Originally aired October 5, 2006
Written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer
Directed by Paul Shapiro
After working overtime to clean up the destruction caused by Zod, Clark develops his first-ever cold, along with a surprising New Superpower. Lana moves in with Lex. Lex thinks he's being followed. Oliver Queen comes to Metropolis.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Being Human Sucks: Despite his I Just Want to Be Normal, Clark despises being sick and tells Martha that's the one part of being normal he doesn't envy.
- Came from the Sky: Clark's first sneeze is so powerful that it blows Kent's barn door off its hinges and sends it flying off into the distance. Cue Lois is jogging along at the countryside when a barn door crashes right behind her, and she spends most of the episode trying to investigate how it happened.
- Cassandra Truth: Lex actually confesses to Orlando that his powers came from Zod's Demonic Possession. Orlando just thinks Lex is mocking him. So Lex has to make up some story about a serum that gave him powers instead.
- Crippling Castration: During the interrogation, it's heavily implied that Orlando is threatening Lex with this.Orlando: The first gunshot was only a minor flesh wound Lex. [Lowering his gun] But this one may sting a little more. Do you want to keep your new girlfriend happy?
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Orlando goes against Oliver's order and immediately resorts to this in order to interrogate Lex.
- Damsel in Distress: Lex gets kidnapped by the villain, as does Lana when she goes searching for him. They almost pull a Damsel out of Distress situation by managing to take out Orlando, but they still get trapped in the burning warehouse and Clark's needs to pull a Big Damn Heroes moment to save them, putting out the fire with his new Super-Breath power. They never find out he was the one that did it.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Clark tells Chloe he isn't a hero because "heroes don't put the world in danger on a regular basis."
- The Gadfly: Clark pretends he's about to sneeze on Chloe's documents, only to stop with a "just kidding."
- Gun Struggle: After Lex headbutts Orlando, Lana takes the opportunity to try to disarm him. She loses, but Lex manages to stab Orlando from behind before he can execute Lana.
- Heroic Fatigue: Clark becomes exhausted after he spends his night trying to help fix Metropolis and his days doing the chores at the Kent's farm. This combined with his exposure to the Phantom Zone is the cause for his sickness.
- Inspector Javert: Lois tries her best to find out how the Kent's barn door went flying into the air. Clark and Chloe try to convince her it was a mini-tornado, but Lois never fully buys it. This serves to kickstart Lois's career as an Intrepid Reporter as she feels she has a knack for getting into the bottom of things.
- Knockout Gas: Orlando takes out Lex by flooding the elevator he's in with knockout gas.
- Malfunction Malady: Clark's sickness is an issue since his regular sneezes become deadly as involuntarily they active his Super-Breath powers. It laters also starts draining him of his other powers.
- Marilyn Maneuver: Happens to one of the Daily Planet workers when Clark's sneeze creates a gust of wind strong enough to lift up her skirt.
- Mundanger: Wagner and Orlando Block has no superhuman powers.
- Mundane Utility:
- Clark uses his Super-Strength to help with his farm chores, easily driving snails into the wood with his bare hands.
- At the end of the episode, Clark uses his Super-Breath to blow away the clouds to make the weather sunny.
- Mythology Gag: The kite that Chloe brings to the loft has a distinct diamond shape.
- New Superpower: Clark gets Super-Breath in this episode, first manifesting as he sneezes.
- Not Me This Time: Lex believes Lionel is the one that's having someone follow him, and doesn't believe when Lionel assures that it isn't.
- Papa Wolf: Lionel threatens Oliver with a world of suffering if he finds out he's the one who kidnapped his son.
- Pepper Sneeze: Lois offers this to Clark as a solution to his cold, to get it over with. Knowing how deadly his colds can be, he's quick to refuse them.
- The Peeping Tom: When Lana finds out about Lex's Sinister Surveillance, the particular video she finds is of her undressing, implying Lex is using it not just out of paranoia, but for perverted reasons.
- Private Detective: Lex hires one to try to track down the people who are following. The detective does succeed, but ends up being killed by Orlando for it.
- Psycho for Hire: Orlando Block was hired by Oliver to find out how much Lex had to do with Dark Thursday, but Orlando ends up going against Oliver's order, and takes joy into torturing Lex and threatens to kill his partner Wagner when he protests.
- Seamless Spontaneous Lie: After Orlando the true story about what happened with Lex at Dark Thursday, Lex comes up with a more believable lie about a Super Serum. It buys him just enough time for him to be rescued.
- Sick Episode: Clark who had Perfect Health for his whole life, develops his first-ever cold, because he went into the Phantom Zone in the previous episode.
- Sinister Surveillance: While searching for clues about Lex's disappearance, Lana finds out he has the entire manor filled with hidden cameras.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: Lex wakes up in one after he's kidnapped and he's tortured by Orlando while in it.
- Super-Breath: Clark develops this power in this episode, when he starts sneezing. He learns how to control it by the end.
- Toplessness from the Back: The video Lana finds of her undressing has her naked back turned to the camera.
- Use Your Head: Lex headbutts Orlando when he tries using the (fake) Super Serum on Lex, giving Lana enough time to disarm Orlando.
- Villain of the Week: Wagner and Orlando Block, two goons sent by Oliver Queen to kidnap Lex Luthor to find out what happened during Dark Thursday. Orlando goes rogue and actually tries harming Lex, making him the real antagonist of the episode.
- Workout Fanservice: The camera pans over Lois's legs and navel as she's jogging in her tight workout clothes.
- You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: Lex is hesitant to tell Orlanda what actually happened to him, because he doesn't think he would believe. He's later proven right.
