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"Progeny" is the eighteenth episode in the sixth season of Smallville, and the one hundred-twenty-eighth episode overall. It aired on April 19, 2007.

Summary[]

After Lex discovers Chloe's mother Moira has the power to control meteor freaks, he develops a drug to wake her from her catatonic state, then threatens to kill Chloe unless she uses her power to help him. Clark helps Chloe break into Level 33.1 to rescue Moira and finally get to know her mother. Lana learns a shocking truth about her pregnancy.

Recap[]

→ see also Category:Screencaps from episode 6x18

On March 29, 1995, an eight-year-old Chloe Sullivan arrives home to show her mother Moira her latest article. However, she is dismayed to find her mother in tears. Moira tells her she loves her, before men in suits arrive to take Moira away. Twelve years later in the present, Lex is driving home when a truck forces him off the road. The driver smashes his window, knocks him out with a flashlight, and steals a flash drive. It is revealed to be Chloe.

Progeny0037

Moira says goodbye to Chloe.

Chloe wakes up the next morning puzzled to see muddy boots on the floor. Clark is meeting her for coffee that morning, but notices that she has overslept and is acting a little dazed. Chloe admits that she has secretly been freaking out since learning she is a meteor-infected. Clark assures her that she doesn't have to go through it alone and offers to drive her to work.

Meanwhile, Lex tells Lana about his accident. Lana hasn't been sleeping since losing the baby and confesses to Lex that she hasn't told anyone about the miscarriage. Lana starts to wonder if there is something wrong with her and demands a complete checkup to find out exactly what went wrong, so Lex makes the appointment.

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Clark drives Chloe to work.

On the way to the Daily Planet, Clark and Chloe see Lex's car at the accident site. Chloe wants to investigate and convinces Clark to turn around. Clark uses his super hearing to hear Lex's security explaining that whoever ran him off the road stole a flash drive. Clark spots a button under the car and retrieves it. When he shows it to Chloe, she says it is hers.

Clark is skeptical of Chloe's involvement. They go back to the Talon where Chloe finds the flash drive in her boot. She plugs it in and finds information about someone who can control other meteor freaks and is shocked to discover the file is on her mother. Clark takes Chloe to the facility in which her mother was receiving care, but the receptionist informs her that she was told to never come back after causing a scene earlier that week. Chloe can't remember this event and Clark says she hasn't visited in months. The receptionist informs them that Moira Sullivan was transferred. Chloe is upset that no one notified her, but Clark calms her down. He notices a security camera and tells Chloe to wait as he ducks into the security office.

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Lex visits Moira.

Moira is being held captive in a laboratory by Lex. He informs Moira that he ordered the administration of the drug that brought her out of her catatonic state. Moira insists that she has only ever been able to control Chloe, but Lex believes she can use her power to control other people as well. Lex forces Moira to demonstrate her power by locking her in a room with another infected patient, Lowell, who has super-strength. On Lex's orders, Lowell advances onto Moira and throws a desk at her. To protect herself, she controls him and tells him to stop; instantly he stops his attack and sits down.

Clark and Chloe watch the security tape at the Planet, which shows Chloe punching out a doctor and yelling to see her mother. She still cannot remember the event.

Progeny0538

Clark unconscious from green kryptonite.

With his suspicions confirmed, Lex demands that Moira use her mind control to bring back a violent psychopath who escaped Belle Reve the previous night. However, Moira instructs the man to kill Lex instead. The escapee goes to the mansion and attacks Lana and just as he is about to kill her, Clark and Chloe show up. Lana is unconscious so Chloe tells him to take her to the hospital. Chloe holds the escapee at gunpoint, demanding to know the location of the facility.

Clark visits Lana in the hospital and she tells him that she lost the baby just after the wedding. Clark expresses his condolences and Lana admits that she thought having a baby would mean a fresh start, but now that she isn't, this isn't the life she wanted. Lana is subdued and resigned; she tells Clark to stop worrying about her and that she'll be fine.

Progeny0507

Chloe and Moira reunite.

Lex is angry that Moira caused Lana to be attacked. Moira tells him to stay away from Chloe, but Lex replies that it's too late for that, so Moira telepathically tells Chloe to leave town immediately. Chloe goes to the Kent farm to get Clark before she infiltrates the facility, but at Clark's house, she begins to succumb to Moira's influence. She tries to fight it and Clark tries to stop her, but eventually she is fully-controlled. She puts a piece of meteor rock in Clark's jacket pocket to subdue him so she can escape, leaving Clark incapacitated on the floor. Lex had his people set up a road block and they kidnap Chloe and deliver her to her mother. She wakes up and is overjoyed that her mother is fully conscious. Moira explains to Chloe that she had to leave to protect Chloe from her. Chloe devises a way for them to escape the facility. She tricks two guards into opening the door and grabs Lowell's hat. Moira uses it to tell Lowell to set her and Chloe free. He gets shot on the way out and Moira gets caught and again tells Chloe to get out no matter what it takes. Chloe finds a gun and is met at the end of a hallway by Lex. He tells her not to do something she will regret as Chloe advances onto him.

Martha arrives home to find Clark unconscious on the floor. She puts the meteor rock back into the lead box and Clark wakes up, extremely disoriented. However, he recovers and speeds into Chloe and Lex's confrontation. When Chloe fires a gun at Lex, he hesitates several seconds. Finally, at super speed, he pushes Lex out of the way and collects Chloe.

Clark and Chloe take Moira to Queen Tower, the loft apartment of Oliver Queen. Chloe arrives with food and asks him if he talked to Oliver because he was setting up a place for Moira to stay in Star City. Clark has to tell Chloe that while she was gone, her mother's condition deteriorated. Moira's speech is forced and halted as she tells Chloe that she is slipping back because the drug only lasts 24 hours. Moira refuses to let Chloe use the drug again. Chloe is heartbroken when Moira slips back into a catatonic state.

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Lex warns Chloe of the consequences of publishing her story.

Chloe is working late at the Planet when Lex shows up. Chloe informs him that she is tired of his games. Lex tells her that he has a multitude of evidence that she assaulted him and stole his flash drive, but Chloe is undeterred and states that she'd go to jail if it meant taking him down. Lex then threatens her with worse than prison unless she makes her article about LuthorCorp disappear.

Back at the hospital, the doctor explains to Lana that they found synthetic hormones in her bloodstream. He accuses her of faking a pregnancy and forcing a billionaire to marriage. Lana is upset and confused, insisting she saw the sonograms. Realizing by Lana's genuinely shocked reaction that she really wasn't the one who fake the pregnancy, the doctor answers back with a more sympathetic tone that whatever she saw, sure wasn't her baby.

Chloe goes back to Clark's and inquires about Lana. Clark doesn't tell her that Lana miscarried; he just says she's okay. Chloe is upset because her mother will never know how she turned out, but Clark tells her that he told Moira all about her while she was gone. Chloe tells Clark about Lex's confrontation and how he threatened her. Clark is angry at this and says that the war is just beginning. Chloe reminds him that they can't do anything until they know Lana is safe.

Cast[]

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Chloe at age eight played by Roan Curtis.

Starring[]

Special Guest Star[]

Co-Starring[]

Mentioned[]

Featured Music[]

  • "Steppin" - Telepictures
  • "As You Get Closer" - Brian Wayy
  • "Scruggs" - Telepictures
  • "Figured Out Love" - Fred Spigelman
  • "Overture: The Flying Dutchman" - Wagner

Title[]

  • Progeny refers to a descendant or offspring.
  • This episode features Moira and her offspring, Chloe.
  • Lana also refers several times to having recently lost her own baby in a miscarriage. At the end of the episode, she realizes that she was never actually pregnant.

Notes[]

Ares

Project Ares reference

  • Antagonist: Lex Luthor
  • Clark’s abilities: Accelerated Vision, Telescopic vision, X-Ray Vision, Super-Hearing, Super-Speed
  • Moira Sullivan is portrayed by Lynda Carter, famously known for playing DC superhero Wonder Woman in the 1970s on the television show.
  • When the escapee that Moira instructed to kill Lex breaks into the mansion looking for him, he does what looks like a lasso effect with the air to capture Lana from escaping. Possibly another reference to Lynda Carter in her role of Wonder Woman. 
  • Lynda Carter was interviewed by TVGuide.com for the appearance. She reveals that she offered to wear a blonde wig for the role, but thinks the show wanted her to be brunette.[1]
  • Lionel Luthor and Lois Lane do not appear in this episode.
  • Promotional images from The CW for the episode can be seen here on KryptonSite.
  • Clark is driving a brand-new red Toyota Tundra in this episode.
  • After Chloe fires the gas gun at Lex and leaves, the next scene shows Chloe, Clark and Moira together about to go to Queen Tower. This couldn't have happened as Moira should have still been in the meteor-infected prison as she was taken back by the guards, Chloe should have still been controlled to leave and Clark wouldn't know where Moira is. It is possible that Clark got both Chloe and Moira out of the building, as the next scene takes place the following day; however it was not shown.
  • In a deleted scene, Lana—after learning she has not been pregnant—greets Lex at home with a smile and champagne, and tells him that she no longer is interested in his offer to have her examined medically, and that she will now be totally devoted to him. This scene would have revealed to the audience that Lana now sees Lex as a foe and plans to work behind his back in some way. Because this scene was deleted, the audience does not know Lana's new agenda until it becomes clear in the next episode, Nemesis.
  • This episode seemingly retcons almost all that has been mentioned about Chloe's childhood on the show. Chloe stated in Lineage that her mother left the family when she was five, then in Tomb that she had been in a mental institution since she was 12, which is also clarified in Smallville: The Visual Guide However, this episode portrays Moira as a loving mother until 1995, in which she voluntarily committed herself when Chloe was eight. It also suggests that despite the fact that Chloe was born in Metropolis, she was in Smallville sometime as a child in order to become meteor-infected four years before actually moving there at age 13. (In addition, Moira was previously depicted in Tomb as blonde, and her state of consciousness was undetermined, but she was able to stand and move.)
  • This is the final episode of the series directed by Terrence O'Hara.
  • This episode marks Lana seeing Lex's true face. Having Lana convinced that he is a misunderstood good man who just wants to help and that what people say about him being a villain are just lies, when she starts thinking as he faked the pregnancy and how he acted during the whole baby set up, she realize how he actually faked and acted during their whole relationship and how all the honesty and trust was just a lie to gain her loyalty. Lex's manipulation and brainwashing will lead to Lana's deviation and her to grow a dark side. We will see the consequences in season 7 episodes Action and Wrath. She will eventually manage to put that behind her back thanks to Clark's help.
  • It's interesting to note at the beginning of the episode when Lex is driving, he's changing radio stations until he settles for classic music. Given that when the show started Lex has been presented with a sort of rebellious personality, having hard rock music associated to him for the most part, this subtly alludes to how much he changed ever since, and is pretty much on par to the role Lionel assumed in the first seasons.

Trivia[]

Continuity[]

  • After an absence of several years, Chloe tells Clark that she relocated her mother when she was a senior in high school in Scare. A year later, she visited her for the first time in Tomb.
  • This marks the second episode where Chloe carries a firearm (third if you count the dream Chloe in Labyrinth). Other episodes include Zod, Savior, Collateral, & Fortune.
  • This episode marks the 54th appearance of Clark's red jacket & blue shirt outfit, which he wears frequently throughout the series.

Spoilers[]

Allusions[]

  • When they find out about the mystery driver who crashed Lex's car, Chloe asks Clark if they know who Racer X is. Racer X was the mysterious driver in Speed Racer.

Locations[]

Quotes[]

Lex: This man is a violent psychopath.
Moira: Good for him. What does that have to do with me?

Chloe: There is an old abandoned hospital on Paper Mill road, just like he said. And it's owned by--
Clark: --LuthorCorp. It's probably another 33.1 franchise.
Chloe: I was gonna go check it out, but I thought it would be more wise for me to come get my army of one.

Chloe: Lex, I'm tired of playing hardball, or softball, or any ball for that matter. Game's over.

Moira: There's nothing to demonstrate. I've never been able to control anybody but Chloe.
Lex: Well, there's a first time for everything.

Chloe: (about her mom) She's never going to get to know the person I've become.
Clark: It's a good thing I told her.
Chloe: You did?
Clark: After I brought your mom to Oliver's apartment, I gave her the complete Chloe Sullivan bio.

Chloe: (to Lex) My mother sacrificed everything to protect the world from scum like you. And if taking you down means spending some quality time behind bars, sign me up.

Doctor: Vitamins don't cause fatigue, nausea, and a suspension of your menstrual cycle. Synthetic hormones do.
Lana: Synthetic hormones? What do you mean?
Doctor: That's what we found in your bloodstream. That's what you took to fake a pregnancy, and to force a marriage to a billionaire. When you stopped taking them, it appeared as if you simply miscarried, didn't it?
Lana: I don't understand. I saw the sonograms. I saw my baby.
Doctor: I don't know whose baby you saw. But I can assure you, it wasn't yours.
Lana: (shocked) I was never pregnant.

Moira: Being with you again... It's the greatest gift I could've ever been given.

Moira: My little cub reporter... (tenderly strokes Chloe's chin) This belongs...to you. (Hands her back her necklace)
Chloe: No, mom, please... please don't go, mom... Not yet, not again!
Moira: I... love you... Chlo... Chloe... (goes completely catatonic)

Clark: It's inevitable. The war's about to begin.

External links[]


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Nemesis
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CategoriesMain Characters · Relationships · Villains

ComicsThe Comic · Season 11 · Miniseries


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