Lois and Clark dig in to Bruno Mannheim's motives while everyone back in Smallville deals with changing relationships.
Tropes:
- Age-Gap Romance: Sarah comments on Chrissy and Kyle being a good 10 years apart in the beginning, finding it gross.
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: One reason Clark refuses to try using Kryptonian technology to treat Lois's cancer — if it actually worked, and there's a good chance it wouldn't, they'd have no excuse to keep that technology from all the other cancer victims in the world, and Clark is concerned about the consequences of suddenly giving the world alien technology.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: Peia betrays and kills Boss Moxie over her love for Bruno.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Confronted with Natalie's first-ever romance, John Henry finds himself almost involuntarily becoming overprotective and trying to intimidate Matteo despite promising not to act that way. It takes a talk with Lana to get him to cool down.
- Call-Back: Jon brings up the Kryptonite-purging lasers that were used on Jordan as a potential treatment for Lois's cancer. Lara further clarifies there is in fact Kryptonian tech that could in theory treat cancer, Clark having rejected that possibility in "In Cold Blood", but Lois would be unlikely to survive because it wasn't designed for humans.
- Calling the Old Man Out: There are two such moments, first in the Fortress of Solitude, where Jon is angry with Clark for not using Kryptonian tech to save Lois, and then back at home, where both Jon and Jordan confront their parents over hiding last will and testament preparations from them.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: In one of the flashbacks, Boss Moxie, the Metropolis mobster who previously led Intergang, tells Mannheim that he knows Mannheim went around him to get support for making a deal with Lex Luthor. Moxie orders Peia to eliminate the mooks who had sided with Bruno, which she does in a matter of seconds. Then he orders her to kill Mannheim. But, having fallen for Bruno, Peia instead uses her sound-blasting powers to kill Moxie himself.
- Flashback: There are 3 in total, to Bruno and Peia taking over Intergang.
- Foreshadowing: Matteo mentions to John Henry that he'd be more scared of his own mother than of him if he ever disrespected Natalie. Turns out his mother is Onomatopoeia, who has superpowers.
- Heartfelt Apology: Lois gives one to Peia over questioning her over her connection with Bruno Mannheim. Unfortunately, it turns out that her instincts were right.
- Hypocrite: Self-admitted by Lana, as even though she told Sarah to be nice to Chrissy, she herself got sad after watching Sarah and Chrissy have fun together.
- Internal Reveal:
- Lois and Clark learn that Mannheim and Peia are married.
- The boys find the will that Lois made last episode.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Chrissy is embarassed when Sarah finds her weed gummies, though Sarah actually finds it cool.
- Out of Focus: Sophie only appears for a few moments, playing a game with Sarah at the restaurant early on in the episode, and has no lines.
- Parent with New Paramour: Sarah takes a while to accept Chrissy dating Kyle.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: Deconstructed for two reasons, as using Kryptonian tech on Lois would not only be dangerous, but also unfair to all the other cancer victims, and Clark doesn't think the world would be ready for it.
- The Reveal:
- John Henry was absent last episode because he was out of town setting up defenses for his relatives in New Orleans.
- Peia already had sonic powers before she married Bruno; they're not the result of his experiments with Superman's blood.
- Matteo is Peia and Bruno's son.
- Ship Tease: Lana and John Henry are once again teased as they spend much of the episode talking and taking a stroll together.
- Spotting the Thread: Clark quickly figures out that Bruno has a personal reason for fighting cancer, which leads to him discovering about Peia.
- Title Drop: Twice. In the present, Peia tells Bruno, "You have my heart, forever and always." Then, a flashback has him tell her, "Make a life with me, Peia. Make a city, forever and always."
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the comics, Boss Moxie was Bruno Mannheim's father, which is clearly not the case here.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Lois has one in the beginning due to her chemo.
- Wham Shot: At the end of the episode, Mannheim and Peia are sharing a moment at home when their son returns. It's Matteo, and he wants them to meet Nat.
