Originally aired April 26, 2007
Written by Caroline Dries
Directed by Mairzee Almas
After Lex is taken hostage by a woman who threatens to set off an explosion, Clark rushes to the rescue, only to be felled by the kryptonite-lined walls.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Anti-Villain: Jodi just wants to find her husband, Wes. Tragically, she dies and it's later revealed Wes is still alive but being held captive for all intents and purposes by Lex.
- Asshole Victim: Many characters see Lex as this.
- Bait-and-Switch: Jodi winds up shot after Lex wrestles for her gun. Rather than set off the time bomb immediately, she sets off a second one on her person, leaving the first one ticking away just to be sure.
- Black-and-White Morality: Lex discusses this trope when he claims that Clark sees the world in these terms and is unable to see his (Lex's) good side.
- Brought Down to Normal: Invoked with the kryptonite being blasted into powder, which proves enough to stem Clark's powers without killing him. The hole on his back and the bleeding out on the other hand...
- Call-Back: Due to events from the previous episode, Chloe is not surprisingly unwilling to go along with Clark saving Lex.
- Create Your Own Villain: Clark tells Martha that he might have some responsibility for Lex becoming who he is.Clark: Mom, what if part of who Lex is is because of me? What if I gave up on him too soon?Martha:: You'll never give up on anyone, Clark, because your greatest strength might also be your greatest weakness: Your hope.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Lex gets into danger because he's in an unusual place at a difficult time. The time and place were convenient for doing work that is off-the-books.
- Death of the Hypotenuse: Discussed by Lana, who suggests they do nothing because she thinks Clark cannot die. She withholds key information that could help Lex and Clark until she learns that Clark is also in danger.
- Death Trap: Jodi rigs one to coerce Lex into telling her where her husband, Wes, is.
- Determinator: Clark is forced to crawl past chunks of Kryptonite to keep up appearances. Yes, this is a big deal for Superman.
- Kryptonite Is Everywhere: "Dust from meteor rocks; it's all over the place around here." This trope, played straight, is why Chloe doesn't think Clark can survive anything.
- Enemy Mine: Clark and Lex end up having to help each other get out of the collapsed tunnels.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique:
- Lana threatens to damage Lionel's oxygen supply and make very bad health care choices for him if does not give her information. In Lionel's condition, this amounts to torture.
- Jodi, of course, is trying to get information from Lex by threatening to make the walls come down on him when he is trapped far below ground, so it amounts to low-altitude interrogation.
- Mad Bomber: Jodi, who was a member of the US Army's explosive ordnance disposal unit.
- Muggle and Magical Love Triangle: A zigzag of this trope is Played for Drama and getting intense. The trope came into force when Lana learned that Clark has superpowers, she was coerced by Lionel to proceed with her marriage to Lex, but really wishes Lex would die so she could be with Clark.
- Not Quite Dead: Jodi expects that her husband is not really dead and threatening Lex will get him back. Under threat of his life, Lex denies strenuously her husband is alive.
- Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Clark and Chloe openly state that they wouldn't care if Lex dies, especially because of what Lex did to her mother in the previous episode, but concede that Clark doesn't get to pick and choose who he rescues. Lana also turns out to have full schematics for the tunnel system, but deliberately withholds them, fully intent on leaving Lex to die; she only gives in and reveals the schematics when she discovers Clark is down there as well, and the tunnels are filled with Kryptonite.
- Runaway Bride: Discussed by Lex, who explains how much it hurt when he thought he was abandoned at the altar.
- Save the Villain: Clark plays this trope straight. Lana discusses averting this trope to achieve goals given under Death of the Hypotenuse.
- Shoot Out the Lock: Lana opens a briefcase using this method.
- Time Bomb: There is one ticking through most of the episode.
- Villain of the Week: Jodi Keenan, Mad Bomber searching for her missing husband.
- Villainous Rescue: Double subversion. Clark is buried in rubble and calls to Lex. Lex seems to be responding, then he runs off as though he's leaving Clark to die in the rubble. Clark is surprised when Lex returns with an object that he can use to save Clark.
- Woman Scorned: The Source of Lana's grudge against Lex, or to put it in layman's terms, Hell Hath No Fury like a woman whose husband tricks her into thinking she's pregnant so that she'll marry him and then lets her believe she's miscarried after he locks her down with the wedding.
