What's up with Lana? Three college frat boys threaten Lana at closing time at the coffee shop. Clark arrives in time, confronting the guys outside, telling them to stay away. When they insult Lana, Clark fights them off, throwing frat boy Andy into the windshield of the Sheriff's patrol car. The tough new female Sheriff Nancy Adams questions Lana, Clark, Jonathan and Martha. Sheriff Adams wants Clark to do community service as punishment. She tells Lana her case won't hold up in court. Lana's thankful that Clark saved her, but feels violated and wishes she could've saved herself. Lex offers to teach her self-defense, instructing her to channel her anger.
What's up with Clark? Frat boy Andy's family is suing the Kent family for $1 million for Andy's injuries. While getting teased for his community service job of picking up trash, Clark sees Andy on the street. He asks Andy to leave the Kents out of the lawsuit. Using his X-ray vision, Clark sees Andy is faking his injuries, as Andy removes his neck brace once inside his friend's van.
What's up with Helen? Lex's girlfriend Dr. Helen Bryce is feeling a bit neglected when Lex stands her up for another date. The next day at the hospital, Helen is surprised by former Med school boyfriend Paul. He says he had business in town, and read she was to be married. He dropped by to give her flowers and say hello. Lex shows up. Helen gets beeped. Alone with Lex, Paul tells Lex to hang onto Helen, if he can.
Later that night in the hospital parking lot, Helen's car won't start. She calls Lex and waits for him to pick her up. Paul surprises her again. Lex arrives and jokingly suggests Paul may be stalking Helen. He asks Paul to stay away. Paul doesn't like Lex's threatening tone. Lex has Paul followed.

Guest-star Anson Mount portrays Paul Hayden. Anson has made TV appearances in "Ally McBeal," "Sex in the City" and "Third Watch." Film roles include parts in "Boiler Room," "The Truth About Tully," "Urban Legends: Final Cut," "City by the Sea" and "Crossroads" with Britney Spears.

Who is Paul Hayden? When Paul is alone in his motel room, we see that Lex was right in his judgment of the desperate stalker. Paul cuts his own face by smashing his forehead into a mirror. Bruised and cut at the hospital, Paul tells Helen that Lex had him beaten. Sheriff Adams takes Paul's statement. Helen tells Lex of Paul's accusations. She also tells Lex that one of Paul's ex-girlfriends had been abused by him and warned Helen, causing her to break up with Paul.
Later Paul surprises Helen in the empty Pathology Lab. He gets aggressive, in a jealous rage. She tries to run. Lex calls Helen on the cell phone, witnessing the struggle between the two as he races to the hospital. Lex finds Helen unconscious, stabbed and bloody on the lab floor.
What's up with Lex? While Helen is undergoing surgery, Sheriff Adams has set up roadblocks to catch Paul. She's waiting for a warrant to search Paul's motel room. She tells Lex not to tamper in the investigation. Lex races off in a fury.
Lex searches the motel room himself. Clark goes in after Lex. They find the body of Lex's security guard, who was trailing Paul. Lex traces the guard's car to the train station, knowing Paul used it to get away. Lex spots Paul in the crowd, then catches him at gunpoint. Paul kicks Lex and runs. Lex chases him down. Clark is also searching. Paul and Lex fight in a train car. Paul gets the advantage long enough to raise on ax to attack Lex. Using his X-ray vision, Clark sees the attack in progress, and bumps the train car to knock the ax away. Lex gains the advantage, pointing the gun at Paul's face, but then pistol whips him in the head to knock him out. Sheriff Adams finds Lex and Clark over Paul. She warns them to stay out of police work. Lex says he made a citizen's arrest.
How it ends: At the Talon, Lana asks Andy to drop the lawsuit. She says she knows he's faking injuries. He comes towards her, making a pass. She uses her new talents in self-defense and beats him up. Andy drops the lawsuit, lifting Clark's worry of being sued.
At the mansion, Lex tells Helen that Paul is pleading temporary insanity. Lex tells his attorneys not to fight it, Paul needs help. Lex confesses to Helen that she's the one who saved him from killing Paul. Lex gives her a ring and proposes to Helen. They kiss.
[back to top]

The Talon. (Exterior shot with an American flag hanging next to the marquee. I mean, what's more American than an old theater converted into a house of cappuccino?) Inside, some good buddies are taking a silver flask to their brightly colored cups of coffee. They've having a grand old time of it, like they're fifteen. Lana, with her stern eyebrow look, tells the guys that the coffee at The Talon is strictly "non-Irish." No Bailey's for you! Token minority frat guy tells Lana to loosen up. Frat-letter-Sweater-Wearing Guy waves his flask at Lana and invites her to have a drink. If Lana ever actually drank alcohol, the world might collapse. Lana doesn't like tomfoolery. She tells the boys to take it outside. That stops the lead frat guy, who looks like he's about forty years old. Lana says that they're closing anyway. As Lana walks away, the frat dudes make "Oooh" noises to each other.

At another table, Dr. Dropkick is sitting alone, wearing a smart light blue blazer. Lana asks if she can get Dropkick anything else. "Just a boyfriend who can keep a date," Dropkick says. Lana says Dropkick's talking to the wrong person. They have a wholly forced laugh at that. Meanwhile, some guy in a suit with a perfectly square head looks over his newspaper to give Dropkick the Smooth Eyes. Dropkick notices the stare. The front of the tabloid he's reading says something about alien danger. Lana notices that the frat guys are having a little too much fun. Dropkick looks back at Square Head Guy, but he's gone. She tells Lana she thought she saw someone she knew. Dropkick excuses herself and leaves. More forced giggles.

After Dropkick leaves, we hear one of the frat guys go, "Go get her." The lead frat guy -- who will be cashing his Social Security check after this scene is over -- comes to try to bust a move on Lana. He's much more likely to bust a hip. "We heard this place had the friendliest service in town," Fratty Oldman says in an oily way. "Just leave," says Lana, as Fratty and his buds corner her against the swinging kitchen door. Lana looks past Fratty, and the front door looks really far away. She pushes a panic button conveniently right next to her finger. "Hey!" Fratty says. This wasn't part of the gang-rape plan! He grabs Lana by the arms and swings her against a heavy-looking set of shelves. Blue tinted glassware and orange cups fall all over the place. Lana hits the ground, but doesn't get cut on any of the glass. The other frat boys stick out their chins with brotherly pride. Fratty Oldman puts his hand on Lana's chin and suggests that they take this into the back. "Stop! Get away from her!" we hear. It's Clark, who is suddenly inside the coffeehouse without anyone's having noticed his entrance. Fratty Oldman gets up, wondering who this young whippersnapper of about twenty-eight years could be. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" Fratty asks. Oh, that's funny. None of these guys would get IDed at a bar. Clark says that the police are on their way. Lana looks up at everyone from the floor instead of picking herself up. "Come on. Let's go," Fratty tells his comrades. The guy with the frat letters appears to be wearing the letters "Orgy Omega *ss." Clark bends down to check on Lana. She says she's fine, but she's near tears. (more...)
-- Omar G (TWoP)

After Lana is almost assaulted by a college student, Clark loses control and injures the boy. When the Kents are sued for punitive damages that could cost them the farm, Clark begins to question his powers while trying to find a way out of the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Helen's ex-boyfriend arrives in town intent on winning her back, but when she turns him down, he stabs her, prompting Lex to take the law into his own hands. Allison Mack, Sam Jones III and John Glover also star.

Clark: So you're the new sheriff in town?
Sheriff Adams: You writing a book, Mr. Kent?

Lana: You're always there to save me. For once I wish I could save myself.

Lex: Trust me – eccentric bald kids sit pretty low on the prep school totem pole.

Paul: You're really paranoid.
Lex: No, I'm just a frighteningly good judge of character.

Lex: I wouldn't worry about Lana.
Clark: Why do you say that?
Lex: Let's just say the crouching tigress is finding her hidden dragon.

Chloe: You know I'm always up for a good conspiracy.

Lana: It's not every day that Lana Lang gets a chance to save Clark Kent.

Lana: Touch me again, and you'll have some real soft-tissue injury.

I don’t really like the message of this episode, and its flawed execution. Allow me to elaborate.

Every show has to have an episode where the chick goes nuts, taps into the unfathomable infinite well of “GIRL POWER!” and kicks the crud out of any oppressor (typically male) that gets in her way. Well, good in ways, bad in ways, I don’t want to get into that debate (Last time I did publicly through writing, I got death threats. Seriously.). The point is, the episode came, and the episode went, and I pulled a negative attitude out of this rather than a positive one. And before I get emails saying, “It’s just because you’re threatened by Lana, a formerly submissive woman, standing up for herself.”, I’ll assuage that by saying no, it’s not that. I love seeing anyone, male, female, androgynous mutant of Pluto, rising up to smite anything evil that may confront them, with rare exceptions (Cough cough Ira...I’d rather not get into that). But put it into a reversal of roles. A (SEX) is attacked by a group of (SEX), and implication is, there’s sexual assault involved. This person is not helped by the police, so when the main instigator returns, the way this person is dealt with is by the original person, victimized by violence, beating the holy crap out of the initiator. The moral to this story folks? Violence solves everything. (more...)
By Neil Bailey