"Sneeze" is the second episode in the sixth season of Smallville, and the one hundred-twelfth episode overall. It aired on October 5, 2006.
Summary[]
Clark works hard to clean up the destruction done by Zod and develops what he thinks is his first cold. However, he soon discovers it is a new power - super breath! Lois lands a job at the Inquisitor, the local tabloid, and Lana moves in with Lex, who believes someone is following him, which quickly proves to be true after he is kidnapped.
Recap[]
→ see also Category:Screencaps from episode 6x02
It's early morning at the Kent Farm and Martha is listening to the news, which reports that the world has begun to recover from Dark Thursday, but efforts in Metropolis are progressing the fastest. Just then, Clark comes home and Martha guesses that he's been out all night repairing things in Metropolis. Clark explains that he feels like the whole mess is his fault because he didn't defeat Zod quickly enough. He looks exhausted and Martha asks him to take a break and get some rest, but he insists on starting his farm chores. In the barn, Clark is repairing some steps when he releases a sneeze that is so powerful, it blows the barn door off its hinges and into the sky, much to Clark's shock. Lois is out jogging and is startled when it suddenly falls out of the sky to land upright into the field next to her.
Martha takes Clark's temperature, but he doesn't have a fever. He says it's the first time he's sneezed, or had a scratchy throat and plugged-up ears. Martha reasons that he must have caught something when he was in the Phantom Zone without his powers. Clark says he's not really that sick. Just then, Lois returns. She tells them about the airborne barn door, then notices the large hole where it used to be. Clark and Martha try to provide an explanation, but Lois intends to get to the bottom of it.
Lex is taking Lana to the Luthor Mansion because, she explains, she needs a place to stay while Met U recovers from the destruction. He seems distracted and paranoid. Upon arriving, Lex questions his private investigator, Pontius, who confirms Lex's suspicions that he is being followed. Lex instructs Lana that if anything happens to him to call Pontius, not the police. He later goes to visit Lionel and accuses him of having him followed. Lionel denies it, but suggests that Lex recall what happened on Dark Thursday. Lex maintains that he has no memory of what happened beyond what Lana has told him. Lionel offers to help, but Lex storms off. In the elevator, gas is suddenly released and Lex falls unconscious. A man drops from the ceiling and collects him.
Clark goes to the Daily Planet to tell Chloe about his sneeze. She is unconcerned until he sneezes again, blowing papers and books all over the office. He explains that Lois is digging into the errant barn door. Chloe tells him to take care of his cold and she'll deal with Lois. Back at home, Clark is feeling worse, but Lionel shows up and asks Clark to find Lex. He suggests that if Lex is tortured long enough, he might remember being Zod and reveal Clark's secret.
Lois shows Chloe the barn door and Chloe tries to make up an explanation of a mini-tornado, but Lois is skeptical. She writes an article about it and gives it to Chloe, convinced that the Planet needs to know. Chloe is not supportive and criticizes her writing skills. Not discouraged, Lois vows to shop her story elsewhere.
Lex wakes up strapped to a chair in a lab lined with a chain-link fence. He is approached by Orlando Block. He claims he saw Lex's powers on the only working satellite on Dark Thursday and threatens to kill Lex if he doesn't reveal their source. Block's helper, Wagner, objects to his methods, saying that they were instructed not to harm him. Block doesn't care and shoots Lex to make him start talking. Lex insists that he doesn't have powers anymore and even tells the truth—that an alien being inhabited him and is gone now. Block doesn't believe him, so Lex finally makes up a story that he injected himself with a serum that is located at LuthorCorp. Block sends Wagner after it.
Clark goes to the mansion, but only finds Lana there. She refuses to tell Clark anything about Lex because she thinks that Clark is only trying to cover his own secrets. When he leaves she calls Pontius, but only gets a voicemail. Clark hears her and super-speeds away. Lana searches Lex's desk and finds a remote control to a security camera network. The largest television displays her bedroom and she rewinds the tape and watches herself undress. She then watches another camera and sees Lex and Pontius' earlier conversation, learning Lex's location.
Lionel arrives at a loft apartment belonging to Oliver Queen, an old schoolmate of Lex. Lionel reveals to Oliver that he knows Oliver owned the only working satellite. He knows that Oliver has an unpleasant history with Lex and hints that if Oliver did something to him, he will regret it. Oliver is unfazed by his threat.
Clark arrives at the Daily Planet again, looking and feeling even worse. He admits to Chloe that he was too tired to super-speed all the way there and jogged the rest of the way. He asks her to look up Pontius and briefly mentions how cold Lana was to him. Chloe sympathizes with her sick friend. She tells Clark that he's too sick to go alone and takes him to the address. At Pontius' office, Clark sees a hidden door, but can't get enough energy to rip the wall down. Chloe tells him to sneeze it down, but he claims he can't do it on command. She suggests he blow it down. Clark is skeptical, but tries anyway and to his surprise, is successful! They enter the office and find the location to the warehouse. Clark says that since he is sick, he can't guarantee Chloe's safety and speeds away without her.
Lana arrives at the warehouse but Block finds her outside and takes her into the caged area. They threaten to test the serum from LuthorCorp on Lana. Lex tells them to test it on him, but as they are about to, he head-butts Block. A fight ensues; Lana gets Lex loose and he injects Block with the serum, who starts shooting the lab. A fire starts and Wagner bolts, locking Lex and Lana inside. Trapped, they look on in horror at the approaching fire when it is suddenly blown out by a powerful gust of wind made by Clark who quietly sneaks away, unseen. Back at the mansion, Lana confronts Lex about the cameras and threatens to move out unless they are removed. Lex denies invading her privacy and says he will remove the one in her room, but cameras are his way of life.
Feeling better, Clark is in his loft planning a day at Crater Lake with Chloe. Lois shows them her first by-line, on the front page of the Metropolis Inquisitor, a tabloid newspaper. She says she never felt happier than when writing the article and has found her calling. They invite Lois to the lake, but she declines because it looks cloudy. Clark and Chloe share a mischievous look. He blows the clouds away and Lois looks up in surprise at the suddenly sunny sky.
Wagner shows up at Oliver Queen's apartment and reports that Block went crazy and tried to kill Lex, revealing that Oliver was indeed behind the kidnapping. Wagner remarks that another person with powers was there and Oliver instructs him to find him. As Wagner leaves, Oliver demonstrates his archery prowess by mentioning "Borneo". He launches an arrow at its location on the globe on top of the Daily Planet building almost a mile away hitting Borneo as he said it would.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Tom Welling as Clark Kent
- Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
- Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
- Erica Durance as Lois Lane
- Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
- John Glover as Lionel Luthor
- Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
- Brendan Penny as Wagner
- Emy Aneke as Robert Pontius
Uncredited[]
- Uncredited actress as voice of Genevieve Sparling
Mentioned[]
- Jonathan Kent
- General Zod
- Julian Luthor
- Jor-El
- Pauline Kahn
Title[]
- To "sneeze" means to expel a sharp blast of air through the nose involuntarily.
- The title refers to the cold Clark catches that makes him sneeze extreme gusts of wind, eventually developing into his super breath ability.
Featured Super beings[]
Notes[]
- Antagonist: Orlando Block
- Clark develops super breath in this episode.
- Clark uses the following abilities in this episode: super strength, super speed, X-ray vision, super hearing, elevated immune system, super breath.
- The red kite that Chloe hands Clark, which he briefly holds up to his chest, is in the familiar shield shape of the Superman logo.
- It is possible that Oliver Queen orchestrated Lex's kidnapping to investigate his possible super powers in order to recruit him for his fledgling hero team, although previous enmity makes this unlikely.
- It is unexplained why Clark's super breath is not weakened like his other powers. However, it is possible that being a new power, Clark lacks the usual self-control over it and uses more force than he would normally exert.
- When Clark is talking with Chloe he mentions that Lois is on some sort of "crusade" to find out the truth. Crusade is the name of the episode Lois arrives in Smallville and meets Clark.
- As a result of be inside the Phantom Zone and coming into contact with the affected area, Clark's body is exposed to an alien pathogen or contagion in the form of a flu, which his immune system fights off. By pure coincidence or other factors, other visitors to the zone (humans and other Kryptonians) didn't come down with the virus. Similarly, in Fever, green kryponite spores was created when it contaminated regular spores, causing enhanced sickness.
- In an Actions Comics comic book titled Superman: The World of Mr. Mxyzptlk published in 1961, Superman destroyed a solar system with a sneeze.
In Other Media[]
- Oliver Queen is the 30th DC Comics character adapted into the series.
- Lois experiencing something bizarre while out jogging, also happens to Lois in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series.
Continuity[]
- The bandage on Lana's hand is the result of her run-in with Lex/Zod, who pinned her to the wall through her palm with a metal rod in Zod.
- Clark and Chloe arranges for a day at the Crater Lake. Clark dreamed of going swimming at the lake with Lana in Slumber.
Spoilers[]
- This is the first appearance of Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen. He would become a recurring character during Season Six, a guest star in Season Seven, and a series regular in Season Eight, Season Nine, and Season Ten.
- This episode sparks Lois' interest in journalism, leading to her eventual employment at the Daily Planet.
- Lex tells Orlando Block that the serum is on the thirty-third level of LuthorCorp. This is a reference to Level 33.1, which comes into play later in the season.
Allusions[]
- Chloe calls Pontius "Sam Spade," a reference to the private detective in the book/movie The Maltese Falcon, who was portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the 1941 film.
- Lana refers to "Big Brother" when talking to Lex about the security cameras in her room, a reference to George Orwell's character in the novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, where Big Brother is a dictator who watches over his citizens using surveillance cameras. It also refers to the reality TV Show of the same name.
- Lois asks Chloe to "look up in the sky", although she is referring to the weather.
Locations[]
Quotes[]
- Lois: Ah-oh, does Clarkie have the sniffles?
- Lois: Where did your barn door go? It was here late last night when I came to drop off the documents, and now it's gone.
- Clark: Look at that, it is gone.
- Lois: And it's been ripped right off its hinges. Oh my God, that barn door, I knew it looked familiar! Now how in the world does that happen?
- Clark: Chloe, I um, I sneezed.
- Chloe: And?
- Clark: And? Chloe, that's not normal.
- Chloe: Well nothing with you is exactly normal but I wouldn't call sneezing today's headline.
- Clark: No, you don't understand! I... I-A-A
- Chloe: You what? Jeez, grab a tissue and get over it.
- Clark: ACHOO!!!! (books and papers blow across room)
- Lana: When I moved in, you forgot to mention I would be living with Big Brother.
- Lex: Lana, those are just security cameras to ensure the safety of everyone on this property.
- Lana: I see... was I breaching security when I was alone in my bedroom?
- Lois: I think you're just a little bit jealous that you're not the only one in the family with a natural way with words.
- Clark: This is one part of being human I don't envy.
- Chloe: I never thought I'd utter these words, but you don't look so hot.
- Clark: I don't feel so hot.
- Chloe: Um, when you escaped from that Kryptonian Land of the Lost, I bet you didn't think that you'd be rewarded by having to save Lex Luthor while battling a raging head cold, huh?
- Clark: Not exactly the goodbye gift I was expecting, no.
- Chloe: I guess heroes don't get sick days.
- Clark: They also don't put the world in jeopardy on an annual basis. I'm no hero, Chloe.
- Chloe: Clark, with a sneeze like yours, that says a lot about your lung capacity. Now just take a really deep breath and blow it out as hard as you can.
- Clark: That's a steel door. It's not a birthday cake.
- Chloe: I don't see anything else working. Come on, let's see what you got. Huff, puff, and blow this door down.
- Oliver: I thought I made myself clear you were not supposed to use violence unless you were in danger.
- Wagner: Mr. Queen, I told you, Block went rogue. I tried to stop him but he would have killed me too.
- Oliver: We couldn't have that now could we? I guess I have to be more careful of the people I trust. Speaking of which, how's my old buddy Lex doing?
- Wagner: Whatever powers Lex had are clearly gone. But sir... there was someone else in the warehouse; someone who had other abilities.
- Oliver: Find him.
- Oliver: (aiming) Let's see... how about... (smiles) Borneo. (shoots arrow, and it hits Borneo)
External links[]
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