Dichotic

Hello, God? It's me. Omar G. I've never asked you for much in these recaps. But then, I've never had to recap something with Jonathan Taylor Thomas in it. Can you help me? Even though I'm about to walk through some serious Valley of Shadows shit, I promise I will fear no evil. Amen.

Hey, this is my thirtieth Smallville recap! We open (fearfully) on an Industrial Arts class. Folks with torches, heavy aprons, and masks are making birdfeeders and ashtrays. True story: I took shop class in seventh grade and made a little fingerboard half-pipe out of sheet metal and solder. For the life of me, I still can't imagine what adults were thinking giving acetylene torches to seventh graders. Back to the show: One kid is carrying what looks like brass knuckles for a two-fingered giant. Pete, in a yellow shirt, is striking a pose like The Thinker as the blobby shop teacher holds up a silver eight-inch-or-so letter "S" in front of Clark's chest. The letter is shaped just like the one in the Superman logo. Man, cheese this early will surely constipate. The teacher asks what it's supposed to be. Clark says it's for Smallville High. He says he thought the school logo could use an update. "Your form could use a little function," Shop Teacher Squat tells Clark. Clark has no idea what that means. Pete does an "I told you so," and says you can't miss with a candlestick holder. He holds up a silver candlestick holder that must take up about a square foot of table space.

A little ways off, Squat is telling another student, "You call this a letter opener?" Naw, holmes. He calls it a shiv. And he will cut you, man. You dig, cabron? Cut you! Cut you... For the first time, we see Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who looks like a shaggy, young Val Kilmer, pre-Top Secret. This kid is not Mel Torme. He's wearing a green shirt, by the way. Squat lists the ways in which this is a sub-standard letter opener. For one thing, it doesn't open letters. For another, it -- UGH! ARGHH! (See? I told you, man. Cut you!) Tool Time Boy (who, for simple purposes of brevity, I'll just call Tool Boy) asks if he's going to be graded down for this. Squat says that Tool Boy (I like the sound of that already) is going to get the grade he deserves. Tool Boy says he did the work and came to every class. Squat says that attitude and effort also count. And diction. And pronunciation. And not drooling when you talk, Sylvester the Cat. Squat walks away, leaving Tool Boy to look down into the abyss that is his drool cup. The bell rings. Squat tells the class that most of them did well and that grades will be posted Thursday. He shoots a nasty look at Tool Boy. Tool Boy sad.

As they pack up their stuff, Pete asks Clark for a "sneak preview." Is that some sort of sex thing? Clark shakes his head. Pete nudges Clark some more and says he won't tell Bo Duke. Clark uses his x-ray vision to look inside the grade book. It says that Clark has a C+, Pete a B+, Tool Boy a solid C. Pete asks how he did. Clark says he was smart to stick to the basics. Yep. Good old Basic Pete.

Hallway. Tool Boy rushes between Clark and Pete and runs down the hall. Pete asks what's up. Clark says that Tool Boy's legendary 4.0 average just took a hit. A bong hit? Pete says that Tool Boy is an academic dynamo, but all his extra classes mean something's gotta give.

Back in Shop class, Squat is doing some after-hours metal sanding. He's building a stainless steel résumé for his death-of-the-week acting gig. Tool Boy suddenly appears. He slurs that he needs an A in this class. It's sad when academic kids go on benders and then go and embarrass themselves like this. Squat says that the grades will be posted on Thursday. Tool Boy grabs him by the arm and says he needs to know now. Squat says it's a C, and that was generous. Tool Boy says he works twice as hard as anyone in the school does, and needs a 4.0 to lock down a Luthor Foundation Scholarship. It's a speech-therapy foundation. Squat throws off Tool Boy's arm; he says the conversation is over and the grade stands. Tool Boy turns off the lights. Locks the doors. Puts on some loud crap music. Raises a lit torch. Tool Boy's attempts to look evil are just sad. He looks like a demented bunny. Squat turns around, and there's Tool Boy again! This time he's holding the shiv. He stabs Squat in the heart with the tool that can't open letters, but that can open heart valves. (See, I told you, pendejo. Cut you, man.) Squat keels over. "I just can't accept a C," Tool Boy says, but I had to read it on closed captioning because you can't hear it over the music.

Opening credits. Friday After looks kinda funny, actually.

The Talon. The marquee reads, "Two for one latte specials." That's a lotta latte. Lex exits, carrying a little lidded cup of the hot stuff. He's also wearing sunglasses a lot lately. Doesn't he know we like it when we can see his eyes? Lex is speaking into a cell phone about knowing that he's late to a plant tour for an EPA representative. But he had time for a stop at The Talon? As Lex comes to his convertible, some guy in a plastic yellow jacket is writing out a ticket. Lex says he was only there for five minutes. Yellow Jacket -- who is a meter butler -- says he's already started writing the ticket. Lex says he's in a hurry and has a headache and doesn't have time for this. Has he got time for the pain? The red-headed ticket guy -- who looks like a grown-up Ron Weasley -- says he wouldn't want Lex to miss his tee time. We see that Lex has a set of golf clubs sticking out of the back seat. Lex says the clubs are for a charity auction. Yellow Jacket says that Lex will give away a $4,000 set of golf clubs, but will gripe over a $25 ticket. I don't think it's the fine he's griping about. Lex smiles. He asks, getting in the guy's face, if he's done something to offend Mr. Yellow Jacket. Yellow Jacket says it's always the rich ones who put up a stink. Especially those flatulent rich people. Yellow Jacket says that some people actually work for a living. Like red-headed character actors, for instance. He advises Lex to watch where he parks in the future. He looks down at Lex's license plate, which says "LEX XIV." "Lex," Yellow Jacket finishes, saying it with a contemptuous grin and head shake. That's it. Lex is pissed. He nods his head a little, grabs a golf club, and uses it to go all Jack Nicholson. He whacks the windshield. "Are you crazy?" Yellow Jacket whines. Lex says he employs 2,500 people in town. He takes a whack at the front headlight. Lex says he pays taxes which provide Yellow Jacket's salary. He takes out another headlight. People have gathered and gasp at Lex's every move. I think they're all a little sexually aroused, too. Lex tossed the club at Yellow Jacket, who catches it. "Get a real job," Lex says. Ooh, burn. And a burning from a flaming man is even worse. Yellow Jacket takes a deep breath, thoroughly emasculated. Hey, at least he's still got his jacket.

Big granite sign that reads, "Pleasant Meadows. Another LUTHORCORP Development." It's a housing community. Clark takes a big box from the back of the Kent truck and hands it to Chloe's goofy dad, who struggles under the weight. They didn't bother to seal the boxes? Lana is standing there in a dark green sweater. She thanks Daddy Sullivan for letting her stay with him and Chloe. He says he's going to make dinner in honor of Lana's arrival. "Mi casa su casserole," he says. He has leapt ahead of Principal Asskick and Sheriff Ethan to become my favorite person on the show. Lana laughs and says she's excited and terrified at the same time about moving in with Chloe. Imminent girl-on-girl action will do that to you. Clark says it's a big change. Lana says Nell was a little upset that she decided to stay in Smallville. Do you blame her? Now she's going to have to do guest appearances on crappy soap operas and work training videos. Nell was nasty, but she didn't deserve that. Clark says it's not easy when someone you love moves away. When has Lana ever showed love for Nell? Long, significant (yawn) look exchanged. Chloe walks up just then, of course. She's like, "Oh, great, this shit again." Chloe says that's everything, if Clark needs to get his truck back. Home, I guess. Clark says his mom was going to finish up work early and help finish chores. "Wanna celebrate?" Clark asks. Man, he's quick with the menage! I thought he'd at least wait until Lana unpacked. Lana says she's gotta take a shift at The Talon. Chloe says she has to run to the school newspaper. Clark all sad. "When you two are scheduled to take a break, give me a call," Clark says, all mopey. Lana thanks Clark for the help. Chloe takes a butt-ugly basket inside. "This is gonna be so great!" Lana says as they go into the house.

Cows! Kent Farm. Bo walks into a barn where a big tractor awaits, and looks at his watch. "Well, looks like it's just you and me, old girl," he says. Oh, no! Bo's cheating on the cows with the tractor! He picks up a few wrenches and starts tinkering with something. "Eh, come on," he grunts. "Come on, you," Bo grunts some more. I'm really not comfortable with the anthropomorphic stuff here. Suddenly, the jacked-up tractor buckles. Bo drops the wrench and grunts some more. See, Bo? Love hurts.

Clark walks into the Kent kitchen, calling for MamaKent. He calls for Bo. "Clark? Clark?" he hears from outside. Clark superspeeds to the barn and lifts the tractor, which has Bo pinned down. The cows are laughing with spite. "I can't move my leg," Bo says, red-faced and pained. Clark x-ray-visions Bo's leg. Yep. Broken. Like the bovine hearts out there.

Torch. Tool Boy shows up wearing a maroon pullover. He greets Chloe. He is a wee, wee man. Chloe knows who he is; she says he practically owns the math and science shelves in the library. This is the point where most math and science geeks would run from the room in shame. Tool Boy returns the "compliment" by saying that Chloe owns the current events section. He says they could both be candidates for the "Overachievers Anonymous club." Can you overachieve and be anonymous at the same time? I guess if what you're trying to overachieve is anonymity. Chloe asks what she can do for him. Tool Boy says he heard that most of the library's reference books had migrated to the newsroom. Chloe says she's been meaning to return them. Tool Boy guesses she hasn't found the time. Chloe agrees, and says sometimes she wishes there were two of her. That line would be fine if it didn't pop up again later in the episode and go from cute to annoying. Tool Boy finds the book he's looking for. It's a guide on colleges and universities. Let me tell you something, Tool Boy, based on past episodes and past Villains of the Week: I don't think you'll be needing that particular tome. Chloe asks if he's getting an early start. Tool Boy says, annoyingly, that he's going to graduate at the end of the year. So what does he need the book for? Chloe says he's just a sophomore. He says he's been piling on night classes and extra-credit work. Since when does extra-credit work earn you a degree? He says that with a Luthor scholarship, he'll be going Ivy League year. Maybe he can go terrorize Rory. "Color me journalistically intrigued," Chloe says. Sigh. Tool Boy gives Chloe the ferret eyes. The romantic ferret eyes. "How about an interview?" Chloe asks. Uh oh. Chloe foreplay. Tool Boy agrees. He asks Chloe to take it easy on him. "Your reputation precedes you," he tells her, in his wannabe Ferris Bueller voice. Chloe says she'll leave her hard-hitting reporter hat at home. What about her bra? Lots of Chloe grinning.

Bo at the hospital. He's got a huge blue leg cast. Clark asks the very nerdy and somewhat attractive doctor if his dad's going to be all right. She says she doesn't see him square dancing anytime soon (damn!), but that he'll be fine. MamaKent walks in all harried and goes straight to Bo, trying to hug him. Don't they get tired of being at the hospital every week? I hope they get bulk parking rates. Bo gruffly pushes MamaKent away and says he'll be fine. The doctor -- who's wearing an awful lot of makeup for the emergency room -- says that Bo can go as soon as she finds him a pair of crutches. Clark asks where MamaKent's been. He says he left her a message an hour before. Speaking of excessive makeup, MamaKent looks way tarted up. She says she was in a conference call with Papa Luthor (conspicuously absent these last few episodes) and the Luthorcorp board. "I wish you'd waited for me," she tells Bo. MamaKent says she called, but the machine was on. Bo, who is in a hospital gown (huh?), says he'd really just like to leave. MamaKent says she's really sorry.

Hospital hallway. Lex walks up to Dr. Glasses and says he's looking for Dr. Bryce. Um, that's her. Lex says he's a friend of Bo Duke's. Lex says he has an orthopedic specialist ready to fly out within the hour if necessary. Dr. Glasses says there's no need. Lex says he wants Bo to get the best care. "So do I," she says, definitively. Lex smiles. "I've, uh, I've offended you," Lex says. Dr. Glasses says she's second-guessed for a living. She knows who Lex is. Clark comes up just then. He looks at them both and goes into bitch mode. "Lex, what's going on?" Clark asks. Smiling, and with cute dimples (sorry, folks, she's my type, by which I mean, she doesn't look fourteen, like the other girls on this show), Dr. Glasses says that she and Lex were discussing small-town medicine. Lex smiles. She makes a little faux curtsey head bob and walks away. Go get her, Lex, HoYay! be damned! Lex asks Clark how his dad's doing. Clark gives Lex a sly "I know what you did" look and says he's fine, but that Clark's more worried about his mom. Clark says she blames herself for the accident. When? Lex says Clark's mom is just trying to find a balance between work and home. "I guess I'm just lucky she didn't take a 9-iron to a meter maid's car," Clark says and then looks over at Lex with that "I forgive you, you violent, sexy beast" look that can only be (trumpets please) the Gayest Look of the Episode. Lex says, "Oh, you heard about that." Clark says the town is called Smallville. Lex says he was having a bad day. "Yeah," Clark says, grinning, and walks off. They need to find a little utility closet. Lex doesn't know whom to lust after now -- Clark or the doctor. Lex looks through some room blinds and sees Bo arguing as he hops up to his crutches. Lex wisely stays outside the room.

Talon. Our wee Tool Boy waits as Chloe brings over some mugs of coffee. She lists things he has going for him: perfect attendance, straight As, no actual facial hair growth... He says it's pretty intense. Oh, lawd. Chloe says that's like saying the sun is "kinda hot." He says it's an only-child thing; making up for the kids his parents never had. That should be the zero-population-growth motto in China. Chloe says she doesn't understand the mad rush to graduate. He says he knows there's more to life than Smallville. Just remember that when you read the rest of the script, VOTW. He says he can't wait to take on the world. Neither can Chloe. He mentions that Chloe probably has a deadline. She sputters and says yeah, that one of the drawbacks to having free time is that it flies by. Huh? Chloe is full of non sequiturs lately. Tool Boy asks if he can tag along on her work and maybe do something when she's through. "Great!" she says. She'd love that. Clark walks in just then and sees them together. They stand up and greet Clark, all formal. Chloe says she and Tool Boy were just finishing up. She's squirming like she's been caught doing something. TB grabs the check. Chloe goes to grab the car. After Chloe leaves, Clark makes conversation with Tool Boy, asking about Shop Teacher Squat. Tool Boy says the teacher's bark is worse than his bite. He lies that he got an A. "Really?" Clark asks. Lana comes up just then and says she forgot about her math session with Clark. Clark is all, "Wuh?" Clark says that's why he's there. He has to make a feed-store run. He couldn't call and tell her that? Lana says she understands. Tool Boy asks if simultaneous equations have got Lana down. This sounds like a commercial for something. Lana says she and higher math don't along well. I am so, so surprised. Tool Boy offers to give Lana a few tips since he took that class the semester before. Lana says she's totally lost and could use the help. Lana says she's off in ten minutes. "Great," Tool Boy says, right in front of Clark. "I'll be right back," he says. Clark looks over at Tool Boy leaving and then looks back at Lana. He leaves, after shooting a confused look at Lana.

Now we're in some sort of blacklit lab/barn/something-or-other where Tool Boy takes off his sweater. Is this his lab? The back of The Talon? Where the fuck are we? He takes off his shoes. Shows off his scrawny-ass chest. Pants and belt are gone. I don't need to see this. Honestly. Tool Boy breathes all deep, furthering the Young Val Kilmer illusion. He suddenly grunts. The special-effects budget is depleted to the point where we see this in shadows: Some shape emerges from Tool Boy's back. Then we do see his back, and a little head comes out. How handy! Hey, guys, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we'd all like a little head once in a while. Back to the shadow-puppet thing. This is like a Tool video made on a $3 budget. Another Tool Boy emerges and hits the ground with slightly hairy legs. The second version is slightly shorter and has less poofy hair. He's Not-so-Mini-Tool-Boy. They don't have a handshake or anything to greet each other.

Outside The Talon, it's dark. Chloe picks up one of the Doofusgangers while Lana walks out with the other. I don't want to live in a world with two Jonathan Taylor Thomases. I really don't.

Commercials. Reign of Fire on DVD. When you see it on the rental shelf, try to remember why you didn't go see it in theaters in the first place.

Kent Farm. Clark is doing some toaster-oven cooking. Bo emerges on crutches, and I have to laugh. Clark nags Bo that he's supposed to be taking it easy. "I slept in 'till 6, didn't I?" Bo asks. Har de fuckin' har. Bo asks about various chores, but Clark's already done them all. Why do they need a Bo Duke at all? MamaKent comes downstairs in an orange shirt and jeans, not her usual business attire. She says she's going to stay home until things settle down. Bo says he doesn't want his accident to disrupt the family. Clark directs Bo to the couch. Bo says he can rest just as well greasing the bearings on the tractor as sitting on the couch. Isn't that how he smashed his leg in the first place? Bo needs to chill the fuck out. After Bo leaves, Clark tells MamaKent that she shouldn't blame herself for the accident. MamaKent says that the farm is a partnership, and that she hasn't been doing her share. Clark says she took the job to help the farm, and no one expects her to be in two places at once. Kill me. Kill me now. MamaKent still feels guilty.

Smallville High's hallway. Metal Shop has been cancelled and all students are to report to Study Hall. Clark is surprised, since Squat hasn't missed a day before. How does Clark know that? Isn't Clark gone half the time? Pete says that's good for the metal-shop-impaired. Pete suddenly says, "Hey, check out Lana's new study buddy!" Tool Boy is hanging by Lana's locker, trying to do the cool lean thing with the white t-shirt and dark overshirt. It's disgusting. The closest analogy I can think of was when Corey Feldman thought it would be cool to dress and dance like Michael Jackson in Dream a Little Dream. It's just a visceral gut reaction: No. Lana doesn't mind, apparently. Pete asks if Clark is jealous. "Lana and I are just friends," Clark says, lamely. "Right," Pete says, and walks off.

Meanwhile, at Lana's locker, Tool Boy is thanking Lana for offering to write him a peer recommendation toward the Luthor scholarship. Does he know all about Lex's silent partnership in The Talon? Lana -- who is wearing some sort of Black Crowes/Chris Robinson pink fringy frock -- thanks Tool Boy for helping her with her math. She raises her hands so we can see that her sleeves are all poofy. Just because you're not wearing the same clothes two episodes in a row doesn't mean it's an improvement. Tool Boy leans in and gives Lana a little kiss. Lana doesn't kiss back. Her lips just hang open like she's trying to catch a fly at the same time. Clark is watching the whole time, wishing he'd brought his telescope. Tool Boy leans back and says he'll talk to her later. He tells her to page him. Page? Clark walks up and says it looks like the study date went well. Lana says that Tool Boy showed her a great shortcut. First, you star as a kid in a crappy long-running sitcom. Then you do some animated-movie voices. Then you sink into obscurity, develop a drug habit and a lisp, and then have the WB tout your "return to television." Then sit back and watch the cash roll in. Lana tells Clark that Tool Boy is intense. If this wasn't a show about mutants, he'd be an amphetamine addict and this would be like that one episode of Family Ties where Alex got all strung out and dug up the backyard. Clark follows Lana upstairs, and Lana reveals that she and Tool Boy have another date, this time for a movie. Clark asks what Chloe thinks. Lana's totally in the dark about the whole Chloe/Tool Boy thing. She thinks it was an innocent interview. Clark tells her that they were gonna go on a date, but Tool Boy dumped Chloe to go with Lana. Lana says that Chloe never mentioned it. Okay, I hate to bring a very vulgar term into this, but Clark is doing what guys call "Cockblocking" here. Mutant or no, guys are typically not cool with having other guys talk shit about them to girls like this. It's a code, or something. And maybe it's because I just saw Roger Dodger last night. Regardless, Clark is being a gossipy little snitch. Lana stops Clark and says the move's been tough, Chloe and her dad have been great, and Clark should butt the hell out. For once, I agree with Lana.

Some other classroom setting. On the board, it says, "Anger Management." Lex walks into a colorful room and looks annoyed as he puts a "Hello, my name is..." name-tag on his chest. He spots Dr. Glasses, who has lost her glasses. Now she's Dr. Contacts. Lex goes up to her and says her name. "Mr. Luthor," she says back, in a very funny deep voice. Lex looks down at her chest and notices her name-tag. It says "Bored Silly." Lex says he likes it. The name-tag, that is. "It's my secret identity. Don't tell anyone," she whispers conspiratorially. Screw Lex. I think I should get to date her. Lex makes smalltalk and asks why she's there. She says she drop-kicked an orderly. When I hear "drop-kicked," I think of old-school wrestling, where people got kicked with both feet in the face. I'm not sure if I can see her doing that. Lex doesn't really even smile at that. She says she has a violent reaction to incompetence. She had better not go anywhere near the Smallville writing room. Aw, come on, I'm just kidding! Come back, writers! I'm just playing. (Sorta.) Lex says the drop-kick must have caught the orderly off-guard. That's the best he can do? I thought Lex was gonna be all suave here. Dr. Contacts asks what Lex did: "Verbally demean your butler?" Damn. I'm in love. "Cute," Lex says. He tells her about his golfing incident. She smiles and says she's jealous. Upon closer inspection, her face looks a bit like Teri Hatcher's, after Lois and Clark but before she turned into "Withered Radio Shack Lady." Dr. Contacts asks how it felt. "Great," Lex says simply. She advises Lex to keep that to himself in the room. He asks if she wants to get together, maybe grab something to eat after class. She says "No" immediately. He asks if she has a thing about dating classmates. Dr. Contacts says she has a thing about dating Lex. Lex is confused. "You don't remember me, do you?" she asks. Before Lex can answer, a teacher walks in and tells everyone to take a seat. Everyone starts to yell at each other and throw chairs around, but only in my imagination. Lex is smitten. He's not the only one.

Torch. Chloe is bending over with a magnifying glass, looking at some photo proofs on a light table. Yes, there's a little Chloeavage. Clark walks in, his brown jacket in hand, and looks at the story Chloe's working on. It's a profile of Tool Boy. Clark reads some of it aloud in which Chloe calls Tool Boy an academic superstar. "So much for journalistic detachment," Clark says. Chloe -- whose hair is hellafucked today -- says that not every story is Wall of Weird material. Then she asks rhetorically why she's defending herself. "Do you like him?" Clark asks. Check yes or no. Chloe says she doesn't not like him. She asks what this is about. Clark says he wants Chloe to be careful. Why? Because he saw Tool Boy with Lana in the hallway and they were "close." Hey, if the cockblock fits... Chloe gets it now. She says, "You just want to make sure poor little Chloe doesn't get burned. Again." Chloe says that Tool Boy told her that Lana had a crush on him, but that he chose Chloe. He asked her to keep it a secret in order not to hurt Lana's feelings. "And you believe that," Clark asks. Chloe gets mad and says that Clark can't believe someone would choose Chloe over Lana. I think every person on our forums would choose Chloe over Lana. Chloe leaves the room, upset.

Outside, Tool Boy -- wearing his white t-shirt -- checks his pager. Wait, did this scene come from 1994? Clark comes up behind him and says they need to talk. Tool Boy tries to blow Clark off and says he's busy. Clark says he knows Tool Boy is playing Lana and Chloe against each other. "Musta learned from the master," Tool Boy says, spilling marbles from his mouth as he does so. Clark doesn't know what that means. Tool Boy explains that Chloe told him about the Spring Formal and Lana said Clark gives off so many mixed signals he could scramble a radar. Ha! Clark looks down in shame. Tool Boy says maybe Lana and Chloe want to be with someone who's going places. When he gets his scholarship, he's leaving town. So they're going to leave with him after their sophomore years? Clark accuses Tool Boy of using the girls to get his scholarship. Tool Boy denies it. Tool Boy says the two girls like him instead of Clark and Clark's jealous. Yup. A Tool Boy is walking away, Clark says that's it's going to be hard to keep that 4.0 when the shop teacher gave Tool Boy a C. Tool Boy says he never saw any grades posted. Clark says it's a lucky break the teacher called in sick. "You trying to say something?" he asks Clark. I think it is Tool Boy who needs help saying stuff. He tells Clark to stay out of his life. I think that's advice we'll all be able to follow once this episode is over.

Shop class at night. Pete and Clark are doing their classic Lethal Weapon buddy investigation schtick. Except Pete's not too old for this shit and Clark is no mulletted Mel Gibson (yet). Pete says this is messed up. Clark says the shop teacher never called in sick; in fact, he didn't call at all. Clark says he wants to have a look around. Pete asks what they're going to find. He opens a closet door and makes a big show of looking around and finding nothing. He turns his back on the doorway and what should pop out but...a dead body! Did you see it coming? Yeah? Me too. The body knocks Pete over. Clark goes over to help. Suddenly, somebody lights some flammable liquid on the ground and there are flames everywhere. Were these the flames that would engulf the town that Lex was talking about last week? The fire spreads. Clark takes Pete away, protecting him. Through the flames, Clark sees Tool Boy for a moment. Then Tool Boy is gone. Shouldn't Clark have been using his powers at some point around here?