Originally aired April 19, 2007
Written by Genevieve Sparling
Directed by Terrence O'Hara
Lex blackmails Moira Sullivan, Chloe's mother, into using her ability to control other metahumans to help him.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Blaming the Victim: When Lana sees a doctor towards the end of the episode and he finds synthetic hormones in her bloodstream, he accuses her of faking her pregnancy to for billionaire Lex Luthor to marry her. However, when he sees how genuinely shocked and confused Lana is by this, with her saying she saw a sonograms of her baby, the doctor realizes she didn't do this and explains much more sympathetically that whatever she saw wasn't her own baby.
- Brainwashed: How Moira powers work. She can give orders, but not directly control their actions.
- Chekhov's Gun: Turns out Moira's power depends on the subject being a meteor freak and having something from said subject in her hands. Then you realise she's had that crucifix since before they took her away... which is precisely how she's been reaching Chloe.
- Damsel in Distress: Lana, about midway through the episode.
- Exact Words: In a
deleted scene, Lana tells Lex, "From now on, I'll be focused entirely on you." - Blackmail: Lex threatens Chloe with jail time for what she did under her mother's control.Lex: You ran my car off the road a few nights ago. Investigators have boot prints, hair fibers, samples of the mud found in your apartment. How many years do you get for aggravated assault—ten, twenty?Chloe: For what you've done, they're gonna throw away the key.Lex: What I've done? You don't have a shred of proof about any of this, and you never will. But rest assured, the evidence I have against you is locked away safe and secure. Make that article disappear, and you'll remain a free woman. Deal?Chloe: My mother sacrificed everything to protect the world from scum like you. And if taking you down means spending some quality time behind bars, sign me up.Lex: You know, I thought you might say that. That's why there's a Plan B firmly in place a plan that makes prison look like a picnic.
- Mind Control: Moira Sullivan's power.
- Super-Strength: Lowell, another meteor freak that Lex uses to get Moira to reveal her powers.
- Tap on the Head: Chloe gives one to Lex under her mother's control.
- This Means War!:Chloe: Lex came to talk to me, Clark. Basically, he said it's either kill or be killed. The story or me.Clark: He threatened you?Chloe: I'm in his crosshairs.Clark: Yeah, well, now he's in mine.Chloe: Think about Lana. We can't do anything to him until we know she's safe.Clark: You're right. He'd feed her to the lions just to spite me. But it's inevitable. The war's about to begin.
- So Proud of You: Clark tells Chloe that her mother feels this way about her.Chloe: It's just so unfair. I mean, she's never gonna be able to read any of the articles I've written, you know, or meet Jimmy. She's never gonna get to know the person that I've become.Clark: It's a good thing I told her.Chloe: You did?Clark: After I brought your mom to Oliver's apartment, I gave her the complete Chloe Sullivan bio. She was so proud.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Another actress plays a young Chloe in the opening flashback.
- Wham Episode: Lana discovers that Lex had been injecting her with a massive amount of hormones to make her believe she was pregnant.
