT ON SMALLVILLE 7x20 Artic - May 15, 2008 8/7c LEX DISCOVERS CLARK'S SECRET — Kara (Laura Vandervoort) tells Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) he is destined to defeat the Traveler and offers to take him to the Fortress to learn how. Clark (Tom Welling) is stunned that Kara would go to Lex but it is revealed that Brainiac is impersonating Kara and she's actually trapped in the Phantom Zone. Chloe is arrested by the Department of Domestic Security and Lana awakens from her comatose state. Meanwhile, in an epic turn of events, Clark and Lex face off in the Fortress and Lex learns Clark's secret. Erica Durance and Aaron Ashmore also star. QUICK LINKS DI on MySpace: / ZodCast on MySpace: / Fans Around the World / Lois Lane's Daily Journal / Redboots / The Clois Fanfic Archive / Christopher Reeve Foundation / Guestbook FEATURED CLIP TOP AFFILIATES { All Affiliates } BANTER LOG Lois: Clark. Look, I'm not great at this so just keep your mouth shut and listen up. Even though I was kicking butt on the helicopter, it was really nice to have backup, and you didn't have to come after me but you always do, so I wanted to say thank you. You're a really good friend. Oh, and about the Lap dance. If you decide to tell anyone about it, your Elmer Fud nightlight will make a very public apperance. Clark: Aye Aye, Sailor. { All Quotes } SEARCH FOR SMALLVILLE @ Amazon.com @ eBay.com @ AllPosters.com SITE STATS Clois fans online You are visitor # Since 11/27/04 CONTACT US For any news and information or to contact HappyEnding.Org Staff, you can e-mail one of the following: Webmaster: Jerilee Co-Webmasters Nautica7mk, ZodCast and Arwen DISCLAIMER We are in no way affiliated with Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Smallville or The WB. This site is strictly a fansite and nothing monetary is gained. SUPERMAN and all related elements are the property of DC Comics.

Reviews

5:06 Exposed

by Zoomway

The episode opened with Chloe discovering the glamor of starting at the bottom at the Daily Planet. She was functioning as a glorified answering machine redirecting calls to their proper departments.

In the background was Lois shouting, "Die! Die!" as she played a video game.

Chloe crawled her chair over to sit beside her. "Lois, I'm sorry. You were in for a girls night out and I got called in to screen calls for news that's not fit to print."

This instantly struck me as familiar. In the L&C episode Fly Hard, Jack was sitting playing a video game waiting for Clark to finish up his taxes, but Jack had been promised a trip to the movies.

"Compared to the Kent farm, this is a rager," Lois said and passed a game controller to Chloe. "Besides, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to watch a big shot reporter in action."

"Okay, now that I'm swimming in butter, why are you really here obliterating aliens with me at one A.M.?

"I'm racking up brownie points. I need you to help me move out of the Kents' next weekend."

"Oh, you took the apartment at the Talon? How are you ever going to live without Clark?"

"One word -- blissfully," Lois replied. "How you ever had a crush on Richie Cunningham, I will never understand. Come on, you gotta come back to Smallville. It'll be fun. I'll buy pizza."

Chloe smiled. "Lois, you don't need to Tom Sawyer me, we're family. Just tell me when to be there."

The phone rang again, but this time it was a young woman urgently wanting to speak with a reporter. "Quick, before he finds me," she said and gave her location as 7th and Edgemont. That's an inside joke because Kristin Kreuk (Lana) also starred on a series called Edgemont.

It might have been a way of keeping her presence alive in this episode since this is the first episode ever that didn't have Lana in it at all. However, it did emphasize how little Lana's character is necessary to the main plot lines. Aside from being a love interest, she has no intrinsic value. I actually tried to envision Lana playing Lois's part in this episode, but it became clear as the episode unfolded that Lois and Lana's dynamics as characters are so different, that it wouldn't have worked even with a major rewrite.

Anyway, Lois and Chloe arrived at the scene. "I thought you were supposed to pass on any real leads to somebody whose cubicle was actually above ground," Lois said as they walked up the street.

"Well, unless I want to stay subterranean my whole career, I've gotta take a chance."

A young woman suddenly yelled for help and Lois and Chloe began running towards her, but they weren't as fast as the SUV barreling down on her. The vehicle hit her and sped away. Chloe took the woman's pulse. "She's dead."

The next morning at Kent farm, as Jonathan tinkered with some farm equipment (is their stuff always broken?), he asked, "How much longer do I have you before you hightail it back to Metropolis?"

"Well, Lana is gone for the weekend," Clark replied as he moved a bale of hay. It's good to know he still has his hay moving job. "I lost out to a comet her class is tracking at the Lincoln observatory." Yes, Lana the astronomer. In many ways Lana is a Renaissance man, but without the male plumbing.

"What about Chloe, or Lois?"

"Well, Chloe's juggling classes and the Daily Planet," he said. "And Lois, I'd do anything to get rid of Lois. I don't think that's exactly prereq for best friend status."

This didn't even make sense in the context of what Jonathan had asked. Lois was staying at the Kent farm, not Metropolis. He wouldn't have to 'hightail it' anywhere. Also Clark's comment about getting rid of Lois was out of place.

When such lines are delivered when the object of their antagonism is present, then it is seen as a mutual tease at the other, but when that person isn't there, it literally means they dislike that person. That is quite a contrast from Aqua where Clark and Lois had a friendly moment at the end, or Lucy from last year where they acknowledged they were friends, but in a "I won't tell if you don't," atmosphere.

Perhaps we're to see Clark and Lois in a transitional period of "doth protest too much" denial of deeper feelings, but I finally realized why the mutual antagonism doesn't work this year, yet actually had some sexual tension at the beginning of last year. It was killed when Clark delivered the fatal line about not being over Lana in the episode Devoted last year. From that moment forward, they had effectively killed off the sexual tension.

Sexual tension requires a hidden attraction on the part of one of the characters to sizzle. When a guy says he's still hung up on some other girl, it fizzles instead. When that happens, the teasing takes on a sibling vibe, which is the ultimate death knell to sexual tension for obvious reasons.

Now that Clark is in a relationship with Lana, there's absolutely no point in trying to establish sexual tension at all and if the antagonism continues, it merely magnifies the sibling vibe. The best they can do right now is just make Clark and Lois friends and tone down the teasing because it no longer serves a positive foreshadowing purpose and actually has the opposite effect.

Oh, well, on with the show ...

A blue Dodge Charger came speeding up towards Clark and Jonathan, stopping just short of colliding with them. Jonathan bent down and looked in the window. "Is that the best ya got?"

Enter Senator Jennings, AKA 'Uncle Jack' to Clark. Of course this is Tom Wopat who played Luke Duke to Schneider's Bo Duke on the 80s TV series Dukes of Hazzard. Even the name Jennings is probably a nod to Waylan Jennings who sang the theme.

Jack said he needed a breather from the rat race during his campaign and wanted Jonathan's help to rally the farmers. "Why? You always win this county by a landslide."

"The race is about to get a lot tougher. Rumor has it I'm running against Lex Luthor."

Detective Maggie Sawyer (she's been on the show before and is a character in the comics) showed up at the Daily Planet to take Lois and Chloe's statements about the hit and run they witnessed.

"Let me get this straight," Sawyer began. "No I.D. or make on the vehicle, no I.D. on the driver and no clue why this girl called. I'd say you're off to a great start as an investigative reporter, Ms. Sullivan. If you remember anything else, let me know."

As Sawyer started to walk away, Lois piped up. "I think that's code for 'we're gonna file this under the rug.'"

Sawyer turned back. "This is a big city and bad things happen. A pretty young girl not in college and no traceable job in that part of town. It's not a mystery what happened down there."

Lois, understanding what Sawyer was implying, stepped forward and got in her face. "You don't think it's strange that an alleged streetwalker was wearing five hundred dollar Jimmy Choo shoes?"

Lois was very aggressive here and part of it might have been resentment over the quick sketch insinuation regarding the dead girl's livelihood. Aside from the 'that part of town' element, the rest of the assessment could have fit Lois herself.

Also, the staging of the scene seemed very deliberate. Chloe looked like a school girl in the background, or a little sister worried that her big sister was going to get them in trouble. This scene was also well played by Erica Durance (Lois) and Jill Teed (Sawyer). They squared off well as alpha females.

Chloe. noticing that neither Lois nor Sawyer was going to back down or even blink, stepped in to plead the dead girl's case. "Look, Detective Sawyer, this girl died trying to tell me her story," Chloe said in a plaintive voice. "I'm sorry I'm not street hardened, but she's way more than a statistic to me. We have to find out who did this."

"I applaud your sprit, girls, but you should know that most of those streets turn out to be dead ends. I will do my job, you do yours."

Lois rolled her eyes and headed back into the news room, or into Chloe's purgatory area. It's hard to tell because there, as yet, isn't a good feeling of how the Planet is laid out or where the news room is in relation to where Chloe is working.

"Hopefully you'll have more luck than Officer Stalin," Lois said. Stalin was an ironic choice of names because Stalin means "Man of Steel."

Thankfully Chloe did have a bit more luck, at least in finding the location of "where that Melissa girl called from," but all the addresses within ten blocks were all warehouses. She brought up the area map for Lois. "And a club called the Windgate."

Lois smiled. "I'm guessing she didn't get all glammed up to count inventory."

Sawyer actually was doing her job. She went to Melissa's apartment and found a photo of the girl sitting in Senator Jennings' lap and then tracked Jennings to the Kent farm.

"I don't have enough evidence to bring you in for questioning, but I would appreciate an explanation."

"So would I," Jennings said. "I've never seen her before."

"That must have been tricky with her all cuddled up on your lap. With all due respect, Senator, pictures don't lie."

Jonathan looked at the photo. "Hang on just a minute. In this day and age they most certainly do."

Clark instantly assumed that Lex was behind what he believed to be a doctored photo and so went to the mansion. "Is it true, Lex?"

"You know, after you've been MIA for weeks, I don't think a 'hello' is too much to ask for."

For weeks? I assume they're trying to tell us quite a bit of time passed since Chloe got her job at the Planet and Lana started attending Met U, but I'm not sure why.

"How long have you been planning to run for the state senate?"

"Several months now and if you're implying that I should have told you, you might want to rethink the barrier you've drawn on this friendship."

Clark showed Lex the photo. "I can't believe you'd destroy someone just to win a race."

"If you think I had something to do with this ..."

"Your competition was linked to the death of a young girl just before you announced your candidacy. That's quite a coincidence, isn't it? You honestly don't recognize that picture?"

"The only thing I recognize is the booth," Lex said, flipping the photo back at Clark. "It's the Windgate gentlemen's club in Metropolis. Not a smart stop-off for an incumbent on the campaign trail."

Clark began to realize that Lex wasn't behind the scandalous photo, but reasoned that someone at the club might be. Lex gave Clark a membership card to the Windgate and told him to stay out of trouble. Lex is so accommodating and helpful in this episode, I think I'd vote for him.

Chloe and Lois also decided to storm the club, but without a membership card, they weren't welcome. However, seeing a couple of the strippers entering through a side door, they found access. Unfortunately the girls were less than talkative about the subject of Melissa.

Instead, Chloe and Lois entered a private office looking for any employment record listing Melissa, but they were interrupted.

Two men, one who seemed to be a bodyguard or bouncer, entered. "Are you ladies lost?"

Chloe pushed Lois forward. "Don't be shy. She's here to dance."

"Are you the replacement Rocko sent over?"

"Yeah," Chloe said. "He really hated to see her go."

There was a cutaway to a scene between Jonathan and Lex. Jonathan jumped all over Lex since he believed Lex was somehow behind that photo of Jack and Melissa. He didn't give Lex even the smallest benefit of the doubt. Instead he accused him of mudslinging and told Lex he never really liked him all that much.

However, all Lex had had wanted was to give Jennings a heads up on his cell phone records showing he had called the murdered girl. Lex had nothing to do with the photo nor did he take it or the phone records to the press. He was certainly more evenhanded than Jonathan.

Back at the strip club Lois got dressed behind a screen so that only her silhouette was showing. This was similar to Lois on L&C getting into her costume behind a screen in the episode Ultra Woman. Also, like the Ultra Woman episode, Lois on Smallville stepped out and said, "What do think?" We also got only a reaction shot but no glimpse of the costume yet. Chloe was a bit verklempt. "All I can say is God bless America."

Clark arrived and was disappointed to hear that Senator Jennings had a 'usual table' at the club. A waitress asked what he'd like to drink and he ordered a coke. When the waitress looked surprised that he didn't ask for an alcoholic beverage, Clark said, "Straight up on the rocks." In other words, without ice and over ice.

This would have worked better a couple of years ago when a certain amount of naivete was believable from Clark, but after robbing banks in Metropolis at the start of third season and doing other bad things on red kryptonite, this humor falls a bit flat.

Meanwhile Lois was getting cold feet and Chloe told her to find her inner Demi Moore (starred in Striptease).

"You better at least use this distraction to find something out about Melissa."

Lois's cue music started. "And now," the announcer began. "Making her first Windgate appearance, welcome to the stage an all American girl, Amber Waves."

Lois obviously didn't know exactly what was expected of her so she saluted and began marching in place. After an awkward moment she removed the short sailor jacket and her skirt, which she kicked away after it fell to the floor. She then removed her sailor cap and set her sunglasses on the stage. When she rose, her hair was flowing freely and Clark suddenly recognized her.

This was kind of a funny reversal in that Clark didn't seem to recognize Lois until she took the glasses off. Also funny, or perhaps deliberate, was the song choice. It was "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls.

With lyrics like "don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me," "I know you want me," "fight the feeling, just leave it alone" and "keep it friendly, you've got to play fair," the words take on a more personal meaning when it's Lois dancing and Clark watching.

Lois actually started to get into the whole spirit of stripping, the exhibitionism and the sensuality. In fact, sensuality is one of those attributes that Lois naturally possesses. That might seem like a strange quality to bring up when most people would cite traits like Lois's intelligence, fearlessness, loyalty, etc., but Lois's sensuality and her passion in and outside of the bedroom have been as much a part of her ongoing evolutionary process as any other element in her repertoire of defining characteristics.

Lois finally noticed Clark in the audience and began to exit the stage to the lyric, "don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me," and Clark tugged at this collar.

Lois walked behind Clark and put her cheek next to his and forced a smile since the boss was watching. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

Lois moved around to the side. Clark looked and then averted his gaze. Lois kept her smile in place. "It's Chloe's fault. We're following a murder story."

"That makes two of us, but I think I'll stick to my method."

Lois, noticing her boss was still watching, parked herself on Clark's lap, grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. "If you keep looking at me like I'm Jabba the Hut, you're going to get me fired."

"What do you want me to do?" Captain Slow asked.

"Uh, I don't know, give me a twenty and meet me out back."

Clark, as he gazed down on the promised land, was too timid to place the twenty dollars in Lois's costume so she had to grab the money herself and tuck it away in her star spangled bonanza. Clark's timidity is also something that would have worked better a couple of years ago, but falls flat (no pun) now that he's been deflowered.

As Lois exited his lap, Clark overheard Lois's boss and another man with a generic Slavic accent talking about Lois. Apparently the man with the accent was wanting to buy her for half a million dollars. Unfortunately that's all Clark was able to overhear because Maggie Sawyer and a few of Metropolis's finest raided the joint.

The charge was minors working and being served at the Windgate. Lois galloped to the dressing room and grabbed her purse and then she was grabbed by the man with the Slavic accent. "You want to stick around and get arrested?" he asked, and took her out a back exit.

Meanwhile Clark was handcuffed and Sawyer dragged the club's owner off to the side. "The city's looked the other way because your clientele can pull a lot of strings, but now I've got a dead nineteen year old on my hands. I gotta go by the book."

As Clark and the other customers were being herded into another room, Chloe spotted him. "Clark?"

"Chloe, where's Lois?"

"I don't know. Clark, what are you doing here?" she asked, but Clark continued to move downstream and overheard Sawyer talking to the bouncer about Jennings. Apparently Jennings got drunk and the bouncer took him home so he had nothing to do with Melissa's death.

Meanwhile, Chloe started asking the girls about Melissa. Wow, let me tell ya, outside of Fear Factor Playboy edition, I don't think I've ever seen so much makeup, plastic and bad acting gathered together in one place. The gist of the conversation was that Melissa "had it made" and was on her way to the ivory tower before her life was cut short. Apparently the Slavic accented guy takes a girl away every few months and she's never seen again. The nudie Einsteins coalition assumed such girls were spirited away to some romantic tropical island.

However, one girl with a whip (no kidding) saw something more sinister regarding the missing girls. "Somebody should have warned your friend about that."

"Lois?"

"Yeah, I saw him leave with her during the raid."

At that moment Sawyer showed up with Clark in tow and said that Lex Luthor had made some phone calls and got them released. See? I'm telling you, I'd vote for the guy.

Chloe trotted after Sawyer. "I think the guy who killed Melissa Page has my cousin."

"It's the same guy who made some deal with the club owner," Clark added.

Sawyer, who was pissed, spun around. "You know this guy's name? Let me see if I'm understanding you. Your cousin, who I'm assuming is underage, was stripping and making deals with wealthy patrons, managed to escape a police raid ..."

"It's not like that," Clark interrupted.

"She was just helping me to investigate."

"Investigate," Sawyer repeated, her last good nerve frazzling. "Okay, Luthor may have pulled a get out of jail free card for you this time, but it will not happen again. If you want to play Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy, do it in somebody else's precinct."

Finally a believable reaction to teens playing detective in the big city.

The next day, or I should say later the same day since the club raid took place at five in the morning, Jonathan got behind the wheel of the Dodge Charger.

"You just could not resist, could you?" Jack asked.

"You still have a nasty habit of leaving your keys in the ignition," Jonathan replied. "Get in."

"With you at the wheel?" he asked and walked around to the other side of the car. "I guess it wouldn't be the first time I put my life in your hands."

Jack climbed in through the window rather than opening the door. "What?" he asked, prompted by Jonathan's confused expression. "Damn thing's been stuck ever since I bought it."

For the Dukes of Hazzard uninitiated, the window was the preferred method of entry by the Duke boys.

Jonathan fired it up and they did some joyriding, including a small jump scene, also what the Charger (General Lee) was famous for.

"Try that with a four cylinder," Jack said, but noticed Jonathan wasn't exactly being a bundle of laughs. "So, what's the real reason for the joyride?"

"When were you going to tell me about the girl, Jack?"

"What? You think I had something to do with what happened?"

"I have no idea, but I do think it's time you gave me some straight answers, don't you?"

"Look, I didn't want you to be involved. There's only so much you should ask of a friend."

"Oh, so instead you lie to my face?"

Are we sure Jack isn't really related to Clark?

"What do you want me to say? That my marriage is more of a business arrangement and the only person that makes me happy is a dancer half my age? How much of that would you really understand?"

"I might not understand any of it, Jack, but come on, all of our lives have taken turns we didn't expect."

"You've never had a lie get out of hand, or you never been caught at it?" You're asking the wrong Kent, Luke Duke.

Jonathan fishtailed to a stop. "I've never been in a position where people look up to me. You are Clark's hero."

"So I'm not supposed to have any faults, huh? Who can live up to that?"

Eating a giant omelet when you should be watching your cholesterol is a fault. Cheating on your wife is adultery. Though Lana would probably say, "I know what Jack did was wrong, but at least the dead dancer knew what it was like to really be loved."

"You know why there's no heroes today?" Jack ranted on. "Because at the end of the day people don't respect them, they envy them and they're just waiting for them to screw up."

"What are you going to do, Jack?"

"What do you want me to do? I'm a good senator. You want to give that kind of power to someone like Lex Luthor?"

Here's where we hit Semanticsville. A good (married) senator who spends so much time in a strip club that he has a regular table and is wooing a dancer half his age, is not only leaving himself open for blackmail, but anyone who discovers his juicy secret can coerce him into backing legislation that is not necessarily in the best interest of his state. It's doubtful that cheating on his cholesterol diet would carry the same consequences.

I'm sure this is one of those instances where we're to draw a Clark/Superman parallel, but a senator cheating on his wife with a stripper is better tabloid fodder than making superhero analogies.

"I might not agree with Lex Luthor's politics, Jack, but at least I know who he is."

Lois entered Slavic Man's penthouse. "Thanks for helping me out back there."

"My pleasure," he said and removed his jacket, which had been draped over Lois's shoulders to hide her costume. "I think I have something a little more your size."

He handed her a red gown from a closet filled with red gowns. Barring a cross-dressing secret, it seemed the gowns were given to all the girls scheduled for the human trafficking market.

When he stepped out of the room, Lois pushed the gowns aside and it looked a little like Lois was pushing red capes aside. On the floor of the closet was a box and Melissa's photo was on the front and inside were her personal belongings. This might have been a bit more realistic if 1) the dead girl's belongings weren't in the same closet with the transport gowns, 2) if Melissa's box was there, then the boxes of other girls' private belongings should also have been there and 3) why have a photo on the box, why not just have a neon sign with an arrow?

Lois hastily slipped into one of the gowns and Slavic Man took her photo and then got a little touchie-feelie with the gown. "It looks so much better on you than any of the others. You're going to make them very jealous."

Lois, feeling a strong creepy vibe, began to walk away. "You know, I think I'm just going to call a cab."

Slavic Man grabbed her from behind. "Think of your taxi days as a thing of the past. You have a whole new life ahead of you."

"I don't know what kind of kink you're into," Lois said, and then SMACK, she hit him with the back of her fist and really went to town on him. She slugged him in the nose and then gave him a high kick to the chin with her Wonder Woman boots and then proceeded to kick the ever-loving crap out of him. "You are seriously behind on your Gloria Steinem," she said and each word was emphasized by another kick, at least until Slavic Man's henchman zapped Lois with a taser-like weapon.

Chloe and Clark entered the Planet giving plot exposition with every step. The upshot being that Slavic Man was the son of some foreign diplomat.

"Then he'd have diplomatic plates," Chloe said. "See, while you were inside taking in the entertainment, I was outside in the parking lot taking shots of the license plates on all the cars."

She brought up the info on the diplomatic plates. "That's the UN Tower."

I can't help chuckling at the thought that there's a UN tower in Kansas. Speaking of said tower, Lois was being taken to a helicopter on the roof.

Clark whooshed to the location, entered the penthouse and spotted Lois's photo on the floor. I guess in lieu of neon signs, bread crumbs leading to the helicopter would also work.

Clark phoned Chloe. "He's got Lois. Any psychic guesses on this guy's computer password?"

"Don't even try. He's probably got a zillion layers of security on it."

"Yeah, but it's still warm, they must have just left. The printer's still on."

"Try pressing print again."

Out came a fake passport for Lois, or Margot Neill. "Think they're going to try and smuggle her out of the country?"

"Even if he does, I doubt he'll take her to an airport," Chloe said as she clicked her mouse. "There's a helipad on the roof."

Clark whooshed to the roof where the helicopter was taking off. He grabbed a tow line, leaped up and attached it to one of the landing skids and began reeling in the helicopter. I still don't buy the plausibility of someone even with super powers being able to pull a helicopter down unless their body mass severely increases or if Clark anchored himself to some immovable object, but it's an improvement over the episode Nocturne where the hulk-out teen pulled a chopper down barehanded.

Clark gave a final yank and grabbed the falling helicopter by the skid, which was similar to the first Superman movie as was the tow line snagging the skid, though it happened accidentally in the movie. And of course Lois Lane had also been aboard that imperiled helicopter. This Lois Lane, however, was beating up the bad guys.

Clark opened the door. "Hey, 007," Lois said just before punching Slavic Man again. "Nice of you to show up."

"I'll start assuming that means thank you."

Lois and Clark each held onto an arm of Slavic Man and escorted him toward Maggie Sawyer, who I assume Chloe contacted, though Sawyer must have been hanging out in the lobby to get to the roof that fast.

"This scumbag was about to airlift me to the honeymoon suite of the Gropa Cabana."

"I'm glad you're all right," Sawyer said rather somberly. "Now if you'll release him, I'm afraid Mr. Lyon is free to go."

Clark stepped forward. "What? You can't just let him walk away."

Lyon (now that we finally have a name) faced Lois. "Diplomatic immunity."

"As a consulate guest in our country, Mr. Lyon can't be arrested or tried for any crime he commits on our soil. Even murder. I'm sorry, I can't touch him."

"Well, I can," Lois said and gave him a nice gut punch which actually elicited a smile from Detective Sawyer.

She moved forward and addressed Lois and Clark. "Some people live above the rules. Guess what, that's life in Metropolis. If you want justice, I suggest you stay a little closer to home."

This shot of Clark and Lois watching the helicopter depart seemed to be more than just the usual foreshadowing. It felt more like an actual glimpse into the future. It was as if they grew up in an instant and were both contemplating Sawyer's comment about justice.

At this point both Clark and Lois are avoiding their destinies by retreating to safe harbors, but I would hope events in this episode would change their perspectives somewhat. Lois has to come to realize that she's not going to change the world by filling coffee cups and Clark has to realize that being caged behind a white picket fence with Lana won't bring justice to Metropolis or anywhere else.

But suddenly I remind myself I'm talking about Smallville and therefore it would be unlikely that the characters would even remember this adventure, much less be changed by it, so let's move on.

Clark paid Lex a visit and thanked him for his help, but Lex called him on his suspicion that he had masterminded the whole Jennings plot.

"I didn't think he was lying to me," Clark said.

"But you assumed I would."

"I can't believe I looked up to Jack."

Lex shifted gears to the Bible. In Smallville the villains always know more about the Bible than the alleged good guys. "Tell me what you remember about King David?"

"King David, he slew Goliath and saved his people."

"And afterward, he saw a beautiful woman and fell madly in love. Problem was, she turned out to be his best friend's wife. So you know what our great hero did? He sent him off to battle to die so he could have her to himself."

"Kinda leave that part out, don't they?"

This was silly because the story of David and Bathsheba is pretty darn famous and FOX Movie Channel showed that very movie yesterday as a matter of fact.

"We all need to believe in heroes, Clark and even the best ones are far from perfect."

Lex was either casting himself as a hero with flaws, or finding a way to justify Jack's behavior, or was giving a generic speech about flawed heroes in general to try and make the audience more accepting of Smallville's messed up version of Clark Kent. Either way, I think the real gist of the scene was to foreshadow Lex and Lana becoming closer in the near future.

Then there was a final scene between Clark and Jack where Jack was somewhat redeemed in Clark's eyes.

"Do you think your dad will ever forgive me?"

"I've given him a lot of trial runs in the forgiveness arena. Look, I know my dad's friendship means a lot to you, but there's a lot of other people out there who look up to you."

"I guess you can only pull off the disguise of being superhuman for so long, huh?"

Please wear hardhats, this is a falling anvil zone.

He told Clark he was pulling out of the race and then Jonathan said, "Jack, if you're pulling out of this race because your old buddy can't seem to climb off of his pulpit, that's not what I want. All I ask is that you be honest."

"I'm pulling out of the race because I'm no longer the best man for the job."

He then suggested that Jonathan was the best man for the job and told him to think it over.

The next morning Lois came down the stairs with a box of her belongings. "Hey, Smallville, your personal space is about to be reinstated."

"What are you doing? You just moved back in."

Since it was stated that weeks had passed since Lex had seen Clark, then Lois must have been there a couple of months if the time frame from Aqua is also factored in. Either Clark feels time flies when Lois is there, or it's just one of those many continuity glitches.

"Well, now that Lana's living with Chloe, I'm taking the place," Lois said. "You don't have a key to the apartment, do you? I mean now that you and Lana are doing it (she made a 'click click' in her cheek, you know, an auditory wink)."

"No, we uh ..."

"Good, because I wouldn't want any surprise midnight visits."

I'm not sure what Clark was going to say. That they never got to the key exchange point, or that they're no longer (click click) doing it after he got his powers back.

Clark got cranky. "Is there anything I can do to make this move go faster? Maybe pack your three closets of clothing, burn your loofa sponge, take your White Snake collection to Goodwill."

Lois shoved the box in Clark's arms. "You can take this. Come on, Smallville, move it."

Clark and Lois entered the Talon apartment. "This is so weird," Clark lamented. "I've spent so much time up here with Lana." And I've got the viewer scars to prove it.

"Clark, it's not like I'm taking her place, just her sublet."

Chloe walked in carrying a newspaper. "Okay, before I start any of the real heavy lifting, you have to indulge me for just a moment in my first Daily Planet byline," she said and handed the newspaper to Clark. He glanced over the front page and looked puzzled.

"It's not exactly the Torch, Clark. Page 73."

Yet another L&C episode came to mind in this scene, though it was Jimmy Olsen's first byline in Brutal Youth that was buried deep in the paper.

Clark leafed through to page 73 and Chloe had to point it out. "At the bottom."

The title read, "Diplomat's son arrested by Interpol in Europe."

I'd actually think that story would be closer to the front page than Jimmy's blurb on library hours.

Clark and Lois congratulated her simultaneously.

"Thanks, but you deserve half the credit. I'd still be playing point guard at the pet obituary hotline if weren't for you two."

Clark noted that an anonymous tip is what got Lyon arrested. Chloe smiled. "About that heavy lifting."

Clark began to follow her. "Uh huh."

Lois took a deep breath. "Clark," she said, conspicuously not using the nickname Smallville when addressing him. "I'm not great at this, so just keep your mouth shut and listen up. Even though I was kicking butt on the helicopter, it was really nice to have backup and you didn't have to come after me, but you always do. So I wanted to say thank you. You're a really good friend."

Clark smiled.

"Oh, and about the lap dance, if you decide to tell anybody about it, your Elmer Fudd night light will make a very public appearance."

This is definitely a Lois trait, at least L&C's Lois.

Clark began to walk away. "Aye, aye," he said and then turned back and smiled. "Sailor."

The End

Okay, well, this episode was head and shoulders (and other shampoos) above Thirst and the vampire sorority, but the A-plot was poorly defined. It was as if they were afraid of really getting into the subject of human trafficking. Also, key plot points were in the scenes where Clark used his super hearing and they slightly distort the sound in those scenes so it's not easy to pick up what the people are saying.

This episode also portrayed Chloe in over her head. Not in terms of the story she was investigating, but rather in terms of being low man on the totem pole. The Planet isn't the Torch and she doesn't run the show and she was treated like a kid by Sawyer.

There were also more moments that helped create more clearly defined separate identities for Lois and Chloe. They are clearly not characters who are redundant to each other. They make a good team and they're fun to watch together.

Aside from that I really don't have much of anything else to say other than the Duke Boys segment was handled well and had something to do with the actual plot.

Next up, silver kryptonite. If this show lives long enough to have chartreuse kryptonite, wake me from my coma.

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