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Plot
As Superman pleads with Anderson to investigate Ally Allston from the confines of a red sun cell, Lois struggles to help Lana take the fight to Mayor Ford. Meanwhile, relations between Jordan and Jonathan strain further as Jonathan's secret is exposed to his family and Sarah seeks advice from an unexpected source.
Influences
The Supermen of America series and Euphoria (anti-drug storyline)
Goofs
After disabling the red sun filter in their cell, both Tal-Rho and Superman are able to escape their cell at superspeed. However, as shown in previous episodes of Supergirl and Superman and Lois (most notably in Crisis On Infinite Earths) a Kryptonian needs to be exposed to yellow sunlight before their powers are restored even partially after an extended period absorbing red sunlight.
Performances
Once again, Elizabeth Tulloch steals the show, selling Lois' torment over what her sons have done and the idea that she's failed them as a mother.
The interactions between Tulloch and Emmanuelle Chriqui are also incredible. It's gratifying to see Lois and Lana discussing motherhood and their own issues with barely a mention of Clark and the friendship is well played here.
Artistry
The fight scene between the various Supermen and Anderson is fantastic.
Super Trivia
This episode was originally titled "Fallout." The same title was previously used for episodes of Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl.
Technobabble
The Smallville sheriff does not classify X-Kryptonite or Yellow Mist as a drug, but does have dogs trained to sniff the substance out.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Lois and Lana discuss Mayor Dean's strategy.)
Lois: If it was up to me, I would run your ads for free every single day up until the election, but I'm afraid that would violate every campaign finance law imaginable.
Lana: So what do I do? I mean, Dean's got the power of his office and the town gossip all working in his favor.
Lois: But you have the truth. Don't underestimate that.
Tal-Rho: I pity you, brother. I mean, after everything you've done for humanity, to find yourself here...
Superman: Do you ever stop talking?
Tal-Rho: Cast out, imprisoned. It's humiliating.
Superman: Yes. Well, the real punishment is having to listen to you.
Lana: Please just promise me--
Sarah: Not to smoke space drugs? Yeah, I'm not that stupid.
Mayor Dean: But my point is this... if you can't keep control of your own family, if you don't really know what's going on in your own home, how are we supposed to trust that you'd know what's going on with all of us?
Lana: Because I love this town, George, and everyone in it.
Mayor Dean: Well, Lana... I just can't be sure, given your current situation, if we can be sure of that.
Lana: Well, I guess I'll just have to make it clear to everybody during our debates. But what should really be in question here, George, is what kind of person you are-- someone so willing to attack a member of this family during one of the most painful moments of their life.Does that sound like family values to you?
(Clark comes into Jonathan's room.)
Jonathan: You're back.
Clark: Yeah, I am, and you know what? I was not expecting to hear what your mother just told me.
Jonathan: Dad, I can explain.
Clark: Jonathan, no! Your mom gave you multiple chances to tell her the whole story, you chose not to.
Jonathan: I'm sorry.
Clark: What were you thinking?
Jonathan: I just--I-I wanted to be better.
Clark: By taking drugs? Have we taught you nothing? Have not heard a single word that either of us has ever said to you?
Jonathan: Yes.
Clark: Then, damn it, act like it. Tomorrow you will go, and you will apologize to Principal Balcomb. Then you will apologize to Coach Gaines. And after that, you will apologize to the entire football team. Your mother and I are gonna figure out how you're gonna finish out the school year, whether it's in the next town over, online, or somewhere else. And after all that, Jonathan, you and I are gonna have a long talk about all the important things I thought you already knew so that you don't ever misrepresent yourself or this family again. Do you understand?
Jonathan: Yes, sir.
(Clark leaves. Jonathan immediately starts crying. Clearly his father's disapproval was the last straw.)
Continuity
As the episode opens, Superman is locked in the same cell as Tal-Rho.
Anderson tells Superman he will remained locked up until he reveals the location of Bizarro.
Superman says he'll gladly hand Bizarro over for trial, but they need to destroy the pendant Bizzaro had first.
Anderson says he has no intention of bring Bizarro to trial or bargaining with Superman. He also blows off Superman's warning about Ally Allston.
Sam Lane tells Lois he's still trying to work his connections to get details about why Clark has been arrested and that he's trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting with General Hardcastle.
Lois tells Jordan and Jonathan to settle whatever dispute they have themselves because she doesn't have time to deal with it.
Lana Lang came from a broken home and hoped to avoid putting her daughters through the same thing.
Sarah helps Lana with gathering Kyle's belongings and says she blames Kyle for this situation - not Lana and says Lana shouldn't blame herself either.
Lana sees that Mayor Dean has an add in the paper, billing himself as a Family Values candidate and promoting a meeting to discuss that topic.
Sarah is ignoring Jordan's calls and texts. He goes to her before their first class and tries to empathize, but Sarah says she doubts he can really understand what is going on.
Candice meets Jonathan at his locker with more Yellow Mist. However, Jonathan tells her he is done taking the drug.
While they are talking, the sheriff's office arrive with drug-sniffing dogs, apparently trained to look for Yellow Mist.
Jonathan takes all of Sarah's stash with the intention of dumping it. However, the dogs single him out before he can walk away.
Lana confronts Lois at the office regarding Mayor Dean's add.
Lois says that Dean paid $3000 for the advertisement which is far more than Lana can afford.
Lois is called about Jonathan being caught with the Yellow Mist.
Anderson puts a Kryptonite collar on Tal-Rho and threatens to kill him slowly if he doesn't tell him where Bizarro is hidden.
Lana confronts Sarah over Jonathan using Yellow Mist. Sarah denies knowing about it or using the drug herself, but she says Jordan is freaking out over it.
Sarah tells Lana that she knows Jordan means well, but that the biggest problems he has with his family is Clark wearing nerdy shorts when he's at work as a football coach.
Lana suggests Sarah find another friend she's comfortable venting to to discuss her father.
Jonathan was caught with 20 Yellow Mist inhalers.
Jonathan denies selling drugs and claims he was going to get rid of them when he was found with them.
While the Sheriff is not pressing criminal charges against Jonathan (X-K is not technically a drug) the school is still discussing whether or not to expel Jonathan.
Jonathan refuses to explain how he came into that much X-K.
Jordan walks in as Lois is grilling Jonathan and is asked if he knew anything about this. Jordan presumes she means Jonathan using Yellow Mist and admits he found out the night before. This is actually the first inkling Lois had that Jonathan was using Yellow Mist and not just protecting a drug dealer.
Jonathan admits to using Yellow Mist for a couple of weeks, but says he swore he'd quit after Jordan caught him with it.
Superman lies and tells Anderson that Bizarro is at 76.2 N longitude, 100.4 W latitude. This is later revealed to be the location of his old Fortress of Solitude. These coordinates would place it somewhere in Northern Russia in our world, on the land mass between the Kara and Laptev Seas.
Lois goes to Lana to vent about the situation with Jonathan.
Lana advises Lois that sometimes listening is the best thing you can do for your teenager.
Lois says Lana is a great mom and suggests she take the fight to Mayor Dean regarding his "family values' talk.
Jordan confronts Jonathan and asks if he was dealing drugs. Jonathan tells him to leave him alone.
Anderson and his team discover what remains of Bizarro's armor at the old Fortress of Solitude site. He takes this as proof that Superman has been lying to him and that all the Kryptonians are working together.
A fight breaks out between Superman and Tal-Rho, after Tal-Rho threatens to reveal Superman's secret identity to Anderson. However, this is all part of a plan to lure the guards into their cell to try and break up the fight, allowing them to get their guns and use them to disable the red-sun lamps.
Anderson tracks both Superman and Tal-Rho back to the new fortress in the Bad Lands. He goes chasing after them, despite having an order to report to General Hardcastle over what just happened.
Anderson takes a supply of Yellow Mist the Department of Defense apparently confiscated with him, along with a gun and Kryptonite bullets.
Bizzaro says that, on his world, he and his version of Tal-Rho were inseparable allies until his Tal-Rho betrayed his family and his wife tried to kill Bizarro. (While this is not confirmed directly, it is believed this might be the shadow Lana Lang seen in 206.)
Sarah meets with a girl named Aubrey at the diner in Smallville. She is confirmed to be the girl at camp whom she kissed once.
Aubrey lives in the town of Clover, which is a two hour drive from Smallville.
Sarah apologies for not keeping in touch after camp, but Aubrey says she understands the kiss weirded her out and made things weird since she had a boyfriend.
Aubrey's parents also went through a rough divorce, so Aubrey knows exactly what Sarah is dealing with.
Sarah says part of her wants to talk to Kyle, but she thinks it is disrespectful to Lana to do so.
Aubrey tells Sarah that she didn't talk to her dad for a year and it didn't help things. In fact, she thinks it made her meaner and she got into two fights that semester and chipped a tooth.
Sarah and Aubrey agree to be friends again and to stay in touch.
Jordan tells Lois he doesn't think Jonathan was selling drugs and is covering for someone.
Lois thanks Jordan and says she hopes he's right but he still isn't off the hook for not telling her Jonathan was using X-K.
Jonathan admits he started using X-K to try and keep up with Timmy Ryan because football was the one thing he could do that made him as great as everyone else in the family. He once again denies selling drugs.
Lois says she thinks Jonathan is telling the truth but she's still incredibly disappointed.
Jonathan still refuses to say where he got the Yellow Mist from, even after Lois tells him that the principal told her that he'd be expelled unless he could prove the inhalers weren't his.
Anderson fires a missile at the new Fortress and attacks the Fortress single-handed, manifesting heat vision as he uses the Yellow Mist.
Tal-Rho takes several Kryptonite bullets intended for Superman.
The hologram of Lara releases Bizarro and begs him to save her sons.
Anderson's green Kryptonite weapons do nothing to Bizarro. However, he figures out that the X-Kryptonite weakens him and begins using it like pepper spray to weaken Bizzaro before killing him.
Superman uses his heat vision to vaporize the Kryptonite fragments in Tal-Rho.
Superman takes Tal-Rho back to his cell. He says Anderson is a wanted fugitive and that he has made his peace with the Department of Defense.
Tal-Rho apologizes for hurting Jordan and Superman addresses him as "brother" after telling him that maybe someday he can apologize to Jordan himself.
According to Sam Lane, Anderson is wanted for going AWO and stealing X-K and Kryptonite weapons from Project 7734.
Sam Lane offered to lead the manhunt himself, despite being retired, since he had suggest Anderson be promoted into the position of replacing him.
Clark likes red wine and Chinese food after a long day.
Lana confronts Mayor Dean and says she doesn't think a person with family values would attack someone during one of the worst times of their life. This gets several people to walk out of the meeting with Mayor Dean after she leaves.
Sarah tracks down Kyle as he's grocery shopping and asks to talk to him.
Clark reads Jonathan the riot act and this finally causes Jonathan to breakdown crying.
Anderson goes to Ally Allston and gives her the pendant Bizzaro had.
Location
The undisclosed location where Tal-Rho's cell is kept.
The Bottom Line
Another great episode that moves all the subplots forward and builds the drama across the board.
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