Previously – Lex Luthor is reunited with his daughter, Elizabeth, but their reconciliation came to an immediate halt when Luthor refused to give up his vendetta against the Kents. Lois used her father’s signal device to call Doomsday and appealed to his past life as a Superman on another Earth. Doomsday left for an unknown location. And the townspeople of Smallville seem to all know who the Kents really are…
Luthor vents his frustration over losing his daughter once again in his hotel room. He works out, he trashes the place, he bloodies himself, and he burns everything that reminds him of Elizabeth. Amanda McCoy, Luthor’s second in command, arrives to give him an update about moving LuthorCorp to Smallville and the problem of Mayor Lana Lang. Luthor assures her he knows how to handle this. He also says the two things that got him through prison were his daughter and Amanda’s loyalty.
In the Kent kitchen, Clark and Lois sort documents so they can do something about putting Luthor back in jail. Jordan watches videos of Jonathan flying around the world and saving people. Jonathan returns to the kitchen, and Clark and Lois advise him to slow down.
At Lana’s home, she and Sarah connect. Apparently, Lana and John Henry have been dating for a month but are busy and haven’t seen each other often (and also can’t seem to appear in the same episode). Sarah is feeling trapped by her mundane life and job. Lana suggests a girls’ night but then gets a 911 from the office.
Lois and Clark set up a corkboard of information at the Gazette and agree they probably can’t get to Luthor’s top goon, Otis Grisham, but might still be able to flip Cheryl. Lois notices a patch of gray in Clark’s hair, but he is more worried about it than she is. Lois sees Amanda outside and gets an idea.
Luthor shows up in Lana’s office without an appointment. Lana won’t change her mind about the zoning restrictions that have been slowing down Luthor’s move. Luthor issues a vague threat about being familiar with Lana’s security system, but that doesn’t intimidate her. She promptly kicks him out of her office.
Amanda and Bash, another higher up at LuthorCorp, visit the property that Luthor wants to purchase. Bash doesn’t get it, and Amanda says that moving to Smallville means low property values. Lois arrives and says Luthor wants to move to Smallville to get to her. Amanda insists it’s just business, but Lois says that Luthor killed her father and that his monster is gone. Lois tells Amanda that Luthor ruined things with his daughter and that Amanda might be next to incur Luthor’s wrath if she ever disagrees with him on something.
At the Smallville drug store Britt and Dunn’s, Jordan and Jonathan’s classmate Denise rings up Clark (he’s buying hair dye). She’s obviously nervous around him. He is Superman, after all. Lana is there as well and says Luthor is offering Aidy Manning five times what her property is worth. Clark warns Lana about Luthor, and she suggests they both talk to Aidy.
Jonathan chows down at the diner, and Jordan tells Sarah of about all the places Jonathan has been to. Coach Gaines unexpectedly sits down with them and wants them to play football again (despite Jordan not having played in two years and Jonathan being suspended). Gaines knows they have super powers and is more than willing to exploit them, but neither Jordan nor Jonathan are keen on the idea. Jonathan exits for more hero-ing.
Clark and Lana talk to Aidy about Luthor. Interestingly enough, Lana compares the situation to what happened with Morgan Edge coming to town. Aidy says Luthor offered too much money for her to pass up, but she wants Clark’s opinion. He says Luthor is as bad as Lana says, and Aidy feels loyalty to Clark. This finally clues Clark into the fact that the people of Smallville know he’s Superman.
After Clark tells Lois that he and Lana are working on keeping LuthorCorp out of Smallville, Clark expresses his suspicion that his secret is out. Before they can discuss it further, Jonathan enters the Gazette from a save in Montreal.
Jordan wants to work at the diner, but Sarah doesn’t want him to. She says she doesn’t want to have to work with her ex-boyfriend, but Jordan knows there’s another reason. With both Jordan and now Jonathan able to fly wherever they want, Sarah is jealous of their freedom. Jordan points out she isn’t as tied to Smallville as she thinks.
In a local bar, Aidy tells Amanda that she won’t sell to Luthor and
she has changed her mind. Luthor enters and wants to change it back. At the Gazette, Clark and Lois tell Jonathan about the importance of balance. Clark says if he pushes himself too far, he will start making mistakes. Jonathan hears Luthor in the bar with Aidy, so Clark leaves.
Luthor offers Aidy $10 million and extends that offer to everyone in the bar. Clark enters, and he and Lana being there are enough for Aidy to stick to her guns and turn down Luthor’s offer. Luthor leaves, but not before locking eyes with Clark.
When Amanda gets the chance to talk to Luthor, she thinks he is still treating people like he did when he was in prison. Amanda ran LuthorCorp for him and wants him to give her more respect. Luthor tells her she needs to be on his side because there’s no middle ground.
Lana and Sarah’s girls night is wine for Lana and take out for Sarah. Lana is proud of Aidy and Smallville for sticking up to Luthor, which prompts Sarah to talk about the rut she’s in. Sarah wants to study abroad next year, and Lana has a host of reasons why she doesn’t want her 16 year old daughter to be gone for that long.
Jordan tells Jonathan he listened to Coach Gaines’ pitch a little longer and, at his suggestion, watched Varsity Blues. Jordan, like their parents, think Jonathan is doing too much. Jonathan says he wouldn’t have to if he had Jordan’s help, but Jordan still believes that he only makes things worse. Jordan didn’t even get the job at the diner.
Clark dyes his hair, and the smell is powerful enough for Lois to ask him why he’s doing it. Clark says he doesn’t want the world to see Superman with patches of gray, but Lois can tell he is worried about getting older and weaker. She gets him to see the positive aspect of them aging gracefully together.
It’s late at night. Jonathan is fast asleep from a day full of flying over the world, and Jordan has headphones on and is playing a video game. In the Lang household, Lana is awoken by something. She smells gas. Lana goes to her kitchen and finds her oven open and burners on. She turns them off and checks her security system, but she’s been locked out. A masked man appears in the kitchen and attacks her. After a scuffle, she unmasks him. It’s Luthor’s man, Otis (although Lana doesn’t know him). Otis chokes her, intent on killing her, but Sarah suddenly enters and whacks him with a baseball bat a few times.
The Kents arrive at the Lang house. The police are already there and are taking Otis away on a stretcher (Sarah may feel she’s ordinary compared to her friends, but she apparently did a number on Luthor’s muscle). Clark and Lois talk to Lana and tell her that Luthor sent Otis. Lana is shocked this would happen over a land deal and is rattled by the experience. Clark is visibly upset. Jordan and Jonathan talk to Sarah, and while she and Lana are okay, the boys feel guilty they didn’t hear any of it. They return to Lois, but Clark is gone.
Finally fed up with Lex Luthor, Clark marches up this hotel and demands that he come out. Luthor grabs a device before stepping outside and calmly asks Clark what he wants. Clark is furious at Luthor for everything he’s done to his friends and family. Clark grabs him and says they will end Luthor. Luthor then activates his device. It turns all the streetlights red, creating a red sun effect that robs Clark of his powers. Luthor mocks him, and the fight begins. Set to the song “When the Lights Come On” by Idles (which gives the episode its name), Clark and Luthor trade blows in the rain. Clark has a lot of fight in him, but without his powers, he doesn’t exactly have an advantage over Luthor. Lois, Jonathan, and Jordan show up, but Lois tells them to keep their distance because of the red lights. Clark begins winning the fight and delivers blow after blow to Luthor. Luthor is losing, but he says this proves that Superman is just a facade and that Clark’s family is seeing who he really is. Clark destroys Luthor’s device and leaves him in the street.
Back at the Kent house, Lois worries that Clark’s bruises aren’t healing. Clark says he just needs the daylight. Jonathan and Jordan are amused at the fight and believe Luthor had it coming to him, but Clark regrets his actions. Jonathan and Jordan still feel bad that they weren’t there for Lana, and Jordan begins to reconsider his retirement. Clark says until Luthor is in jail, none of them are safe.
Despite what happened in their home, Sarah is proud of Lana for standing up to Luthor. Lana thinks Sarah’s right about that and about studying abroad. Sarah then gives the news to Jordan and Jonathan but isn’t sure where she’d study. The boys think she needs to see for herself, so they grab Sarah and fly off to the Greek Islands.
It seems as though Sarah’s plot kind of comes out of nowhere, but it is a natural direction for the character. Depending on how much time elapses between now and the finale, Sarah leaving Smallville might not be for some time, but now’s a good a time as any to set it up.
Clark, Lois, and Lana inspect Luthor’s hotel room. He is gone, and Clark confirms that Jonathan and Jordan heard him leave for Metropolis. He may have left Smallville, but he isn’t out of their lives. Lana makes Clark promise to stop him.
Ever since his appearance on the show, Lex Luthor has been intelligent, calculating, and a threat to everyone. He’s even dangerous without Doomsday, but I can’t help but think he was sloppy in this episode. Did he actually want Otis to kill Lana and escape without being seen? Luthor was lucky that both Jonathan and Jordan were distracted or they would have easily heard the commotion and stopped him.
Amanda also seems to think Luthor is being sloppy. She visits him in his LuthorCorp office while he’s trying to stitch his own wounds. She helps him and tells him that she has made a choice and that she will choose Luthor every time. Amanda definitely has shades of characters like Mercy Graves or Tess Mercer, so it’s interesting to see her ruthless side come out. She tells Luthor that he has been going about this wrong and that he needs a “Killer Suit”. With Luthor’s scientist, Milton (who may or may not be Brainiac) whipping up all these gadgets for him, it looks like Luthor is about to get an upgrade.
