Freak (Episode) - SirJeffCena

"**Freak**" is the fifteenth episode in the sixth season of *Smallville*, and the one hundred-twenty-fifth episode overall. It aired on February 15, 2007.

## Summary

Clark and Chloe discover that Tobias, a young man who was blinded in the 2005 meteor shower and now has the ability to "see" meteor freaks, is being used by Lex to locate people with abilities in order to experiment on them. Lana finds out about Tobias' gift, and fears that he will name Clark as one of the infected.

## Recap

Lana Lang is having her "bachelorette party" with just Chloe in attendance at a Smallville bowling alley. Lana says it's perfect because she's with her best friend. They are having fun bowling (badly) and taking pictures. One of the employees, Daniel Kim, shows up and flirts with Lana. He shows her how to improve her form and Lana is delighted when her ball miraculously steers clear of the gutter and hits a strike. Chloe notices that Daniel is looking at the ball oddly and guesses that he's controlling it telekinetically. Daniel asks Lana for her phone number, but she shoots him down by flashing her engagement ring.

Dr. Robert Bethany arrives at the bowling alley guiding a blind young man, Tobias Rice. He persuades Tobias to take his glasses off and Tobias points directly at Daniel, saying he's "one". Daniel leaves Lana and Chloe and is behind the lanes drinking. Just then, a black SUV pulls up and forces Daniel into it. Chloe arrives to see him abducted. The agents chase her down, but she gets away.

Chloe brings Clark to the bowling alley the next morning and tells him what she saw. She also asks if he plans to attend Lex and Lana's wedding, as a sign that he's moved on, but Clark avoids the question by asking about Daniel's whereabouts. Just then, Daniel appears, completely fine. Chloe is shocked and tells him he was abducted. He claims he got really drunk and can't remember anything the night before, but he woke up in his own bed.

Dr. Bethany goes to the Luthor Mansion to talk to Lex. He says Tobias is getting impatient waiting for a cornea transplant and knows Lex is delaying the surgery because it would take away Tobias' ability. He's sure Tobias will tell someone what he and Lex are up to, but Lex says their work is important to prevent meteor freaks from killing others. Dr. Bethany doesn't believe him.

Chloe reveals to Clark that another Metahuman also was missing for one night with no recollection of where he was. They think Lex's Level 33.1 project is involved. Chloe shows him one of her and Lana's photographs with Tobias in the background pointing at Daniel. They went to high school with Tobias and know that he was blinded in the second meteor shower, so they go to his house to question him. Tobias lives alone after the shower killed his parents, but he is self-sufficient and tells them that he is in line for a cornea transplant. He almost drops a glass, but when Clark super-speeds to catch it, he is startled and his glasses fall off. He gasps, clutches his head and asks them to leave. Clark and Chloe are suspicious, so Clark uses his super hearing to listen in on Tobias calling to Dr. Bethany, reporting that he "found another one."

Chloe finds Lana waiting for her when she arrives home. When Chloe avoids her questions, Lana correctly guesses that Chloe isn't talking because she thinks Lex is involved. Chloe admits as much, saying Daniel Kim has a meteor power. Lana considers that he might use his powers for good and Chloe tells her about Tobias' ability to identify them.

Clark goes to ask Dr. Bethany about Tobias, but he refuses. When he turns away, Clark distracts him by blowing on some papers with his super breath and steals Dr. Bethany's laptop. He takes it to Chloe but she isn't home. Jimmy Olsen is there and is worried and panicking because Chloe hasn't answered her phone. He asks Jimmy to break into the laptop and super-speeds to question Tobias again. Clark thinks Chloe was taken because she was a witness, but he is shocked when Tobias reveals that Dr. Bethany is only collecting meteor-infected people. Chloe is seen strapped to a table, naked, while masked figures scan her body and take samples.

Chloe is still missing the next morning. Jimmy was unable to break into the laptop and is more upset and worried than ever until Chloe walks up, completely fine. Clark tells her she was abducted but she has no memory of the event. Chloe doesn't understand why they took her, but Clark and Jimmy are just glad she's okay. They give her Dr. Bethany's laptop to work on the encryption.

Lana asks Lex if he knows Tobias, but Lex claims he's never heard of him. Later, Dr. Bethany admits that the laptop was stolen. Lex is unconcerned because they agreed that Lex would not be mentioned, but Dr. Bethany says there is probably some mention of LuthorCorp on the laptop. Angry now, Lex demands to see Tobias. Lana goes to visit Tobias and tells him that he is being exploited. She offers to give him a cornea transplant if he stops identifying meteor freaks. She thinks Tobias has targeted Clark. However, Tobias says that Clark is the most normal guy he's ever met and Lana is confused.

While working on Dr. Bethany's computer, Chloe notices that Clark is staring at her strangely. She realizes she was abducted because she was identified as a meteor freak, but Clark tries to calm her down by saying they don't know that for sure. They get into the computer and find a GPS overlay map of Smallville with kryptonite-infected people being tracked with green dots, but some of the dots are red. Jimmy arrives and reports that Daniel Kim was killed in a car "accident" just as his identifying dot goes from green to red on the map. They watch other dots go red and realize the people are being killed one by one. Chloe sees a green dot in the Talon and ushers Jimmy out the door.

As soon as he leaves, she orders Clark to X-ray her. He sees something under her collarbone and wants to take her to the hospital, but Chloe starts to panic, saying she wants it out as soon as possible before they kill her, too. She tells Clark to use his heat vision to burn it out of her and when he objects, she grabs a kitchen knife to do it herself. Clark relents; she braces herself against him as he burns a small hole in her shoulder and picks the object out—a GPS device. He crushes it and a second later, her green dot turns red on the map. When Jimmy returns and sees Clark applying a bandage to Chloe's wound, they claim Clark got the device out with a pocketknife just as they notice the only green dot left on the map is Tobias. Clark speeds away to save him.

Tobias is preparing to leave with Lana when Dr. Bethany arrives, claiming that it is finally time for Tobias' surgery. Tobias seems prepared to leave with Dr. Bethany but turns off the lights in the house and retrieves one of his father's guns. Dr. Bethany announces his intention to kill Tobias and Lana with a stun gun to cover up his research. Tobias tries to scare him away with the gun, but they struggle. Lana retrieves Tobias' gun. She shoots at Dr. Bethany at the same time he blasts Tobias with the stun gun, but Clark super-speeds into the confrontation. He deflects Lana's bullet and absorbs the blast, which rebounds onto Dr. Bethany and kills him. Lana and Tobias are confused, but glad to be safe. However, Lana finds the ricocheted bullet.

As the police investigate the scene, Clark collects Tobias, who regrets helping Dr. Bethany. Clark tells him that a friend of his will arrange for his operation. Tobias says Lana wanted to do the same thing because she thought Tobias would expose Clark, even though he's normal. Tobias is taken away in a limo when Lana approaches Clark and shows him the bullet. He denies being meteor-infected, but appreciates her concern. Lana assures him that even if he were, it wouldn't matter to her. Lana arrives home and directly asks Lex if he had anything to do with Dr. Bethany. He swears on their unborn child that he isn't involved.

Clark finds Chloe at her desk at the *Planet* and she admits that she can't sleep or work because she is worried about being meteor-infected. They don't know if she has powers, but Chloe is upset because every infected person she knows has ended up dead or in Belle Reve. She starts to cry and Clark tries to comfort her.

Later, Lex views a video of Chloe being experimented on and advises an associate to keep a close watch on her.

## Cast

### Starring

* Clark Kent
* Lana Lang
* Lex Luthor
* Chloe Sullivan

### Guest Starring

* Jimmy Olsen
* Tobias Rice
* Dr. Robert Bethany

## Notes

* Antagonist: Robert Bethany and Lex Luthor
* The Talon Theater's address is listed as *220 Main Street, Smallville, Kansas 35409*. This is a fictitious zip code, but if it were real, it would probably be located around Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
* The location of Daniel's death on the GPS map is 331 East 1st Street
* When Lana and Chloe are in the bowling alley and Lana picks up her second bowling ball, the writing on the ball shows as "LOIS LANES".

## In Other Media

* Clark uses his heat and X-ray vision to destroy Chloe's GPS locater. In the *Batman* storyline "Hush", Superman uses a similar technique on Batman.

## Trivia

* This is the only episode directed by Michael Rosenbaum, who portrays Lex Luthor.

## Continuity

* Clark uses all of his known super-powers in this episode, including super breath, not seen since *Sneeze*.
* Lana's conversation with Clark at the end of the episode about it being "okay" if he was really meteor-infected is strikingly similar to their conversation in Season 3's *Extinction*, which also had a similar plot of meteor freaks being killed off one-by-one. Chloe also talks to Clark about this when she learns about his powers in *Pariah*, under the guise of talking about Alicia Baker.
* Clark's heat vision seems to be pinpoint accurate at this point, as he was able to strike the GPS chip without seriously harming Chloe.
* Chloe states that every meteor freak she has met has ended up dead or in Belle Reve. She is leaving out characters such as Jordan Cross, Sarah Conroy and Kyle Tippet.
* Although we don't see or hear the conversation, this is the first time since *Justice* that Clark talks to Oliver, convincing him to help with Tobias's cornea transplant.

## Spoilers

* In season 7's *Cure*, it is revealed that Chloe has large amounts of kryptonite near her heart.

## Locations

* Smallville
	+ Luthor Mansion
	+ Kent Farm
	+ Talon
	+ Smallville Medical Center
* Metropolis
	+ Daily Planet
		- Daily Planet Bullpen

## Quotes

**Tobias**: When we were in high school, I assumed the only thing Lana Lang cared about was lip gloss and pom-poms.
**Lana**: You didn't know me very well.

**Tobias**: *(to Lana)* You must be talking about a different Clark Kent, because the Clark I know is the most normal guy I've ever met.

**Chloe**: Face it, Clark, I'm a walking time bomb.
**Clark**: Then consider me your own personal bomb squad.

**Lana**: You know, even if it was true, even if you were meteor-infected, it wouldn't matter. You'd still be the same Clark Kent.