"Delete" is the eleventh episode in the third season of Smallville, and fifty-fifth episode overall. It aired on January 28, 2004.
Summary[]
Clark and Lana each make an attempt on Chloe's life after receiving mysterious e-mail messages. Lex helps uncover the source of these emails and Lana rents the apartment above the Talon to Adam.
Recap[]
→ see also Category:Screencaps from episode 3x11
Chloe packs up her desk at the Daily Planet and says goodbye to her editor Max Taylor. He remarks that she must have enemies in high places to get blacklisted while still in high school. She gives him a couple of stories that she was working on and asks him to look them over. Max says that since she got blacklisted, it will be impossible for him to publish anything she has written, so Chloe suggests using the name of her cousin, who has no interest in journalism: Lois Lane.
Molly Griggs seeks revenge on Chloe Sullivan.
Lex is working late at LuthorCorp and looks for the on-call tech guy. To his surprise, he finds tech woman Molly Griggs. He explains that his computer program keeps shutting down, so she gives him a disc that she claims will scan for viruses. After he leaves, Molly finishes removing the hard drive from Chloe's old computer. Chloe arrives at The Torch office to find Lionel's donated computers all confiscated. Pete says a woman had stopped by but did not leave her name. Chloe exits the school and is nearly run down by the Kents' Dodge pickup. Clark climbs out of the truck, surprised to see Chloe on the ground.
At the hospital, Sheriff Adams declares Clark to be sober and questions the two teens about the incident. Clark cannot even remember leaving the library earlier that night. Chloe tells the sheriff it looked like Clark lost control of the truck. The sheriff dismisses Clark, and he runs into Lana. She introduces him to Adam Knight, who just finished another session of physical therapy.
The next day, Lex tries to return Molly's disc and learns that no one named Molly works in the tech department and that all hard drives from the confiscated computers have been wiped.
At the Talon, Lana makes Adam a coffee, and Adam remarks on how uncomfortable she seemed around Clark last night. Lana explains that they have a lot of history. She knows that Clark still cares for her, which she cannot control, but Clark does not know what he wants.
Clark is examining the pickup when Chloe arrives at the Kent Farm. She says a mechanic confirmed there was no tampering done to the truck. Believing that Clark tried to run her over on purpose, Chloe begins to cry, saying she can only apologize so many times for investigating Clark. He admits that he is not over her betrayal, but Chloe reminds him of his own recent bad judgments.
Chloe asks Clark if he remembers anything after being at the library the other night, and he says the last thing he remembers is working on his laptop. Chloe examines the computer and sees that he had opened an email from someone named "'Brainwave" just before the accident.
It is revealed that Brainwave is Molly Griggs' screen name, as she prepares to send an email message to Lana Lang. Lana has finished showing Adam around the school when she receives Molly's email on a handheld device that Lex gave her for the Talon. The message transmits code directly into Lana's eyes and into her brain.
A hypnotized Lana tries to kill Chloe.
Displaying similar behavior as Clark when he tried to run over Chloe, Lana immediately seeks out Chloe. She bashes Chloe's against the wall, then throws her down the stairs. She follows Chloe down the stairs, casually saying she is trying to kill her. Chloe rams Lana into a firehose case, and the latter grabs an ax, chasing Chloe down the hall, through the girls' locker room, and into the shower. She knocks Chloe down and is about to bring the ax to her head when Adam intervenes with martial arts skills of his own. Chloe trips Lana, causing her to hit her head on the floor. Surprised, Lana asks what happened.
Adam helps Clark and Chloe figure out the murderous emails.
Later, at the Talon, Clark, Lana, Chloe, and Adam try to piece together why and how someone would want to kill Chloe. Clark and Lana realize that they both got suspicious emails just before the attacks. Clark guesses they were hypnotized. Adam tracks down the IP address of the sender, and they realize the messages came from the computers taken from The Torch office. Clark wonders how Adam knows so much about martial arts, computers, and the human brain.
Clark goes to Metropolis to ask Lex if Lionel is behind the attacks. Lex realizes that Molly was probably responsible. Meanwhile, Lawrence Garner visits Molly in her loft apartment. He tells her that Max Taylor is questioning him about Chloe's scathing article on his dubious research.
Clark asks Lex if Lionel is responsible.
Lana finds Adam preparing to leave the hospital. He mentions that he would rather stay in Smallville instead of return to Metropolis. He wants to get to know her better, but she questions his motives. He does not want to clean up the mess of her previous relationship, and he asks her to leave him. Later at The Talon, they discuss where their friendship is headed, and she persuades him to stay. She offers to renovate the apartment above The Talon and rent it to him.
Lana offers to rent Adam the Talon apartment.
Chloe finds Clark at The Torch office, and he tells her what he learned from Lex. She recognizes Molly Griggs' photo and says that Molly is an engineering prodigy who was being treated at the Summerholt Institute after a psychotic break. Chloe interviewed her for a story she was writing about Lawrence Garner, so they call Max Taylor to warn him. Unfortunately, Molly has already gotten to his secretary, who kills Max during their phone conversation.
Clark takes Chloe to the Luthor mansion for protection, and she tells Lex what she knows about Lawrence Garner. Clark leaves to talk with Garner, and Lex leaves to talk with the techs he put in charge of tracking Molly. When Clark arrives at the Institute, he confronts Garner with everything he knows, and Garner has security escort him out. Clark uses his super hearing and overhears Garner make a call to Molly. Garner give the name of the apartment building and number to the operator. When Clark arrives, he finds Lex is already there. Molly explains that she is developed the program herself and is defending Garner out of loyalty: he is not, in fact, controlling her. Lex discovers that Molly sent another email, and Clark is horrified to find out his mother was the recipient. Chloe arrives at the Kent farm in response to a phone call form Martha, who comes at her with a sickle while Jonathan chains her to a post by her neck.
Clark and Chloe discuss their tenuous friendship.
Chloe knocks Martha unconscious with a kick to the head. Clark arrives and pulls Jonathan off of Chloe, but when he tries to help Chloe up, Jonathan comes at Clark with Kryptonite. He punches him several times before Chloe releases several bales of hay stored on the upper level of the barn into Jonathan. The Kents then snap out of their trances.
The next day, Clark visits Chloe at The Torch and finds that Lex gave back the computers. She guesses he felt guilty about firing her dad. Chloe confesses that she feels like she deserved what Molly did to her, as penance for what she did to Clark. Clark assures her that he is partly to blame for pushing her away. He admits that Chloe found him at his weakest moment in Metropolis, and that she gave him a second chance, so he owes her the same. They agree that while they cannot forget what has happened, Chloe will take Clark as he is and accept that he has secrets. Their friendship is now renewed.
Lex approaches Garner and warns him against any further attempts on Chloe's life. Lex says he is keeping Molly somewhere safe and, holding Chloe's unpublished article in his hands, blackmails Garner into helping him recover the seven weeks of missing memories.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Tom Welling as Clark Kent
- Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
- Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
- Sam Jones III as Pete Ross
- Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
- John Glover as Lionel Luthor (credit only)
- Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
- John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
Guest Starring[]
- Ian Somerhalder as Adam Knight
- Camille Mitchell as Nancy Adams
- Missy Peregrym as Molly Griggs
- Martin Cummins as Dr. Lawrence Garner
Co-Starring[]
- Jim Thorburn as Max Taylor
- Suzanne Ristic as Maureen Kenderson
- Chris Gauthier as LuthorCorp Technician
- Cornell Turner as Cornell
Mentioned[]
- Ryan James
- Gabe Sullivan
- Lois Lane
- Linda LaPlace
- Les Ford
- Megan Poss
- James Philpott
- Theron Layne
- David Wilson
- Kimberley Regent
- Dustin Farrell
Featured Music[]
- "Try" - Nelly Furtado
- "So Damn Lucky" - Dave Matthews
- "The Reason" - Hoobastank
Title[]
- To delete means to erase something out of existence.
- The title refers to Molly Griggs's mind control program that temporarily erased one's memory, only to fill it with a code to kill someone of her choosing.
- It may also refer to Molly's wish to eliminate Chloe.
Featured Super beings[]
Notes[]
- Antagonist: Molly Griggs and Lawrence Garner
- Clark uses the following abilities in this episode: super strength, super speed, and super hearing.
- Lionel Luthor does not appear in this episode.
- It is very unusual for Chloe, a student columnist, to have her own desk at a big-city newspaper. However, as Max puts it, Lionel does have a large influence.
- A picture of the Smallville High mascot wearing a Superman-like costume can be seen for a short moment on the Torch's computers.
- It is odd that the deadly e-mails from Molly could only be opened once; if it works twice, Clark would have killed Chloe there and then when they are investigating in the barn.
- Jonathan Kent has a non-speaking role in this episode.
In Other Media[]
- In the comics, Brainwave (Molly's computer handle) is a longtime villain and opponent of the Justice Society of America. He can control minds, generate illusions, and fire brain blasts. His son was later a founding member, of the JSA legacy team, known as Infinity, Inc.
- Adam walks through the halls of Smallville High and says the classic line "It's a bird..." This is a catchphrase from the immensely popular Superman radio program.
Trivia[]
Evangeline Lilly
- Martha's e-mail address is CNH320@instamail.org. "CNH320" was the license plate number of the General Lee, the car driven by John Schneider's character in his 1970s show The Dukes of Hazzard.
- Clark's e-mail address is c-kent@svhigh.com.
- Evangeline Lilly makes her fourth and final appearance as an extra on Smallville. She had previously appeared in Kinetic, Visage and Accelerate.
Continuity[]
- This is the first mention of Lois Lane, who is established as Chloe's cousin. Chloe mentions another cousin in Obscura, but this cousin may be older than Lois because she was in college already.
- Chloe's computer was stolen in Magnetic by the retired Officer Mason. Mason was helping Lex investigate the death of Lachlan Luthor and he appears to have been killed for whatever was on Chloe's computer.
- As pointed out by Clark, Dr. Garner was also the doctor experimenting on psychic child Ryan James in the episode Ryan.
- This is the first mention of Level 33.1, Lex's secret lab for super powered meteor freaks. Lex says that Molly is "in the care of people who will help her".
- This is the first time that the offices of the Daily Planet are seen in the show.
- Adam Knight was last seen in Asylum.
- This episode marked the introduction of the Talon Apartment.
Spoilers[]
- Level 33.1 is also mentioned in the Season Four episode Jinx and becomes a continuing storyline in several episodes of Season Six.
- Chris Gauthier, the man who played the LuthorCorp on-call technician, returned in Season Eight as Winslow Schott.
- Dr. Garner continues his questionable research practices in Memoria.
- Lois later appears as a recurring guest star in Season Four and as a member of the main cast from Season Five onward.
Allusions[]
- Clark compares Lawrence Garner to Mengele, a Nazi physician who performed human experiments of dubious scientific value.
- In the LuthorCorp tech support there are several movie posters: Battlefield Earth, Mars Attacks!, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and A Perfect Murder. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) marked the big screen debut of a then young actor named Michael Rosenbaum. Except for A perfect Murder, all of these films featured actors who also appeared on Smallville.
Locations[]
Please add locations here.
Quotes[]
- Molly: You'd rather have a PlayStation-addicted dork wearing a Star Wars T-shirt?
- Adam: It was interesting meeting Clark.
- Lana: We're just friends.
- Adam: Just friends. Well, for friends, you're very uncomfortable around each other.
- Clark: You're not the same person you used to be.
- Chloe: Kind of like if I moved to Metropolis and became a motorcycle-riding party animal and told you to get out of my life. Kind of like that, right?
- Chloe: So we can rule out paranoia. Someone is officially trying to kill me.
- Lex: You know, contrary to common perception, my father isn't behind every nefarious activity in Smallville.
- Lex: I'm starting to get a complex. It seems all the women I find even remotely appealing turn out to be psychopaths.
- Molly: Birds of a feather.
- Clark: No, Chloe, he caught you at a weak moment, and we all have them. You found me at mine in Metropolis. You didn't turn your back on me. You gave me a second chance, and I at least owe you the same.
- Chloe: I'd like that. So, what do we do now? We can't just forget about everything that's happened.
- Clark: Well, you have to understand there are some things about me that'll never add up.
- Chloe: I know that.
- Clark: You're willing to stop digging?
- Chloe: Yeah. I mean I figure you'll just tell me when you think it's right.
External links[]
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