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"Hourglass"

Synopsis by Kat Picson (KMP)

We open on a koi pond and an ivy-covered retirement home. Pete and Clark are walking down the hallway. Pete complains that he doesn't understand why they're there, and Clark reminds him that their high school requires 30 hours of community service. Pete says he would have rather done it lifeguarding the girls at the pool that summer, but then they see Lana pushing a book cart. Pete suddenly understands. Clark tells her he's reading with Cassandra, and Lana says she's interesting -- some of the nurses say she can see the future.

Cassandra's room: We cut to an Cassandra reading a Braille book with a light emanating from her fingers. Clark and Pete show up in the doorway, and she invites them inside. She drops her book, and Pete goes to pick it up. She holds his hand and tells him that it's a long walk home. Pete realizes he locked his keys in the car, and he leaves Clark with Cassandra.

Harry's room: Lana pushes her book cart into a room with a man (Harry) listening to classical piano on a record player. She introduces herself, and he says that the Lang family moved to Smallville in 1938 -- he's a "local history buff." He invites her for a walk on the grounds so she can tell him what the Langs have been doing for the last 60 years. When they get outside near the pond, Harry gets chilly, so Lana goes back inside for a scarf for him. As soon as she's out of sight, Harry pulls out a lighter and cigarettes. He drops the lighter.

Meanwhile, Clark and Cassandra are in her room reading when she starts coughing. He hands her a glass of water, which falls, just as Harry falls into the pond, bringing the twinkle lights into the pond with him. Harry's face morphs into a younger version of himself. He stands up and starts laughing. We see that there are pieces of kryptonite in the pond.

Clark asks Cassandra what's wrong. She says worriedly that "someone close to you is going to die."

The Kent Farm: Later, Jonathan is using a saw machine [sorry, I don't know anything about farm equipment or any kind of "manly equipment]. Clark speeds in and says that whenever he needs to have "this kind of stuff done" that they should ask him. He says it's dangerous and he wants to put safety first. Jonathan asks him what's wrong and Clark tells them what Cassandra told him. Jonathan kind of blows it off, and Martha says, "No one can tell the future." Especially since Cassandra didn't give him more specific information.

Back at the retirement home, young Harry is now dressed in scrubs. He goes in his room and looks at old newspaper clippings. Among them is a list, on which the name "Zoe Garfield" is written. He tells himself in the mirror, "It's time; they're gonna pay."

The Beanery: A waitress serving young Harry is wearing a nametag that reads "Zoe." Harry tries to joke with her, and she says he reminds her of her grandpa. Chloe, Lana and Clark walk into the Beanery. They sit at the table behind Harry. Lana is worried because she lost "a whole old person." Chloe throws out weird theories as usual, and Harry hears her. He tells them he's new in town. Clark introduces himself, "the rude one" (Chloe), and Harry introduces himself to Lana, who is still wearing her nametag. Zoe serves Harry coffee. He calls Zoe"a doll," which sets off some bells in Lana, because old Harry called her that too.

Harry goes back to the retirement home, where he plays a concerto on the piano. Cassandra commends him. He tells her he was supposed to go to the Conservatory, but she tells him he sounds young, and it closed in the 1970s. He covers by saying he would have been there in a different time. She asks him to help her back to her room, but he declines, saying that he already knows his future.

Lex comes careening down the driveway to his house, and Clark (delivering produce) gets mad at him, saying he could get hurt. Clark tells Lex about Cassandra. Lex is as skeptical as Clark's parents. But Lex asks for her name so he can ask her for stock tips.

At the retirement home, Lana is looking at pictures of the residents on a bulletin board. Clark sees her. He's there to see if Cassandra is still awake. Lana was there talking to the administrator and the police were there She tells Clark that Harry was a murderer 60 years ago. Harry had resented not getting picked to go to the conservatory by his teacher, so he killed the teacher's son.

A guy is watching TV in his house when the electricity goes out. He picks up the phone, but Harry shows up at his door and says that he's there to check the circuit breaker. Harry asks him if he's related to some old car dealer. The guy says yes, that was his father. Harry takes a roll of piano wire out of his toolbox.

Clark goes to visit Cassandra. She says she didn't think she would see him again after the last time. Clark said he couldn't get it out of his head. Cassandra said the first time it happened, she thought it was a curse. Clark asked her when it first started happening. She tells him that a meteor hit behind her house and burned her optic nerve. Cassandra says people are afraid of the unknown and only want to know that everything is going to be all right. She says she can't do that, but can only show him sign posts along the way. Clark tells her that there are so many questions in his life, and he just wants answers. Cassandra invites him to sit next to her and hold her hand.

We flash to a vision of Clark in a cemetery. He is surrounded by tombstones with the names of all the people he loves (but not Lex). He says, "no!" And Cassandra is surprised that he saw it too. He runs out of the room.

Kent Farm: Clark tells his parents about it, and they are still skeptical. Clark says he doesn't want this to be his destiny, to outlive everyone, because he doesn't want to be alone. Jonathan says the only person who controls his destiny is himself.

Cassandra is reading the Braille edition of the Daily Planet. Lex comes to visit her. She calls him "the savior of Smallville." She says, "What gives me the feeling you're not here to ask for stock tips?" Actually, he wants insight into Clark because he's a mystery. Lex offers to pay her, but she says that she can't tell him anything about Clark because she can only tell the future of the person she touches. Lex says he doesn't need to know his future because he can make his own destiny. Lex declines, but Cassandra invites him to come back when he's ready.

Clark walks into the Torch office expecting to see Chloe, but finds Lana instead, looking at the Wall of Weird. Clark tells Lana about Chloe's theory that everything weird in Smallville is attributed to the meteor shower. Lana asks if that includes her, because the Time magazine with her picture on it is up there too. She says every time people want to help, she's reminded of the most painful moment in her life. Lana says she thought that high school would be different, that she could put it behind her, but it's always there. She says that maybe her destiny is to be a little girl in a fairy princess costume. Clark says he doesn't see her that way, and Lana says she knows, and he's the only one.

Chloe and Pete find Clark in the barn. They bring a newspaper article of a guy who was recently murdered using Harry Volk's M.O. Clark says it's probably a copycat since Harry was in a wheelchair. Chloe has a picture of Harry when he was young and they realize it looks just like the guy they saw at the Beanery. Clark is still convinced it's a copycat, but he does suggest going to the retirement to check out Harry's room for "fan letters."

Harry is in the Beanery playing the piano. Zoe tells him they close at nine. He convinces her to give him one more coffee while she closes up.

Chloe and Pete search Harry's room while Clark visits with Cassandra. She tells him no one else had ever seen the visions before. She tells him she knew he was different and special from everyone else. She tells him she's seen Clark in other people's visions, and that the visions were always filled with despair until Clark shows up, and then the pain disappears. She tells him that she feels that Clark's destiny is to help people. "You can fear the future, or you can embrace it." She takes Clark's hand again, and they both see the vision of a girl wearing a necklace with a unicorn pendant on it. There is a fire and the girl on the ground. Clark says he'll figure it out. Cassandra tells him that his secret is safe with her.

In Harry's room, Chloe finds old clippings from the Ledger. Clark sees a picture of Zoe and she is wearing the unicorn horse pendant and a Beanery apron. He says "it's her" and leaves in a hurry.

Zoe tells Harry to leave. Harry hands Zoe a napkin with the words "The sins of the father are visited upon the children" in Greek. She asks what that has to do with her. He says that her grandmother helped kill his future, and that now he's going to kill Zoe's. He begins to strangle her with a piano wire and brandishes a knife to her throat. Harry runs outside, but Clark is already there. Harry throws Zoe into the street, with an oncoming truck headed for her. Clark throws himself on top of her, protecting her from the underside of the truck. He tells the truck driver to take care of Zoe while he goes after Harry. Harry tries to stab Clark, but the knife shatters on his body. Clark throws him on top of a car.

At home, Martha tells Clark and Jonathan that Zoe is going to be OK. Clark tells Jonathan that he saw the vision of the unicorn pendant and that Cassandra told him that his destiny was to help people. Jonathan realizes that Cassandra knows about Clark and forbids him to see her because as parents, he and Martha had to protect him.

At Lex's house, Lex shows Clark the Porsche that Clark had saved him from in the river. Lex says he had a team go over the car inch by inch and that there's no way the roof could have been pulled back like that. Lex asks if Clark remembers anything from that day, but Clark says all he remembers is pulling Lex from the river. Clark says fate has something else in mind for him, and Lex says he spends too much time with Cassandra. Clark counters that at least she doesn't dwell in the past.

Police officers go to the hospital to pick up young Harry, but when they enter the room, old Harry is in his place.

Lana tells Clark, while walking by the pond at the retirement home, that the police questioned old Harry all morning and that some kid who was obsessed with his case had kidnapped him and chained him to the bed. Clark doesn't believe it. As he gets closer to the pond, Clark becomes weak and he realizes there are meteor rocks in the pond.

Clark goes to confront Harry in his room. He tells Harry that he thinks "this kid" and Harry are the same person. Harry rattles off Clark's dad's and grandfather's name and says that he doesn't remember Clark on the family tree. Clark says he'll be watching Harry, and Harry pulls a weak old man act so that the nurse would come in and make him leave. But Harry goes back out to the pond in his wheelchair. He throws himself back into the pond, turning back into young Harry again.

Chloe at the Torch pulls out all the articles from the Ledger about Harry. Lana comes in and says Harry's gone and that they had found his wheelchair by the koi pond. Clark says he saw meteor rocks in the pond and Chloe says now they know how he's doing the time warp. Chloe finds a list of the jurors who worked on Harry's trial and they decide that he is killing the people who convicted him. Clark's grandfather, Hiram Kent, is no. 11 on the list.

Martha answers the doorbell to find young Harry behind the screen. He says he got a call from Jonathan about a gas leak. Martha asks where their regular "gas man" [giggle] Curt is. Harry says Curt is on vacation. Martha tells Harry to wait, and she picks up the phone. Harry bursts in through the back, saying, "Curt isn't your regular gas man, is he, Mrs. Kent?" He tells her he wants to kill her husband. Martha breaks a vase over Harry's head. She runs to the car, but Harry had poked the tire. She runs to the barn and enters. Harry follows.

Harry picks up a machete and tells Martha to come out. She is hiding in the empty silo. Harry sharpens the knife. Harry finds her inside the silo and she screams for Jonathan. Harry advances toward her, and Martha pulls a chain, causing all the corn to start raining down. She tries to get away, but Harry pulls on her leg. They are both getting buried in the corn.

Jonathan comes home, and Clark runs out in front of his car. Clark tells Jonathan someone is trying to kill him. They see the flat tire on Martha's car. They go to the silo, and Clark X-rays it, seeing that there are two skeletons inside. Clark and Jonathan dig her out, and Jonathan resuscitates her. She tells them she would never leave the two of them alone. Martha says that Cassandra was wrong, that nobody was going to die. We see young Harry's hand poking out of the corn, turning old again.

Lex goes to visit Cassandra and brings her a bunch of roses and says he wanted to take her up on her offer. Lex says he lived when he should have died, and he doesn't want to ignore the signs. Cassandra invites him to sit and she takes his hand. We flash to the presidential seal in the Oval Office. Lex is inside, wearing a white suit. Then we see him in a field of sunflowers. He bends down to smell one. He touches it with a black gloved hand. The entire field turns to skeletons. Blood rains down on Lex and he opens his arms to it.

Lex asks Cassandra what she saw, but her arm goes limp. Lex drops the flowers on the bed and calls for the nurse. He goes out into the hall. Clark comes into Cassandra's room, but the nurse tells her Cassandra's gone. "She saw it," Clark says. "Saw what?" "Her future."

Trivia: Lex Luthor's vision of the future isn't all that off from what's happened in the comics, where Lex is President of the United States! He also wore a glove on his hand for a short time, as his hand was poisoned by kryptonite radiation.

The White House scene was filmed on the set of The West Wing.

Episode #6

Original Air Date: November 20, 2001

Written By: Doris Egan

Directed By: Chris Long

Guest Stars: George Murdock (Old Harry), Eric Christian Olsen (Young Harry), Jackie Burroughs (Cassandra)

Fan Reviews of "Hourglass"
(coming soon!)

"Hourglass" Music:
"5/4" by Gorillaz
"Time Served" by Dispatch
"Crush" by Kevin Clay
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, op. 59, and Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, op. 4 by Fryderyk Chopin, performed by Idil Beret

See the Smallville Music page for more information!

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