Tess Mercer finds an old Veritas journal full of drawings and an amazing amount of backstory. It belonged to Papa Luthor and told the story of two boys who fell to Earth, Clark the Traveler and Davis the Badass Destroyer. In flashback, we see that near the spot where Clark found Bo Duke and MamaKent during the meteor storm, a gnarly Kryptonian egg hatched a slimy yellow-green ooze that became the boy Davis Bloome. We discover with Tess that Papa Luthor sent out a team to retrieve The Traveler and got Davis instead. Davis, who can already run and speak English, plays at Luthor Manor briefly with a sad, lonely Lex Luthor. When Papa Luthor realizes that the boy he retrieved isn't The Traveler, he has one of his henchmen let Davis loose on the street. That doesn't work so well as Davis becomes a Mini Doomsday and kills the henchman.
In the present day, Davis is cooking dinner for Chloe and being her shoulder to cry on, which makes Clark suspicious and jealous. Chloe reveals that Jimmy won't talk to her and instead of being reasonable about their separation is telling Chloe not to contact him and responding to e-mails with curse words and hate. Why, that loveable Jimmy! Davis leaves Chloe and as he's preparing to dispose of another dead body, he's found by Tess Mercer, who has figured it all out with the help of a serial killer story Clark was trying to get published in The Daily Planet. She blows up his truck, but it doesn't kill him. Instead, he heals quickly under a bunch of bandages and gets to lie in bed and listen to Tess's theories about how he and Clark are meant to have a massive fight, which will spur Clark on to become the great savior of Earth. It just might work!
Clark and Chloe hear about the blown up vehicle belonging to Davis and when they go to investigate, Clark realizes that the car was parked in the field where his ship landed, and also that there are many dead skeletons buried in shallow graves. They figure out that Davis has been doing lots of killing lately and that Chloe trusted the wrong guy.
At Luthor Manor, Davis remembers his short playdate with Lex and notices a detail in this new memory: that he was struck with incredible pain when Lex showed him a Kryptonite rock. Davis decides to do something about his killing dilemma. He finds Chloe and asks her to kill him in a vat of liquid Kryptonite, courtesy of LuthorCorp. Tearfully, she struggles to try to grant Davis his death wish, but Clark tries to intervene, rationalizing that maybe they're not destined to kill each other and that Davis doesn't have to die. Clark is overruled. Chloe turns the Kryptonite shower on to save Clark and kill Davis. Clark mopes about it later, trying to imagine what life must have been like for poor Davis.
Tess comes to Clark to compare notes about everything that happened, but Clark continues to pretend he's just a normal farm boy without powers. Tess wonders if maybe getting rid of Davis has stifled the battle that would have pushed Clark into his savior destiny. She gets frustrated when Clark won't play along and begins to understand why it drove Lex crazy. Tess promises to be there for Clark when he decides to come to her for help. Clark is not thrilled and says it'll be a long wait. Tess, meanwhile, is still in possession of a Kryptonite crystal.
Chloe goes down to the Talon basement when she hears noises and finds Davis there. He tells her the Kryptonite only made him stronger, immortal even. Disgusted, Chloe tries to leave, but Davis tells her that being with her is the only thing that keeps away his killing urges. He asks her to stay with him. Chloe hesitates, but in the end locks the door so they can have some basement action. Wow! A character-driven episode that was well-acted, entertaining to watch and full of surprises? What show was I watching, exactly? And can I see it again on a regular basis?
Discuss this episode in our forums, then keep track of all the super powered characters and their comic roots.
Perhaps I'm being narcissistic in believing it to be so, but my birthday was on the Sunday after this episode aired, and it was the first episode in a while I haven't completely hated. So if it was some sort of emergency relief stimulus birthday gift, thanks Smallville. This was better than cake and candles.
We open with a low-to-the-ground panning shot across the Former Lair of Lex. The fireplace is going and Tess Mercer is curled up with a book. The large, rich Corinthian leather book has a fancy Veritas logo on the front. She's completely entranced. It must be one of those escapist John Grisham stories where there's one good lawyer or juror or baseball player fighting against a rapidly corrupting legal/baseball system. It's called The Designated. Tess is looking at an illustration inside the book that looks like a comic book-style blast. We zoom in on it and special effects take over. We are suddenly in space as flaming bits of space debris (and an alien ship) are hurtling toward Earth. Is it any surprise that Clark entered the world flaming? Have I made that joke before? It never stops being true. We cut to shots of fiery meteorites sailing above the Kansas landscape. The Smallville water tower is hit. A downtown building is destroyed and a truck is crushed. A dude in a letterman jacket dodges. Cars explode. The Smallville High sign is taken apart by more falling space rock. We see another rock take out a big chunk of cornfield. A red truck drives past the Welcome to Smallville sign, which is then obliterated by another blast. Bo and MamaKent (flash to the past!) are driving in the truck and the green screen effect is... not so good now that we see it again. And why the Hell is Bo Duke grinning as the world around him is seemingly ending? Does he dig that sort of thing? [If Dukes of Hazzard is the historical document I believe it to be, then yes. Yes, he does. - Zach] He hits the brakes as his truck enters into a smoky zone, and we hear a crash.
We see Papa Luthor running into the corn field looking for Lex. We see that cool shot where the camera pulls back to reveal Papa Luthor standing in a sea of flattened cornstalks. He pulls aside some stalks to find his son and instead of the original actor from the pilot, we see Li'l Lex from more recent episodes. He's got a few patches of reddish hair clinging to his scalp, but is mostly shaky and bare-headed. Papa Luthor leans back, looking at his son with horror. He's horrified it's not the same boy actor he remembered.
We cut to the overturned red truck. Bo Duke and MamaKent see the young, naked Clark Kent staring at them as he bends down. He smiles at them. Aw.
But, nearby, in a flaming crater, we pass over what looks like Clark's familiar Kryptonian baby ship and see a weird, ugly, dark object, something like a big onyx wad of cookie dough. There seems to be a tentacle below it. The shape cracks open, spilling a nasty yellowish goo and showing a gross, sticky material inside. We follow the flow of the icky goo as it goes down the hill and pools into a growing shape. As the smoke clears a bit, we see a boy curled up in a fetal position on his side. He has dark hair. He's trembling. He looks to be almost nine or 10 years old. He lies there naked and vulnerable as we pull far back. When we can see the whole crater, the video transitions back to a still drawing, an amazingly accurate one showing what we just viewed. Tess, talking to herself, says Papa Luthor was too blind to see the truth. A crescendo of tubas play. "There was another," she says. Another what? Another crater? Another book? [Another Skywalker? - Z] Hey! Wait! Don't cut to the -- We cut immediately to the opening credits.
Commercials. Don't hate me if I like the Old Navy mannequin commercials. They remind me of a simpler time when you could make a whole movie about a mannequin on the move. [I like them, too. Although I don't like Mannequin 2. - Z]
The Daily Planet globe spins, daytime. Tess is on the phone in her office, telling someone they've done a very thorough job. I think she's talking to Lana about the level of ruination she brought to the show over the years. Clark, escorted by a one of Tess's suited bodyguards, enters. He's also wearing a suit, punctuated by a bright blue tie. Clark waits until her call is over, then hands over some sheets of paper. "I think I'm ready for the front page," he tells her. All right, let me correct you: you don't print out copies of a story to give to your editor, you e-mail them (or shout across the newsroom) that the slug is ready. And nobody says, "My story is ready for A1." They tell you that. Unless you're a complete rank amateur who doesn't know what he's doing, in which case, way to go, Clark. "An article," Tess says. She's as surprised as me. Clark says he found a bunch of missing-persons cases that nobody's talking about. Until NOW. He says there are similarities in the cases. But he doesn't list them. "This city is being attacked and no one seems to care!" Except YOU. Run with it, Clarky-boy! Tess gives Clark a sly sideways glance and says it makes you wish the Red-Blue Blur wasn't sitting down on the job. No, the Red-Blue Blur is busy printing out shit, wasting paper. Clark thinks the people were attacked by the same person, and that they should warn the city. Tess glances at the "article." The conversation takes this turn:
Tess: I can't print this.
Clark: You need to print this!
Clark's City Editor: Whoah, whoah, whoah, what the fuck? Why are you asking the publisher to print your story? Are you trying to get me fired?
Tess says there are no facts in Clark's story. Ha! I knew it. It's probably all, "A terrible THING is attacking this city and someone must ACT! Maybe YOU, dear READER! Love, CLARK KENT." In my mind, everything Clark writes is full of all-caps. "You don't care about these victims?" Clark asks, which is so beside the point that the point is getting uncomfortable from the distance between them. Tess doesn't say anything. Clark thinks she's going to sweep it under the rug. Clark, maybe your article just sucks. Did you ever think about that? You've been a reporter for, what, six weeks? You think you're ready for the Pulitzer already? Goddamn, I wish I was Clark's editor right now so I could fire his sorry ass and then post his "article" on the Poynter Web site as an example of what's disastrous about running senior reporters out of the business. Tess says, "Great, another conspiracy theory, because I love those." I don't think she really does. Tess, who is wearing pretty large diamond earrings, tells him to look closely. She says Clark won't find a web of lies behind this façade. Did she just admit she's putting up a façade? "That would be your department," she warns. Clark very successfully fails to have an expression through that whole exchange.
Chloe's Talon apartment. Davis is in the kitchen cooking while Chloe sits in the dining area with her laptop. He rubs his eyes, crying. Ah, the old "I'm just chopping onions" bit. Oh, TV, will you ever stop surprising us? Chloe shuts her computer and tells him he didn't have to cook her dinner. Chloe presents his cell phone and says she managed to override his settings, retrieve his addresses and change his applications so that he won't erase them all with the touch of one button. That seems like a dubious phone if it can do that. And how many addresses does Davis need to remember? I thought he had no friends or family. He calls her the teacher's pet/Miss Know-It-All. Chloe teases that he has a sense of humor and he can cook. In an aside that makes me scratch my head, Davis says that the only thing on the menu in his foster homes was mac & cheese. [I think he meant that was what he was cooking, so she shouldn't be impressed -- or ask why he's putting onions in it. Although that does sound kinda good. - Z]
Davis watches Chloe as she stretches across the table arranging things. Saaaaay, nice stretch! "So, have you heard from Jimmy?" he asks. Run! You don't want to hear the answer! Chloe takes a moment to answer. She finally says that the last e-mail she got from him contained every unflattering word in the dictionary. She says some of them didn't get past the censors. Davis says that you'd think Jimmy would be dying to get back together with Chloe. Yes, but are you a douchey prescription druggie who is completely insecure? That might change your perspective a bit. "No," Chloe corrects. She says the last thing Jimmy told her was not to call, not to come by and not to e-mail, because he wouldn't open it. Chloe smiles the whole time she says it, which makes it seem like she's so over it. "Ouch," Davis says. Chloe says she thought she and Jimmy were best friends, but obviously things were brewing under the surface. That's the worst kind of tea. Long pause. Chloe asks, more seriously, how you can be so close to someone and not know who they really are. Davis shrugs his shoulders and promptly cuts the crap out of his index finger with the giant knife he's using. Chloe comes around the counter to help. It's bloody, but doesn't look too bad. She roughly wipes it with a dish towel. When she pulls the towel away, the finger seems perfectly healed. They stare at each other. "Quick reflexes, huh?" he says. Chloe squints at him suspiciously. [Because reflexes and being able to heal wounds magically are completely unrelated. If he had quick reflexes, he would have dodged the knife. - Z]
Just then, Clark walks in without knocking, calling Chloe's name. Chloe and Davis are standing in the kitchen, holding hands. "Call much?" she asks. Everyone is very uncomfortable. Davis and Clark greet each other stiffly. And not in the good way. It's the Least Gay Look of the Episode. Chloe comes around the counter and asks Clark what's up. He says he was working on a story she might have some information about. Davis abruptly says he has things to do and should go. You know, people to kill, evidence to hide in the ambulance, rain to go stand in for that brooding look. "What about dinner?" Chloe asks. Davis says they can do it tomorrow and call it leftovers. Maybe you should cook something before you call it that. He thanks Chloe for the phone help. After he goes, Clark shoots Chloe a troubled look.
Downstairs, Davis suddenly feels some weird darkness come over him and has to stop to breathe. The heavy strings of, "Oh shit, it's a monster!" play. Oh, shit, I think it's a monster!
We see black shoes walking across a field, a bloody shovel trailing behind. A man is walking to a blue SUV with the license plate "DLP 495." He opens the back. Inside goes the shovel. The man gets into the vehicle. The rosary belonging to Davis is hanging from the rearview mirror. In that mirror, we see Davis grab it and kiss it. He is the man! "Forgive me," he says. He drops the rosary and pulls back the hood he's wearing. His phone rings. He answers it as he turns on the headlights. Tess, in a long coat, is standing in front of the vehicle, holding a phone. "I forget," she says, "what's the prayer for dismembering a body?" Ah, you're thinking of Prayer to Buffalo Bill. [I think that's for skinning people. - Z] Davis's eyes widen. Tess lifts her hand. She's holding a very fake-looking metal tube with a button trigger on the top. It's even got a red stripe around it. She pushes the button with her thumb. We see Davis in the vehicle flinch just before it blows up around him. We see several big explosions. Tess turns her head away. Everything is in flames. She stares at the wreckage triumphantly and not at all singed.
Commercials. Bedtime Stories on DVD, that one Adam Sandler movie that really didn't work out for anybody.
Talon, nighttime. Chloe, on her laptop, is giving Clark a crime research assist. She finds there were a dozen people missing in Metropolis in just the last month. Clark says you'd think that was newsworthy. Chloe complains, just like anyone who has left a newspaper, that newsworthiness has nothing to do with what's on the front page. I'm confused. Are they saying The Daily Planet is a crappy newspaper now? I'm never sure what's supposed to be true about that on this show. Clark stares at Chloe as she sits facing away from him. She can sense it. She says she hopes Clark has the safety on his heat vision cocked. Clark goes, "Whu?" Chloe complains that Clark's been staring at her. He says she and Davis have been spending a lot of time together. He's sure she won't want to talk about it. Chloe assures him she loves trudging through stagnant water. Clark says she's moving on kind of fast, and that he doesn't know what she sees in the guy. Look at him! He's FOINE! Chloe says it was just dinner. She says he's kind, supportive and a strong shoulder to lean on, something she really needs right now. She implies Clark hasn't noticed this need. Clark says he has a bad feeling about the guy. Chloe chastises Clark for his "'Meet me out in the back for a duel' mentality." Clark says the guy disappears all the time, is full of secrets and doesn't even have a record of his childhood. Chloe says that sounds familiar. Clark says he doesn't collect gruesome crime photos in his locker and doesn't always show up as the first EMT at murder crime scenes. Chloe frowns. She just saw on her screen that a vehicle was found burned outside Smallville, and it had plates belonging to Davis. Perhaps they should investigate.
We see an eye open. It's surrounded by burnt tissue and bandages. The camera pulls back to reveal Davis, his face bloodied and surrounded by white bandages made pink in places by his wounds. Tess opens a set of blinds to let in sunlight. Oh, God, it BURNS! But only if you're a vampire. She asks if he was expecting a chorus of angels. She's holding what looks like a bowl of rice. She sits on the side of the bed where Davis lies and apologizes for the state he's in. She says she was just trying to kill him, but it's harder than she thought. She pulls off some bandages on his face. His face is full of scars, but pretty healthy-looking for a guy who just got blown the fuck up. He asks who she is and why he's there. She shushes him and says he's safe. I guess that's relative. She says if the world knew he was a serial killer, he'd never stop running from torches. "You got the wrong idea about me, lady," Davis croaks. Tess says it's not his fault he was born with a killer instinct. She admires his "altruistic" choice of victims and compares him to a bat kept around to get rid of the parasites. Davis says slowly, "I can't... control myself." She says that suicide really wouldn't work for a guy who can't be killed. After admitting what he did, he seems to backtrack: "I am not... who you think I am." "No," Tess corrects, "you're not who you think you are." Tess picks up the Veritas book that was on the nightstand. She says that after she learned what Davis had been doing in Metropolis, she looked into his background. We now see that Davis has his whole body wrapped in bandages. She discovered he has no background. She says she hit a dead end until she inherited the book. "Stole it, if I'm being honest," she adds. She thinks it might jog his memory. She says the book belonged to Papa Luthor. She says it tells the story of a boy who fell to Earth the day a meteor shower destroyed a Kansas town. She says she's beginning to believe the boy didn't come here alone. Good, because that would just be bad parenting.
We look at a page in the book. It's a damned accurate drawing of the spaceship in the crater. The drawing transitions to the real memory. We see a boy's face pop up behind the ship, looking frightened. It's the dark-haired boy with thick eyebrows and an adorable face who isn't Clark. The boy is naked and covered in grime. He looks at his egg. Ew, kid. He hears the loud voice of Bo Duke saying that kids don't just fall out of the sky. Oh, man, I miss his platitudes! The boy, alarmed by such folksy bellowing, hides behind some twisted branches. He sees Bo Duke and MamaKent carrying Clark in a blanket. Bo is saying that the boy must have parents. As crappy as it is that they're changing the history of the show here, I must say the scenes are blending together very nicely. We see Bo and MamaKent come upon the ship. They don't see the other boy as he hides. Bo tells MamaKent that they can't keep the boy in her arms. She reminds him that they didn't find him, he found them. This scene is still very sweet, even after all the bitterness that has followed. The boy who will be Clark looks back as he's carried away and it looks like he can see young Davis where he's hiding. Davis peeks his head out and walks toward them. Just then, two men in military-style uniforms come over the hill. "Over here! Found him!" one of them yells. Davis learns to use his new legs very quickly as he runs away from them. He rushes up out of the crater and through the cornstalks, which are now upright again. He runs and runs through the corn as the armed men give chase. Suddenly, a metal cage lands over young Davis. "No!" he cries, in his very quickly learned English. They shut the cage on him. He looks out, dirty, feral. We flash out of that onto a drawing that replicates the boy's haunted stare in the Veritas book.
We pan over to the , which has another unnecessarily detailed drawing, this time of a LuthorCorp hallway. How did Papa Luthor draw these scenes so accurately if he wasn't there? We see Li'l Lex, wearing a skullcap and a schoolboy uniform, wandering the halls looking for a pet named Feathers. I hope that's a bird and not a genetically modified lizard. Lex sees the bird fly through an open window above a door. "Feathers!" he calls, exasperated. Li'l Lex approaches the door slowly. He bends over and looks through the keyhole. There's another eye looking back. "Hi," Davis says, from the other side of the door. Lex unlocks the door, which seems to lock from the outside, and opens the door. Li'l Bloomey is standing there in shorts and a tight blue top. He is thin and sad-looking. The two boys regard each other. "Are you cold?" Li'l Bloomey asks. Lex shakes his head. Bloomey removes the hat from Lex's head, revealing a bald skull. Lex flinches and looks down. He's holding a Warrior Angel comic. "Are you him?" Li'l Bloomey asks. "Are you Warrior Angel?" Li'l Lex says no. "But I want to be," he adds, and it just breaks your heart. Li'l Bloomey reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Warrior Angel action figure. He's buff and blue and has a red cape. [First of all, Bloomey got action figures as a kid, so maybe his childhood wasn't that miserable. Second, since they know he's some sort of red-and-blue superhero, why doesn't the media in Metropolis refer to the barely-seen Clark Kent as "Warrior Angel," rather than the less catchy "Red-Blue-Blur"? - Z]
Lex smiles. He says he's Alexander. He asks the boy's name. "I don't know," Li'l Bloomey says. Li'l Lex asks what he's doing there. He's told a man brought Bloomey there a few days before. "He made them put needles in me," he tells Lex. He shows his arm, which is covered in Band-Aids. You know, the more I think about it, the more I feel like they could have kept Li'l Bloomey mute in these scenes and made him even more sad and pitiable. All of his dialogue could have been conveyed in gestures or we could have at least seen him struggling with the language. As it stands, he seems a little too programmed. But then I guess you have to explain how he can walk and understand English, and by that point, you've gone too far anyway. Oh well. Lex says Bloomey doesn't look sick. "Do you want to play?" he asks. He promises no one will know. Li'l Lex says his dad is out at some farm. He leads the boy out of the room by the arm and Bloomey closes the door behind him. On the table in the foreground appears to be a yellow-greenish mound of flattened feathers. Wait, feathers? Oh, no! FEATHERS! NOOOOO! The poor, Doom'd bird disappears from the table as we flash-forward to the present.
The table is now clear. Tess is telling Davis that the day the ship landed, Papa Luthor sent out a search party for him. She says Papa took him because he thought the boy was a messiah named The Traveler. Davis, who is already healing more around the face, just listens. Tess tells him that Papa didn't realize two boys fell to Earth that day. "The Traveler... and you," she says. [...Blues Traveler? - Z]
A Smallville field. Clark and Chloe arrive in Clark's red truck to find the blasted vehicle being loaded onto a tow truck. Chloe asks the driver if the police were there. He says they came and left. She asks if they found a victim. The man says there was no driver, and the vehicle was abandoned. She thanks the man. Clark is staring out into the field. Chloe goes to see what's up. It's cold and windy. Clark says it's weird that Davis stopped here. It was the place Clark's ship landed. Clark gazes out some more. Chloe says this place must hold lots of memories for Clark. Clark uses his X-ray vision. He sees rows and rows of human skeletons just underground. He grits his teeth. "Chloe, memories aren't the only things buried in that field," he says. Dramatic!
Commericals. Dunkin' Donuts is really fighting back against Krispy Kreme. May the best fat food win.
Stately Former Luthor Manor, nighttime. Davis, completely healed and clean, is lying on some very frilly lavender pillowcases. I wonder if Lana picked those out. He wakes up shirtless and when he realizes how hot that is, suddenly jumps to a sitting position. With a wince, he gets out of bed. He's wearing pajama bottoms. He hesitates strangely when he's fully upright, as if suffering from severe Boner Shame. He grabs his clothes from the foot of the bed. We cut to see him walking down the hallway. He approaches the door to the main Luthor home office and stops. He opens the door, and we flash back to his childhood.
Up in the library, Li'l Lex and Li'l Bloomey are sword-fighting with wooden swords. [Did anybody ever really own a wooden sword, or are they only on TV? Anyone? - Z] They're doing quite well with it, considering one of the two boys was a yellow liquid a few days before. Li'l Bloomey seems to lose his enthusiasm for the game and just looks sad. He walks to the desk, asking about a very ornate box sitting on the desk. "What is that?" he asks. Li'l Lex tells him it's made from the armor of St. George. I don't think that's going to help Bloomey understand. Li'l Lex says that St. George slayed dragons with a sword called Ascalon. Lex points his wooden sword at Bloomey's chest and says he's St. George and Bloomey is the dragon. Hey, I don't like how this one's gonna turn out! Lex says that the dragon has been sent to destroy the world, but only he can protect it from a beast like Bloomey. "Fight or die!" Lex commands. More sword clanking. Lex stabs at the space between his new friend's arm and torso. Li'l Bloomey plays along, pretending to fall on the floor and dying. Lex pulls the sword out. "I have slayed the beast!" he cries, "I am the victor and I shall claim my treasure!" Lex opens the box and it contains glowing green Kryptonite. Bloomey suddenly turns over and starts wailing horribly. "What's wrong!?" Li'l Lex asks, closing the box immediately. Bloomey is crying, "It hurts! It hurts!" and this also breaks your heart. Bloomey lies there and twitches. His hand touches the closed box. Lex just stares. Why did it take Lex so long to figure out that Kryptonite would hurt Clark if this had already happened?
We cut back to Davis in the present. "There's a way," he whispers to himself. Tess is suddenly standing nearby. He asks if she thinks she can keep him there. Tess acknowledges that nothing can restrain him. Davis asks what she'll do. She says she's been thinking about that. "What do you do when you find Judas in your midst?" she says. Hey, lady, fuck you! She asks whom Christ would have been if Judas hadn't betrayed him. She says we might have only remembered him as a teacher roaming the desert. Wow, Davis, Tess sure has gone bonkers, huh? Davis says he doesn't get it. Tess elaborates: Jesus would never have come back from the dead to face his greatest challenge: saving humankind. "There is a savior among us. You are here to betray him," she says. Davis says he hasn't betrayed anyone. Tess, walking past Davis and talking away from him, says that if Davis doesn't do his part, the savior won't have a challenge to overcome. I think keeping things remotely interesting in a ninth season will be challenge enough. She says the savior has to triumph over the world's destroyer. Davis has had enough of this bullshit, and I don't blame him. He grabs Tess roughly and turns her around. "What savior? What are you talking about?" he says. Tess, breathing raggedly, says Clark's name. She tells him that's why they don't get along; they're destined to kill each other. It all makes sense now! I thought he was just a douche! There's a strange rattling sound. Tess, scared, backs away. Davis's eyes turn red. He grunts. He hits Tess across the face and she slides back across the floor, all the way down the hall, crashing into a table and chair. The laws of physics are going to write an angry letter to the show for the way they were inaccurately portrayed just then.
Daily Planet. Clark is right about something and gets to be a dick about it for a whole scene. He follows Chloe into the newsroom. She's rattled as he asks why she forgot to mention that Davis blacks out regularly. Like Lois doesn't black out when she's been drinking? Chloe says she figured Davis had low blood sugar or something. "He told you he was hiding something dark inside, Chloe! That didn't set off any alarms for you?" Chloe goes right for the coffee pot. Chloe thought it meant moody or bi-polar, not "serial killer." Clark brings up all the times he doubted Davis. "I know!" Chloe shouts, "I was in denial!" She didn't think it was this bad. Clark says it's worse. Chloe, teary, says she can't believe it. Clark brings up the fact that Jimmy tried to warn them. Nice one, Clark. Clark calms down. He says he looked into some of the deaths. The victims weren't exactly Metropolis's finest, he says. There were abusers and robbers. Well, thank goodness. Clark doesn't think Davis is stupid enough to leave an SUV near a field full of evidence. He thinks someone took Davis. Chloe says that when she was researching Davis, his county records had already been checked out by someone. She says it might be time to pay a visit to "The widow of LuthorCorp." Wouldn't that have been Lana?
Metropolis General. Tess angrily puts down a cup of water as she lies in a hospital bed. One of her lackeys is trying to explain how Davis got away after they opened fire on him. She's not having it. "Find him!" she commands. Amusingly, she's in a hospital gown. It makes her look a bit less powerful than what she usually wears. The henchman leaves the room. A different guard at the door allows Clark in. He's unwisely wearing his Red-Blue Blur outfit. Clark says he knows she's been researching Davis Bloome. He asks if that's who did this. She says it's a long story. Clark, not surprisingly, says he's not sure he knows what's up. She says she came into possession of an old Papa Luthor journal. She says it talks about a boy who fell to Earth in the meteor shower. Clark puts on his skeptical, "You are crazy, lady!" look. She says that Papa Luthor was in town that day because he wanted to possess The Traveler for himself. Clark, smiling, asks why she's telling him this. She says Lex and Papa Luthor got it wrong. She brings up the Kawatche Indians and their two-headed Naman/Sageeth creature graphic. She says that the Luthors were too busy figuring out which of them was Clark's adversary when in fact it was the other boy who came to Earth with Clark. Davis. Clark grins. He asks if she thinks he and Davis are from another planet. Tess reveals that Papa tested Davis, but he seemed normal. After five days, they threw Davis out on the street after Papa Luthor got a call from MamaKent about Clark's adoption. "Tess, you are reaching," Clark tries. She says it's Papa Luthor's own words. Papa wrote that he made a mistake, but then went on to find the true Traveler. She asks why else Papa would help with Clark's fake adoption. She says Clark is the reason Davis was abandoned. Clark thinks about it. Owie, it hurts the brain.
A gruesome photo of a dead person lying on the ground, eyes open. Another one. Chloe is at Isis looking at grody pictures. She thinks Clark is in the room when she asks what the LuthorCorp Diva had to say. It's Davis. Chloe jumps to her feet. She says Jimmy was right, and she knows what he's done. Davis tries to explain that the guy he killed was a drunk driver. Bad idea! You're not helping! Chloe asks about the others, and whether he's going to justify their deaths. She runs down the hall and pulls books off shelves to block Davis, which won't help at all. Davis says he didn't know what else to do. He grabs her at the door. "You lied to me!" she cries. Davis says he had to. He didn't want to drag her into this. "Then why are you here?" she growls. Davis, breath hitching, says he loves Chloe. He needs to know if she cares about him. Chloe, offended, asks how he could do that. She thought she cared about him. He says he needs Chloe to do something for him. "I won't do anything for you," she says. "I need you to help me die," he tells her calmly. Chloe is confused. Sadness!
Commercials. Fast & Furious. I am bored & dubious, despite the huge box office this movie made in its debut weekend. Why, America? WHY!?!
Isis. Clark arrives with a whoosh to discover the place looks torn apart. A lamp is lying on the floor, the bulb flickering. I just noticed: when did they replace the wallpaper with what appears to be giant concert speakers? Clark looks around, calling for Chloe. He finds her laptop open and there's a blueprint on the screen. On it is a small "CONSOLE" and a "CONTAINMENT UNIT." The blueprint helpfully shows an area within it called "LIQUID." Did a 4-year-old create this blueprint? It's more blue than print. Clark moves his eyes and we see the containment unit connected to the LUTHORCORP PROMETHEUS LAB which contains the LIQUID METEOR ROCK CONTAINMENT UNIT. Ah, it all comes together now. Forgive me for doubting. "Dr. Grohl's lab," Clark says to no one in particular. "Chloe!" he reasons. Wow, the neurons are really firing this week, eh, Clark? He whooshes out.
Containment lab. A giant cylinder of glowing green is right up in our faces. Davis is standing in a glass cell below that vat, waiting. Chloe is standing nearby, crying, to a giant Las Vegas slot-machine-style lever. I think Davis will only die if she gets three cherries. Davis gulps. "So," he says. Chloe, who a minute ago didn't want to have anything to do with this murdering creep, is now very emotional. "I can't," she says, "I'm sorry." Davis says he finally found a way out of this. He doesn't want Chloe to take that away from him. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find someone else to pull a damned lever. Hell, you could probably rent a very smart chimp to do it. Davis begs her to pull the lever. Chloe takes a deep breath. She puts her hand on the thing. "I can't kill you, Davis," she whines. Chloe's hair suddenly moves as Clark enters the room. He grabs her and pulls her away from the lever. He asks her what she's doing. Uh... nothing? Just, er, playing slots? Come on, Lucky 7's! Davis says it's his life, and he can take it if he wants. Actually, you wanted Chloe to take it. Nice Catholic loophole there, dude. (On Krypton, it's spelled "Ka-Tholic." - Z] Clark thinks he's trying to be a martyr. Chloe says that's not what it's about. Davis, pained, says he wants this to end. He can't live with himself. Clark walks dramatically, sideways, toward the glass cell. He says everything that's happened to Davis is because of him. "We should have been brothers!" Clark says. Everyone wants a half-monster, world-destroying brother. That's just good sibling rivalry! Davis looks hurt. Clark says Davis didn't have a home. He says he wonders what would have happened if the Luthors had found him in the field instead. True, they might have soured his personality and made him all psycho, but I doubt Clark would have turned into a Doomsday monster. Clark makes it sound like the Luthors are what caused Davis to become a serial killer. His argument doesn't really work. Clark says he could have turned out different. Davis says Clark didn't; he was destined to have the better life. Davis, who's making a lot more sense, says no matter what they do, they'll always return to their true nature. True Nature, by the way, is a very tasty organic snack bar you can buy at Whole Foods. Davis turns away. He calls for Chloe to pull the lever and let him end this. Clark tells her not to. Clark thinks she has to give it another chance. "It's not set in stone," he says. Clark, you fucking idiot, it's exactly set in stone. Did you forget the Caves of Contrivance?
Davis says to Clark, "You know that you should let me die." Clark says there must be something in his life worth giving it one more try. Say, maybe a favorite George Michael song! Chloe is still teary. She looks down. Eight seasons and no Emmy. It's enough to make anyone cry. "It isn't always about where your heart is," Davis says slowly, "it's about what you've done and what you're going to do." Sad music. He says he was sent here to destroy the world. He gasps and his voice hitches. Davis hurts. He doubles over. "Clark," he says. Yeah, I have that reaction to Clark, too. Davis goes all monster. His eyes go red. He growls, "There aren't enough prayers... in this world... to give me REDEMPTION!" What an articulate beast! Clark is banging on the glass, which he learned somewhere other than an exotic pet store, calling for Davis. Davis stands up and looks ready to leap through the glass. Chloe scrambles and pulls the lever. Bright green Kryptofluid sprays all over Davis. Clark also falls to the ground in pain, clutching his stomach. Chloe pulls him back. Davis goes to his knees, looking nauseated. Chloe cries. Davis, eyes still red, looking straight at us. Green fluid is all over his face. It looks like a Gatorade commercial. Everything wipes to white as he remembers one more thing.
A town car stops on a Metropolis street. The license plate says LUTHRII. A henchman is dropping Li'l Bloomey off. "What are we doing here?" the boy asks. The henchman hands him a backpack. With a hint of regret, the man says he was told to drop Bloomey off here. He goes into the car. "But who's going to meet me?" Bloomey asks. The henchman gets into the backseat of the car and tries to look away. Bloomey looks down and cries. Then he gets mad. His eyes go red. The henchman looks over and his eyes go wide. A beastly fist breaks through the window. We flash again to white.
Davis is still dying, baptized by the green stuff. Chloe is crying some more. You would think he'd be disintegrating or rotting or something, right? Chloe goes to the glass. She bends down to where Davis is sitting. Davis turns to her. She puts her hand against the glass. Davis puts his hand there, too. Clark watches, slowly standing up. Davis's hand slips. He closes his eyes. Clark breathes deeply. More crying for Chloe. So long, sweet destroyer.
Commercials. This commercial reminds me I haven't eaten Starbursts in a long time. I guess it worked.
Talon, daytime. Clark, again without knocking, enters Chloe's apartment. She's got a fire going and is wrapped in a blanket on the sofa. "How you holdin' up?" Clark asks. Awesome. Best day ever. Thanks for asking, dick. Chloe, without turning, says she's had better days. She's holding a photo in her hand. "That's saying a lot in Smallville," she adds. "And Davis is..." Chloe begins. Clark says he talked to Oliver, who will take care of the details. Clark says they need to talk about things. Chloe says defiantly that she wouldn't change her actions. Clark thinks there's always another way. Yeah, look how great letting Lex live for so long turned out. Chloe says Davis could have killed Clark. She's not willing to risk the safety of the world over Clark's ethics. "Because you refuse to stop the things that threaten you," she adds. Clark looks at the photo. It's a drawing of the two-headed creature from the Kawatche Caves. Oh, it is set in stone! My bad! Clark says Jarnelle warned him against the ultimate destroyer. He complains that it wasn't much of a fight. Clark stands up. He puts the photo in the fireplace. Hey! That wasn't yours! Clark says that when he was a kid, he had a nightmare that when he landed in that field, nobody found him. I thought you didn't know about your alien origins until you were a teenager. Chloe says that the nightmare was Davis's life. Clark stares at the fire. He says he always thought it was a burden to know he was destined to save people. He can't imagine what it's like to live your life knowing no matter what you did, you were doomed. Or Doomsday'd, even. Chloe stares.
Kent Farm. The cows have the week off and are using it for several spa days. Clark, inside the barn, is grabbing some leashes. They jingle. Tess appears. "The new, contemplative Clark Kent," she says. She takes off her gloves and says she likes it. Clark says he's busy. "With what? Farm chores?" she asks. She says she'd let him off if he was saving a bus full of kids, but she's not impressed with cleaning the feeding bin. Clark lies, badly, saying he's sorry she bought into the Luthor obsession. Tess doesn't think of it as buying in. "I think of it as believing," she says. Clark thinks she has some holes in her personal life if she spends her time looking at a madman's journal. Tess says we all have idols. I have about eight and counting. She says we admire the rich and famous due to holes in our lives. Clark says what she believes about him is not real. "I'll never be that man," he says. Yeah, it sure seems like it sometimes. "Not until Judas is at your back," she says. Or Julio. Or Tom. Any gay guy, really. Tess thinks Clark won't reach his potential until he meets his greatest challenge. "You don't know anything about my life," Clark tells her. Why does he keep acting like she has no access to real information? That didn't work out so well with Lex, either. Tess starts to lose her cool. She says that if this is the way he lied to Lex, she can see how it pushed him over the edge. Yeah, Clark! Clark, alluding to Lex's crash, says that he was racing toward that edge long before he met him. You know, I don't really think he was. You underestimate yourself, Mr. Kent. She says that betrayal is harder the more you love someone. "Are you threatening me?" Clark asks. Because if you are, it's an amazing coincidence. Clark needs T.P. for his bunghole, it so happens. Tess smiles and says she's not that naïve. Clark says he's not a problem to be solved. Tess, hurt, says she gets it. "It's too early." She promises to wait for Clark to come to her. "It's gonna be a long wait," he says softly. Not if I see you first! Oh yeah? Takes one to know one! Clark walks away. "It'll be shorter than you think, Kal-El," she says. I know it's supposed to be out of earshot, but I think Clark probably heard that.
Tess is back at the Lair of Dead Lex. It's dark. She goes to a cabinet below the bookshelves and pulls out a metal briefcase. She lays it on the desk and opens it. Inside is the blue Kryptonian Four-Leaf Clover of Oh Shit! She's just angry enough to use it.
Talon. Chloe is arriving with one bag of groceries. It's apparently all veggies. She hears a noise coming from a nearby door. She opens it and goes down to the basement. Why are all those locks on the inside of the door? Is it to keep zombies out? Scary music plays as Chloe looks around. Why are there so many lights down here? "Don't be afraid," Chloe hears. It's Davis. He looks no worse for wear. "You're alive," Chloe says. Damn, I sure hope so, or this will be very creepy. She asks about the meteor rocks. "They made me stronger," he says. Ah. I see. Well, that was a mistake, then. She asks if that makes him invulnerable. He steps forward. "I'm immortal," he says. That's even worse! Chloe breathes heavily. She says that means Clark is in danger. She starts to walk back toward the door. She thinks no matter what Davis does, he'll still try to kill Clark. "I won't kill Clark if I'm with you!" he says. Worst pick-up line ever. "What?!" Chloe says. She asks what this has to do with her. Davis explains that there's something about Chloe that calms the murderer inside him. Is it boobies? Chloe says that it's his true nature. Davis shakes his head. He wonders if there's something stronger out there than his need to kill. Nookie? "Will you stay with me?" he asks. The Closed Captioning instead worded it, "I want you to stay with me," which is a little more forceful. The hearing-impaired are watching a whole different show, it seems. Chloe blinks and looks up at the basement door. She looks back at Davis. The moment stretches. She walks up the stairs. Haunting music plays. Drums. A chorus. She hesitates at the top of the stairs. Davis watches. Instead of opening the door, she slides the lock closed. It's business time!
week: Lois is a hero named Stiletto. Let's see if I even make it through that one.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then read our handy, currently Stiletto-free guide to the Superheroes (and Villains) of Smallville! And check back week for the full weecap!
Omar G. is a journalist and writer living in New Braunfels, Texas. Check out the new Web show he does with his brother, Pablo, "Trailers Without Pity". You can find him on Terribly Happy, Space Monkeys! and at Videogamey.com and hear him on NPR's "All Tech Considered," Mondays as part of All Things Considered.