Title:
Slumber
Production:
Season 03 | Episode 04 | 48
Original air date:
October 22, 2003

Writer:
Drew Greenberg
Director:
Terrence O'Hara

Series regulars:
Tom Welling
(Clark Kent)
Kristin Kreuk
(Lana Lang)
Michael Rosenbaum
("Lex" Luthor)
John Schneider
(Jonathan Kent)
Annette O'Toole
(Martha Kent)
Sam Jones III
(Pete Ross)
Allison Mack
(Chloe Sullivan)
John Glover
(Lionel Luthor)

Guest stars:
Katharine Isabelle
(Sara Conroy)
Christopher Shyer
(Nicholas Conroy)
John De Santis
(The Traveller)

Music:
All of the music in this episode is from R.E.M.'s new CD R.E.M. IN TIME the best of 1988-2003.

Song: "Imitation Of Life"

Song: "Everybody Hurts"

Song: "Losing My Religon"

Song: "At My Most Beautiful"

Song: "Bad Day"

Previous Episode:
Extinction

Next Episode:
Perry

Ratings:
Airdate1 Viewers2 Rating3 Share4 Rank
10.22.03 6.9 4.4/6.3 7/10 79
1(U.S.); 2In millions,
3% of all households (nat./over),
4% of households watching tv (nat./over).
 
Slumber What's up with Lana? Its a hot day. Lana finds Clark at the lake, about to go in for a skinny dip. She says she wants to join him, but "no peeking." She strips down and jumps in the water while his back is turned. He strips down and joins her. Once face-to-face they are about to embrace, when a girl runs along the shore screaming.

Who is Sara Conroy? The screaming girl runs into the woods. Clark, now dressed, catches her to ask what's wrong. A muddy hand reaches out from below ground to grab her foot. Although Clark is trying to pull her away, she is pulled underground, disappearing. Later Lana tells Clark she's willing to wait for a relationship with him as long as he wants. The next day Clark sees the girl. She tells him her name. He asks what happened. She tells him she's being chased, and they both see a man with a red cape. As Pete finds Clark, the caped man and Sara disappear. Later Sara shows up outside the Kent's house, begging Clark not to let the caped Grim Reaper to take her. He appears and takes her again.

What's up with Clark? Clark tells his parents what happened with the disappearing girl. They say they'll tell the sheriff. The Kents give an excited Clark a gift of a new truck.

What's up with Chloe? Chloe has taken down the wall of the weird. She's never heard of Sara.

What's up with Lex? Lex has a legendary samurai sword that is indestructible. He surprises Clark by lunging at him with it. Clark puts up his arm to shield himself. The sword shatters. Lex accuses Clark of deceit and says he will tell the world Clark's secret.
Music for this episode is exclusively by R.E.M., with five songs featured: "Imitation of Life," "Everybody Hurts," "Losing My Religion," "Bad Day" and "At My Most Beautiful." All these songs are from the band's new album, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988 - 2003, scheduled for release on October 28, 2003.

Clark awakens from a dream. All that has happened was a dream. The Kents tell him they tried to wake him after he fell asleep while studying. He was asleep for 36 hours. Clark tells his parents about Sara Conroy from his dream. The Kents tell him the Conroys just moved in next door where Lana lived. Wary, Jonathan asks Clark to stay away from the neighbors.

Sara's story: Lana brings Clark his missed homework. He tells Lana a bit about his dream. They decide to see Sara in person. Sara is asleep in a coma. Clark asks what happened. Her uncle tells that Sara was in a car accident. Clark notices the uncle wears a St. Christopher medal. He says he prays daily to the patron saint of travelers that Sara will "come back" to them. Clark and Lana leave so the uncle can give Sara her medication.

What's up with Lex? Lex is angry that he's locked out of the LuthorCorp computer system. He hasn't been given security clearance because he hasn't gone through Lionel's required psychological evaluation.

At last Lex decides to take the psychological evaluation. He tells his father he has nothing to hide. Lex tells Lionel that the island didn't make him crazy. Lionel replies that the rich are not crazy...they are eccentric.

What's up with Clark? Clark feels Sara is reaching out to him for help. Chloe thinks the meteor rocks in the lake where Sara crashed may have effected Sara's telepathic ability. Clark suspects Sara's uncle is drugging her. Lana and Clark find out that Sara's parents were rich. Her uncle has control over the estate. While with Lana, Clark falls asleep.

Asleep again, Sara is in Clark's dream. Sara tells Clark that every time she feels better, her uncle does something and she sinks back into unconsciousness. She has heard the doctors say that she should have been awake from the coma. Clark asks who "The Traveler" is. Sara cannot answer. The red caped "Traveler," the Grim Reaper, appears and takes Sara away.

Awake again, Clark brings Sara flowers. He sits with her. When the uncle leaves her room, Clark checks the place for drugs, then quickly leaves before the uncle returns. The uncle returns and realizes something is missing and so is Clark.

As Clark races away in the truck, Sara appears in the seat beside him, telling him her uncle is angry. Clark realizes he is asleep, and wrecks the truck. Apparently he was asleep at the wheel.

How it ends: Lana wait for Clark at the farm with Martha. Jonathan has found Clark in the wrecked truck. Pulling Clark from the truck, they realize that Clark was at the Conroy home and must've fallen asleep at the wheel. Lana tells the Kents that concern over Clark's dreams prompted them to visit Sara. Now they are all worried about Sara.

Back in Clark's dream, Sara runs from Clark telling him her fears and that she want to be free. He tells Sara he needs to awaken to help her. She is pulled by the Traveler's hand into the lake. Clark jumps in after her.

At the Conroy house, Sara's uncle is about to inject her. Lana catches him and tells him to stop, that they know he has been drugging Sara. The uncle injects Lana with the drug.

Back in the dream, Clark pulls Sara from the lake. She tells Clark that Lana is in trouble. The caped "Traveler" comes out of the lake. He throws Clark aside. Clark tells Sara that she is strong and must not let the "Traveler" take control. She fights back with her will, and Clark overcomes the "Traveler" with his heat vision.

Clark awakens from the dream. He tells Martha that Lana is in trouble and rushes away. At the Conroy house, he finds Sara still in her coma. Lana's cell phone is on the floor. Using x-ray vision, Clark looks out the window, searching for Lana. He sees that the uncle is about to ignite gasoline to explode the truck where Lana is unconscious. He rushes to stop him in time, subduing the uncle.

At the hospital, Clark visits Sara who is now awake. She knows she's been in Clark's dreams. She obeserves that Clark is clearly in love with Lana but resists. She advises him not to push Lana away if he loves her so much. Lana is the girl of his dreams.

Later in the barn, Lana visits Clark. She has met Sara. All Sara could talk about was Clark. Lana wishes she could be in Clark's dreams so she could know what's going on his head. Lana asks if they could spend time together over the weekend. She suggests swimming at the lake. He says skinny dipping might not be such a good idea. "Who said anything about skinny dipping? Maybe in your dreams, Clark," Lana says smiling as she turns to leave.
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RECAP:
Yo, check it: I dreamed that I was watching a kick-*ss episode where Lana and Clark got it on underwater (stark nekkers!), that Lex figured out Clark's secret by trying to cut him in half with a sword (it shattered, of course, because this is Smallville), and then Clark got a new truck and wasn't even a wuss about accepting it as a gift from Bo and MamaKent. But, alas, it was all a dream, a terrible teasing dream linked to a girl in a coma whose father is drugging her (using the Munchausen's Syndrome By Proxy Home Coma Kit). Clark keeps getting told he needs to get some sleep and keeps downing caffeine because he doesn't want to go to dreamland. Ah, Clark is a Dream Warrior! Eventually, he helps Coma Girl face her dream demon, who looks like Spawn with a smaller budget and no chains. Clark agonizes about his romance with Lana, to which I say: "Gah." Lex avoids taking a psychological exam at his dad's request, but finally relents without too much fanfare. In the end, the Coma Dad is thrown against a tree, Clark and Lana are copasetic, and Lana teases Clark about actually believing that she might skinny-dip. I mean, who do you think she is? Some normal teenaged girl? She loves twisting Clark up in sexual knots. That's called putting the "rude" in "prude."
By: Omar L. Gallaga (TWoP)
OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION:
Clark dreams he is being pursued by a frightened young girl who needs his help. However, after he discovers she is actually a comatose neighbor who should have woken up years ago, he enlists Lana's help to uncover the truth - which puts Lana in grave danger. Meanwhile, Lionel demands that Lex undergo a full psychological evaluation before he hires him. Allison Mack, Sam Jones III, Annette O'Toole and John Schneider also star.
QUOTES:
 
REVIEW
Lex (to Clark): Now you're saving people in your dreams too.

Lana: Clark, want to go swimming at Crater Lake?
Clark: I don't think skinny dipping's a good idea.
Lana: Who said anything about skinny dipping? Maybe in your dreams...

Lionel: What was it that made you change your mind?
Lex: Because I was dealing from a position of fear, and if there's one thing you can sniff out like a bloodhound, it's that.
Lionel: It's a gift, Lex, and it's useful.

Lex: That island didn't make me crazy, Dad.
Lionel: Of course not . . . but it'll be good to have that in writing.

Lionel: Lex – when you're rich, you're not crazy. You're eccentric.

Sara: I may have been there (Clark), but Lana's the girl of your dreams.
 
I have mixed feelings on this episode. A lot of people wrote me this week about how harsh I was last week, that the episode deserved a little more love than I gave it, but really, I've decided that it's time to come down, and come down hard on freak of the weeks. My reasoning? After two years, and the overwhelming fan response to the obviously better episodes WITHOUT the freak of the week (Rosetta, etc), I think the producers and writers know what we want, and to put out constant villain storylines based in Kryptonite or someone just randomly becoming a freak or homicidal, is disrespectful and a marked slam to the fan base. Including me. So I'm gonna be a bit harsher now on stereotype episodes.

Okay, kids, we have kids (in character anyway) getting naked again, for your viewing pleasure... so they're 16, maybe 17 now, making our perversion slightly lessened, but not really to any LEGAL degree. And it's really embarrassing when you're a reviewer and you've gotta slow down the scene to see if there is anything shown (I mean, what kind of reviewer would I be if I didn't do that for you, huh, so I could triumphantly scream YOU SEE TOM'S PACKAGE! or NEUTROGENA'S NOT GONNA LIKE THIS!) to find nothing. Well, nothing except for Tom Welling "taped up". I really didn't need to see that. I think we might have had TWO freaks of the week this week. Add me. (more...)
By Neal Bailey

TRAILER:
NEWS & NOTES:
In the school halls, there are several posters about the "Emerald Knights". In the comics, "Emerald Knights" refer to the now-defunct Green Lantern Corps.

Guest star Katharine Isabelle is the daughter of Smallville production designer Graeme Murray.