Originally aired February 26, 2002
Written by Philip Levens
Directed by Robert Singer
A trio of thugs with the ability to pass through solid matter raid the Luthor Mansion and steal a disk containing sensitive information. When Chloe is injured during the assault, a guilt-wracked Clark resolves to track down the thieves. The thugs recruit a depressed Whitney into their fold.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Career-Ending Injury: Wade Mahaney suffered one in the past.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Lex even warns Clark against developing this.Lex: Clark, you can't save the world. All you'll end up with is a Messiah complex and a lot of enemies.
- Descent into Addiction: Whitney joins the gang of thieves and gets addicted to the power from his new tattoo.
- Everybody Has Standards: Whitney may have a rivalry against Clark but even he isn't willing to commit crime and harm people.
- Heroic BSoD: Clark after he fails to save someone (Chloe) for the first time.
- Intangibility: The gang of thugs, thanks to Kryptonite tattoos.
- It's All My Fault: Clark's response after Chloe is injured. Chloe even mocks his response.Clark: I just wanna say I'm sorry.Chloe: For what?Clark: Letting you get hurt.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Whitney has this reaction as he sees how far the gang are willing to go and hurt people.
- Portal Cut: One of the thieves got his left arm stuck in the Metropolis Bank vault because the tattoos were losing power. He split apart from it, and it set of the bank alarms. He replaced it with a doll-like fake limb.
- Power Tattoo: The thugs use Kryptonite tattoos to become intangible.
- Tattooed Crook: The gang since it's the source of their power.
- Villain of the Week: Wade Mahaney, Derek Fox, and Scott Bowman.
