What's up with Lana? Lana has been practicing for an equestrian competition. She's thrilled that her dad Henry Small will attend. Henry's wife Jennifer tells Lana she plans to seek a divorce. Jennifer can't accept that Henry's priority is Lana and a happier time. Lana tells Henry they should put the father-daughter relationship on hold and he should try to mend his marriage.
What's up with Clark? Guys wearing alien masks hijack a LuthorCorp van, stealing the contents. Clark pulls up on the crime in progress. One guy throws Clark into a field. Clark is surprised at his strength, similar to his own. With his x-ray vision, Clark sees a metal plate in one guy's skull.

Guest-star Zachery Bryan portrays Eric Marsh. Zachery is best known for his childhood role as "Brad Taylor," eldest son of "Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor" on family comedy favorite Home Improvement.

Who is Eric Marsh? Clark discovers that the their who threw him is Eric Marsh, Smallville High baseball star. Pete says Eric was a Little League bench warmer who now holds Smallville's High's record batting average. Clark suspects performance-enhancing drugs. They learn that Eric was a straight-A student who was a victim of a chemical explosion over the summer at chemistry camp...reason for the plate in his head.
Clark follow Eric to a foundry and sees him refining kryptonite. Eric is inhaling refined kryptonite to gain strength. The guys discover Clark and hold him down. Eric beats Clark, throwing him in the flaming blast furnace. The thugs take the kryptonite they hijacked from the LuthorCorp van and leave. Clark bursts out of the oven, nude.
What's up with Chloe? Chloe is upset that Clark missed a story deadline. His excuse was that he was helping Lana. Chloe feels she's always the back-up plan. Clark denies it, and quits the Torch. Chloe tells Clark they should put their friendship on hold.
Chloe breaks the story of the LuthorCorp van hijacking in the Torch. She goes to the hospital with hopes of interviewing the van driver. Lionel is there. Chloe probes to find out what was in the truck. Lionel vaguely answers it was industrial material and hints at corporate espionage.
Later Chloe finds the Torch newsroom has been vandalized. Lionel visits Chloe in the ruins of the Torch office, noticing her 'wall of the weird.' Lionel tells Chloe he has given the school a gift to rebuild the Torch and improve the journalism dept. He also tells Chloe he could use his influence in Metropolis to get her a column in The Daily Planet. Chloe, always the curious journalist, questions Lionel's motivation. Lionel says he is after the same thing that she is, the truth.
What's up with Jonathan? After telling his parents about the attack at the foundry, Clark gives an anonymous tip to the police and Eric is arrested. After his release, Eric threatens Clark with what might happen to those he cares about. Clark rushes home to find his parents tied up, hanging from the walls in the barn, which has been vandalized by Eric. Clark pleads with his parents for their own safety. Finally Jonathan agrees to take Martha to Metropolis for a few days. Before he leaves, he tells Clark that although Eric and the thugs can match his strength, they do not have his other gifts, which he should use to his advantage.
What's up with Lex? Lionel makes a personal visit to congratulate Lex on his upcoming wedding. Lex knows his visit is for other reasons. Lex questions the contents of the van. Lionel accuses Lex of setting up the hijacking. Lex denies it. Lionel won't tell what was in the van.
Lex visits Eric in jail to find out what was stolen in the trucks in exchange for bail.
Clark tells Lex about the physical threats to his parents and discovers Lex bailed Eric from jail. Clark and Lex devise a scheme of a false delivery of meteor rock to draw Eric out. Lex refuses Clark's urging to get police involved.
How it ends: Without Lex's knowledge, Clark intercepts the decoy delivery, fighting Eric and the guys who have hijacked the second truck. Eric is arrested again. Pete buries the stolen kryptonite in the woods.
Lana tells Clark that her dad won't be in attendance at the equestrian competition. She says she won't compete. Clark encourages her. She agrees to compete when Clark says he'll be there for her.
[back to top]

We start the episode with...aw, sh*t, I forgot about this. Clark and Lana. Whoop-de-freakin'-do. They're at the ornately decorated Talon, which seems to have stolen some Egyptian items from the Metropolis museum. Clark is thrilled to be asking Lana about an equestrian show. He says he didn't realize how important it was to Lana. She's boring, Clark. How could an equestrian show not be interesting to her? So, I got a new TV, but no high definition tuner. I like to think here's a better version of Smallville on the other end of that HDTV tuner. Lana says she's excited about the equestrian show because her biological dad, Henry Diminutive, will be there along with some lady he's married to. Clark asks how the father/daughter thing is going. Ew. I get spam like that all the time. Lana says it's going great, but she's really vague about what constitutes "great." Does Henry lend you his car? Does he let you wear makeup? Less makeup than usual, perhaps? Lana gives Clark a bottle of ketchup to open and says she's optimistic about her fatherly future. "You deserve to be happy," Clark says, over ketchup.

The person Clark doesn't think deserves to be happy is Chloe, who walks up wearing something from the back of Stevie Nicks's closet. There's orange and a green scarf and Chloevage. It hurts my eyes. Chloe goes behind Clark to make him avert his gaze and his ketchup from Lana, and asks what happened to him. She says that Clark had a story due -- an article about the debate team. That's way more exciting than horses. Clark says he got caught up helping Lana. With ketchup. Chloe looks away and says that the story is already late. Like this recap. She says she had to print the lunch menu in 60-point type. Now, that's just physically impossible. Chloe implies that the student body will care about that. I worked at a high-school paper. They won't. Lana tries to take the blame, but Chloe won't let her. Chloe says she doesn't blame Lana. She glares at Clark. Clark looks mildly amused. Ass. (And we'll get to that ass later.) Lana excuses herself and thanks Clark for his help. Clark watches Lana go (he hates to see her leave, but he loves to watch her go) with a goofy grin and says he'll make it up to Chloe. He promises. Chloe points out Clark's sh*t record on promises. Clark asks what the big deal is about one story. Just ask the debate team. They're dying for publicity! I listened to them argue that point. Chloe says that Clark couldn't give up one riding stint with Lana. Clark tries to make it not about Lana. He didn't get the email about how the show is All About Lana. Even Eve is jealous. Chloe says that Clark is never there when she needs him. Clark asks if she's being a little harsh. Nope. Chloe says she's never a priority to Clark; she's just a backup. Clark finally has had enough truth for one day and says that if that's how Chloe feels, maybe he should just quit. Chloe agrees. "Fine. I quit," says Clark. Chloe suddenly looks hurt. She rubs her temple and face. You're so much better than this episode, Chloe. (more...)
-- Omar G (TWoP)

Clark stumbles upon a robbery of a LuthorCorp truck carrying kryptonite and is stunned to realize he can't stop the thieves because they are as strong as he is. To keep Clark from going to the police, the thugs attack Jonathan and Martha, leaving Clark feeling powerless and desperate for a way to protect his parents. Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Allison Mack, Sam Jones III and John Glover also star.

Lionel: You know journalists are the midwives of history. Perhaps with my help we could ... make history together.

The effects were limited to stuff we've seen time and again, but they were still well done. I give it 5 out of 6, hurt for not breaking new ground.

The story was well done. Nary a plot hole that I could see, developments of multiple relationships, effective use of every major cast member save Annette O'Toole, and a villain with motivation other than plain old robbery. I give it 5 out of 6, hurt because we didn't see enough of Henry Small in previous episodes for his plotline to work this week.

The acting was good in every shot save one. Zachary Bryan did well enough here (and on Buffy) to make me quickly forget about his character on Home Improvement. Apart from Lana's breakdown, the entire cast was convincing. You can never go wrong with John Glover as Lionel Luthor, either. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response this produced was excellent. The moment I hear John Glover's voice, the screen has my complete attention (as if it didn't already.) Mark Verheiden has done excellent work on the show overall; don't be surprised to see him take on the role of showrunner on this or another show at some future point. He can write an episode that builds on the past without referring to it directly (for the most part), making it accessible to people who have and haven't watched the show in the past. The implications of that final scene are still setting in for me here. I give it 6 out of 6.

The production is excellent. The moving camera kept long conversations interesting, the lighting of the foundry scene was exceptionally well done, and the editing and direction kept things moving rapidly throughout the hour. I give it 6 out of 6.

Overall, it's a very strong episode. It's not quite as good as Insurgence was, but it's close. I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Witness receives 35 out of 42. (more...)
By fiziko