Wow, most of the cast must have been on vacation during the filming of this episode. Pete's nowhere to be seen (what else is new), Chloe's vanished (as opposed to her usual token scene), Mr. Kent is away (now things are getting odd), and even Lana only hase a few token minutes at the beginning (much to the delight of a few of you, I'm sure, but still...)! What happened?

That said, I don't really think the disapearence of the rest of the cast hurt very much, Lex and Lionel more than carry the show on their own. In fact, it feels like the creators were really straining to even fit Clark in somewhere in between Lex and Lionel's stuff. (Again, not that that's bad. Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover just get better and better as the show goes on)

As for nits: WOW! That bald head of Lex's sure can take a beating! Watch him fall when Lana pulls him from the ledge, his head slams right into the wall behind him! In fact, it almost looks like he would have hit right on the bottom of the window, which is made out of METAL. This is the sort fo thing that gives people concusions, if not brain damage, but somehow Lex manages to emerge without even a bruse!

So, what happened to the FBI? Did they really get to listen in on everything that happened here? Most likely not, sicne I highly doubt that Dr. Gardner take kindly to Lex showing up wearing a wire, but I also doubt that the FBI would take kindly to Lex "forgeting" to wear it while running off to some secret get together. Of course, it CAN'T be that the writers forgot about them...

I'm not even going to dignify the lates miracle use of Kryptonite with a picking.

I will, however, ask why Clark is caught of guard by it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't Clark see Kryptonie glowing green whenever he uses his X-ray vision? So shouldn't he have known that there was a vat of the stuff in the lab well before he charged in? And even if he doesn't, or if whatever else they used in the solution made it undetectible (without preventing its effects on Clark, sheay right), shouldn't Clark have noticed it the moment he opened the door to the lab? Sure he doesn't know for certain that the mysterious, glowing, green stuff being used for shady purposes is Kryptonite, but how many mysterious, glowing, green things being used for shady purposes has Clark encountered that WEREN'T Kryptonite?

Once again, Clark's lack of care in using his powers is stagering. He comes to a stop RIGHT AFTER Lex walks through the doors of the lab, the GLASS doors. All Lex has to do is glance behind him (or beside him if he turns even a little) and he'll see that Clark has somehow managed to follow him and his big fast car all the way to Metropolis WITHOUT A VEHICLE. To make matters worse, if Lex had taken just a second longer to get up there, he would have probobly heard Clark come screeching to a halt. Yiesh.

Clark Kent wears red underwear. So lame I couldn't help but fall on the floor laughing.

Did anyone else find the big explosive results of using the machine on Clark to be VERY over done? Why is the equipment blowing up? CLARK is the one who should be in danger. Did they build the stuff out of explosives? Or is this just another example of that strange programing that seems to have been hidden within so many evil sci-fi computers ("Oh no, something is wrong! Exicute program 'Blow Up In A Shower Of Pyro So Everyone Knows Something Is Wrong' immediately!") Logan's Run comes to mind, as does "The General" from The Prisoner.

In regards to green kryptonite and its many uses one would think that someone would pick up the red meteor rocks and wonder what amazing things they can do. Then again do we really find out.

Excellent Episode; especially the ending.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"Y'know, Clark, I'd always thought your parents corn-fed hokum had made you weak, but clearly I have underestimated your dark side." -- Lionel Luthor

UNEXPECTED SCENE OF THE WEEK:
The little scene where Clark sees his parents put him into the spaceship was great and very well done. It seemed very reminiscent of the scene from the first Superman movie.

THE ENIGMATIC LUTHOR OF THE WEEK:
Lionel always catches me off guard sometimes. The final scene between Lex and him was fantastic. Possibly one of the best scenes of the entire series. His entire relationship with Lex has been turned upside down. This is going to be really fun to watch.

KRYPTONITE USE OF THE WEEK:
This is actually not too bad since last week introduced the truth-telling abilities of kryptonite and this episode sort-of built on that. Still, it's starting to turn into a miracle substance that can do just about anything.

LONG OVERDUE DEATH OF THE WEEK:
I don't think Dr. Gardner bit the big one in this episode, but I think he really needs to. His character is really lame. He has no motives. He's just an evil guy who is not very well acted.

OVERALL OPINION OF THE WEEK:
I can't really say too much about bits and pieces of the episode since it all just flowed together seemlessly. Everything from the Lex/Lionel scenes to the flashbacks to the Clark/Martha scenes worked wonderfully.
Grade: A+

TUE

This is actually not too bad since last week introduced the truth-telling abilities of kryptonite and this episode sort-of built on that. -TUE

Huh? I don't remember the truth serum being kryptonite based, when did that happen? (and it it was, then couldn't Clark have been gaging whenever Chloe talked to him?)

Something I forgot about Clark's flashback: How are we seeing all those angles from outside the ship? It's clark's memory we're seeing, after all. How can he remember what the shipp looks like on the outside as it closes if he's inside it at the time? (speaking of which, how can Lex's flashback at the begining include Lionel and that teacher in teh classroom. Surely Lex wasn't paying any attention to them, with the condition he was in at the time)

"Huh? I don't remember the truth serum being kryptonite based, when did that happen? (and it it was, then couldn't Clark have been gaging whenever Chloe talked to him?)" -- Blitz

The gas was clearly green, I think. Green anything on this show has always indicated kryptonite origins. A mysterious green gas with unusual properties and side effects sure sounds like something that came from kryptonite to me.

TUE

If the truth gas was made from kryptonite, that means Lionel was fooling around with the stuff at least 2-3 years prior to Smallville's first season. That's interesting... But I don't think it was necessarily kryptonite related. It's just a standard convention that these funny gases are either bright green or purple, right?

Well, if I may be REALLY nitpicky, I thought the gas had more of a blue/green tint than the bright green of Kryptonite, (it's quite possible that it was just my TV that night, of course) but that's not really the problem. If that stuff WAS made of Kryptonite, Clark would not have been unaffected by it. He might not have told the truth, but he'd be writhing in pain on the floor due to the fact that he had thousands of paricles of Kryptonite in his body.