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Bulletproof

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Bulletproof
Series 8x12
Episode 164
Writer Bryan Miller
Director Morgan Beggs
Broadcast Date 22 January, 2009
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[edit] Summary

Clark discovers John was shot while working as a police officer, so Clark dons the uniform and goes undercover to find the culprit. Meanwhile, Lana confronts Tess and tells her Lex isn't the man she thinks he is. Lana's shocking news forces Tess to reevaluate her position as the head of LuthorCorp.

[edit] Recap

John on patrol in Metropolis

John Jones is out on patrol in Metropolis catching an escaped convict. Jones catches the crook and the other members of the Metropolis Police Department take the convict back to prison. Jones gets back into his car, where he takes fire from an unknown location. Bullets riddle the car as he attempts to get out and take cover. As he does, a bullet pierces the door and catches Jones in the chest. He falls to the ground, bleeding. Up on a rooftop, the unknown gunman puts away his high powered rifle and a Metropolis PD crest is seen on his jacket.

Clark and Lana at the Metropolis Hospital
Clark is in the Metropolis General Hospital, when Lana comes. They talk about the thing that took Chloe. Meanwhile, also at Metropolis General, a couple of doctors takes John in and tries to save him, with Clark watching outside. Oliver arrives, revealing that he knows that John is Martian, and that he has saved him from police problems. Clark asks if he knows what John was working on, he says no, and suggests they split up, citing "teamwork's never really been our strong suit". Tess is at the Mansion, training Martial arts when Lana comes in.
Lana and Tess met for a first time
Lana says that she wants to thank Tess, because her arrival in Metropolis hasn't been published in the Daily Planet. After the ironic introduction, Lana says the she knows that Tess has spent a lot of Lex's money on a project called Prometheus, and that Lex is, in fact, alive. After a while of chatting, Tess says that Lana doesn't know Lex the way she did. Lana replies "For your sake I hope you're right". Lana leaves, revealing that she had stolen something from Tess. Clark arrives at the Isis Foundation, to find Chloe working. They talk about Lois and how his feeling is growing for her and to try not to hurt her in the Clark/Lana triangle. Clark says the he is glad that everything is back to normal (or in Chloe's words: "Brainiac-free"), but Chloe then talks about Lana, when Clark mentioned "normal". Chloe also mentions that she knows about Lois's feelings for Clark, and asks Clark to not "slam my cousin in the door". After a little while, their conclusion is that it was a Metropolis police officer that shot John Jones. Chloe says that Clark will need more than just a press pass.
Clark undercover as a cop

At the police station, a person called "Danny boy" by his friend cops is the "police guide" of "Joe". "Joe" turns around, and is revealed to be Clark.

"Joe" and Danny drive in a neighborhood, and turns on the siren. A thief is seen running out of a pharmacy. Danny tells Clark to make sure everyone is okay, while he personally chases the thief. He follows the thief into an alley. The thief hides, and comes up behind Danny, aiming his gun at him. Danny hasn't noticed anything yet when he hears a bullet firing, turns around, and sees the thief bouncing against the wall (a few inches, on some trash) and Clark standing there. He then looks at the smoking gun and arrests the thief. He realizes that Clark just saved him, and says "Guess I owe you one". After Danny leaves, Clark opens his hands, and takes a quick look at the bullet (to show the audience what he did).

At a barbecue at Dan Turpin's house, "Joe Fordman" or Clark meets Dan's son and wife. Dan's son is running around in a homemade costume. Clark asks who he is supposed to be and the child replies "The Red and Blue Blur". Clark looks to Dan, who replies in a way that he doesn't like his son emulating vigilantes. The son gets hurt and Dan goes over to help him. Dan's wife starts talking to Clark. During their conversation, Suzie tell Clark that Dan's partner was his ride-along since they both graduated the academy. Clark asks question on who shot John Jones and no one says anything, and the audience learns that nobody in Dan Turpin's squad, which John was apart of, liked him. The Cops get a call and leave with Clark.
Lana is at the Isis Foundation, using an USB to the computer of Isis Foundation. She is talking to someone, telling them she stole information from Tess' drives.
Lana reveals Lex's true intentions to Tess
It is unknown who she talks to; the receiver is not shown and she is using a wireless headset. As she downloads the info, the contents of the USB (Tess' drives) seem to be linked to another server as well. As soon as Lana starts to leave, Tess arrives and admits that her judge of character may not be as good as she thought it was. The two soon get into an argument but as Lana moves to the door, Tess pulls a gun at her. Lana manages to knock the gun out of Tess' hands and a fight ensues with Lana eventually getting the upper hand when she picks up the gun again and points it at Tess. Still holding Tess at gunpoint, Lana brings her into her surveillance room and asks Tess if she was this devoted before or after her accident, slightly impressing Tess with this knowledge as Lana states the details of this 'accident'. Tess tells Lana that Lex saved her life so she owes him everything. Lana reveals to Tess how Luthors repay that kind of loyalty; she shows her a live feed on the screens of everything Tess is seeing, explaining that Lex implanted nano-transmitters in her optic nerve so she could be Lex's eyes and ears. Tess watches the screens in horror as everything she sees is shown and everything she hears echoes. Lana apologizes to Tess, saying that Lex may have saved her, but he never trusted her.
Dan and Suzie Turpin
John at Metropolis Hospital
We see the cops, not including Clark, beat the crap out of a thug who apparently killed Danny's old partner and Dan Turpin starts beating the thug in rage, even though the thug is pleading to him that he is sorry. One of the other cops makes a comment that justice will be served. He then throws Clark a tire iron and prods Clark to "help" his partner. Before Clark is put in a difficult position, the Green Arrow swoops in and knocks most of the gang out with shock arrows. Clark catches the arrow meant for him. Clark tells The Green Arrow to leave and Dan, who is still semi-conscious, realizes Clark isn't all that he seems.

At the hospital Clark is confronted by Dan Turpin about what he saw.

Clark and Oliver talk
Clark is sitting in his kitchen when Oliver arrives and rails him out about being part of the beating. Clark insists that not all of them are all bad, when Oliver tells him the thug Jones was chasing after never arrived into custody, but instead ended up at the bottom of the river. Back at the Police Station Dan reveals to his friend that "Joe" is not who he says he is.
Dan Turpin and Talbert

Clark arrives at the Talbert house and uses his x-ray vision to find the sniper rifle in the trunk of a car, when Turpin arrives suddenly with his squad. They arrest Clark for the attempted murder of Detective Jones. Talbert hatches a plan to take down the Green Arrow with Dan pulling the trigger.

Talbert sits on a nearby roof with his sniper rifle when Dan arrives with the thug who robbed the pharmacy and starts beating the crap out of him. The thug screams for help and Green Arrow arrives and saves that day. Dan gets the drop on Green Arrow but hesitates to kill him. Ollie tells Dan it's not too late and Dan lowers his gun. Talbert takes matters into his own hands. A laser red dot appears on Dan's chest. Green Arrow notices and pushes him out of the way, behind some cover. Dan tries to move but gets caught in the shoulder by Talbert. Clark arrives and disarms Talbert but he pulls a gun from his back pocket.
Jones fully recovered
Talbert fires and the bullet bounces off Clark and wounds Talbert. He asks how, but Clark simply replies "Like you said, always wear a vest". The police arrive just as Dan is arresting the other officer noting "Don’t shoot I'm one of the Good Guys" as Clark looks on and smiles.

Clark and Oliver visit Jones in the Hospital. Clark asks John why he didn't contact him sooner. Jones says it was his pride that got in the way. He mentioned it was the same thing that keeps Ollie and Clark from asking for help. Jones mentions that when you have so much power you get used to not asking for help. Clark talks about how he saw the brotherhood policemen have, how it is good to have someone who has your back: sometimes you can't do it alone, no matter how powerful you are.

Tess confronts Lex
Later, in the Luthor Mansion, Tess sends a message to Lex via the camera in her optic nerve, telling him she respected him and trusted him, but not anymore. She threatens to cut him off from the world and make him disappear. She presses a lighted scrambling device that blocks the signal from her to Lex. As she does, she says she loved him. Oliver arrives at the mansion; Tess tells him she would like to discuss a merger over dinner. As they leave, Tess leaves the Daily Planet on her desk with the headline "Lex Luthor Declared Dead".
Clark kisses Lana

At Dan's house Clark and Dan talk about what Dan does and is it worth it. He questions Clark, asking if he has anyone he is fighting for. Back at the talon Clark and Lana talk. He asks why she's still there, and she tells him leaving was harder that she expected it to be. Clark passionately kisses Lana.

[edit] Recurring Role

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] Episode Title

  • The title refers to a plan or person being immune from attack.
  • Dan Turpin's former partner and long-year friend Mike used to call himself "bulletpoof" before he was murdered.
  • In this episode, Clark is literally bulletproof; he is shot with a bullet, which bounces off of him. He claims he was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time.

[edit] Notes

  • When Clark goes undercover as a police officer, his alias is "Joe Fordman." This could be a reference to the Fordman family from season 1, and also a reference to Jor-El's Earth name in Relic.
  • The police refer to Metropolis superheroes like Green Arrow and the Red-Blue Blur as "capes". This is somewhat surprising, because neither Clark or Oliver fights while wearing a cape. The only time Clark or Oliver has ever worn a cape in battle is when Oliver pretended to be the Red-Blue Blur in front of Jimmy. However, just like in the real world, in the world of Smallville most comic book superheroes, like Warrior Angel, wear capes.
  • Chloe manages to forge the paperwork that shows that Clark is "Joe Fordman", a cop transferring from Coast City. This is almost as impressive as the time she forged Kara Kent's paper trail, which claimed that Kara was Clark's cousin on his adoptive father's side and raised in Minnesota for the past 19 years.
  • David Paetkau (Dan Turpin) previously appeared on Smallville as Trevor Chapell in Hothead. Currently, he plays a police officer on the series Flashpoint.
  • The scene where Clark saves his "partner" from being shot is reminiscent of the first Superman movie, where Clark confronts a mugger in a back alley.
  • Clark catches a bullet meant for Dan Turpin. This is the seventh time Clark has caught a bullet with his bare hands: he caught the bullet(s) Edge's clown fired at him during the bank robbery in "Exile"; the bullet that Van McNulty fired at Lex in Extinction; the bullet that Samantha Drake fired at Jonathan Kent in Fanatic; the bullet that Maddox fired at him in "Combat"; the bullet that Graham Garrett shot at Lex and Lana in Fade; and the one that Ben Meyers fired at Rachel Davenport in Action
  • Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Davis Bloome are absent from this episode.
  • A photopgraph of Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor is seen on the front page of the Daily Planet.
  • Ty Olsson (Talbert) and Alessandro Juliani (Emil Hamilton) were regular characters in Battlestar Galactica. Olsson protrayed Captain Aaron Kelly and Juliani portrayed Lt. Felix Gaeta.

[edit] Continuity

  • When Clark and Lana are at the Talon, Clark tells her that if he squints his eyes, they're fourteen again. The Talon opened in Zero, the 14th episode of Season One which aired on March 12, 2002. Clark celebrates his birthday as early May 1987, while Lana's birthday is the Fall of 1986.
  • Martian Manhunter was last seen in Prey and lost his powers in Odyssey, causing him to become vulnerable to a bullet wound in this episode.
  • Lana displayed outstanding martial arts ability while fighting Tess, a highly trained martial artist. Lana first learned to fight after being attacked by Andy Arthur in Season Two; after she asked for help, Lex trained Lana and she was able to take Andy down with a spin-kick.
  • Oliver reveals that he's collaborated with Detective Jones in the past, while fighting crime in Metropolis, after he met him in Odyssey.
  • This is the second time Lex has be seen in a picture since Abyss.
  • Tess mentions Lana's miscarriage. Lana revealed she was pregnant with Lex's baby in Rage, but miscarried in Combat. It was ultimately revealed in Progeny that Lex had faked her pregnancy by injecting her with hormones.

[edit] Quotes

Tess: Lex saved my life. I owe him everything.
Chloe: Clark, things always get messy when you start throwing around the Clark-Lana triangle, and I'm speaking from experience when I say the third point always hurts.
Tess: I'd like to discuss a merger.
Oliver: A merger? What kind of merger?
Tess: Any kind you'd like.
Clark: If I squint just right, it's like we're 14 again.
Lana: You say that like it's a good thing. What's up?
Clark: I couldn't sleep.
Lana: So you came to a coffee shop? Not your best plan, Mr. Kent.
Tess: I did everything you ever asked. You've seen it with your own eyes, and apparently, with mine. But not anymore. I hope you watch with rapt attention as your bank accounts close, and you lose all contact with the outside world. I loved you, you son of a bitch.
Tess: You don't know Lex like I do.
Lana: For your sake I hope you're right.
Danny: What about you Clark? You got someone who makes it all worth it?
Chloe: You know I gotta say being at the mercy of modern technology really sucks. (Clark gives her a strange look) I know, I know, I'm happy to be Brainiac-free but, my evil upgrade was really... convenient.

[edit] External Links


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