Clark has his heat vision now? Given that his parents aren't surprised by it, can I assume I missed the episode in which he discovered it? Which one was it?

The energy signature for it is kinda nice and original too. Instead of the cliched red beams, it's waves of air disturbed by the heat. Nice.

"Heat" was the episode you missed. And I don't think the other characters on screen can see the beams, whether they're the cool miragey "Smallville" beams or the red "Superman the Movie" rays. Just like sound effects in outer-space scenes, they're just a cue for us in the audience, I think.

Trying to think up some actual nits on this one...
Ok. When Clark breaks into the lab with Pete to change out the saliva sample, he bends open the cabinet door. Then the "mother" accuses Lionel of tampering with the results. She says "I don't know how you did it, but..." Wouldn't it be obvious that someone broke into the cabinet? I suppose Clark could have straightend the thing back out, but still. Also, I wonder what Pete would have done if a guard had come along, or if they had triggered a silent alarm or something.

By the way, Earth has 3 northern continents: North America; Europe & Asia. ;-) KAM

Actually, counting Europe and Asia as separate continents is an historical artifact. Someone arriving from another planet would consider them to be a single landmass.

I understand that Whitney will be back in an episode later this season, and I have to wonder if he is supposed to be Lionel's son Lucas. Any speculation on that?

I assumed Lex was the illigitimate child she was looking for.

Let's see if I got this straight, now...

Chloe's mom abandoned her when she was five.

Lana's parents were killed when she was a child, and she may have been illigitimate.

Lex suffers from an inferiority complex with his dad (and he may be illigitimate).

Clark's parents put him in a spaceship and launched him across the galaxy.

Is there anyone on this show who doesn't have parental issues?

Well, Lex is like 6 or 7 years older than Clark, so the age wouldn't be right. Whitney is about Clark's age, however. Be interesting to see if they revisit the issue.

I don't believe Pete has parental issues. Unless one counts his mother the Judge as a parental issue.

Whitney Fordman will be returning in the episode titled 'Visage' (early December).

Continuing -

At the end, I noticed Lionel was rubbing a lock of Lucas's hair. One wonders if that's a deliberate, yet very subtle dig at Lex.

And Lionel said that Lucas died when he was a year old, but that picture in the locket was definitely not a one year old. I'd have placed him as four or five. Do we think Lionel is lying? Again?

(Resounding yes from the peanut gallery)

Based on Lionel's reaction to Lex's radiation sickness sypmptom (falling hair) and his clutching at young Lex's last reamaining lock, the hair and the photo may be Lex's (In effect, he felt he lost his son at that point -- and has never truly treated Lex as a son since.)

On another point however, might Lex's dead younger half-brother Lucas be the same as his dead younger brother Julian(Stray? I wouldn't put it past Lionel to convince his wife in her weakened state that she'd given birth, just because he could get away with it, and get a new son to replace the "lost" Lex..

Now see, here's the real question:

Lionel said that Lucas died at the age of one. The picture is clearly of an older boy. Sooo...where is he? Did he die at an older age, and Lionel felt compelled - for some reason - to lie about that?

Or is he still alive? And if so...why doesn't Lionel have an updated photo of him?

Why do objects shatter when they hit CK (as in the axe), shouldn't it just bounce off him?

Because it looks cool....

Personally, I think it doesn't look go. Glass should shatter. Objects made of different materials should not necessarily.

>>Is there anyone on this show who doesn't have parental issues?<<

Pete. Which may explain why they don't go into his character much...

Marc