By Cindy Green

The headline of The Torch reads: “School’s Out Forever!” Backing away from the paper, we see Chloe signing the yearbook of the school photographer named Brendan. She is signing her picture that says she is the most likely to succeed. He takes his yearbook and leaves while Chloe returns to her computer. After taking a sip of coffee, she starts to type again and notices that after the bell rings, no one comes out of class. She gets up to investigate and sees an empty hallway. Venturing out of the room, the hallway remains empty. She walks through a door to the girl’s locker room because she thinks she heard a sound. Finally she sees someone at the water fountain. She is happy to see someone. Approaching the girl, she calls out “Haley” but as she talks to her Chloe realizes that the girl is frozen. Then Haley’s eye moves showing that she is still alive. Chloe jumps back scared and leaves the room. The doors that lead out of the school are locked so she heads back to the Torch office. She picks up the phone but there is no dial tone. She pulls open the blinds in the office to reveal florescent lights shinning in and that she isn’t actually in the school after all. The school bell rings again. She calls for help. An outside shot reveals that she is being held inside an abandoned Nash Construction building.

Inside the Kent farmhouse, Clark comes down the stairs but before entering the kitchen he hears his parents discussing him. They found out that he applied to Central Kansas University. His father doesn’t understand why he decided against all the other schools he had been interested in before. Clark tells him that he decided to stay closer to home. They try to find out why he made this decision – was it because it’s scary going somewhere so far from home, is it because of Lana, or is it because they need him to help run the farm. His father is very accusatory. “You don't think I can run this farm without your help.” Clark agrees that this is where he is needed. His father doesn’t want him to give up on his future because of them.

Back at the school façade, Chloe is working in the Torch on the computer. She is trying to get on the Internet but she has no access. Then she sees two girls meander down the hall discussing a test they had just taken. Chloe runs out into the hall calling their names, “Lisa, Delia, do you guys know what’s going on?” They act like all is normal telling her to get to Trig class. When Chloe questions them, they quietly tell her to just play along and that they are being watched. They motion over to a camera hanging in a corner. Then the photographer Brendan walks in. He tells her that he planned all this and that “just because it's the last day of school, doesn't mean it can't last forever.” When she questions him on it and says that they are not going to put up with all of this, Brendan shows her that they will put up with it. He walks over to another student named Wendell. Touching the boy, Brendan freezes him. Chloe looks on with wide open eyes of shock as Wendell’s blue eyes move around behind his frozen face. Brendan returns to her and warns her to realize she is much better off here and then he acts as if everything is normal and says he’ll see her at lunch. 

Back at the actual Smallville High School, the seniors are picking up their graduation robes. Clark is handed his and he then turns around to see Lana sporting her cap and tassel, the gown draped over her arm. She smiles at him. “What do you think?” Clark is nostalgic when he realizes that it really is all over. He reminisces about the first day he walked through the front doors and she reminds him that he tripped. He gives her one of his devastating smiles, “Well I couldn't help it, you made me nervous.” To which she replies, “It was cute.” They go on to discuss their future college plans. Lana reveals that she isn’t sure if she is going to go to college and Clark tells her he is planning to commute to Central Kansas. Lana is pleased about him still being around. Clark shares in her smile. Then they hear the teacher calling out for the students who have not yet picked up their graduation gowns. Among the names is Chloe Sullivan. Clark takes notice because he can’t believe Chloe wasn’t the first one to pick hers up.

Lex is standing on the upper level of the mansion study talking on the phone about being the conservator of the caves and that they can do any excavations that they want down there. He hangs up when he sees Jason. Lex is surprised to see him who then pulls out a gun and shoots Lex in the neck with a dart. Lex pulls out the dart and then passes out.

Jonathan is in the barn furiously chopping wood when Martha comes in. She questions why he is doing all this work because Clark was going to do it when he got home. Jonathan wants to do it himself. She tells him that he can’t take the place of Clark and that all the other farms in the county have at least five hands helping out. She wants him to admit that they need Clark. She tells him that this decision of Clark’s to stay home and help out took a lot of maturity to which Jonathan counters, “Or guilt. Martha, Clark still feels responsible for my heart problems. I'm not going to allow him to do this out of pity.” But she doesn’t think its pity. “If he leaves, he can only come back a few times a year. And he doesn't want one of those times to be your funeral.”

Back at the Torch office, Clark and Lana enter and see how Chloe has begun to pack everything up. Clark realizes that Chloe didn’t get the Torch out that day, the last day of school. “There's no way that Chloe would let the last day of school go by without getting in her final word.” Lana notices Chloe didn’t finish her coffee and Clark sees Chloe’s phone sitting on the desk. They know that something is definitely wrong.

As Lex wakes up in a darkened room, he discovers that he is tied down in a chair. He is in some kind of hunter’s lodge with a deer head hanging on the wall and a fire crackling in the fireplace. Looking across the room, he spies his father sitting in a chair across from him. Lex thinks Lionel is in on all this but then his father encourages him to look closer. Lionel is also tied to a chair and he has been hurt and is bleeding. Genevieve and Jason Teague enter the cabin. They want the stone that Lionel took from them. Lex is surprised to learn that his father has one of the stones. Genevieve’s plan is to use Lex’s life to convince Lionel to give up the stone. Lex doesn’t think they know his father very well. But she disagrees.

At the Talon, Lois is busy handing out coffees to the young set who frequent there. Clark walks over to the counter as it clears out. She teases him about skipping school. He tells her he is on lunch break and looking for Chloe. Lois saw Chloe the night before when she came in for coffee before going back to work on the Torch. Clark informs her that Chloe never published the last issue and that he thinks something is going on. Then another girl walks over to Clark and asks him to sign her yearbook on the Most Likely… page. He notices that the girl Lois had said didn’t come into work today, Haley, is also on the page, as is Chloe. Clark tells her that Wendell, Haley, Chloe, and Delia didn’t pick up their graduation robes today and they are all on the Most Likely page. Lois says the day before Chloe was looking through a pile of photos with a photographer kid. This makes Clark think.

Lana gets into her car to leave school, but before driving away she looks at the stone she has in her purse. She glances around nervously and then quickly puts the stone away again just as she is interrupted by Brendan, the photographer. He wants her to sign his yearbook. Then he touches her and she starts to freeze.

Back at the abandoned warehouse/school Chloe is walking down the hall. She has a metal ruler inside her sleeve when a girl named Lisa walks up to her and reminds her to get to class. You can see Wendell’s frozen body in the background. Lisa glances over to a camera in a corner and then Brendan is with them again. Chloe plays along and tells him that they were planning a study session. Lisa agrees and then takes off. Brendan tells Chloe that he has a surprise for her. He takes her back to the Torch office and sitting on a desk is a frozen Lana. Brendan touches Lana again and she begins to defrost. Lana take a gasping breath and then jumps off the desk confused on how she got back into the school. Brendan tells Chloe that he is going to let her tell Lana the rules. Chloe smiles big and says, “Okay, great.” Brendan leaves. Chloe tells Lana that they are not in school and that they are being watched. Chloe informs her that Brendan recreated the school. Lana last remembers signing Brendan’s yearbook. Chloe goes over to a table and picks up a year book turning to the Most Likely page. She points out to Lana that all the people stuck in this game are on the spread. “We’ve been collected.” Haley walks in and tells Chloe that she talked to Brendan like she wanted her to. Lana is confused. Chloe tells her, “Brendan wants high school…we'll give him high school.”

Back at the cabin, Lex and Lionel are still tied up as Jason approaches Lex with a red hot poker. Genevieve stands behind Lex as Jason continues to touch Lex’s bare skin with the burning hot tip. Lex calls out in pain. Genevieve asks Lionel again where the stone is as Jason touches Lex with the poker once more. Genevieve tries to convince Lionel to give it to her and then takes the poker from Jason. She looks back at Lionel and then trains the sharp end down as if to poke it straight into Lex’s eye. Jason holds Lex’s head so that his mother can continue with her evil deed. Lionel is looking angry and upset. He finally gives in. He tells them that he gave it to Lana because she is the chosen one. They believe him. Genevieve tells her son that she will take care of Lana. Jason reminds his mother that she promised not to hurt Lana to which Genevieve responds, “Has she ever shown any gratitude? Lana has no idea how much you've been protecting her. And for what? For her to choose Clark over you?” She convinces him and takes the car keys from him.

Clark and Lois walk into the photography dark room at Smallville High looking for Brendan but the room is empty except for all the pictures hanging everywhere. Looking around, Lois notices pictures of a few students cut out and applied to a wall with a big X over their faces. Clark walks over and says that they are from the Most Likely list. Then he sees that Lana’s picture is there and she is already marked out. Clark doesn’t think that they are dead. It looks more like a collection to him. He finds a transparency with a blue print drawing of the school. He places it on the projector and turns it on the wall with the pictures.  It places them all in rooms throughout the school building. Clark thinks that Brendan must have rebuilt that part of the school. He examines the transparency and sees the name Nash Construction.

Back in confinement, Chloe is in the imaginary Torch typing at her computer. When Brendan enters, she looks at him with a smile and enthusiastically comments on all the good material she has to write about. She plays along with the ploy she had started earlier about her liking him. Chloe acts like she is so happy about what Brendan has done in recreating the school. Brendan comments on the rejection letters he got from colleges and that he had no future. Chloe moves close to him and lowers her voice as she asks, “So, how’d you do it?” He tells her that he threatened his dad into making it for him. Then Lana comes up behind him with a heavy desk drawer and clobbers Brendan over the head knocking him out. Chloe grabs his keys and they run down the hallway with Haley. They exit through a door in the hallway and up some stairs in the warehouse. Haley takes the lead in front of Chloe and Lana. The doors at the top of the stairs fly open and Brendan is standing there with the bright light of the sun shining in behind him. He tells Haley that she shouldn’t have tried to get away. He grabs on to her and freezes her. When Chloe and Lana start up the stairs, they look up to see Brendan. He feels betrayed by Chloe because he thought she understood. Then he holds up the head of Haley.  Both Chloe and Lana take a step back and then he throws the head down the stairs with the frozen blood cracking all over the staircase. Horror fills the two girls’ faces but Brendan looks very sure of himself.

Jason is kneeling next to the fire as Lionel speaks to him telling him that he understands why he is caught up in all this because he knows his mother. Lex and Lionel are still tied to their chairs. When Lionel mentions Lana, Jason stands up and picks up his gun. He tells Lionel that Lana was just a pawn. “Pawn?” says Lionel. “Well that's true but, a pawn you fell in love with.” He taunts Jason that he gave up on love with Lana for the love of his mother. He seems to have hit a sore spot on Jason who points his gun at Lionel with a shaking hand. Then he uncocks the gun and walks out of the cabin. Lex makes jokes that the Teagues are worse than them. Lionel apologizes from getting him caught up in this but Lex says he’s glad. He tells his father to knock the hot poker out of the fire and over to him. Lionel complies and Lex tips his chair over landing with the ropes holding his hands together over the hot end of the poker. He groans in pain from the heat but eventually it burns through the ropes.

Outside the cabin, Jason is collecting more fire wood when he sees Lionel and Lex race out of the cabin. When they see him, they run in the opposite direction. Jason drops the wood and pulls out his gun cocking it into position. Lex and Lionel run through with the woods with Jason in pursuit shooting after them. Lex decides they should split up. He takes off in one direction and Lionel goes another. Lionel runs up a small hill and finds himself face to face with Jason who shoots at him knocking him down the hill. Jason follows him down and lowers the gun on Lionel. But before he can get a shot off, Lex hits Jason’s arm with a tree branch. Then he hits him in the face knocking him down. Before Lex can strike again, Jason throws dirt in his eyes and then takes off running. Lex follows with his tree branch still in hand. Jason runs until he comes to a cliff with a river far down below. He turns to see Lex about to hit him over the side. Jason reasons with him that they are not so different and that all this was not about them but about their parents. Lex says that he always knew he needed to protect Lana from him and Jason replies, “Oh, you don't believe that. Clark's more connected to this than any of us. You just choose to ignore it. I mean, think about it... the symbols burned into the Kent barn? The fields?” Lex tells him not to try shifting blame now. Jason tries to tell Lex that it’s all been there in front of him. “It's Clark. He's…” But before he can finish a shot rings out and the bullet goes through Jason. Lex veers around to see his father with the gun in his hand. Jason stumbles back falling off the cliff and down to the river below. Lionel and Lex look down but Jason never emerges out of the water.  Lionel tries to justify himself saying that Jason was about to kill Lex. But Lex only says, “Or divulge something you didn't want me to know.” Lionel tells him that he was returning the favor when Lex saved his life. Lex tells him that he only did that because he needs to get the stone and that Lana better not be hurt.

Lois and Clark make it to the abandoned Nash Construction warehouse. They are outside the building trying to figure out how to get in since the front doors are chained and padlocked shut. Clark suggests that she check around the corner. As soon as she is gone he rips the doors open and enters. Not to be deterred Lois finds her own way in. She spies a vent on an upper level and climbs up the building, pulls out the screen and climbs inside. Clark enters the imitated school hallway through the same door that Brendan always uses. He sees the frozen Wendell still standing in the hallway. Then looking through the window across from him he sees a stationary Chloe in the Torch office. He walks in saying her name. Now Lois enters the hallway dropping out of the upper ventilation shaft. She is looking through the window at a frozen Chloe and Clark when Brendan comes up behind her. She sends a side kick his way, but he catches her leg and starts to freeze her. Then Brendan pulls a bat off the wall and walks back over to Lois. Before he can strike Lois and shatter her body, Clark superspeeds in between them causing the bat to shatter instead. Brendan looks confused holding the broken bat. But as Clark looks at the frozen Lois, Brendan takes off up the stairs. Clark superspeeds in front of him. He tries to convince Brendan to let the other kids go. Brendan asks why he wouldn’t want to stay in high school. He points to a frozen Lana behind him and tells him that she would stay with him forever. Brendan walks menacingly behind Lana still talking. Clark approaches him and Brendan grabs onto Clarks arm but instead of freezing Clark, Brendan begins to freeze. Before he is completely consumed, he pushes the frozen Lana over. Clark superspeeds to catch her body just as Brendan completely freezes and falls over the banister of the stair way, his body smashing into a million pieces. At that moment, Lana defrosts gasping for breath. She calls Clark’s name as he still holds her. He smiles back at her. Then in the hallway, Wendell defrosts and Chloe and Lois are also back to normal. They find each other and hug. The focus returns back to Brendan’s broken body on the floor. A piece of his face retains one of his eyes. The eye closes slowly as if he now dies.

Clark is up in his barn loft looking at the stars through his telescope when his dad joins him. Jonathan tells Clark that he doesn’t want him to sacrifice his future for him. Clark tells him that it isn’t a sacrifice but a choice. Jonathan shares a story that he received a scholarship to Met U but his father needed him on the farm so he stayed. He doesn’t want Clark to resent him in the future. He doesn’t want to be that kind of father. Clark tells him that this isn’t about that; it’s about what kind of son he wants to be. Jonathan smiles and hugs his son.

Back in the real Torch office, Chloe is removing the Wall of Weird. As she finishes, she looks around at the empty office feeling nostalgia move in. She walks out of the school with everyone else looking happy and celebrating. She carries a box with the last of her things from the office. She is met outside by Clark, who takes the box from her, and Lana. They all look really depressed about school ending. Chloe says that she can kind of understand Brendan not wanting it all to end.  But then she says, “Although, after that little lock-in I can't think of anything scarier than being stuck in the past and not moving on.” She glances at both Clark and Lana. Then it dawns on Chloe what Lana had said a couple minutes ago, “I'll have summers and holidays?” She wonders about Lana’s plans. And Lana tells her that she is staying in Smallville. When Chloe asks if she wants to see what’s out there Lana tells her that’s why she went to Paris and there was a reason she was drawn back home. Lana walks on, Clark joins her. Chloe says to herself, “Maybe things won't change much after all.” She runs to catch up with the two of them walking with Clark in the middle.