Arctic
From Smallville Wiki
| Arctic | |
|---|---|
| |
| Series | 7x20 |
| Episode | 152 |
| Writer | Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson |
| Director | Todd Slavkin |
| Broadcast Date | May 15, 2008 |
| Production Code | 3T6320 |
| Navigation | |
| Previous Episode: Quest
Next Episode: Odyssey | |
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Kara tells Lex he is destined to defeat the Traveler and offers to take him to the Fortress to learn how. Clark is stunned that Kara would go to Lex but it is revealed that Brainiac is impersonating Kara and she's actually trapped in the Phantom Zone. Chloe is arrested by the Department of Domestic Security and Lana awakens from her comatose state. Meanwhile, in an epic turn of events, Clark and Lex face off in the Fortress and Lex learns Clark's secret.
[edit] Recap
Edward Teague is on a private jet when the flight attendant approaches him. It is Brainiac, as Kara Kent, who begins to question him about Veritas and a device. He avoids her questions and she grabs him by the neck and punches a hole in the side of the plane. She threatens to throw him out until he admits that Lex Luthor probably has the information she seeks. Kara flies out of the plane and leaves it to crash.
Lex is in his Daily Planet office when he is informed that two of his teams have gone missing trying to reach their target in the Arctic Circle. Jimmy Olsen enters and thinks he is meeting Lex about his upcoming Kawatche Caves article. However, Lex reminds him that he did Jimmy a favor by calling the Department of Domestic Security and keeping Chloe Sullivan out of prison, so he wants Jimmy to distract Lois Lane, who has been asking too many questions about him. Jimmy is reluctant because Lois is quite persistent, but Lex has forced his hand. He gives him bogus satellite images to throw Lois off the trail.
Clark answers his door to find Lois Lane eager to see him. She explains that since Chloe was fired, a spot has opened up in the bullpen. She gives him an application and says she thinks he is destined for greater things than working on a farm. Clark points out that he'd never work for Lex and Lois asks why they were ever such great friends. Clark just says that sometimes people don't turn out the way you think they will. He warns Lois to be careful working for Lex. Chloe arrives and asks to talk to Clark in private. Lois exits and Chloe tells Clark that Edward Teague has just died in a plane crash.
Clark and Chloe go to the Isis Foundation where she explains that she has hacked into the plane's black box and learned details about the crash. She plays garbled audio and Clark uses his superhearing and is surprised to hear Kara's voice, threatening to bring the plane down. They wonder if Kara is, in fact, as dangerous as other Kryptonians they have come in contact with but Clark is reluctant to believe that Kara is a killer. Chloe plays more audio and Clark hears that she's going after Lex.
Kara arrives in the Luthor Mansion and uses her X-ray vision to locate the orb in Lex's safe. However, a fail-safe protection within the orb, preventing anyone other than a human to use the device, means she is unable to take it for herself. Clark finds Kara and asks her about the plane crash. Kara says she was only trying to protect him, and killed Teague for going after Clark. He grabs her and speeds her back to the barn. He questions her strange behavior, suggesting she has come into contact with red kryptonite or has changed on returning from Krypton. Kara insists that she is fine. She tells Clark that if someone figured out how to control him, a lot more innocent people may die, and that she is going to do whatever it takes to save Earth. She flies away and when Clark tries to hold her back, she kicks him across the barn and departs.
Jimmy meets Lois at the Ace of Clubs and gives her the satellite images. He convinces her that Lex has been visiting the Arctic looking for new places to drill oil. Lois is skeptical but Jimmy says he got the photos from the photo lab and Lois seems convinced.
Lex finds Kara in his library, who begins to ask him questions about Veritas. She tells him that she wants the device that can control the Traveler. She says she and the Traveler are from the same planet and demonstrates for Lex by using her heat vision. Lex realizes that Kara is in fact the being that saved him at Reeves Dam. Kara tells him that she saved him because it is his destiny to defeat the Traveler. She says the device is designed so that only a human can use it. She tells him to take the device to the coordinates in the Arctic and that she will help him find it. Lex doesn't understand why Kara would help destroy one of her own kind but Kara claims that she knows the Traveler's true fate: to destroy mankind. Lex asks who the Traveler is, and Kara asks him if he already knows.
Chloe finds Clark at home with the lead box. He tells her that kryptonite is the only way to stop Kara. He is worried that Kara is right, that he hasn't done all he could to stop Veritas. He asks Chloe to help stop Kara but Chloe points out that the green kryptonite will incapacitate him, too, and that she should do it alone.
Lex is preparing to take the device to the Arctic and tells his men that another passenger is coming. Jimmy arrives and tells him that he did what he asked and gave Lois the photos. He thinks they're even now, but Lex tells him to continue to spy on Lois. Jimmy objects, saying he doesn't want to lie anymore. He promises not to tell anyone about Lex's secrets and is pleased when Lex seems to agree.
Chloe lures Kara to her apartment but is shocked when the green K doesn't work. Kara realises that Chloe has deceived her, prompting Chloe to try and escape the apartment. Kara blocks the door and reveals that "she" is, in fact, Brainiac. Brainiac is impressed that Chloe tried to stop him, but proceeds to pierce her head with his finger tendrils. However, Chloe's power enables her to resist for a short while and by the time she falls to the ground, Brainiac is considerably weakened.
Lex boards his jet and decides not to wait for Kara, not knowing if he can trust her. The security team is reluctant to leave, since his last two teams have disappeared, but Lex is convinced that the device will protect him.
Jimmy is bringing Chloe home from the hospital. He is very nervous, then admits that when Chloe was in the hospital he realized how much she means to him. He gives her a plastic ring and proposes. Before she can answer, an armed agent storms into the Talon and places Chloe under arrest. Jimmy tries to protest but they punch him to the ground. As they are hauling her off, Chloe screams for Jimmy to call Clark.
Jimmy finds Clark in his loft and tells him Chloe got arrested. He admits that he made a deal with Lex but backed out of it. He tells him that Lex is headed to the Arctic Circle.
Lex is in the Fortress of Solitude and is about to place the orb into the glowing console. Clark makes it to the Fortress where Lex is waiting. They stare each other down. The orb glows in Lex's hand. Lex says that Clark has brilliantly been disguising himself as a mild-mannered farm boy but is secretly plotting mankind's demise. Clark protests, saying he's never hurt Lex. Lex counters that he never trusted him, and that he could have helped him become a hero. Clark says Lex has no right to control his life, but Lex believes that it is his birthright to save mankind. He believes that all of his suffering has led him to this point. He places the orb into the console where it glows brightly. Clark falls to the ground as the Fortress begins to break apart. Lex approaches Clark and apologizes. The Fortress collapses with the two inside.
[edit] Recurring Roles
- Regan Matthews - Ari Cohen
- Brainiac - James Marsters
- Edward Teague - Robert Picardo
[edit] Featured Music
- "Perfect" - Michelle Featherstone
[edit] Episode Title
- The episode title refers to the setting of the showdown between Clark and Lex set in the Arctic; in the Fortress of Solitude. The Fortress of Solitude is located in the Arctic Circle.
[edit] Notes
- This is the last appearance of Michael Rosenbaum [1], Laura Vandervoort [2], and Kristin Kreuk [3] as series regulars.
- Although Lionel Luthor died in Descent (four episodes prior) this is the last time John Glover is credited as a series regular.
- While trapped in the Phantom Zone, Kara is shown to come out from the time vortex used for travelling back in time, returning from the past to her real present. Therefore, she has been in the Phantom Zone for a little time rather than for the past 19 years. However, it is unconfirmed how she ended up in there.
- This is the first time Lana has been seen since Veritas. Presumably, Lana's scene was done as a video message because Kristin Kreuk was overseas in Thailand filming Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li. [citation needed]
- Promotional images for this episode showed Lex in snow gear approaching the Fortress, which had been shot for the ending of Veritas before the season resumed filming from the writers' strike. That image and footage was scrapped in favor of newer footage with Lex dressed in a manner reminiscent of his coat in Vessel and Zod.
- This is the sixth time Lex has discovered Clark's secret. He forgot about Clark's powers in Hug (after being influenced by Bob Rickman), in Shattered (due to electroshock therapy), and in Onyx (after black kryptonite merged the good and bad Lex); Lex also discovered Clark's secret in the alternate timeline of Reckoning, and Clark dreamed he did in Slumber.
- Brainiac absorbed energy from an electric power station in order to recover. Sean Kelvin did the same thing in Season One, but for a different reason: absorbing heat energy.
- Lana's video letter to Clark, where she describes how the world needs him more than she does, bears a striking resemblance to a letter in the comics that adult Lana left for Superman, describing how she wishes they could have spent their life in a bubble away from the world.[4] Lana also made a video break-up message for her high school boyfriend Whitney while he was away at war.
- This episode has three unaired scenes on the Season 7 DVDs. In the first, it is revealed that Lana became uncontrollably violent during her catatonia at least once, but Clark is able to plead with her and calm her down. In the other two, Lois and Jimmy are dealing with Chloe's attack, which doctors have presumed was a stroke. Lois is packing to visit Chloe in the hospital and upset with Clark, unaware that he is still trying to track down Brainiac. Jimmy tells Clark that found her unconscious on the floor. He thinks Chloe's meteor power is the reason for her condition, and is somewhat unsurprised that Clark already knew about it. This last scene was somewhat reworked for the episode Abyss, where Jimmy reveals to Clark that he thinks Chloe's meteor infection is making her sick, but realizes Clark already knows about it.
[edit] Continuity
- The Kryptonian device Lex uses to destroy the Fortress was found in the fireplace mantle of the Luthor Mansion by Lex Luthor in the previous episode Quest. It was revealed to be in the possession of Tess Mercer in Eternal, where she also states, like Lex in this episode, that she knows Clark is Kal-El.
- The orb was initially found by Dr Virgil Swann after Jor-El sent it to earth and around it forged the Veritas Society and the prophecy about the Traveler before hiding the orb and leaving a long line of clues to its whereabouts.
- Clark asks Kara if she's come into contact with red kryptonite. Red K was last seen in Crimson in Season 6.
- This is Lana's fourth "Dear John" letter. She broke up with Whitney Fordman in Heat in Season 2 with another video letter while he was posted overseas. She left Jason Teague a note before abruptly leaving him in Paris in Gone in Season 4.[5] She also wrote Lex a breakup note intending to leave him before their wedding in Promise in Season 6. But it should be noted that Lana was being forced by Lex's men, led by Tess, to record the break-up video, under Lex's orders.
- Brainiac says to Chloe, "I remember you. Always sticking your pretty little head where it doesn't belong." This is a possible reference to Season Five's Solitude when Chloe helped Clark defeat Brainiac in the Fortress of Solitude.
- Lex's belief that it was Kara who saved him at Reeves Dam (Bizarro) is finally confirmed, even though it is confirmed by the Brainiac version of Kara.
- This is Lana's third time moving away from Smallville, the first was in Covenant, and the second was in Phantom. It is later revealed in Power that she was forced by Lex's men to make the video for Clark and taken away. Lana escaped her captors and spent the next seven months plotting against Lex.
- Brainiac says, "If we would have done this my way, no one would have gotten hurt." He earlier said this to Kara and Clark in the episode Veritas.
- The aftereffects of Brainiac's attack on Chloe are revealed in the next season in several episodes, most notably Odyssey, Toxic, and Bloodline. Ultimately, Brainiac was able to infect Chloe's brain to cause almost total amnesia in Abyss and was able to take over her body completely in Legion.
[edit] Quotes
- Brainiac: This is a simple matter of self-preservation. When I couldn't kill you, I knew I had to control you.
- Clark: I'm in control now. And you will release Chloe! You'll release Lana!
- Brainiac: The only way to save them would be to kill me now, in cold blood. Which goes against everything you stand for. You could never deliberately take another man's life.
- Clark: You're not a man. You're a machine. (electrocutes Brainiac)
- Chloe: (exposes Kara to kryptonite) Why isn't it working?
- Brainiac-as-Kara: Check the expiration date?
- Brainiac: (to Chloe) I'm impressed. I wouldn't have thought a member of your weak-willed species, especially a friend of Kal-El's, could ever use kryptonite against his cousin.
- Lex: (looking at the Fortress) I must admit, Clark. This is a big step up from the barn.
- Clark: It's not what you think, Lex. You don't understand.
- Lex: For the first time, I think I do. You see, you live among us as a mild-mannered farm boy. But secretly, you're a strange visitor from anther planet, plotting our demise.
- Clark: That's not what I'm doing at all.
- Lex: It's a brilliant disguise, Clark. You don't even need a mask.
- Clark: I'm not your enemy, Lex. I've never done anything to hurt you.
- Lex: You didn't trust me. With everything you had, with everything you could do, did you ever think about what we could have accomplished together? I would have helped you become a hero.
- Lex: Who am I to turn my back on my fellow man? Especially after you turned your back on me? I'm sorry, Clark. But you are the Traveler. You hold the future of the entire planet in your hands. I'm here to take it back.
- Clark: Lex...
- Lex: You'll never threaten the world again... Kal-El.
- Brainiac-as-Kara: Why is it every time I bring up Veritas, people seem to suffer from sudden amnesia?
- Clark: Have you come into contact with red kryptonite -- a ring, a necklace?
- Brainiac-as-Kara: I stopped wearing jewelry.
- Brainiac: (to Chloe after her powers foiled his attempt to infect her) What the hell are you?!
- Brainiac-as-Kara: (to Lex) I always thought the Traveler was meant for good, even he thinks he is, but he went home from Krypton and learnt the truth about his fate. He won’t save mankind, he will destroy it.
- Lex: (to Clark) I love you like a brother Clark, but it has to end this way. I'm sorry.
[edit] Reference Notes
- ↑ Hollywoodinsider.ew.com May 2008
- ↑ TV Guide.com Blog May 17, 2008
- ↑ Ausiello Report blog May 8, 2008
- ↑ Sometimes called the "Bubble letter," the letter can be read here (page 1) and here (page 2) courtesy of Lana-Clark.net.
- ↑ Jason holds up a note as he says, "I, uh, found this. "Jason, I had to go back home. I wish I had time to explain." So now you do." Lana apologizes. Jason replies, "It's okay. It's all right. You know, I kept trying to convince myself that this wasn't about me, but... you can't really put that in a note, can you?"-- 4X02, Gone
[edit] External Links
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