The CW's Official Description:

CLARK DISCOVERS THAT JOR-EL WAS ON EARTH FORTY YEARS AGO - Lana’s (Kristin Kreuk) great uncle (guest star Tom Heaton), who was convicted of murdering his wife forty years ago, shows her a picture of the man he believes really killed her aunt, and she is shocked to discover the drifter looks just like Clark (Tom Welling). Sure that the man is Jor-El, Clark’s investigation leads him to a Kryptonian medallion that allows him to see bits of the past – and the life that Jor-El started for him long before he arrived on Earth.

Michael Rosenbaum, Allison Mack, Sam Jones III, John Glover, Annette O’Toole and John Schneider also star. Directed by Marita Grabiak Written by Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders

Detailed Description:

By Nadine

Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) is visiting her great-uncle, Dexter McCallum (guest star Tom Heaton), now an old man, in the prison hospital. They are talking about his wife and Lana’s great-aunt, Louise McCallum, who died 42 years ago. Dexter was apparently convicted of her murder, and has therefore been in prison all this time. He is now old an ill, and lying in the prison’s hospital. Lana tells him that her Aunt Nell (Sarah-Jane Redmond) never said much about Louise, only that she died very young. Lana also mentions that Nell never talked about Dexter, probably because he was accused of killing Louise. He tells Lana that he is innocent, that he loved Louise and wasn’t the one who killed her. Lana is not sure she can believe him, and even if she did, wonders what she can do, forty years later, to clear his name. She also asks him why he never contacted her before. He tells her that Nell asked him not to, but now he feels he has to because he is so ill.

We see Dexter remembering what happened the night of Louise’s murder. A young Dexter (John Mann) was in the house, when he hears shots coming from the barn. As he runs out of the house to the barn, shouting “Louise! Louise!”, he sees a man running out of the barn. Dex enters the barn, and finds a gun on the floor. He picks it up, in shock, then looks further on, to see his wife Louise lying there, with blood on her shirt, dead. He falls to the ground by her side, in tears, and holds and hugs her. At that moment, Sheriff Tate walks in looking for them, calling them by their first names, “Louise? Dex?” He sees Dex on the ground, holding Louise, dead in his arms, and holding a gun. “Dex! What have you done?”, asks a distraught sheriff. We get to see Louise’s face for the first time; she is the spitting image of Lana.

Back in his hospital bed, Dex explains how he saw Lana’s picture in the paper and saw the resemblance with Louise. He knew that if she was anything like his wife, she would be the one person who could understand. Lana is saddened by his story; she has tears in her eyes as she stares at the old issue of the Smallville Ledger, with the headline, “Local Beauty Murdered” and a picture of Louise McCallum. Lana seems to be willing to believe him, but wonders, then, who did kill Louise? Dexter tells her it was the man he saw running out of the barn, The Drifter. She looks back at the old newspaper, where there is a sketch issued by police of “The Drifter”, a man who bears a striking resemblance to Clark Kent (Tom Welling).

Lana discussed this with Clark. He asks her what became of The Drifter, and Lana tells him that he was never found, and that police believed that Dex had made him up to cover his tracks. Clark gets upset when Lana tells him that she believes Dex’s story, he tells her that hardened criminals spend most of their time declaring their innocence. Lana reminds Clark that The Drifter looks exactly like him, and that, unless Dex could have predicted the future, there is a good chance that The Drifter actually existed. Lana knows that Clark is adopted, and the resemblance is so striking that she says it could have been Clark’s biological grandfather or even his father. Clark thinks it is impossible, but Lana answers, “Why? You must have come from somewhere. It’s not like you just fell out of the sky”. Suddenly, as Clark keeps staring at the sketch of The Drifter, he notices The Drifter has a medallion around his neck with a symbol that looks like an “8”.

Clark and Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) are walking through the caves with their flashlights, and Clark is explaining how he thinks maybe Lana is right, maybe The Drifter was Jor-El, he also mentions that the symbol on The Drifter’s medallion was Kryptonian. After all, the messages on the cave walls did say that people from Krypton had been here before. Jonathan is still doubtful; he believes that Clark is trying to hard to make a connection. Clark explains that until now, Jor-El was just a distant threat to him, and they really knew nothing about him, but, if it is true that Jor-El was here in 1961, walking the same streets Clark is, then maybe the two of them are not so different after all. Suddenly, Jonathan sees the same symbol from the amulet engraved and glowing on the wall. Clark touches it and the wall opens. Clark puts his hand in the hole, and suddenly, a whole series of images and short flashbacks seem to be “downloaded” into his mind, without him being able to really understand any of them. When Clark pulls him hand out of the hole, he is holding the silver medallion with the Kryptonian “8” symbol.

Pete Ross (Sam Jones III) and Clark are walking down Smallville High Street. Clark is trying to explain to Pete that the flashes must have been from the past, but that they went by too fast. Pete is very skeptical. At that moment, they stop to let a group of people walk by, and Clark leans against a mailbox. Suddenly, he gets a vision; it is a scene from the sixties.

A young man, looking exactly like Clark, in a leather jacket, is leaning against the mailbox on Smallville High Street in 1961. He then slowly walks down the street, looking around, like it is his first time there. He walks past Fordman’s, a sports store (owned by Whitney’s (Eric Johnson) family). Across the road, he sees The Talon, Smallville’s movie theatre is playing “Splendor in the Grass” with Natalie Wood. A young lady, looking exactly like Lana, is walking past The Talon, reading a fashion magazine. At that moment, a man with a gun (Peter Benson) walks up to the young lady, and, in a Scottish accent, orders her to hand her purse over. She tries to pull away. He throws her to the ground saying, “Give it over, I know you’ve got it”. As they are fighting, the young man in the leather jacket superspeeds across the road, grabs the thief and uses his superstrength to throw him across the sidewalk and against a pole. He then heroically picks the young lady up from the ground. She is still stunned by what happened, and can’t stop starring at her hero. At that moment the sheriff arrives, and handcuffs the thief who is still lying on the ground. The young woman is still holding onto the young man and calls him her hero. “You don’t strike me as someone who usually needs saving”, he says. “Thank you”, she replies. He picks up her purse and her magazine and returns them to her. She introduces herself to him as Louise. “You can call me Joe”, he replies. “Well, Joe”, she answers, “You’re the most excitement we’ve had all year”. Meanwhile, the thief is being pushed into the cop car saying, “Did you see that? He could have killed me!” With the thief safely in the car, the sheriff walks up to Joe, and introduces himself as Sheriff Billy Tate. He thanks Joe for having excellent reflexes. “They surprise me too”, answers Joe. When the sheriff asks Joe where he is from, Joe explains that he is just passing through on his way home. “Lucky you”, says Louise. “Louise always has stars in her eyes”, explains the sheriff. “There’s nothing wrong with that”, answers Joe, as Louise and Joe stare at each other longingly. The sheriff notices the attraction and tension between them. At that moment, Louise’s husband Dex pulls up in his car. Louise seems none too pleased to see him, but the sheriff encourages her to go to Dex, telling her he will be by later to get her statement. “See you around”, she tells Joe. As she walks away and gets into the car, she keeps staring at Joe, and he returns a fascinated stare. The sheriff is observing it all. The sheriff thanks Joe again and taps him on the shoulder.

At that moment, Clark comes out of his vision, as Pete is tapping him on the shoulder, asking him what is going on. Clark tells him what he just saw, and explains that The Drifter is called Joe. He tells Pete how he thinks the medallion somehow downloaded all these memories into his head, and the visions are triggered when he touches something Joe touched. Pete is still not convinced and thinks it’s just a daydream of a heroic tale. Clark is convinced there is a way to find out if what he saw really happened.

Clark and Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) are walking down the school hallways, and Clark wonders how she managed to get a hold of the police records of the 1960s. “Since I caught the clerk and his girlfriend playing Cops and Robbers on the job”, she answers. He tells her that the robbery should have taken place in 1961, since that is when Natalie Wood’s movie was playing at The Talon. Chloe is curious on how Clark would know such details, but he cuts her short, saying it is just a hunch. He then notices that pages are missing from the record on the day of Louise’s murder. He then finds the entry for the robbery, but doesn’t see The Drifter mentioned anywhere. However, he notices the name of the robber, Lachlan Luthor, aged 45. Clark asks Chloe to look into this, although she is reluctant at first to deal with the Luthors again. He tells her he has to go meet Lana, since her Aunt Nell found a box with some of Louise’s belongings.

Chloe goes to see Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), who confirms that Lachlan Luthor is his grandfather. However, he sarcastic comments, “I always assumed my father’s knack for taking people’s money was inherited, but I hardly think petty crime runs in the family”. She insists that there can’t be many Lachlan Luthors running around in Smallville, but he explains that no one in his family had set foot in Smallville before his father, Lionel Luthor (John Glover), bought the Cream Corn Factory in 1986 from the Ross family. Chloe explains why she is so interested. “You were hoping that my family sat around at Thanksgiving, sharing old crime stories”, asks Lex. You’re family isn’t exactly a Norman Rockwell painting”, replies Chloe. But Lex seems reluctant to humor her any further, telling her she has met a dead end.

Clark apologizes to Lana for being so defensive, explaining that, when you’re adopted, you dream about who and what your parents were, and your worse nightmare is finding out that they were criminals. They start going through the box of Louise’s belongings. They find pictures and Lana finds a love letter, and Lana thinks that Dexter must have written it. As they are silently reading it, Lana gets emotional, saying she never thought that Dex could be so… She struggles to find the right word. “Passionate”, says Clark. They both look at each other with a moment of awkwardness. They then notice the initial “J” at the bottom, but neither of them comment on it. She then finds a pearl necklace, and asks Clark to put it around her neck. She turns away from him, so that he can tie it, and as he does so, he gets another vision. He sees Louise, wearing the necklace, turning around to face Joe, in they share a very… ahem… passionate time in the barn together. Joe tells her he has never felt this way about anyone. Clark comes out of his vision, shocked by what he has just seen. Lana notices the look on his face. He stands up in shock, telling Lana that he doesn’t think that the love letter was from Louise’s husband, but from The Drifter. He tells her that they were in love.

Lionel and Lex are walking back into Lionel’s office. Lionel is congratulating his son on an great presentation, telling him that the board was very impressed, even if it was all smoke and mirrors. “What can I say”, explains Lex, “I guess deception runs in the family”. Lionel smiles at the comment and replies, “And the day was off to such a sweet start”. Lex explains that he thinks his father may not have been telling him the truth about Lachlan. Until now, Lionel had always described his father as a hardworking entrepreneur who came from Scottish nobility. So, Lex is wondering why a Lachlan Luthor was arrested in 1961 for petty robbery in Smallville. “Not all entrepreneurs can have the luxury of being both successful and honest’. Lex still wonders why Lionel would go to such lengths to hide their past. “When I was young and trying hard to get a foothold in a world of over-achieving Ivy-leaguers, I quickly found that confessing to the fact that I was born and bred in a place like Suicide Slum, wasn’t gonna win anybody over at a cocktail party”, explains Lionel. “So you took the liberty of re-writing our family history”, asks Lex. “That’s right”, Lionel answers, “Why should I have to pay for the sins of my father?” “Sounds familiar”, replies Lex. Lionel does confirm, however that both his parents died in a fire. When it happened, Lionel was moonlighting at a print shop. Ever since then, he has consciously buried himself in his work.

Clark takes Lana to the barn where Louise was shot. Lana is not sure what he expects to find here. They find Dex's old car under a sheet. When he touches it, Clark gets a flashback again. "Earth Angel" is playing, and Joe and Louise are by the car in the barn, late in the evening, kissing. Joe tells Louise he has to leave tonight, and Louise replies that she is leaving with him. But Joe reminds her that it is not possible. She tells him that he is the one she wants to be with, that she can't stay with Dex anymore, that she doesn't love him. "Where I'm from, that wouldn't be accepted", says Joe. "I don't care what people think. I never have. Dex says that's my curse", says Louise. "No Louise, that's a gift", says Joe. He tells her it wasn't supposed to be that way, that he has to return home alone. When she asks him why, he tells her, "Because it's my destiny and I can't change it. Louise, as much as I want this, I can't have it. My father told that someday I'd understand that my actions have consequences. I guess this is what he meant". At that moment, Lachlan Luthor walks into the barn and points a gun at them. Joe pushes Louise away, and Lachlan fires bullets straight at Joe. The bullets bounce off him. Both Louise and Lachlan are shocked, and Lachlan runs away, confused. Louise is obviously still in shock, but we realize it is because one of the bullets hit her, right in the heart. Joe catches her, just as she falls. "Louise, don't leave me", he says crying. "I love you", says Louise, as she dies in his arms.
Clark comes out of his vision, shocked, as he stands there stroking Lana's face. "Clark?", asks Lana. He tells her he knows who killed Louise.

Lex is speaking to a private investigator named Mason (Tim Henry) about the EdgeCliff Condos, owned by LuthorCorp. He tells Mason to look into it, because there should be some sort of connection with his grandparents. Mason tells Lex that before the condos and the copy houses, EdgeCliff was the worst part of Suicide Slums. The high-rise stands at the site of the fire where Lex's grandparents died in. Mason does tell Lex however that the fire was more like an explosion that took out the windows of two city blocks. Mason explains that he used to be a detective in that precinct back in those days, but was told to drop the case. He said that the slumlords controlled City Hall back then. He gives Lex his original report. Lex looks over it and is concerned by what he reads.

Chloe tells Clark that his vision must be wrong because Lachlan Luthor was in jail for robbery at the time of Louise's murder. Clark insists it was him. Lana wonders how Clark knows all this, and tells him he can't expect them to just accept everything his says, without him explaining what's going on. "It's crazy", says Clark. "You past crazy about four random clues ago". He tells them that ever since he read that newspaper article, he's been having memories of 1961. Both girls looked shocked. Chloe wonders if it could have to do with genetic memory, a scientific theory that we store our ancestor's memories in our DNA. Chloe checks her email and finds a response from the Smallville Ledger, to whom she had asked for a copy of the police file from the days in 1961 that are missing from the log book. They show that Lachlan Luthor was indeed released from jail that morning, which is strange since he had just committed a robbery. They also see that it is Sheriff Billy Tate who signed off on the release. In 1961, he was Sheriff Tate, now he is Mayor William Tate.

Clark and Lana go to visit the Mayor, who explains to them that having to arrest Dex for the murder of his wife was one of the hardest things he ever had to do, since Dex and Louise where his best friends. The mayor tells Lana that she bears a striking resemblance to her great-aunt and wonders if anyone has every told her that. Clark asks if the mayor remembers releasing Lachlan Luthor, but the mayor admits it was too long ago and doesn't remember all the release forms he signed. Lana tells the mayor that they think that Dex may have been innocent. The mayor smiles, saying that for the longest time, he wanted to believe that himself but finally had to admit that there was no Drifter, and that Dex had invited his existence to cover up his own guilt. Clark is looking around the office when the mayor. He looks at the shelves where he sees Tate's sheriff old badge. His eyes then go down to the lower shelf, and he is amazed by something as he looks at the Mayor's signature on his inauguration certaificate. He touches the signature, and in particular the "T" of Tate. A that moment the mayor taps him on the shoulder telling him to be careful. This triggers another flashback for Clark, a flashback that is happening a night or two before Louise's murder.
Joe and Louise are in the car, kissing, when Sheriff Billy Tate walks up to the car. At first Billy thinks that it is Dex and Louise making out, but when Billy tabs Joe on the shoulder and Billy sees who it is, he gets upset. Louise tells Billy it's not what it looks like, but Billy tells Joe to get out of the car. Billy grabs Joe, but Louise stops him. She tells him that Joe was just taking her home. Billy walks off, telling Louise that she better make sure that this is what she wants, because he thinks she is making a big mistake. Billy drives off. Louise tells Joe about why she married Dexter. She tells Joe that Dex is a nice man, he's safe, but she never wanted to marry him. She made the mistake of telling her father about her dreams, that she wanted to go to Hollywood and become a star, which is when her father arranged her marriage to Dex. Joe tells her that he thinks that their fathers would get along. He tells her that his father sent him here to teach him a lesson. He says he didn't want to come here, and now he would give anything to stay, but he can't. She asks him to take her with him, like James Dean and Natalie Wood in "Rebel Without a Cause". She thinks it will be romantic. "When I said I wasn't from here, I wasn't talking about Smallville. Where I'm from, we have colors that you've never seen. Our moons are so close they fill up half the sky. We have sunsets that last for hours.". Lana laughs, saying she almost believed him for a second. But Joe is not laughing. He takes her in her arms. She gazes into his eyes, as he slowly flies up from the ground. At first, Louise doesn't realize what is happening, but she suddenly looks down and sees the car far below. She is amazed as they romantically drift around.

Clark and Lana show Sheriff Adams the email with the copy of the Lachlan Luthor's release form. Adams doesn't understand why they would want her to dredge up an investigation that was put to bed 40 years ago. Clark tells her that the mayor knows more than he says, and that he must have made a deal to release Lachlan Luthor in exchange for Luthor killing The Drifter, and then they were going to pin the whole thing on Dexter. But Adams says she would need both motive and evidence before she can haul the leader of their community off to jail. Clark shows Adams the love letter they had found in Louise's belongings. In fact, the signature that they thought was a "J" for Joe, was actually a "T", like the "T" from Mayor Tate's signature on his inauguration certificate. Clark explains to Adams that Tate was the one who wrote this letter to Lana, and that the handwriting matches the one from the release form. Lana explains that Tate was also in love with Louise, and that with The Drifter dead and Dex in prison for his murder, Tate could have had Lana all to himself. Adams is still not convinced and is not willing to accuse the mayor.

Jonathan and Martha are discussing Clark's vision. Jonathan thinks that maybe this is just another one of Jor-El's tests, but Martha thinks that it is ok for Clark to try and find out a little more about where he came from. Jonathan is not so secure, explaining that everytime Clark looks into this, it reminds him that they are not his real parents. Clark comes home, and while they are talking, he notices his grandfather, Hiram Kent's gun hanging on their wall. He suddenly remembers that he saw the gun as one of the flashes in his first vision back in the caves. He grabs the gun which triggers his next flashback.
He sees Joe fighting with a man, and Joe grabs the gun and fights the man off. The man thinks that Joe is going to kill him, and tells him to be careful, because Joe already has one murder on his hands, he wouldn't want to commit another. Joe throws the gun back to the man, telling him that he was only cutting threw his field, that he's not going to kill him. He also says that he didn't kill Louise, that he loved her and would never hurt her. The man gets up and extends his hand to Joe, introducing himself as Hiram Kent.
Clark comes out of his vision, and Clark tells them that The Drifter was on the farm with Hiram. The go to the barn where Jonathan shows Clark a box of his father Hiram's belongings. Suddenly, he notices Joe's bomber jacket lying in the box. He grabs it, and has another vision.
Joe is in the Kents' kitchen with Hiram and his wife, who is pregnant. Hiram has given him one of his one jackets, so that Joe would be less recognizable. Joe says that he has to go away, but Hiram suggests he should stay, and that they would help Joe clear all of this up. But Joe says that he has no reason to stay anymore. Hiram's wife tells him to be careful. Hiram touches her tummy and tells his unborn son "Bye Gene". His wife smiles and says, "His name is Jonathan". Hiram explains to Joe that they are still undecided on a name. He kisses his wife goodbye. Joe thanks her.
Clark tells his parents what he saw. Martha thinks that Hiram was a good judge of character and she doesn't think he would have helped a guilty man. Clark suddenly gets an idea.

Mayor Tate is in his office, reading and having a drink. Suddenly the fire in the fireplace lights up on its own. The windows open, papers go flying. Clark shows up, dressed with the bomber jacket, looking like Joe. Mayor Tate thinks it's Clark and tells him that he doesn't find this amusing. Clark tells Tate that he must have him confused with someone else. Tate turns away from Clark, but he Clark superspeeds to be right there, on the other side. Tate is shocked. He is starting to believe this is a vision. Clark is wearing the medallion. Tate recognizes it. Tate is scared. Clark tells him that he knows about the deal Tate made with Luthor. Tate tries to run away. Clark asks Tate how he felt when he found out that Lachlan had killed Louise instead of Joe. "It was supposed to be you", says Tate, believing he is seeing Joe. Tate runs to his desk to grab a gun. He shoots at Clark who avoids all the bullets. "You can't kill me, I'm already dead", smiles Clark. "If you ever want another day of peace, you will confess what you've done to the Sheriff", he tells the mayor. But the mayor says he has no intention of going to jail. He tries to put the gun to his own head, but Clark grabs his arm before he can do anything. At that moment, Sheriff Adams and her deputy walk in, they got a silent alarm from the mayor. Tate is alone in the room, looking shocked. He starts rambling, telling Adams that Lachlan was supposed to kill The Drifter and that he never meant to hurt Louise, that he loved her.

Lana goes to visit her great-uncle Dex has they are sitting him in a wheelchair and about to release him from the prison hospital. He still finds it hard to believe that Tate would do such a thing. He tells Lana that Tate came to visit him in prison every Sunday for two years. He knew that Tate had feelings for Louise, but never thought him capable of such a thing. Lana suggests that maybe the memories were haunting him. Dex says that he was so in love with Louise, he was too blind to see that she didn't feel the same way about her. He says he wished he had known when to let go.

Lex is showing Lionel the report from the private investigator. He explains that the explosion originated from his grandparents' apartment, and there were traces of ammonium nitrate, meaning the fire was no accident. Lionel admits that he knew that, but that he didn't tell the police, because he know that whomever killed his parents would be watching him. Lex is surprised that Lionel would pass up a chance at revenge. Lionel explains that he was young and had no resources, and then, later, he just was hoping to bury it in the past. But Lex assures him that that is not going to happen until they find out who did this.

Lana tells Clark about the Dex's release. She thanks Clark for it. Clark says that he feels that if The Drifter hadn't come along, this would have never happened. Lana explains that she knows that what Louise did was wrong, but in a way, she thinks Louise was really lucky to know what it was like to really be in love, even if it was only for a few days. Clark says it's a shame it didn't last, but Lana thinks that that is not the point. "Maybe you have to be grateful for the time you had together, and stop holding on to what could have been".

Clark and Jonathan are at the caves, standing in front of the symbol on the wall that matches the medallion. Clark touches the symbol and gets a flashback of when Joe was there, with Hiram. Joe tells Hiram that he is supposed to return to his father but that there are too many bad memories attached. He shakes hands with Hiram and thanks him. Hiram tells him that he can always tell an honest man when he sees one, and that he is sorry that Joe ran into trouble and that there are plenty of good folk in Smallville. "I'll remember that. Congratulations on the baby, he's happy to have you as parents", says Joe. "If there's anything you ever need, you know where to find me", says Hiram as he walks away. Joe pulls out the hexagonal key (the same one that we know as being part of the spaceship). The key lights up and creates the symbol on the cave wall. The whole opens up, and Joe places the medallion onto the hole. The hole closes again.
Clark comes back from his vision and explains to Jonathan that he thinks that Jor-El put the medallion in the cave wall so that his father wouldn't find it, like it was some sort of journal. He thinks that Jor-El's father sent him to Smallville as some sort of right of passage. He tells Jonathan about Hiram's last words to Joe. "I don't think you and mom found be by accident. I think you were chosen".

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Notes:

Original title: "Yesterday."

This episode was billed by the WB both on-air and on their website as "Smallville 1961."

Joe/Jor-El is able to fly.

This episode is similar to several other shows that set the modern-day characters in roles in the past, including Roswell 'Summer of 47' and X-Files 'Triangle.'

Why does Joe seem to be injured by Hiram hitting him?

In a close-up of Clark's hand holding the silver talisman, the hand had a callus - how does invulnerable super-healing Clark get calluses?

When Clark touches the mayor's shoulder at his home, he gets a flashback to when Tate confronted Joe and Louise back in the 60s, out in the cornfields. But...in the flashback Tate leaves the scene. If Tate wasn't there, and Clark isn't at the cornfield, how is he having flashbacks to the scene? In the rest of the episode he has to be at the scene, or touching something at the scene when stuff he's seeing happened.

Somewhere between 1961 and ending up as a spaceship voice in 2003, Jor-El picked up an English accent. :)

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