What's up with Clark: Jonathan and Clark are in Metropolis for one of Jonathan's doctor visits. As Clark goes to get the truck, a drunk careens towards Jonathan. Just as he's about to get hit, he's saved, but not by Clark. Clark tells his dad he saw a kid move as fast as he does. Great, Jonathan says, except he took my wallet. With Chloe's help, Clark tracks down the mysterious speedster. His name is Bart Allen.

What's up with Bart (aka the Flash): Bart's a good kid, but he's got a criminal side. He steals for his food and board. If Clark wants to know more, he's gotta catch him. The two tear off across the city, Bart looses Clark because he's so fast he can walk on water! When Clark goes back to the farm, Bart's there waiting for him. He's never met anyone who can run with him. When he was a kid an accident made him as fast as lightning. He and Clark bond by using their super speed to run down to Miami for a break. But Clark wants Bart to change, stop stealing, use his powers to help people. Bart's an outcast, his parents even turned their backs on him, and he refuses to slow down.

What's up with Lana: Jason discovers Lana's tattoo and she gets very defensive. She's not ready to reveal all her secrets yet.

What's up with Martha: Martha's been spending a ton of time running the Talon. When she talks to Lana, she opens up that it's the only way she can stop from worrying about Jonathan's health.

What's up with Lex: Lex buys a 14th-century manuscript and invites Clark to take a look at it. He wants Clark's help in deciphering its secrets. There are symbols like those from the Caves all around it. Clark agrees reluctantly and tells his dad that the symbols are Kryptonian and they say "Look Closer." Using his x-ray vision, he saw a hidden map under the top of the page. Clark goes back to the mansion to copy the map, but while he's there, Bart swipes it and Clark is caught by Lex after the alarm is tripped. Clark doesn't betray Bart, but Lex isn't worried, he'll find who stole from him. No one can run from Lex Luthor.

How it ends up: Lex sets a trap for Bart. But when the thugs want to kill Bart, Lex tells them to let him go, he's just a kid. Lex and Bart are knocked out, but Clark shows up and takes care of the thugs. He tells Bart he has to stop running, but Bart opens up some Kryptonite and sets it by Clark. He has second thoughts however and saves Clark from the Kryptonite, but grabs the manuscript and flees.

Martha decides she has to stop worrying about Jonathan and enjoy him, so she takes a day off. Lana takes Jason to the Caves and tells him all about how she got her tattoo and why she's back in Smallville. He tells her they'll figure it all out together.

Clark goes to check on Lex, and Lex tells him he's fine. Whoever stole the manuscript returned it, but he tells Clark his experts couldn't find anything special about it. Clark's relieved. Suprise, Lex lied! He's discovered the map and has a full copy of it at his disposal. Clark tries to duplicate the map at home by making sketches from memory. Bart comes by and tells Clark he's glad they're still friends. He'll try to be better, but can't sit still in Smallville. He's going to go look for more people like them. "Hey, maybe we can join some kind of club, or league," he says. Looks like Clark has his first super friend.
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THE FLASH SPEEDS INTO SMALLVILLE After Jonathan's wallet is stolen, Clark super-speeds after the thief (guest star Kyle Gallner) but is stunned when he cannot catch him. The thief, Bart, a.k.a. The Flash, later shows up at the farm and tries to talk Clark into leaving Smallville for a life on the road together, flexing their super powers. Meanwhile, Lex buys a priceless framed manuscript with Kryptonian symbols and Clark learns that it contains a mysterious hidden map. However, when Bart steals the manuscript from Lex, he inadvertently puts Clark's life in danger and must make the decision whether to save Clark or himself.
Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, John Glover, Jensen Ackles, Annette O'Toole also star. David Barrett directed the episode written by Steven S. DeKnight.

Aw, he's a good kid. Just a little misguided. Kid Flash's thievery gets the best of him when Lex acquires a rare ancient pamphlet for Scientology that might reveal more secrets about the cave drawings. Clark uses X-ray vision on it and sees a hidden map that leads to how good this show was in the first season. Follow it, Clark! Because he gets pissed off at Clark and is impressed with Lex's Large Live, Kid Flash steals the scroll. But he has a change of heart and gives it back after the Metropolis criminals turn out to be worse guys than he thought. Clark also helps him and New Action Kickfighting Lex to escape that scrape. Clark and Flash decide to be friends, but Flash doesn't want to stick around town because it's (yawn) BO-ring!

In other news, Clark and Lex decide to solve the scroll mystery together, MamaKent eases off on her new Talon duties to spend more time with Bo Duke and Lana explains her new tattoo to Jason Teague, who's like, "You got a what on your back? Oh. That's cool. No big." But then she takes him to the caves, and he begins to realize what a whacked-out chick he got involved with.

Clark checks through Chloe to track down the use of Jonathan's credit card while Lex acquires a framed manuscript with Kryptonian symbols. Clark confronts the boy, Bart, in his apartment and a super-speed chase ensues until he loses Clark . . . then goes to the Clark farm. He appeals to Clark to join him on the road and after a short trip to Florida Lex calls in Clark to examine the manuscript and Clark agrees to help, using x-ray vision to spot the map it conceals but keeps the info to himself. Bart shows up but departs before Lex can see him. Clark decides to sneak in to get the map but Bart beats him to it and leaves Clark stuck thee when the alarms go off.

Clark doesn't give a very good explanation for his presence but Lex apparently buys it and plans to track down the manuscript through any fence Bart sells it to. Bart takes it to Annason but the guy knocks him out and meets with Lex. When Lex calls in the police he gets knocked out and Clark rescues them both. Bart uses the green kryptonite he found earlier on Clark and takes the manuscript, although Clark convinces him to seal away the kryptonite before he flees. When Clark meets with Lex later, Lex has the manuscript back and reveals it was left for him. Clark meets with Bart later and the speedster decides to leave.

Meanwhile Jonathan has to come to terms with Martha's responsibilities at the Talon and her concerns about him, but the two reconcile. And Jason queries Lana about her tattoo and is concerned about how she hid it from him, and she shows him the caves and the symbol that matches the one on her back.

Jonathan (to Clark): Not only did he save my life, Clark, he also saved my wallet.

Jason (to Lana): It looks like a very big tattoo hovering over a very provocative place.

Jason (to Lana): I've seen what keeping secrets has done to my parents. There's no way I want to go through that.

Clark: I ran away once, too.
Bart: Why’d you come back? Mow the lawn? Milk some cows?

Bart: I'll be a thousand miles away before you even blink.
Clark: I don't know, I can blink pretty fast.

Bart (to Clark): This is my first time here and, no offense, I hope it's my last.

Bart (to Clark about Lex): You can't get that rich from playing it straight.

Bart (to Clark): When i'm asleep i'm as slow as everyone else.

Bart: (I'm from) the future.
Chloe: Really?
Bart: I ran all the way back through time to tell you we're still in love 100 years from now.

Lex (to Clark): I'm still interested, just not obsessed.

Clark (to Jonathan): Maybe it's time I stopped running way from who I am.

Bart (to Clark): Why do you treat your powers like a curse. They're not - they're a gift... you are nothing like me.

Lex (to Clark): I believe you. I know a real friend would never lie to me... Our thief is going to learn that there is nowhere on earth to run from Lex Luthor.

Hanison (to Bart): Look at the mess you've made kid. Let's see if you're faster than a speeding bullet.

Clark (to Jonathan): I spend so much time trying to hide who I am, I feel like i'm two seperate people.

Martha: (I wanted to) spend some time with a ruggedly handsome farmer.
Jonathan: Well, you're in luck, there just happens to be one sweating in your driveway right now.
Martha: Maybe I should get the hose and a bucket of soap.

Lex: News travels fast.
Clark: The curse of a small town.

Clark: So, what happened?
Lex: I decided to play cowboy and got my spurs handed to me.

Bart (to Clark): What are you - fast, strong and psychic?... Look at you, channeling your inner-criminal.

Bart: See if there's anyone else out there like us; maybe start a club or a league or something.

Clark: Are you sure there's nothing I can do to change your mind?
Bart: Tell you what...if you can catch me...I'll think about it.

Clark learns that someone else is as fast as he is.

High Point

The last 30 seconds or so.

Low Point

A state of the art security system is a bunch of lights and sirens?

The Review

This strikes me as a different version of the Flash than we're used to, which counts for originality. This didn't even need to be the DC character, but could have been any one of the superpowered villains we've seen. He was just more fleshed out than most. I give it 5 out of 6.

The effects were well done. They could have used the same effects they've used for Clark the entire time, but went with a more traditional Flash look instead. Excellent choice, and a nice indication that they don't want to fall into a rut. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story was fairly well done, with the one exception I noticed above. There were no moments that really demanded to be overlooked, unlike several other episodes of the show. We've got a decent plot driving the main story forward, while telling an interesting one-time character piece in the meantime. I give it 5 out of 6.

The acting from Welling was better than usual, possibly because his character spent so much time lying and withholding things this week. He wasn't supposed to come off as natural. Kyle Gallner did some good work as a guest star, too. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response was pretty good. The Talon scene was very amusing, and many of the interactions between cast members worked quite well. I really like what we saw from Jonathan this week. (I expect his story to take a larger role this season.) I love the way they can use this as a seed to establish the entire DC Universe. I give it 5 out of 6.

The production was, again, well done. These people know their jobs, and they don't seem to be tiring just yet. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it's a pretty good episode, with hardly any sex! It's probably going to be one of the high points of the season. I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Run receives 35 out of 42.

After re-stealing some hot items he sold to a fence in Metropolis, teenage speedster Bart Allen saves Jonathan’s life when a drunk driver swerves toward him. But he’s not completely altruistic…he also takes off with Jonathan’s wallet once he’s done. After getting Pa home, Clark tracks Bart down at a hotel and confronts him, but when Bart runs away, even Clark can’t catch him. When Clark gets home, Bart’s there, asking what took him so long. Clark becomes almost an older brother to Bart while trying to keep an eye on him, and Bart finds out a lot about Clark from speeding around the loft—including the Kryptonite, which Clarks says he’s ‘allergic’ to.

Meanwhile, Jason discovers Lana’s tattoo and she gets very defensive about it. But after a talk with Martha, in which she helps Martha realize she shouldn’t avoid Jonathan, she realizes herself that she should tell Jason the truth. So at the end of the show, she takes him to the caves and explains the whole story about what happened. He says he’ll help her to figure out the mystery, then gets a strange look on his face while looking at the symbol on the cave wall that matches the tattoo.

Lex receives a crate containing a page from an old manuscript that has Kryptonian symbols in its border. He asks Clark to help him go over it to try to figure out the mystery. But, of course, Clark can secretly read the symbols, which tell him to ‘look deeper,’ and when he uses his x-ray vision on it, a map shows up. After Clark gets into an argument with Bart, he goes back to Lex’s mansion late at night to take another look at the page, but Bart rushes in and steals it, setting off the alarm and getting Clark caught. Lex tracks the page to Hanison, the fence from the beginning of the show, to whom Bart is trying to sell it. Bart and Lex are both nearly killed by Hanison until Clark shows up and saves them. But Bart gets out the Kryptonite and uses it to stop Clark from following him when he takes off with the manuscript page. However, the next day Lex tells Clark that the thief must have had a change of heart, because it was sitting on his desk when he got back from the hospital. What he doesn’t tell Clark is that he’s also found the hidden map, which he brings up on his computer screen. Clark and Bart make up and will presumably remain friends, and Bart races off to see the world and look for other superpowered beings. (more... )

Jonathan’s wallet is stolen by Bart while he was saving him from a car.

While Bart is in the shower, Clark checks his backpack and finds several photo identification cards with different aliases – Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bartholomew Allen.

Bart says that “nobody sees me when I’m doing my thing, man.” Clark then says “You’re not the only one that can move like a flash…” Bart is dressed in cargo pants and a “red sweatshirt with a yellow collar (i.e. The Flash costume colors).”

When Bart was 8, there was an accident that involved a flash of light and caused his body to go in overdrive. He didn’t get his ‘Fastest Man Alive’ ability from Smallville as it’s his first time visiting. He’s been on his own since he was 10 because his parents freaked at his powers. He spends his time in Suicide Slums and “swipes a little bling from the stiff upper crust”

As Clark is telling Bart his life story, Bart cuts him off and says “Too slow” so he superspeeds around the loft and finds that Clark likes rock-collecting, reading Native American mythology, and scrawling “the name ‘Lana’ in all his notebooks.”

Bart meets with a guy named Callister. It's the typical mafia guy. Expensive suit, fancy car. Callister complains to his Goliath-sized enforcer, Tony about Bart being late. Suddenly, Bart appears right behind him. "If there's one thing I am it's never late. I say, I'll be somewhere, and I'm there like a flash", he says. Bart is carrying a backpack full of watches, rings, and other jewelry. Callister offers him $200, but Bart insists it's worth ten times more than that. Callister tells him he doesn't have time for the nickel and dime crap , so he should just take what he's giving him. "Or maybe I should just take it all", Bart replies. Tony reaches for his gun, but a siren interrupts. The Metropolis Police Cruiser pulls onto the dock. Callister shoots Bart an angry look, but he's nowhere to be seen.

Bart meets with Callister again. This time, he takes out of his backpack a manuscript page. Callister unrolls it and grins. "Can we speed this up? I'll let you have it for an even mil.", Bart says, but Callister tells him he already made a better deal. Bart spots Lex's Ferrari pulling up. Tony smashes Bart in the back of the head and leaves him unconscious. "That's the "master criminal" who stole it?...He's just a boy" Lex tells Callister and orders to let him go. Callister refuses saying nobody knows what “this freak's capable of". Lex threatens him. Tony, the bodyguard tries to hit Lex with his gun, but Lex karate chops it out of his hands bringing the gigantic man to his knees just as Callister smashes Lex in the face. Lex falls unconscious.

Callister is about to shoot Bart. "Let's see if you're faster than a speeding bullet", he says, when Clark blurs past causing the gun and manuscript to disappear from Callister's hands. Clark chucks Callister to a cargo container and tells a scared Tony to go. Clark sees Lex's unconscious and tells Bart they need to get him into a hospital. "I'm busy, Clark", he replies. When Clark approaches to Bart, he opens the lead box containing the kryptonite. "...but I'm not sticking around." he says taking the manuscript from Clark's weak hands.

DC COMICS CHARACTERS THE FLASH AND MXYZPTLK ARRIVE IN "SMALLVILLE" AND CLASH WITH CLARK KENT FOR THE FIRST TIME Beloved DC Comic characters The Flash and Mxyzptlk arrive in Smallville on a mission and have their first meeting with a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling). On Wednesday, October 20, 9:00 p.m. PT a young Flash (guest star Kyle Gallner) speeds into Smallville, while villain Mxyzptlk (guest star Trent Ford) stirs up trouble on Wednesday, November 3, 9:00 p.m. PT.

The Flash, aka Bart Allen, shows up in Smallville, and surprises Clark by stealing Jonathan's (John Schneider) wallet, then super-speeding from the scene. Clark attempts to catch him but is stunned when he realizes he has met someone faster than he is. Bart arrives at the Kent farm and tries to convince Clark to join him on the road. Later, Bart also has an unpleasant run-in with Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) that puts both their lives in danger.

Famous for challenging Superman with magical mischief, Mxyztplk swoops into Smallville in the form of Mikail Mxyztplk, a young foreign exchange student who starts an underground gambling ring at the high school. Chloe (Allison Mack) is drawn into the ring and loses her savings on a football game after Mxyzptlk uses his powers to control all the players - including Clark. When Chloe discovers Mxyzptlk's secret, he kidnaps her and threatens to kill her unless Clark throws the championship game. Meanwhile, Lex threatens Mxyzptlk with deportation unless he uses his powers for Lex's benefit.

The Flash and Mxyzptlk are the latest DC Comics characters to appear in the series. Perry White (Michael McKean) made an appearance last season and Lois Lane (Erica Durance) joined the cast this year.

The Flash first appeared in January 1940. His special powers enable him to run at near lightspeed and to pass through objects. Mister Mxyzptlk hails from the fifth dimension and possesses shape-changing abilities and other "magical" powers that can transform animate and inanimate objects into other forms. The villain first appeared in October 1944.

Reinterpreting the Superman mythology from its roots, SMALLVILLE was developed for television by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar based on the DC Comics characters. Gough and Millar serve as executive producers, along with Greg Beeman, Ken Horton, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins and Joe Davola.

The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television, Tollin/Robbins Productions and Millar/Gough Ink. SUPERMAN was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.