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"What matters is that I can see Gotham from my new office, and you... oh, well, you, hon, you work below sea level."– Linda Lake, Hydro.

Linda Lake was the weekly gossip columnist for the Daily Planet. In 2009 she tried to expose Clark Kent to the world for being a super-powered alien from Krypton and also the Red-Blue Blur.

Physical Appearance[]

Linda was a woman in her mid-30s, of slender build, with blond hair and brown eyes

Personality[]

Linda Lake is manipulative, vindictive, cruel, snobby, a liar, as well as a murderer. She repeatedly blackmails people to get what she wants and is willing to destroy anyone in the way of a "juicy" story. Linda is also a murdering psychopath; killing a star football player, as well as attempting to kill Chloe without remorse. A fame seeker, she cares little about others and considers herself superior to all, showing her to be highly narcissistic.

Lake also is willing to print completely false stories, if it means she'll get attention. Because Clark beat her to the story about his secret, she decided to write a completely false story about him being the first of alien invaders based on the paranoia of Lex Luthor.

Powers and Abilities[]

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Linda turns into water in front of Clark.

  • Hydrokinesis - She could internally/externally use and generate water by thinking in it. She could also transform into liquid.

Sensing: While transformed, Linda was able to maintain at least some of her senses; for example, she was able to hear while in liquid form, despite not having visible ears.

Linda's liquid form could co-exist within a larger body of water; she was shown hiding in an outdoor fountain, a gutter and also in a water cooler. Her human form was shown after each incident, proving that she was able to transform back. In Infamous she is shown transforming from a stream of water exiting a gutter.

Vulnerabilities[]

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Clark prevents Linda from turning into water.

After being struck by Lana's car, Linda appeared to transform into water. It is unclear if the injury caused her to spontaneously transform, or if she transformed purposefully just before she was hit. Either way, she was somehow unable to transform immediately back into human form; as one of the few journalists who knew Clark's secret, she would have published his secret if she were alive and able to transform back into human form (Although she may have simply been destabilized by the unexpected attack long enough for her to be captured).

An electric current turns her solid and prevents her from transforming into water, it is unknown for how long a single shock prevents this, but it is both shown onscreen and mentioned in Infamous. During this time, Linda is incapable of using her powers and is as vulnerable as any human being, allowing Davis Bloome to suffocate her.

Early life[]

Linda was caught in the 2005 meteor shower that bombarded Smallville, when her news van crashed into Crater Lake. She wrote the "Daily Dish" gossip column and used her meteor powers to transform herself into water in order to obtain inside or personal information for her column.

Season Six[]

"At the risk of heresy, I would rather be snorkeling for the rest of my life than destroy a man's career based on rumor" - Chloe Sullivan about Linda Lake, Hydro.
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Linda talks with Mike in the Rain.

Linda barged into the basement offices of the Daily Planet and demanded that Chloe Sullivan make copies of her article, but Chloe objected because she was not her personal assistant and questioned Linda's reporting policies, pointing out her newest article that exposed a sports star for using steroids could destroy his career, but Lake appeared unapologetic. Mike Dawson attempted to talk to Linda, saying that he wouldn't let her destroy any more lives, but she managed to elude him and then drown him in a fountain.

Linda used her power to find out that Lana Lang was wary about accepting Lex Luthor's marriage proposal because of her lingering feelings for Clark Kent and used this as her new article and published it in the morning edition of the newspaper, causing serious problems between Clark, Lana, Chloe and Lex.

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Linda attempts to kill Chloe.

Lex approached Linda in her unfinished new office demonstrating that he knew about her powers and left her a blank check, telling her to collect anything she can on Clark and Lana.

Linda infiltrated Chloe's apartment and overheard Chloe state that Clark was an alien and then wrote another story about him but Chloe Sullivan broke into her office and smashed her laptop. Linda then chased Chloe with a nail gun, intending to kill her, but Chloe managed to escape. She followed Chloe to the street where they start to fight again but was beaten by Chloe and run over by Lana. She burst into a splash of water, which drained away.

Season Eight[]

"I'm ready to make another splash!" - Linda Lake, Infamous.
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Linda shows Clark her article.

She appeared again in front of Clark showing him a story she wrote about his secret and threatened to publish it unless he allowed her to become the voice of the "Red-Blue Blur" in order to revive her career. Clark decided to tell the world about himself but on his own terms, using Lois Lane to write the story. Linda was infuriated by this and retaliated by publishing a story about Clark being the first wave of an alien invasion and blamed him for killing the real hero, Lex Luthor. Because of these declarations, the world turned against Clark.

Chloe discovered that Linda had been locked up all this time at Black Creek and found a way to stop her. Clark also hatched a plan to rewind time and fix everything using the Legion ring, but Linda stopped him by using green kryptonite. Then Lois fought Linda to give Clark the opportunity to take the ring.

After Clark went back in time, he confronted Linda before she had typed the article about him being an alien. Clark used Chloe's research to stop Linda by electrocuting her to prevent her from turning to water.

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Davis kills Linda.

Linda was then put in the criminal containment ward in Metropolis General. She then called upon Davis Bloome to free her. She told him that she knew he was a monster and ordered him to free her from her restraints or else she would expose his secret to Chloe. This infuriated Davis so much that he suffocated her with a pillow, as his Doomsday persona began to take hold of him.

Notes[]

  • Lake's story about Clark being the first wave of an alien invasion is reminiscent of what Lex Luthor believed in Arctic, which led to the destruction of the Fortress.
  • She was the first person Davis Bloome killed as himself (rather than as Doomsday).
  • Linda fought the two cousins, Chloe and Lois, on the occasions where she appeared. Neither got along well with her because the methods she used to gain fame.
  • During the two episodes in which she appeared, it rained heavily in Metropolis.
  • Linda Lake has the same initials as four of the main characters: Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Lois Lane and Lionel Luthor
  • Before her career at the Daily Planet, Linda worked for KPAZ News Channel 54.

Trivia[]

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