----------

Teaser

Clark and Pete are at an old folks' home to perform their mandatory 30 hours of community service (Smallville High apparently has such a rule ... guess my high school was just not very conscientious), where they bump into Lana. Pete realizes why Clark wanted to complete theirs at the home rather than lifeguarding the girls' swim class at the Y. Clark tells Lana that he is going to be reading with a woman named Cassandra, and Lana shares that some of the nurses say Cassandra can see the future. (In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a woman doomed to being able to see the future and no one would ever believe her. This myth has been used in The X-Files and elsewhere, so what's one more time.)

Cassandra Carver, an old blind woman, is able to interact with the world around her using her other (heightened) senses. Cassandra "accidentally" drops her Braille book and Pete picks it up for her. She touches his hand and tells him it's a long walk home and to check his pockets. He realizes that he's locked his keys in the car, and heads out.

Lana visits with an old man in a wheelchair named Harry Bolston. He's enjoying some classical music and seems to know a lot about the Langs' history, at least in relation to Smallville. He asks her if she's his next victim, and she replies that he doesn't look so scary to her. Oh, how little you know, Lana. "You should have known me in my younger days," he says.

Lana talks him out for a walk and stops him next to a pond. He asks her if she wouldn't mind running back to get his scarf so he won't catch a chill, and of course she complies. What he really wants to do is sneak a cigarette. However, Harry drops his lighter and strains to reach it.

Cassandra, with Clark, drops a glass of water.

Harry tips over into the pond, wheelchair and all, and green electricity shoots everywhere -- he looks like he's being electrocuted. While in the water, however, Harry's face suddenly changes, turning back into a young man. He rises from the pond, looks at his youthful hand, and laughs.

Clark asks Cassandra what's wrong. "Someone close to you is going to die," she proclaims. "Very soon."

Smallville opening credits (damn, Whitney's still there)

Act One

Jonathan and Martha are working in the barn with big dangerous machines, and Clark flips out at them about practicing safety. They're bemused by this sudden reversal of their roles, and asks him what's up. He tells them about Cassandra and her prediction.

Scully -- I mean, Jonathan, is skeptical and tries to make Clark see some sense, saying that Cassandra probably just did it to scare the nurses. Martha chimes in, saying no one can tell the future, but Clark is adamant, citing Pete's keys as proof. They tell him that even if Cassandra can predict the future she can't control it -- no one can. (Foreshadowing!)

Young Harry is at the hospital enjoying his new youth, telling his reflection in the mirror that he's been given a second chance.

He goes to The Beanery, where he's served by a waitress named Zoe Garfield who wears a silver necklace with a charm. He orders a big juicy burger with fries. He's agog about the exorbitant price of coffee (I'm with you there, buddy).

Clark, Chloe, and Lana enter, taking the table behind Harry. Lana is distraught because she's "lost an entire old person in a wheelchair."

Harry overhears their conversation and gives them his $0.02. Clark introduces himself and Chloe, but before he can introduce Lana, Harry says, "Lana Lang." And of course we all hold our breath at this, thinking they'll all figure out that it's Harry. But no, he covers (thinking himself very clever, I'm sure), by saying that her nametag from the hospital gave it away.

HARRY: Good luck finding your missing old person.

Lana stares at him with suspicion, though she clearly can't place anything. It becomes even more pronounced when he tells the waitress she's "a doll" -- exactly the phrase Harry used with her.

Harry is apparently a mad pianist. He's back at the old folks' home showing off his skills. Cassandra compliments him and he says that he was supposed to attend the Metropolis Conservatory. She says that his voice sounds young, but the conservatory closed in the 70s. Harry covers by saying he meant he's always dreamed of attending it, if he lived in a different time. (Uh ... yeah.)

CASSANDRA: Any chance you could give an old lady a hand back to her room? (holds out hand)
HARRY: I already know my future.

Cassandra is disappointed.

Clark watches a black Ferrari speed recklessly down the road toward him. There's only one person who could be driving that car. The license plate reads "Lex 1" and it stops near Clark. Lex gets out, looking sexy in a black suit and light purple shirt.

CLARK: You might consider rounding those curves at a speed that won't actually break the sound barrier.

We always knew that Clark couldn't possibly be 15, but we never thought he was 80. We stand corrected.

LEX: Where's the fun in that?
CLARK: Seriously. You could get hurt.
LEX: Why the sudden interest in my health?
CLARK: It's not sudden, Lex. I've been feeling this way for a long time. I ... I'm in love with you.

Oh, all right. Clark didn't say that last line. But he could have.

Clark explains about Cassandra and how she said that someone close to Clark would die. This is one of the first times Clark has given a deeper significance to their acquaintance. Lex, like everyone else, is skeptical.

CLARK: You sound like my parents.
LEX: That's gotta be a first.

Bwahahaha. They continue to argue about it as they enter Lex's office.

CLARK: Lex, I think this woman is the real deal.
LEX: Well then the question you've gotta ask yourself is, do you really want to know the future?
CLARK: Don't you wish you knew how it was all gonna turn out?
LEX: Life's a journey, Clark. I don't want to go through it following a roadmap.

Lex has the BEST LINES. Clark, in a suspiciously lover-like way, says that it wouldn't kill Lex to drive more slowly. Lex's reply: Why? He has Clark for a friend. Before Clark leaves, Lex asks for Cassandra's name. Seems he's more interested than he let on.

Clark goes to see Cassandra at the old folks' home. Lana is there, staring at a bulletin board of pictures. They're of the home's inhabitants -- their current selves along with their younger incarnations. Harry's younger picture is missing.

Lana tells him that she met with the hospital administrators to talk about Harry's disappearance, and the police were there. It turns out that Harry's real name is Harry Volk -- whose was a murderer. It happened 60 years ago when he was 17. He served his time and people figured he moved back to his hometown to die. Harry was a concert pianist who was up for a full scholarship to the Metropolis Conservatory but his teacher recommended someone else, so Harry killed the teacher's son. (Owww ... being hit over the head with motive ... help ...)

A man, Jim Gauge, is in his house watching a football game when his lights and TV go out. At his door is Harry, pretending to be with the electric company. Harry looks at the circuit breaker, asking the man if he's any relation to Randolph Gauge. Jim says that was his father -- but he died.

His back to Jim, Harry pulls out a piano wire from his toolbox.

Clark says he can't get what Cassandra told him out of his head. She tells him that she first started getting her visions when she lost her sight -- back when the meteor shower occurred. One hit near her, and the flash burned her optic nerves.

And for dear Jade, heehee:

CLARK: I'm sorry.
CASSANDRA: It's not your fault.
CLARK: ... (looks guilty)
CASSANDRA: It's amazing how one moment can change your life forever.

That line could possibly solely have to do with everything that's happened up to this point, especially Clark's arrival to Smallville -- but it might also be foreshadowing, which wouldn't surprise me at all. I'm thinking something to do with how Lex and Clark become arch-enemies, though I'm not sure what "one moment" would make that happen.

Clark tells Cassandra that the people he's told thinks she's a fraud. She's not surprised, and tells him that people only want to know if things are going to turn out all right. She can't do that -- all she can do is point out the signposts along the journey.

Clark takes her hand and there's a flash.

Suddenly, we're in Cassandra's vision. Clark is in a dark cemetery. It's raining and there's lightning and thunder. Tombstones spread out in a circle around him, stretching as far as he can see. We flash from one tombstone to the next: JONATHAN KENT. MARTHA KENT. PETER ROSS. CHLOE SULLIVAN. LANA LANG. It's totally creepy. Clark is freaked out and he shouts, "NO! NOOOOOOO!"

Back with Cassandra, he's frightened, freaking out though not as much as he was in the vision. Cassandra is amazed and horrified. "You saw that too?" she asks. She calls his name but he high-speeds it out of there.

Commercial break: Is Peeping Tom^TM Spyware for you? Come and see for yourself!

Act Two

Back at the Kent house the next day, Jonathan and Martha are trying to make Clark feel better about what he saw. They're scoffing at Cassandra's supposed powers, but Clark is really upset. He points out that he can be hit by a car, walk through fire, etc.

CLARK: What if it is my destiny? To outlive everyone that I love? I don't want to be alone.

The Kents understand that he's upset and worried, so they don't want to blow it off any more than they already have. All Jonathan can say now is that the only person who controls Clark's destiny is Clark.

Cassandra is reading the Braille-version of The Daily Planet. Lex comes up behind her and tentatively says her name. She asks if his expensive shoes come with a name. He's brought her a flower.

Lex wants Cassandra to give him "some insight" into Clark.

LEX: He saved my life, but he's also a mystery.
CASSANDRA: Most people are. That's what makes them interesting.

Lex says that he's willing to treat it as a professional service -- i.e., he'll pay her. Cassandra refuses, saying she can only tell the future of the person she touches. She offers her hand. Lex seems uneasy about this.

LEX: I don't need to know my future.
CASSANDRA: Why? Because your father already has it mapped out for you?

Oooh, that's sure to piss Lex off.

LEX: I believe we make our own destiny.

She tries to cajole him some more, but Lex is seems to be strongly opposed to this, even when she tries to manipulate him by saying that maybe she'll see Clark in the vision. Lex bids Cassandra adieu, and leaves.

Clark goes to The Torch office, where he's supposed to meet Chloe. Lana is there instead. Chloe called her saying that she had some information on Harry. Lana found the Wall of Weird. Clark explains Chloe's theory that everything strange in Smallville started with the meteor shower. Lana asks him if he believes it, and Clark admits that he guesses he does.

Lana seems slightly upset. Does it include her? She's up there with a three-headed calf.

LANA: Remember when you said people keep their darkest secrets hidden? Mine's out there for all the world to see.

Lana says that when people know your tragedy they treat you differently -- like you're going to break. Clark says that they mean well, and Lana says she realizes that, but all it does is remind you of the most painful moment of your life.

LANA: How would that make you feel, Clark?
CLARK: Like I wish I could go back in time and erase that moment forever.

He says this looking directly at Lana, and it's clear that he wishes he could do it for =her=, not for himself. It's truly touching.

LANA: Maybe I should just accept my destiny. All I'm ever gonna be is a little girl in a fairy princess costume who lost her parents.

No, you won't, Lana! The very fact that you SAID that means that that's not what's going to happen to you. <g> Maybe you'll become the wife of the richest, most notorious man in town. What? I'm just saying. But before that happens, here's some more sweetness -- only so because of the sincerity:

CLARK: I don't see you that way.
LANA: I know you don't, Clark. You're the only one who doesn't.

Then why aren't you with him?! Why are you still with that loser Whitney?? Argh.

Chloe and Pete meet Clark up in his loft. Pete has brought a paper about the latest murder -- a guy strangled with piano wire, which Chloe shares is the same signature Harry Volk used in 1945 (you'd think if you had a new chance at life and were 17 again, you'd make something more of it). Clark thinks it's a copycat, saying Harry is old and in a wheelchair; Chloe thinks otherwise. She has a newspaper with Harry Volk's young picture in it; it looks, of course, exactly like the guy they saw in the coffeeshop earlier.

Harry's still at The Beanery playing the piano. It's now dark and they're closing up. He convinces Zoe, the waitress, to let him stay and she can clean up to the sounds of Chopin.

Clark, Chloe, and Pete go back to the old folks' home to look for more evidence. Cassandra stops Clark while the other two go on. She asks Clark how he saw the vision, too, when no one has before.

CLARK: Why me?
CASSANDRA: Because we both know you're not like other people.
CLARK: Sure I am.
CASSANDRA: No, Clark. I've seen you. Before we ever met. More than once, I've touched people and I've seen such pain and despair. But then you were there, and pain was gone. I think that's your destiny, Clark. To help people. To save them from fear and darkness.

Clark holds Cassandra's hand once more. There are flashes of people in trouble, people in need, fire, destruction, despair, fear. Cassandra tells him that they are people who need him. She also tells him that his secret is safe with her.

In Harry's room, Chloe and Pete are researching. All they've found are old newspaper clippings, obituaries and the like. In one of the clippings, there is a picture of a girl wearing a necklace exactly like the one Zoe wears. Clark rushes off.

Back at The Beanery, Harry opens and closes his hand, obviously feeling some pain. We suspect that his youth may soon be deserting him. He hands Zoe a note written on a napkin and in Greek, saying that the sins of the father are visited upon the children. Then the actor gets this weird Russian-like accent for a few moments (what were they thinking, letting him get away with that?) as he tells Zoe how he had a great future ahead of him as a concert pianist, and Zoe's grandmother helped kill that future. He makes a sudden move and has the piano wire around her neck.

Clark bursts in, and Harry tells him not to move. He leads Zoe out but of course, Clark is meeting them on the other side. Harry sees a truck coming, and tosses Zoe out in front of it. In typical TV fashion, instead of hitting the brakes like any normal human being would in that situation, the truck driver does not brake but instead blares his horn, as if Zoe were responsible for lying helpless on the street and is choosing to get in the truck's way. LAME.

Clark throws himself over Zoe, the truck grazing his back. His shirt sparks and burns, but of course he -- and Zoe -- are unharmed. Clark leaves Zoe with the frantic truck driver, then goes after Harry. He chases him into an alley, and there's a really awesome moment when Harry surprises him and tries to stab Clark with a knife. Instead, the knife shatters into a thousand pieces (all in slow-mo, for effect). Harry has only one moment to look incredulous, because in the next Clark has tossed him with super-strength onto a car.

Commercial break: Snickers really satisfies.

Act Three

In the Kent kitchen, the three Kents discuss what happened. Zoe is fine, the truck driver could have sworn he hit them but isn't asking any questions, and Harry is in the hospital for observation.

Lex, meanwhile, summons Clark to his mansion, bringing him to a room where he keeps his mangled Porsche from the time Clark saved his life. Well, that particular time Clark saved his life. <g>

Clark wants to know why Lex still has the car, and Lex tells the story of a man who nearly died in a hotel fire who later bought the hotel and always stayed in the same room, figuring that Fate couldn't find him twice.

LEX: I had a team go over this thing inch by inch. They tell me there's no way the impact could have ripped open the roof like this.
CLARK: Well, they must have made a mistake.

They have a slightly intense conversation where Clark plays dumb (you know, we come down on Lex when he lies to Clark, but Clark lies to Lex just as easily ... I know, but it's different, right?) and Lex is speculative, trying to see what he suspects Clark is hiding.

LEX: It's a little strange to be walking around when every shred of evidence says I should be dead. An unsolved mystery, I guess.
CLARK: Maybe Fate has something else in mind for you.

Have I mentioned how much I love this show? I love these double meanings. They should feel contrived, but the writers/actors have a gift of being ironic without clobbering us over the head with it. Typically. And have I mentioned how hot they both look in this scene?

A cop goes to the hospital to pick up the "kid" from The Beanery. The doctor leads him to Harry's room, where to their shock the 17-year-old is gone, replaced by an old man.

Clark and Lana are walking by the pond where Harry made his youthful transformation. He told the cops a story about how a kid had kidnapped him. Clark is extremely dubious about this, and Lana seems to concur. The meteorite rocks in the water start to affect Clark and he feels sick. Lana asks him if he's all right (he must seem so fragile to her) and he says he's going to go inside and talk to Harry.

Harry is listening, of course, to his classical music, and Clark stops the player. He tells Harry that he found a picture of Zoe under Harry's bed, and that he thinks he and the kid are the same person. Harry, of course, tries to bluff his way out of it, but Clark's not buying it. Harry then shares his knowledge of Clark's family tree, before faking that Clark is badgering him (he's laughing until he hears footsteps, then suddenly they become moans of pain). A nurse enters the room, asking Clark to leave.

Harry's back at the pond in his wheelchair, and deliberately falls in. Cackle cackle of the electricity.

Back at The Torch office, Chloe, Pete, and Clark are playing junior detectives. Lana comes in to tell them that Harry has disappeared again, and Clark mentions that he saw "meteor rocks" in the pond. Chloe gathers that this is how Harry is turning into a young person, and Lana is confused (Clark says he'll explain later, but who wants to bet he never does? I'm not sure if Lana is open to weird theories or not). They figure out that Harry is killing the descendants of the jurors who convicted him (that's bearing a grudge for you). Juror #11 is Hiram Kent, Clark's grandfather. Clark realizes that Harry means to kill Jonathan.

Martha goes to the door. It's Harry, saying he received a report about a gas leak.

Commercial break: Blah, blah, watch Dawson's Creek and play the lottery.

Act Four

Martha isn't stupid. She doesn't let Harry in, saying that she doesn't smell gas. She wants to know where their regular gas man, Kurt, is. Harry says that Kurt's on vacation. Martha closes the door, then gets on the phone. All she hears is static.

Harry comes through another door. "Kurt isn't your regular gas man, is he, Mrs. Kent?" Ooh, how very clever she is. She asks Harry what he wants, and he says he wants to kill her husband. Well, at least he's not a liar. Martha bashes his skull with a vase and runs out to the car -- but the tires are slashed (oh good, he's not stupid, either.) Martha runs to the barn, where she hides in the tall feed cylinder (or whatever the heck it is). When Harry gets close she pulls the chain in the middle, which sends feed showering down on the two of them.

Clark super speeds and stops in front of his father's truck, which is just pulling onto the farm. Like a real person, Jonathan actually hits the brakes. Clark quickly explains the situation then takes note of the slashed tires. He knows Harry's already there.

Martha and Harry are both drowning in the feed. She's coughing and trying desperately to breathe. The feed soon covers her entirely.

Clark uses his x-ray vision to scope around the farm, and sees two skeletons in the feed tower. He opens the side panel and feed pours out. He and Jonathan dig frantically to get Martha out. Jonathan performs mouth-to-mouth and Martha comes to, coughing. They don't even bother trying to dig Harry out just yet. She tells Clark that Cassandra was wrong; no one is going to die. (Maybe Cassandra meant Harry; he's close -- in proximity, at least -- to Clark.)

Lex walks nonchalantly into Cassandra's room, wearing the same dark suit-purple shirt from earlier (wow, even Lex Luthor wears the same clothes twice). He's got a bunch of flowers.

LEX: I come bearing gifts.
CASSANDRA: So did the Greeks.

There!! Another reference to the Trojan War! Is this coincidence?? I'm going to give the writers the benefit of the doubt and say NO. The first time this was brought up, Lex was telling Clark that the battle of Troy was started because two men loved the same woman. Now Cassandra, who can see the future, alludes to the same war. And Cassandra herself is an allusion to Greek mythology. It ALL FITS, I tell you! Ahem. Moving on.

Lex wants to take Cassandra up on her offer. I don't know if the following dialogue is so great because of the writing or because of MR's delivery. I'll chalk it up to a great combination.

CASSANDRA: I thought you controlled your own destiny.
LEX: I do. But certain things have happened in my life -- signs I don't want to ignore.
CASSANDRA: What kind of signs?
LEX: I lived when I should have died. There must be a reason for that. See, I don't want to do good things. I want to do great things.

The two of them sit down. Lex is still holding the flowers. He takes Cassandra's hand.

There is a flash. We're seeing Cassandra's vision. It is all extremely surreal -- colors are heightened, exaggerated. The direction moves quickly, pausing significantly at certain points.

The presidential seal. Lex sitting in the Oval Office behind a desk. The scene is suffused with a bright, golden light. Lex is wearing a pure white suit with a white shirt and tie. Another flash and he's standing by the window. He opens it. Another flash. A close-up of Lex's eye, which slowly backs away until we see that Lex is still in his white suit, but now in a field of sunflowers. He bends down to sniff at one. He reaches out to caress one with a black-gloved hand, but it withers and dies. This sends a chain reaction through the entire field of flowers, and one by one, they all die. Soon he is standing on a dark field littered with skeletons. Lex looks around, a slight smile on his face. The golden yellow tint disappears, replaced with red. His surroundings are now dark and menacing. The sky is cloudy and red. Lightning crashes -- it's a storm. Red blood rains down on him, covering his suit with red splotches. He looks up, raising his arms to the sky, reveling in it.

Another flash. We see Cassandra's face. She is quiet. Lex asks her what she sees. She's unresponsive. Lex realizes, as we do, that she is dead. He drops what we now realize are white roses (symbolizing innocence -- now lost?) that he holds, calling for help. He walks out of the room, wiping his hands on his suit. He looks out the window, much like he did in Cassandra's vision.

Inside Cassandra's room, a nurse closes Cassandra's eyes. Clark walks in, and the nurse tells him that Cassandra is gone. Clark realizes that the vision Cassandra saw, the death she predicted, was her own.

The End