The Kents are getting ready for their respective days, Clark Kent (Tom
Welling) for school, Martha Kent (Annette
O'Toole) for her job at LuthorCorp and Jonathan Kent (John
Schneider) for his work on the farm. They are all in a good mood and
joking about Clark being the fastest man on earth and yet always being
late. Clark also skillfully uses his heat vision to make the toast for
the whole family.
As Jonathan drives away in his truck and Clark superspeeds it through the
fields, a woman who was hidden behind a stack of hay starts walking
towards the farm house. She seems very happy to be there, and confidently
walks into the house and through the kitchen. She stops in the entrance
where all the family photos are, picks on of Clark's up, and caresses his
face, she seems very happy to see the picture.
At school, Clark, Pete Ross (Sam Jones
III) and Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack)
are discussing family dysfunction. Clark stops to put his books in his
locker. As he shuts the door, he finds the same woman, Rachel Dunlevy
(Blair Brown), standing there. He asks her if they know each other. At
first she says no, but then corrects herself and says that she knows him,
she is his mother!!
Clark discussed this with his parents. He knows that she can't possibly
be his mother, but he realizes that she is convinced she is. She has
given Clark her cell phone number. Jonathan doesn't want his son to have
anything to do with her, but Clark explains that it will be very
difficult, since she has just bought a house in Smallville. She claims to
have given her child up to Metropolis United Charities, but this confuses
Clark, since his parents had told him that the only adoption the
organization had handled was Clark's. Jonathan states that it is also
what he believes. Clark asks his parents to tell him exactly what
happened when he was adopted, but Martha interrupts and says that it's
not important, that the main thing is to stop this woman before people
starts asking questions about Clark.
Jonathan, Martha and Rachel discuss the situation at The Talon. Rachel
explains that she gave up her Lucas to Metropolis United Charities, which
she knows only handled Lucas' adoption, and since the Kent adoption was
the only one from that organization, Clark must be Lucas. Jonathan tries
to shift the focus, by explaining that they are Clark's real parents
since they've raised him for 16 years. She agrees, and reassures them
that she is not trying to take Clark away from them, but just wants to
get to know him. She feels that giving up Lucas was the worst thing she's
ever done and she only gave him up because she had to. Jonathan puts an
end to the conversation by getting up and saying that he sincerely hopes
that she finds Lucas one day, but he asks her never to speak to his
family or Clark ever again.
Clark is waiting for Chloe at the Torch Office. He is very upset, because
he found out that she has been corresponding with Rachel Dunlevy via
email. He thought she had promised she would stop digging into his
adoption. Chloe says that it only started when she put a few notices on
adoption websites about Clark to see if she could get some hits, and
Rachel Dunlevy answered. Clark tells her that Rachel is here now, and
Chloe is shocked, but doesn't understand why Clark would be slightly
curious to find out if Rachel may actually be his biological mother. The
argument heats up, and Clark asks Chloe if he ever asks her questions
about her mom, Chloe agrees that he doesn't, and he explains that it's
because Chloe's mom hasn't shown her face in years, and that if Chloe
wants to find somebody's mother, he suggests she should find her own.
This brings tears to Chloe's eyes, who admits that she knows where her
mother is, but that the difference is that her mother is not interested
in her. Clark is visibly upset that he's made Chloe cry, but does not
apologize and starts walking off. In tears, Chloe tells him that, since
he will probably never speak to her again, he should know that Metropolis
United Charities is owned by Lionel Luthor (John
Glover). Clark leaves the room, but stops outside, extremely upset by
the conversation with Chloe.
Rachel goes to see Lex Luthor (Michael
Rosenbaum), to ask him to talk to Clark, and, since Jonathan has
forbidden her to speak to Clark, she wants Lex to encourage Clark to give
her a chance, because she knows the two boys are good friends. Lex smiles
and informs her that Jonathan doesn't exactly consider Lex a good role
model for Clark, and he doesn't want to go against Jonathan's will. She
tells him that this is an exceptional circumstance, that this would allow
Clark to get to know his real mother, but Lex tells her he doesn't think
it is appropriate for him to get involved. Unwillingly, she starts
telling Lex more about her story. She was a nurse for Lex's mother
Lillian, and got close to her and to Lionel, and Lionel got her pregnant,
and made her give her child up for adoption. Lex has trouble accepting
that Rachel has just told him that Clark is his brother.
Chloe runs through the school hallways crying, and Lana Lang (Kristin
Kreuk) catches up with her and asks her what's wrong. Chloe explains
that she's had a huge fight with Clark. Lana rethinks asking Chloe for a
favor, but Chloe insists. So Lana shows her the picture of her mother
with the other man. She explains that the man's name is Henry Small (Patrick
Cassidy), to which Chloe asks, "As in Smallville's Small", and Lana
says yes, Smallville's first family. Chloe is shocked and concerned for
Lana and how she's handling it. Lana says she wants to know everything
there is to know about him, but after what just happened with Clark,
Chloe hesitates to pry into people's backgrounds. But she is flattered
that Lana would trust her with such a big family secret, and says she
will be able to find out a lot about him, but that, if Lana really wants
to get to know him, she should use "A very high-tech device called the
doorbell".
As Jonathan is unloading the truck, and with Martha present, Clark shows
up, visibly upset, and demands to know what is going on, and why Lionel
Luthor was involved in his adoption. Martha tells her husband that Clark
needs to know. Jonathan agrees, and starts by saying, "It was the day of
the meteor shower, when I knew that nothing would ever be the same
again...".
Flashback to the day of the shower...
Jonathan and Martha are driving back home, when the shower hits, and the
truck gets overturned. So has Martha and Jonathan are coming to their
senses, Jonathan sees a little boy, naked, walking up to their overturned
truck and smiling. Jonathan runs onto the road to try and get help, but
the only truck he finds, the driver has died from the shower. He takes
the truck to put the boy's ship on and covers it up, while Martha is
holding the little boy in her arms, she's covered him with a blanket. As
they are driving home, still shocked, with the little boy on Martha's
lap, Jonathan can't stop staring at them, and nearly runs over a man who
is trying to get their attention and stop them. Jonathan stops and runs
to the man, who is Lionel Luthor. Lionel seems shocked and unable to
explain what happened, he keeps saying, "My son", "My son". Jonathan asks
him where his son is, and Lionel points to the fields. They find little
Lex unconscious in the fields, with most of his hair missing. Lionel is
still shocked and can't get to his senses, he keeps asking what happened
to his boy's hair. Jonathan covers Lex, and picks him up and carries him
to his truck. Now, Lionel, Jonathan, Martha and the two boys are driving
to a hospital, and Lionel asks if they cannot go any faster. He asks them
what is in the back of the truck that is slowing them down. Young Lex is
slowly coming around, and he sees little Clark smiling at him. Clark
reaches out his hand and, smiling, touches Lex's face softly.
In the hospital, Lionel is looking at his son, worried. Jonathan asks him
how the boy is doing, and Lionel says that he will survive thanks to
Jonathan. They realize they don't even know each other's names and
introduce themselves, Lionel gives his business card, and, very
seriously, tells Jonathan that, if there is ever anything he can do for
the Kents, he will.
Back to the present...
Clark tells his father that he was a hero, and that he doesn't understand
why Jonathan hid that from him. Just as Jonathan is about to continue,
Sheriff Ethan pulls up. He's here to tell them that Rachel has petitioned
Judge Ross (Pete's mother) to order a DNA test. Clark protests, but Ethan
(Michael Kosterman)
says that if it's true that she is not his mother, then they have nothing
to worry about. He will get someone to come out to the farm and take the
blood sample and get it sent to Metropolis Labs. The Kents all look
worried.
Lana walks up the steps to the Small residence, the door is open. She
sees and hears Henry shouting at someone on the phone about an
environmental issue. The person on the phone hangs up, and Henry looses
his patience and hits the phone against the wall. Lana is terrified and
shyly calls out his name. In his fit of anger, he yells at her, but then
regains his call and tells her bluntly that he is not taking on anymore
law students. She explains that she is not a law student. He then says he
recognizes her, she's the one who runs The Talon. She says that she
hasn't noticed him there, and he says that he will never go there, he is
boycotting it, not because he has a thing against coffee, but because he
has a thing against Luthors. She says that Lex Luthor is just a silent
partner, to which Henry answers, "That's what the Vichy said about the
Nazis and look what happened to France". He asks her her name. She says
Lana Lang and shows him the picture of him and Laura Lang. He is
obviously very affected by the picture, and asks her where she got this.
She asks him if he loved her. He tells her it's ancient history and it
doesn't matter now. At that moment, his wife calls from the kitchen,
"Henry, can you stop saving the world for just one second and give me a
hand please?". Lana tearfully tells him she thinks he may be her father,
but he backs away and tells her that he has a family now and that she
shouldn't bother him again. She runs out crying.
A lab assistant comes to the Kent Farm to take a swab of Clark's saliva.
The assistant and Sheriff Ethan leave. Clark is surprised that Jonathan
is letting them leave, but he explains that if they had refused, they
would have been dragged into court and forced to comply anyway. He
however states that there is no way this sample can be studied.
Later that night, Clark and Pete break into the Metropolis Labs. They
find where his sample is kept, and Clark bends the lab door in half. Pete
says, "Man, this Mission: Impossible stuff is great. But other than my
scintillating conversational skills, I don't know why you brought me
here", to which Clark answers, "I need your spit".
Clark comes home and reassures his parents that he swapped samples with
Pete. Jonathan goes off to do some work, and Clark asks his mother why
Jonathan still seems concerned, and that he still doesn't understand why
they needed Lionel's help. Martha continues the story, explaining that he
cannot understand what pressure they were under.
Flashback to later on the day of the shower...
She explains that they now had this new person in their lives and weren't
too sure what to do with little Clark. Jonathan explains to her that he's
not theirs to keep, but she tells him that he is exactly what she had
wished for that morning, in Nell's (Sarah-Jane
Redmond) flower shop, when little Lana, dressed in a fairy's outfit,
had asked her to make a wish. At that moment, Sheriff Ethan knocks on
their door, and Jonathan tells Martha to carry Clark upstairs. Ethan just
came to check on them after he saw what happened to their truck. Jonathan
thanks him, and, at that moment, Clark comes running up to them. Martha
explains that he got away from him, that he is very strong for his age.
Ethan is confused, so Martha quickly chooses the name Clark (her maiden
name) and introduces him to Sheriff Ethan as their new adopted son. Ethan
says he didn't know they were wanting to adopt a child. Jonathan reminds
Ethan that they like to keep to themselves and that they didn't wanna
talk about it, but that it had been in the works for a while, and that
they just picked him up from Metropolis this morning. Ethan looks very
happy and taken by Clark and says that he is glad that something good
came out of today's tragedy. Martha and little Clark hug.
Back to the present...
Clark is teary-eyed as he understands that Martha had to make up that
story on the spur of the moment. She tells him that they quickly had to
back up their story with facts, so they called Lionel and cashed in that
favor, and he arranged everything, very quickly and efficiently.
Lex comes to visit Clark. They joke around for a while, and then Lex
explains that Rachel came to see him, and that it would seem that the two
boys have a few chromosomes in common, his father's chromosomes. As a
joke, Lex says, "Personally, I think I got all the looks in the family".
Clark tells him that she couldn't possibly be his mother, and Lex admits
that, he too, is skeptical. But he does admit that it is possible that
Lionel and Rachel had an affair, he knows his father had many. He thinks
that she may just be trying to win a paternity suit against Lionel. Clark
wonders if it doesn't bother Lex to know that his father had so many
affairs, and Lex explains that it does, because it hurt his mother, but
that he realizes that not all marriages are as solid as Jonathan and
Martha Kent's. He explains that he told Rachel that she should try and
back her accusations up with facts and encouraged her to ask for a DNA
test. He looks at Clark seriously, and wonders if they could be brothers.
Clark responds, "As cool as that would be, Lex, we're not". Lex looks
genuinely disappointed.
Rachel comes to visit Lionel. She tells him that she doesn't know what he
did to the sample, but he fixed them somehow, but he knows that Clark is
their son. He tells her that he realizes that she's just as irrational as
when he last saw her. She says that the only mistake she made was to let
him take her child away from her arms, and that seven years in a
psychiatric ward has only made her desire to reunite with her son more
intense. He asked her why she didn't continue with her treatment, and she
says that what she needed was love and a home. He puts it down to denial,
and she threatens to expose him. He tells her there's no one to expose
him to, his wife is dead. They share a tender moment, but then he tells
her she has to move on, and if she needs help, he will gladly call the
doctor who will make room for her at the clinic. She runs away, afraid.
As Lex is driving his Porsche out of the garage, Rachel is standing
there, and he breaks sharply. She looks very irrational, and injects him
with something that puts him to sleep.
Clark and Lana are discussing the events of the week and he tells her
about the details of his fight with Chloe. She tells him that she went to
see her father, and that it was pretty disastrous. He tells her that, if
he had a chance to get to know his birth parents, he wouldn't give up
just because the first meeting didn't go the way he had hoped.
Lex wakes up tied up to a chair, in Rachel's new house. She explains to
him that she bought the house with the money Lionel gave her. She knew
she would need it someday, so she never spent it. She's fixing the house
up so that Clark will feel at home there. Lex tries to reason with her.
But she tells him he can't understand how much she's thought about Martha
Kent always being there for Clark, always drying his tears. Lex tells her
that if Clark really is his brother, he would want to know as much as she
does. She explains that she's kidnapped him because she wants Lionel to
admit the truth or she will kill Lex, and Lionel will know the pain of
loosing his son.
Martha is working at the Luthor mansion, when Lionel puts the phone down
and looks distraught. He tells Martha that Rachel has kidnapped Lex, and
that she wants him to order a press conference and admit that Clark's
adoption was a sham and that he his Lionel's son, otherwise she will kill
Lex.
Clark catches up with Chloe. She is surprised he still wants to speak to
her. Clark apologizes for the things he said. Chloe, in turn, tells him
that she would burn her press pass if she thought it would come between
them. He smiles and says, "No you wouldn't, it's too much of who you are,
and right now I need that". He asks her to check on Rachel. She checks
the County Clerk's file, since Rachel just bought a house. While she's
searching, she tells him about the day her mom left, when she was 5, and
she found her dad, Gabe Sullivan (Robert
Wisden), in the kitchen, trying to make waffles. He never even
explained why she left. She gets teary-eyed again, saying it's hard to
grown up thinking she wasn't good enough for someone to love. Clark takes
her hand and tells her to never think that. She does not find anything
listed under Rachel Dunlevy. He tells her to search for Lucas Luthor,
which she does, although she doesn't understand why. She sees an address
for Lucas Luthor, and as she turns to Clark to show him, he's already
seen it and run off.
Rachel and Lex are watching Lionel's press conference on TV. Lionel
begins by saying that he wants to talk about events surrounding his
family, and that his son Lex has been kidnapped. He says that he wants to
tell Lex's abductor that he will never give into their demands, but
threatens them never to harm Lex or they will be hunted down and locked
away, this time forever. Lex is fighting to try and untie himself, as
Rachel is freaking out at Lionel's message. She grabs an axe and tells
Lex, "Your father just killed you Lex", and tries to swing the axe, but
Lex pushes her away with his legs, but in the process, the chair falls
back and Lex hits his head and passes out.
Clark runs to the address he saw on the computer screen, and x-rays
through the wall to see Rachel about to swing her axe a second time. He
runs into the house and throws himself between the axe and Lex. She sees
that he hasn't been hurt by the axe, and, in disbelief, asks him who he
is. He explains to her that it has been what he has been trying to tell
her, that he is not her son. She believes him and starts weeping.
Henry Small comes to visit Lana at The Talon. He compliments her on the
place. He tells her he got her letter, and that, yes, she did ambush him,
but that it may be a quality she got from him. She asks him if he is her
father, and he admits that he does not know, but that he is willing to
find out. He looks at her very kindly.
Martha tells Clark that Rachel has been admitted to a private psychiatric
clinic, where no one will anyway believe what she might say about Clark's
abilities. Jonathan feels sorry for her having had to give up her baby
and Martha is just glad that their family is still in one piece. Jonathan
smiles and says that not even Lionel Luthor could tear them apart. Clark
still doesn't understand why his father hates Lionel so much. Jonathan
finishes the story...
Flashback to eleven years ago...
Lionel arrives to give the Kents to adoption paperwork. Lionel wants
Jonathan to call him by his first name. Jonathan thanks him from bringing
to paperwork out personally. He also tells Jonathan that Lex is out of
the hospital and coming back to Metropolis today. Jonathan congratulates
Lionel as he looks over the papers. Lionel asks Jonathan one favor.
Lionel is not sure if Jonathan has heard, but the Ross brothers are not
willing to see their factory to Lionel, they don't want to sell to an
outsider. He confirms with him that Jonathan knows the Rosses, and he
asks Jonathan to talk to them, to convince them that Lionel only has
Smallville's best interest in mind, Lionel thinks it will make a
difference. Jonathan refuses politely, saying that he really doesn't
think that it is any of his business. Lionel smiles and understands, but
is visibly upset. He turns around to close his briefcase, and tells
Jonathan to be careful, Lionel wouldn't want the Department of Family
Welfare to find out that Clark's adoption is a sham. Jonathan gets
offended and asks Lionel if he is threatening Jonathan. "Of course not",
Lionel answers, "I am just asking for a small favor".
Back to the present...
Clark realizes that his father did it, that he convinced the Ross's to
sell to Lionel. Jonathan is ashamed to admit that he helped the Luthors
establish a foothold in this community. "The smokestacks, the toxic
dumping, all the people who were cheated, including Pete's family, none
of that would have happened if it weren't for me", says Jonathan. Clark
tells his father he couldn't have known at the time, but Jonathan doesn't
accept that, he feels he knew exactly what kind of man Lionel Luthor was.
He didn't tell Clark about all this because he knew Clark would blame
himself, which is what Clark is feeling. Clark thinks that since this
happened because his parents tried to protect him, it must be his fault.
Jonathan angrily disagrees, saying it was his own decision, it was his
fault, his alone.
Back at the Luthor mansion, Lionel is glad to see that Lex is alright,
but Lex says that it is no thanks to Lionel. Lionel explains that he
couldn't have given in to her requests. He admits that he was not a good
husband and that he was unfaithful to Lillian. Lex confronts him and asks
him if Rachel bore him an illegitimate son. Lionel says that he never
knew she was pregnant. Then she reappeared one day, demanding that Lionel
leave Lillian and marry her. She was imbalanced, and he didn't want to
burden Lillian with a scandal, so he convinced her to give her son up for
adoption. He had the child placed with a suitable family - not the Kents
- but he died before his first birthday. He asks Lex to leave him, he is
visibly upset. Lex leaves, but, as Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly's
most tragic moment plays in the background, Lionel opens a locket
containing Luca's hair (significant, since Lex doesn't have any), and
inside the locket, we see a photo of Lionel with his son Lucas, who is at
least 5 years old on the picture...
The zip code for Smallville is 67524. That is for Chase,
KS in Rice County - Latitude 38.4, Longitude -98.4
Patrick Cassidy had a small multi-episode role as Leslie
Luckabee on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The character
was supposed to be Lex Luthor's son (note the initials).
Close captioning at the end of the scene when Jonathan
says no one is going to test Clark's DNA adds a line that he tells Clark
to call Pete, which makes the next scene with Pete joining up with Clark
flow a little better.
Blair Brown and John Glover are reunited - Mr. Glover was
a frequent guest-star on Blair Brown's show The Days and Nights of Molly
Dodd.
If Clark's adoption was legal, why would a judge order
genetic testing at the behest of the biological mother? (editor's note:
see Analysis below for one hypothetical suggestion)
High tech facilities such as the one that was working on
the DNA test usually have security cameras and more security. But Clark
and Pete seemed to have not given this much consideration when they
casually walked in and made the switch (a little bit too easily). They
also don't wear gloves or anything.
Clark swaps Pete's DNA saliva sample for his own - some
viewers thought Pete's race would show up in a genetic test. Others noted
that if they were just doing a quick comparison between the sample and
Rachel's DNA, racial and other factors wouldn't show up.
Why doesn't Lex's car have a license plate when he pulls
out of the LexCorp garage? Or even a spot for a license plate? In the
past he's had different vanity plates on the front.
Lana says that Henry Small compared her to the Nazis.
Actually, he compared Lex to the Nazis and her to the Vichy (puppet
government of German-occupied France).
It's probably just a figure of speech, but when Jonathan
says Clark "got that from his mother" he in fact wouldn't have the first
clue what Clark's actual mother was like in the morning. Do adopted
parents say stuff like that? I suppose...still, it's an odd little
statement for the writers to put in given that this whole episode is
about how Jonathan and Martha aren't Clark's parents.
Guess they got rid of the extra secruity Principal
Reynolds put in last week (or last season, or whatever). Rachel just
strolls into the school to meet Clark.
When Chloe says that she posted on the web site to see if
she got any hits, the close-captioning says "heads".
The phone number for LexCorp on Lionel's business card
has a 121 area code. Currently there are no area codes in the U.S. that
start with 1. "212" is New York, while Kansas has a variety of them
starting with 3, 6, 7, and 9.
Lex is kidnapped in the middle of the day driving out of
Lexcorp garage! Once again, where are the security guards? It hasn't been
long when Lex's limo was captured in "Stray". Apparently the Luthors
don't care much about their security.
Head Trauma: Lex gets knocked unconscious yet again in
this episode and coincidentally misses seeing Clark using his powers yet
again. Could so many blows to the head explain why he will eventually
turn evil? It is a fairly common theme in comic books that superheroes
help create their greatest enemies.
Trust: They waited eleven years to tell him he was an
alien. They misled him about the legality of his adoption. They allowed
him no contact with his grandfather. Now they reveal that Lionel was
behind his adoption and that they had a part (however small) in
financially ruining Pete's family. So how exactly can Clark trust his
parents? And what insidious revelation about their past will he stumble
across next? How many more secrets are there "protecting" him?
Ross family hold a grudge?: Ethan said that "Judge Ross"
ordered a DNA test. If she's related to Pete, maybe she's giving Rachel
some leeway despite the legal adoption to make things tough for Lionel
over the creamed corn factory sale. If so, it's kinda ironic since it's
getting Pete's friend Clark in trouble.