Clark discovers that a fellow high school student, Greg Arkin, has been attacked by Kryptonite-affected bugs. Greg has taken on the "eat, molt, mate, die" life cycle of an insect--with Lana as his prey. Clark must rush to save her without revealing his superpowers. Meanwhile, Lex possesses Lana's Kryptonite necklace and ponders what to do with the strange stone.

Clark has a dream of flying and awakens to find he is floating. He then crashes down, crushing his bed beneath him. Later, Clark is helping his parents at the Smallville Farmers Market. Whitney and Lana arrive and stepping away from Lana, Whitney tells Clark he needs Lana's necklace back. Clark doesn't have it. At the same time, Greg, looking and feeling supremely confident, makes a date with Lana for her to help him with some homework. Whitney tells Greg to stay away from Lana, but Greg isn't daunted. Later, as Whitney is driving home, Greg leaps from a tree onto Whitney's truck causing Whitney to crash. The Kents drive up and see Whitney unconscious inside. Clark drags Whitney out, then shields him with his body as the truck explodes in a huge ball of flame. Horrified, Jonathan and Martha rush to Clark, amazed, but relieved, to find that he is alright. Back at home, Clark tells Jonathan about that morning's floating incident; "What's happening to me?" he asks. Jonathan doesn't know but assures Clark they'll work through it. Meanwhile, Lex suggests to Lana that she's dating the wrong guy, and cryptically tells her she should ask Whitney what he was doing before the homecoming game. Back at Greg's house, Arleen arrives home to find the thermostat set at 103 degrees, and Greg's room covered spider silk. Greg appears behind her, suggesting that he is now the end product of millions of years of insect evolution. First he'll eat, then he'll molt, and then he'll mate. Terrified, Arleen tries to back away, but Greg stops her with a torpedo of wet silk he shoots from his mouth.

At Luthor Mansion, Lex gives Clark the "Trojan horse" to Lana's heart: her necklace. Lex opens the box he's keeping it in, and Clark is overcome with weakness. When Lex closes the box, Clark feels fine. Intrigued, Clark asks Lex what the box is made of. "Lead." At school the next day, Lana confronts Whitney about making Clark the "Scarecrow," and asks for her necklace back. When Whitney admits he lost it, Lana is furious and storms off, looking for Clark. Greg bumps into her, and reminds her of their study date. Lana says she can't talk, she has to see Clark. Greg is angry and jealous. Back at the Kent farm, Clark tests the effects of Lana's necklace. When he opens the lead box he immediately feels weak and sees that his veins are black, pulsing and throbbing beneath his skin. When he closes the box he feels fine. Unsure what to make of it all, Clark returns to his loft to find Lana waiting for him. He quickly hides the box. Lana apologizes for Whitney's behavior. She thought she knew Whitney and now wonders what else she's been blind to. She tells Clark that Whitney even lost her favorite necklace - it was made from a fragment of the meteor that killed her parents. Meanwhile, Greg is in the shower, shedding the outer layer of his skin as he molts. That night, Greg attacks Clark in the barn. Greg then pushes Jonathan from the barn rafters, hurling him towards the upturned tractor blades below. As Jonathan plummets in slow motion, Clark speeds under Jonathan, breaking his fall and saving his life.

In the aftermath of Greg's attack, Clark confesses to Jonathan that he feels responsible for the bad things that happen in Smallville since they seem to be caused by the meteors that accompanied Clark's arrival on Earth. At school the next day, Clark tells Chloe about Greg. After some research, Chloe theorizes that Greg has transformed into some sort of "bug boy." Realizing Greg is now in the mating phase, Clark races to Lana's house. Meanwhile, Whitney is with Lana apologizing for how he treated Clark. Suddenly, Greg arrives. With superhuman strength, Greg hurls Whitney aside and tells Lana "It's time... for us."

Whitney is recovering from Greg's attack when Clark arrives. Clark tells Whitney to head for a tree fort that Clark and Greg used to play in as kids. Clark then runs ahead to the tree fort, finding Lana cocooned in silk, and Greg lying in wait. Greg pushes Clark through the wall of the tree fort, and they both fall to the ground. Greg then jumps a fence and heads for an abandoned foundry. Clark follows. Unfortunately, the foundry is filled with meteors and Clark is weakened the moment he steps inside. Greg attacks Clark, getting the best of him until Clark makes his way into a metal vat made of lead. His strength renewed, Clark fights back. Greg accidentally pulls a lever that sends a massive weight crashing down on him. Meanwhile, Whitney has found the tree fort and rescues Lana. Clark arrives just in time to see the two of them together, walking arm in arm back to Whitney's truck. That night, Clark anonymously leaves Lana's necklace hanging on her front door. Lana is thrilled and grateful to have it back.

Pete: Which sucked, 'cause he had a killer tree fort his dad built in the woods.
Clark: It was okay.
Pete: Clark never liked it. He used to get sick just walking over there.
Chloe: How come?
Pete: He was afraid of heights.
Clark: I didn't believe it was structurally sound.

Clark: Chloe, I could never outgrow you. Other than vertically.

Lex: Kinda makes you wonder if you're with the right guy. One chucks footballs, the other helps save lives.

Lex: (to Clark) Save any more lives on your way over? Keep it up and you could make a career out of it.

(about Greg the bug kid)
Jonathan: I don't know... seems kinda out there.
Martha: This from the man who's been hiding a spaceship in the storm cellar for the last twelve years.

Clark: Dad, something else happened to me this morning. When I woke up, I was kind of floating.
Jonathan: Floating.
Clark: As soon as I woke up I crashed. I mean, Dad, what's happening to me?
Jonathan: I honestly don't know. As soon as you start breaking the law of gravity we're definitely in uncharted territory.

Commenting on general things:

The Fortress of Solitude. That was just too much. Great. I laughed through several of the next scenes, and my friends had to tell me to shut the hell up. Yes, that's right. I said friends. Not only do I have friends, hard to imagine in a fanboy, yes (JK), but I made them all discard their precious time to come watch this show with me. And it speaks to the show that not one of them complained.

Continuity is excellent. Unlike several shows which I watch regularly (and love, don't get me wrong (COUGH COUGH, ENTERPR-COUGH COUGH -ISE)), the things which happen in the last episode affect the next one, and propel one on to the events of the current episode. The necklace is obviously important, both as an object of affection representing Lana, and an object of weakness, representing Lana.

A few beefs...Lana is obviously cookie cutter. The Lois of this series. And the necklace, while important to Lana, loses its weakness-importance when one notes that Kryptonite seems to be damn near everywhere. But these are both easily overlooked, in my opinion. I had to dig to come up with them.

The villain is cookie cutter, but what villains aren't, really? And the important thing is that Lex lurks in the background as the real villain. This is the important thing that Lois and Clark (mostly) lacked at times, and it's good to know that it's set and solid here, waiting to be exploited.

(more...)
By Neal Bailey

Greg Arkin is a high school student with a passion for collecting bugs, and a serious crush on Lana Lang. One night Greg gets into a car accident while transporting his bugs in their cages and the bugs cover, bite and sting him. He gets transformed into a bug himself, setting the temperature in his room to 103, sleeping clinging to the ceiling and able to cover his victims with a web of silk coming straight from his mouth. He is completely transformed and unrecognizable. He will go through three stages, eating, molting and mating.

His first victim is his own mother, and later, he jumps onto Whitney Fordman's truck, causing an accident. Whitney is rescued by Clark Kent. Greg's progression continues, and he molts in the shower, removing his outer layer of skin. Greg then attacks Jonathan Kent who is saved by his son.

Clark tells Chloe Sullivan about Greg, and she researches his behavior. She realizes that his next stage will be mating. Greg kidnaps Lana and wraps her in silk. Whitney and Clark find them in a treehouse. Clark fights with Greg, and the fight continues in the barn. Meanwhile, Whitney frees Lana and takes the credit for rescuing her.