Originally aired November 5, 2002
Teleplay by Kenneth Biller
Story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Directed by Greg Beeman
When a woman named Rachel Dunleavy comes to town and claims to be Clark's biological mother, Clark learns that Lionel was involved in his adoption by the Kents; when he demands answers, Jonathan reveals what happened after he and Martha found Clark the day Smallville was struck by the meteor shower. Lana visits Henry Small, the man she believes may be her biological father. Rachel drops a bombshell on Lex.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Alas, Poor Villain: The Kents and Lex express sympathy for Rachel.
- Anti-Villain: Rachel is a Type V. She just wanted to be reunited with her long-lost son.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Chloe's answer to Clark's Armor-Piercing Question during an argument.Clark: Yeah, that's because she hasn't shown her face here in years. If you want to find somebody's mother, find your own!Chloe: (near tears) I know where she is, Clark! The difference is, she's not interested in me!
- Big Damn Heroes: Clark super-speeds into the house and blocks the ax, saving an unconscious Lex.
- Big "NO!": Rachel lets a couple of these out after Lionel refuses to acknowledge that Clark is their son.
- Call-Forward: Rachel Dunleavy holds the same picture of Clark that Jor-El will hold in the Season 9 episode Kandor.
- The fate of Rachel and Lionel's child is revealed when Lucas Luthor is discovered in Prodigal.
- Lana and Henry Small's DNA test results are revealed shortly afterward in Skinwalker.
- Clark wonders if he even has DNA at all. Several years later, Bizarro will prove that he does in Phantom.
- Rachel initially believes that she is Clark's biological mother. Years later Clark would meet his real biological mother - Lara. (Blue)
- Two years later, Chloe reveals in Scare that she has found her mother (suggesting that she somehow lost track of her whereabouts after this episode). A year after that, she visits her for the first time in Tomb. Another year after that, she is finally seen onscreen in Progeny.
- While talking to Clark, Lex remarks that in the annals of extramarital exploits Lionel probably has his own chapter. This foreshadows the reveal that Lex has another half-sibling in Abandoned.
- Crusading Lawyer: Henry Small. He's actually introduced arguing with someone on the phone, likely working a legal case.
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Fridge Logic: It's questionable how Rachel Dunleavy and Chloe could think that Clark might be Rachel's son. When we meet Lucas in Prodigal, he's said to be 18 whereas Clark is 15 in this episode, turning 16 in Calling. Consequently, Lucas is more than two years older than Clark. - I Did What I Had to Do: Lionel's response to Lex confronting him about the whole debacle with Rachel.Lex: So you bribed [Rachel] to give the child up for adoption.Lionel: She was imbalanced. She threatened me. Your mother was too sick to burden her with a scandal.Lionel: I did what I thought best for everyone. I had the child placed with a suitable family.
- It's All My Fault: After Jonathan reveals that he convinced the Ross family to sell their factory so Lionel wouldn't expose the illegality of Clark's adoption, Clark starts to blame himself, but Jonathan insists the whole thing is on him and him alone.Clark: Why didn't you tell me?Jonathan: I knew you would do exactly what you're doing now, which is blame yourself.Clark: You were protecting me. It is my fault.Jonathan: No. You never believe that! This was my decision. This is my fault. Mine alone.
- Kick the Dog: After Rachel confronts him about the DNA test under the belief he had it fakednote , Lionel flirts with Rachel before suggesting he's going to have her put back in the mental hospital.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Lana visits Henry Small with her suspicion that he might be her biological father. Shocked, Henry tells her to leave and never come back, but later decides they should have a DNA test done to verify whether or not they are father and daughter.
- Mundanger: Rachel is a normal human.
- Remake Cameo: Patrick Cassidy (Henry Small) previously played Leslie Luckabee in the final season of Lois & Clark. Funnily enough, he plays a character who has it out for the Luthors.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Rachel is correct that the DNA test results were faked, but she accused Lionel of doing it to hide the fact that Clark was their illegitimate child; in reality the Kents and Pete switched samples to prevent anyone learning about Clark's alien heritage.
- Shame If Something Happened: In the final act, a flashback reveals that Lionel threatened to inform Child Services that Clark's adoption wasn't legal if Jonathan didn't convince the Ross family to sell their factory.Lionel: I'd be careful with that. I wouldn't want the Department of Family Welfare to find out young Clark's adoption's a sham.Jonathan: [shocked] Wait, are you threatening me?Lionel: Of course not. I'm just asking for a small favor. [leaves]
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: The opera piece Lionel listens to is "Un Bel Di Vedremo" from "Madame Butterfly" by Puccini, sung by Renata Tebaldi which plays as he opens the locket containing the picture of him and a child.
- Villain of the Week: Rachel Dunleavy, a woman who wants to be reunited with her long-lost son.
- Wham Shot: Lionel tells Lex that the baby he and Rachel died as an infant, but when Lex leaves, Lionel opens a locket containing a lock of hair and a picture of him and a smiling young boy.
- Woman Scorned: Rachel, to Lionel.
