Airdate: April 23, 2002
Written by Cameron Litvack; Directed by Terrence O’Hara
My father made every question a quiz, every choice a test. Second best was for losers, compassion for the weak, trust no one. Those were the lessons I grew up with. – Lex
A fall from a tall building embeds a kryptonite fragment into a man’s arm, and he develops the ability to burn his victims to death with his bare hands. Meanwhile, Clark dreads going on a yearly fishing trip with Jonathan and he tells him so in a fit of anger.
Guest Stars
John Glover (Lionel Luthor)
Jason Connery (Dominic Sanatori)
Reynaldo Rosales (Tyler Randall)
Sheila Moore (Mrs. Sikes)
Rheta Hutton (Rose Randall)
Dale Wilson (George Fordman)
Ralph Alderman (Hank Pond)
Brian Drummond (Hospital Security Guard)
Patrick Keating (Coroner)
Tiffany Lyndall-Knight (Nurse)
Featured Music
Sparkle by Rubyhorse
Friends & Family by Trik Turner
The Weight of My Words by Kings of Convenience
Falcor by Firengine Red
Clark befriends a kindred spirit when his family aids a secretive teen who can read minds. This strong installment has a refreshing twist: for once, the other boy with the superpowers isn’t a villain. He’s a benevolent lad who enters the Kents’ life in dramatic fashion when he’s accidentally struck by their pickup truck while fleeing from a murderous thief. Clark’s parents take in the telepathic teen, but the boy’s safety is soon jeopardized by the killer’s return. Meanwhile, Lex a chance to leave Smallville when his father offers him a job in Metropolis, but their stormy history makes Lex wary of his father’s generous impulse.
Jonathan is unknowingly poisoned by the pollen of a stolen plant that was created with the DNA of an extinct flower, and he begins to act erratically as he becomes increasingly ill. Meanwhile, the scientist who created the plant tries to recover the purloined posy.
Lex’s shady past catches up with him when a man he thought was dead turns up in Smallville. The trouble stems from an incident in Metropolis three years before, when Lex escorted a woman to the hot spot Club Zero to make sure she caught her fiancé in the act of cheating. The furious groom-to-be attacked Lex, and the encounter ended with a purportedly fatal gunshot. Now the supposed corpse reappears at the cafe that Lex is renovating and leaves him a disturbing warning: the recently amputated hand of a security guard who assisted Lex that night at the club. Meanwhile, Clark is unsettled by a school assignment that has Chloe probing into his past.
Chloe is seriously injured during a robbery at Lex’s mansion that is perpetrated by three masked young men who can pass through walls. Meanwhile, Whitney’s personal problems make him a target for the three bandits.
The Teen of Steel becomes mere flesh and blood in the aftermath of an ill-timed rescue attempt. While trying to save a classmate from falling off the edge of a dam during a rainy class trip, Clark grasps the student’s backpack, unaware that it is contaminated with Kryptonite. At the same moment, a bolt of lightning strikes, stripping Clark of his superpowers—and transferring them to the imperiled teen. Blessed (or cursed) with his newfound extraterrestrial abilities, the student sets out to win the heart of a popular girl, while Clark adjusts to life as a normal person.
A crooked businessman who can get people to do whatever he wants by touching their hands sets out to buy the Kent farm so he can build an industrial plant in Smallville. Meanwhile, Clark and Lana argue over a physical confrontation between Whitney and a town hermit.
A teen whose family lives and works in the Luthor mansion has a crush on Lex, and her jealousy of the tycoon’s new girlfriend brings forth vandalism by an invisible perpetrator. Meanwhile, Clark volunteers to work with Lana on a school blood drive after she and Whitney have a fight.
Clark’s craftiness is tested in this intriguing installment when he matches wits with a corrupt Metropolis police detective. On his way back from viewing an art exhibition in the city, Clark stops an out-of-control bus from hitting a homeless man. His heroics are witnessed by a crooked lawman, who tracks down the Smallville teen and makes him an offer he can’t refuse: Perform illicit tasks for the cop or face exposure. But Clark isn’t so eager to capitulate. Elsewhere, Lex’s love life heats up when an old flame breezes into town and asks him to reconsider his current position in his father’s company.
An old Kent family friend, who suffers from uncontrollably violent convulsions after working for Luthor Corp., shows up on the farm after accidentally killing a man in Metropolis. Meanwhile, when Clark’s parents head to the city for a romantic getaway, the teen decides to host a party that soon gets out of hand.
When Jodi decides to shed some weight, she resolves to eat only the vegetables in her family’s greenhouse, unaware that the soil has been poisoned by kryptonite. As the pounds melt away and Jodi’s appetite grows, regular food isn’t enough to satisfy her hunger and she seeks live prey—aided by jaws that expand like a snake’s when she attacks. Clark’s friend Pete finds himself in harm’s way when he develops a romantic interest in the newly svelte teen.
While volunteering at a nursing home, he meets a blind resident who is rumored to be able to see the future. When Clark touches the woman’s hand, she warns her guest that someone close to him will die soon. The prediction so unnerves Clark that he asks his parents to leave the dangerous farm work to him. His fears become intensified when he visits the woman again and has his own vision of the gravestones of his family and friends. Meanwhile, another resident regains his youth after falling into a lake lined with kryptonite and sets out to settle an old score.
After falling through the ice and nearly drowning, a teen finds that he cannot keep himself warm without extracting heat from an outside source—mainly other people. Meanwhile, Lex persuades Clark to ask Lana out on a platonic date.
Clark battles intense headaches as he tries to adjust to his emerging power of X-ray vision, an ability that he cannot control. Also, Lex is framed for an armed robbery by a teenage girl who can take on the appearance of anyone she chooses. Elsewhere, Lana finds her mother’s journal and accuses her aunt of lying to her.
Clark takes to the gridiron in this offbeat look at sportsmanship. The future Man of Steel is asked to join his high-school football team after the head coach sees Clark fire a pass to another player. Jonathan, however, refuses to sign the permission slip, fearing Clark might accidentally hurt another player or inadvertently show off his powers. Determined to play, the teen defies his father’s wishes and gets his mother to sign the slip. What Clark doesn’t know is that the coach has some powers of his own, and he’s using them to cover up a cheating scandal involving his players.
