Who is Perry White? Tabloid journalist Perry White is in Smallville to research the meteor shower for a cable TV show, "XStyles." Perry has a drinking problem. While driving drunk, Perry swerves to avoid hitting Clark. Clark uses his strength to pull Perry from the accident. Perry smells a story and continues to watch Clark. Chloe tells Clark that Perry was once one of the best journalists in Metropolis. When asked what happened to his success, Perry explains that he has a past with Lionel Luthor, who squelched Perry's biggest story.

What's up with Lana? Perry wants an interview with Lana about the meteor shower. Blocking sad memories, she refuses. Lana asks Lex to intervene to keep Perry from digging up the painful past.

What's up with Lex? The LuthorCorp required psychoanalysis sessions are getting no where with Lex, and the psychiatrist tells him so. She will not sign off on his mental health, warning him that he cannot cope alone with the emotional stress of being stranded on the island and his failed marriage. She recommends further therapy sessions.

Michael McKean portrays Perry White in this episode of Smallville. Michael's real-life wife is Annette O'Toole, Martha Kent. Superman fans know that in the future, Perry White becomes the boss of reporter Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. Michael talks about working on set with Annette and the possibility of Perry White as a recurring character in this interview from zap2it.com.

Perry confronts Lex. He wants to tell Lex all he knows about Lionel in exchange for information about Clark. Lex threatens Perry in an uncontrollable rage. Realizing he needs therapy, Lex reluctantly agrees to further sessions.

How it ends: Perry stakes out a camera crew in front of the Kent farm. Jonathan leads them away as Clark and Pete escape to camp out overnight to avoid further problems. As they set up camp, Clark gets a call from Lana on his cell phone. Pete drives Clark to the bridge, where Lana is frantic. Perry is standing on the edge, threatening to jump into the gorge. Perry is sure that Clark will use super powers to save him, giving Perry his proof and story. Perry jumps as Clark hangs on to him. They both dangle above the gorge from a rope that Perry has tied to his ankle, tethering himself to the bridge. Clark, effected by the solar flares, has no super powers to save them. Pete gets a rope from the car and ties it to the bumper, while Lana tosses Clark the other end of the lifeline. Perry hangs on to Clark's legs as Pete uses the car to pull them up to safety. Perry sees Clark's hands bleeding and realizes from the ordeal that he has no story.

With the solar flares gone, Clark's powers return to normal. Lana stops by the barn for a visit. Clark apologizes for being a part of the efforts that stirred up painful memories of her parent's death in the meteor shower. Lana suggests that she is moving on from the grief of losing her parents because she really cares about him. She hopes they can work things out between them.

Clark drops Perry at the bus stop to return to Metropolis. Clark's noble regard for others has inspired Perry to go sober and given him with the courage to pursue the big stories. He hopes that he can return to work at the Daily Planet. As they say good-bye Perry tells Clark, "If you're ever in Metropolis, look me up. I owe you one."
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The great Michael McKean stops into Smallville as future Clark Boss Perry White. But in the present, he's a bloated, alcoholic ex-reporter working for a sleazy tabloid TV show (not-so-cleverly dubbed X Styles). Perry is naturally curious about Clark after seeing him rip the door off of a car, walk through electric lines, and run at super speeds. Perry pisses off Lana (yay!), meets a kindred spirit in Chloe (more yay!, although the Wall of Weird has inexplicably reappeared), and stakes out Clark's farm as our superhero deals with the radical effects of solar flares. One minute he's powerless, the next he's SupaDupaClark. Perry sets up a bridge stunt to prove Clark has powers, but he picks the exact moment when Clark is vulnerable (they both hang off a fraying cord at the dam) and leaves town thinking Clark is physically normal. Perry -- who sobers up by episode's end -- even tells Clark to look him up in Metropolis sometime and vows to pursue the biggest story of his career: an exposé of Papa Luthor. And comics continuity is preserved. (And the comic-book geek crowd goes wild: Yaaaay.) Meanwhile, Lex is having his required psychological profile done, and lashes out at the analyst. But then, after nearly killing Perry in a fit of rage, Lex decides maybe he does have some issues and agrees to some heavy-duty therapy. Smallville? Meet The Sopranos. Also, for some reason, Lana is in this episode. I still can't figure out why.
By: Omar L. Gallaga (TWoP)

Perry White, a once- promising journalist whose career was destroyed by Lionel Luthor, arrives in Smallville in search of alien stories for a tabloid news show. In spite of being constantly inebriated, Perry believes he has witnessed Clark using his extraordinary speed, so he devises a dangerous scheme to expose Clark's superpowers. Meanwhile, Lex learns that Perry has powerful incriminating evidence of Lionel's shady past. Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Sam Jones III, Annette O'Toole and John Schneider also star.

Perry: I'm tellin' you [the Kent's Tractor] fell out of the sky!
Sheriff Adams: And last night you were begging the nurses to keep the flying monkies out of your room!

Clark: You're a reporter?
Perry: In a past life.

Perry: Memories fail, but a Google search never forgets.

Perry: There's no way that (Lex) could have walked away from that crash without the miracle that is Clark Kent.

Perry: Thanks again for the ride.
Clark: It's the only way I could be sure you get on the bus.

Chloe: Weather service expects a light shower of threshing machines, followed by a drizzle of combines.

We continue to see added depth into Lex's character. He's afraid to open up to his psychiatrist and yet he recognizes that he needed help. When Perry offers him the dirt on Lionel in exchange for information on Clark, Lex remains fiercely loyal to his friend, once again playing on the tragic divide that is to come. (more...)
By Hayley Planet