#I'm talking about her failure to return Clark's calls

[someoneoffthestreet]

if I may, about Lois Lane in MAWS:

the trouble with a fanbase that has faced extreme misogyny directed at a specific female character is that it becomes difficult to discuss that character's actual mistakes in any meaningful form. like I get it: it's frustrating when you love a character and there's this whole subset of fandom or internet at large just waiting to tear them apart for even breathing wrong, I really do get it! but what happens when this character, who has been wrongfully subjected to criticism before, actually messes up?

my feelings on where Clark and Lois are as a couple at the start of s2 is that effectively the honeymoon period of their relationship is over, and the hard work has to begin. Clark has been making (tentative) steps to make this happen, but Lois has been allowing the relationship to coast, trusting that everything between them is fine and will stay fine for the foreseeable future. she's been caught up in a lot of stuff: her new dream job, the prospect of moving out of Metropolis, the tricky situation with her dad. with all of this, it feels (at least at this point in time) that she's effectively started taking Clark and his presence in her life for granted. maybe she feels everything else in her life is too complicated and she doesn't want to complicate her romantic life further. maybe it hasn't even occurred to her that Clark currently needs more support than she is actually giving. hopefully future episodes will shed further light on that.

[trekkele]

If Alfred really did put up the memorial case to punish Bruce that would be insanely cruel of him. Why do you think Bruce didn't say anything if we go with your version? And what does Bruce say once Dick confronts him about it, thinking this is another one of Bruce's bad coping mechanisms instead of Alfred's actions? How does their parent/employee and son/employer relationship change after this? Does it at all? Did Bruce just lie down and take it, blaming himself again and thinking he's right to be punished? Does he agree with Alfred that he doesn't deserve to forget even for a second? (Not that he could). Does anybody else know about this??? Dick, Babs, Tim, Leslie or someone?

I'm genuinely curious and interested in this idea and I hope I didn't come across as rude because that wasn't my intention. Would you like to talk more about it? What are your thoughts about these questions?

Hi i actually love all these questions i just have this terrible disease called overthinking my answers to asks and then forgetting to actually answer them!!! So this is going to be a mess, but answered.

Now the fact that Alfred put up the memorial case is something i always thought was canon in the original elseworlds (The Dark Knight Returns) that it originated from, but when i went to look for proof recently i couldn’t find it. So its one of those things where i genuinely dont know if i imagined that or i just cant remember where to look.

Bruce wouldn’t confront Alfred over it because if theres one thing shown consistently in canon its that Alfred has a terrible time respecting Bruces boundaries and decisions if he disagrees with them. Some of this can be reasonable - Bruce does have a very dangerously hobby! And some of this is just bullshit “i raised you so now i can do and say what i want” parenting. So i think Bruce would say nothing because it would accomplish nothing, despite the cave being his space, and also because he has a guilt complex so big he probably thinks he deserves to be confronted with his “failure” every time he’s down there.

I dont think he would tell Dick who put the memorial up for similar reasons - Alfred is one of the people i think Dick had contact with even when he wasnt talking to Bruce, which means if Bruce pushes them apart by revealing what Alfred did, he could risk one of the few stable connections Dick still has to Gotham. And i dont think he would do that, if Dick was already mad at him anyways.

I dont think anyone knows about who put the case up. Remember, at this point Bruce is living alone in the manor with Alfred, and the case is already up (presumably) when Tim starts, Leslie rarely comes down there, and Babs was still recovering from her own Joker attack (which chronologically happened before Jason died). So no. If anyone would know it would be Clark or Diana, because Clark would see how Bruce’s hands shake every time he brushes by it and Diana would ask if this was truly a memorial fitting for Robin, and then realize Bruce wasnt looking at it like someone who chose to see that every day.

And yeah, its very cruel on Alfreds part. It shows a deep misunderstanding of Bruce and his ideals and mission as well, which is fascinating when you take it together with Alfreds encouragement and enabling of Robin as a position, and his constant heckling of Batman as a concept. I think Alfred views Batman, on some level, as a disappointment to the Wayne Legacy. Even if he didnt put it up to punish Bruce in particular, (which is the harshest possible reading, i admit) it is still cruel!

Idk its a fun little concept to play around with isnt it

[bat-in-the-machine]

You know what I did not expect to be writing when I sat down to work on a Maribat fic? Several paragraphs of Clark and Kara bonding over Kara's trauma. You know what I wrote tonight?

Supergirl sighed and took a sip of her root beer float. Kal was right, it really was a fantastic float. After a moment, she looked over at him, looking more vulnerable than she had the first time she realized that he was the little baby she'd been sent to protect all those years ago, when she told him she felt like a complete failure. "You know how I said I kind of sort of have a maybe girlfriend?" "Mm," Kal said. "Bruce's new kid, right? The one you were dancing with at the gala?" "Someone tried to assassinate her today." "What?!" Superman dropped his drink, then quickly flew down to catch it. "Well, my goodness, Kara, why didn't you head down to Gotham as soon as we finished up here?" "I will," she said. "I will. I just... I need to calm my nerves first. Plus, she's still dealing with the investigation right now, I'm listening in. We were going to go out flying tonight, but now, even if I showed up in uniform with half the Justice League with me, I doubt Batman would let her out of the house without a security detail. Not until they catch whoever's behind it." Superman grimaced. "You're not wrong," he said. "I'll see what I can do to help. I may not be the World's Greatest Detective, but I do all right." Kara let out a choking sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "You do," she said. "You know... I never really talk about your parents, but they would have been so proud of you, Kal-El." "I try to do Ma and Pa proud," he said, shrugging. "I'm not talking about the Kents," Kara said. "I know," he replied, "but they are my parents, at least as much as Jor-El and Lara." "That's..." Kara grinned. "That's so human of you. It's one of the best things about this world we were sent to. None of the 'Noble House of El' stuff. Rao, by the time I got here, I was so terrified of failing Jor-El and Lara, especially Lara. And here you were, all grown up, wearing the crest of the House of El and being every bit the idealist Lara was and even more steadfast than Jor-El. If that's the influence of Jonathan and Martha Kent, then I understand why you're so proud of your Earth name." She sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I love Eliza and Jeremiah, but I still... I don't know. When I think 'parents' I think of Zor-El and Alura and all of their expectations. The Danvers are like... the cool aunt and uncle. They let me stay up past sunset, even!" "I thought I was the cool uncle," Kal said with a grin. "Also, your parents made you go to bed at sunset?" "You're my baby cousin and don't you forget it," Kara said, returning the grin. "And no, not really, I just... they were very strict. I was thirteen when they put me in that pod and sent me after you, and they put the weight of the world on my shoulders. You, at least, got to choose to shoulder that weight. I got here, and you were all grown up without me and I was already a failure before I even started." "Hey," Kal - no, Clark - said. "You're not a failure. Kara, you're not. You're an incredible woman, and I am proud to call you family." He slapped his thighs and shifted from his floating/sitting position to a standing one, as though he were standing up from her bedside. "That's it," he said. "We're heading to Gotham. I want to meet this young woman you're 'kind of sort of' dating, and see if she's good enough for my favorite babysitter."

[whattraintracks]

My Time Has Come

In finishing TMNT 1987, I realised a few things, rewatched some episodes, realised a lot more things, and this is the product. As iztarshi mentioned, "Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle" is another fabulous example of our Fearless Leader straight up scared, as is a personal favorite of mine, "Snakes Alive!" The moral seems to be do not leave your Leonardo alone. Until I remembered in both "Take Me to Your Leader" and "Leonardo Versus Tempestra," he's on his own for a large chunk of the action and seems fine. That's odd. Let's check the timeline.

S3 E15 - Take Me to Your Leader

S4 E35 - Leonardo Versus Tempestra

S4 E41 - Unidentified Flying Leonardo

S5 E17 - Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle

S6 E13 - Snakes Alive!

Oh, snap. I know the numbers are different depending on where you look, but as far as I can tell, the order is always the same. That's unexpectedly consistent. Let's write that essay now, shall we?

In "Take Me to Your Leader," Leonardo leaves the team behind. He's having horrible nightmares about them all getting hurt because of his own failures. A combination of sleep deprivation, stress, and paranoia leaves him pretty out of sorts and clumsy, which only adds to his feelings of inadequacy, and he's caught in a feedback loop until he decides to leave the lair for good. Once he's out on his own, he's certainly dejected but truly seems to believe the team is better off without him. That is, he's not afraid for the guys or about being on his own. The reason he turns around is that the bridge he wants to take out of town collapses with the snow Shredder and Krang's latest scheme has generated, and some dude accidentally guilt trips into taking responsibility for stopping them. He returns to the team, they rally, make a plan, and save the day. Go Green Machine. When he saves Michelangelo and Raphael, he quips about knowing they'd get into trouble without him, which is not true but, okay, Leonardo, whatever you say. In the closing scene, he tells Master Splinter he learned that duty comes before his doubts. These are super important to remember as we move forward.

Again in "Leonardo Versus Tempestra," he leaves the team behind when he sneaks out to an arcade by himself. He's a little manic about beating Tempestra's Revenge, but he's not afraid. Yet. Even when Tempestra escapes the game, he's just confused. He doesn't get scared until he realises she's a threat. Cam Clarke uses this particular tone for Leonardo when he's scared, and it comes out pretty quickly in his fight with Tempestra once he realises, "Oh, I've screwed up. I'm about to die, the world is about to end, and I am alone." He frantically calls the others for help. Tempestra thwarts his efforts, and Leonardo watches as his teammates are trapped. At this point, you might expect to find him paralysed with fear, but he turns around to face her as cool as a cucumber. He calmly negotiates, taunts her, and makes jokes to the camera. You could argue that just talking to the other turtles was enough to settle him, but I'd think, given how poorly he perceives they handled themselves without him in TMtYL, he should be more freaked out now, not less. Now he's got to save them, himself, and the world! That's a lot for one turtle. But Leonardo holds Tempestra off single-handedly, makes a plan to save them all, and, with April's services as a taxi, jets off to take her down. Except for when April drives them off a cliff, his scared voice doesn't reappear. Pretty impressive for a turtle who, a handful of episodes later, will be shaking in his nonexistent boots in a cornfield.

So, clearly, something happens between LvT and UFL that exacerbates Leonardo's anxiety astronomically. What life-shattering, traumatising event occurs between these two episodes? "Splinter Vanishes." That's right, Leonardo and his team, his family, all still teenagers mind you, spend two weeks fending for themselves after their Sensei and guardian abandons them and tells them they must leave home and each other. It's significant that, once again, Leonardo leaves. He's the one who convinces everyone to listen to Splinter's last instructions. It's not the first time he's left knowing it might be permanent, but this situation is very different from TMtYL. After being separated from his support system and thrust into adult life with no warning or help, Leonardo gets attacked by Leatherhead and sent plummeting to his death. Given the events of this episode, I'm pretty sure his cool-as-a-cucumber Hero Leader attitude is a facade specifically crafted to fill the other turtles with confidence. He is so cocky when he unexpectedly shows up alive to save the other turtles. But just like in LvT, his teammates are in serious trouble and can't help him, so not only does he feel responsible for bringing the villain(s) of the week to justice, but he probably feels like he needs to be brave for them. It's those lessons he learned in TMtYL over and over again.

Splinter returns, and the mean, green team is back together. But Leonardo continues to break my heart when he asks, sounding oh so nervous and small and young, "Are we together? Master?" Because Leonardo still trusts him so much. Is still willing to obey even when it actively hurts him, actively hurts his brothers, because Splinter will always be their Sensei, right? Even if he doesn't want them, even if he leaves, Leonardo will remain loyal to his Master's instructions.

I get Splinter’s intentions, I do, and this was all pretty typical Splinter stuff. I'm definitely getting too emotionally invested in a children's cartoon, but gosh dang it, that episode has always made me so sad. Like, Splinter, they're kids. If you want to lure the Rat King and Leatherhead out into the open, let the boys in and tell them. It's not enough to say after that it was pretend and you were watching all along, they needed that reassurance and security two weeks ago. And Raphael voices this exact concern. But no, Splinter wanted to, what, let them experience what it was like to be apart? Appreciate how vital it is that they remain together? No. No! Do you know what you did, Master Splinter? You ruined a perfectly good ninja turtle, is what you did. Look at Leonardo, he's got separation anxiety! Splinter is not allowed to teach any more lessons in togetherness.

You guys, I went into this thinking there'd be some mildly interesting connections to make. I did not think I would be adding "Splinter Vanishes" to the list of reasons why Leonardo needs professional help, and all of these turtles are massively traumatised. Oh my gosh, you guys. I was over here thinking his fight with Tempestra must have been so traumatising it screwed him up for at least the next two seasons, which is still possible, but oh my gosh, immediately after that episode is "Splinter Vanishes"???? No wonder Leonardo freaks out on his own. TWO WEEKS. I'm going to sob.

Okay, alright, let's look at the next few episodes and see if this holds.

Given Leonardo's trust for Master Splinter remains intact, it makes sense that he accepts Splinter's directive to go after April on his own in "Unidentified Flying Leonardo," but it's also not surprising how quickly he breaks down. He's left the team behind plenty of times now, but this is the first time he's left them since SV. Some freaky stuff happens in the aforementioned cornfield, but unlike LvT, there aren’t any actual threats before he hits his breaking point. He generally seems okay until he gets lost, and this is where Clarke breaks out the scared voice. We can look back and see that a lot of Leonardo's confidence in LvT and SV does come from being on his home turf, but that still doesn’t seem like a serious enough threat to warrant how panicked he is. Unless we consider that in his mind, getting stranded and being unable to contact his family is most certainly a threat worthy of panic after the events of SV. So yeah, when he calls for help and discovers he’s out of range, everything goes downhill. He jumps to conclusions, his flight instincts overwhelm his discipline, he's off-balance, and he makes sloppy mistakes. As he's being chased by an entire town with vehicles, he doesn't think to take April's van and drive it away, instead he hoofs it across multiple fields. Like TMtYL, he's stuck in this loop of panic and paranoia and just wearing himself out. Thankfully, @snoftshell-snurtle is 100% correct. Billy Jim Bob McJames (the guy with a truck full of hay) saves Leonardo's life, feeds him some pizza, offers him information, and agrees to drive him wherever. With that, Leonardo is back to his Hero Leader cool-as-a-cucumber self. Once the other guys show up, he's even able to come up with a plan, and together they stop the bad guy.

Overall, the pattern I'm noticing is Leonardo is alone, he identifies a threat, he calls for help, and his call goes unanswered for some reason or another. Before SV, the unanswered call doesn't deter him, and he shoulders the burden himself. After SV, he falls apart until he gets the support he needs. That's not to say he does nothing. But unlike LvT, where his goal the whole time was to stop Tempestra and save the guys and all of his actions and planning were to support that goal, in UFL, he spent most of the episode just trying to survive until help arrived in the form of a compassionate stranger. Getting stuck in survival mode is very much a product of trauma he's experienced. Yes, the stuff with Tempestra but more significantly from being abandoned by Splinter and stranded from his team.

I really liked rewatching "Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle" with all this in mind. With this new robocop LEX, the turtles are getting pushed out of the crime-fighting business. This freaks Leonardo out, who, since TMtYL, really relies on having this specific purpose in his life. The other turtles, however, are thrilled, and they leave him. Every time he's been alone before, it's been an active decision on his part, even in SV, he was reluctant, but it was his choice. Clarke doesn't quite break out the scared voice yet, but it's a close thing. Some time passes before we see Leonardo again. He's just barely avoided getting stuck in survival mode since he's stayed in familiar territory and thanks to April, as @iztarshi put it, playing turtle emotional support (feeding him, keeping him company). But he's clearly stressed, perhaps depressed, and certainly paranoid. He's reached the stage where he's accepted that his team is gone, and whatever happens, he'll have to handle it on his own. Leonardo's paranoia unfortunately pays off as LEX threatens him and April, and this is the point where he enters survival mode and, interestingly, restarts the pattern.

Unlike previous episodes, this particular pattern or sequence of behaviors from Leonardo is disrupted and repeated multiple times in this episode. In the first instance, Leonardo is metaphorically alone in his assessment of LEX as a threat to their work but really to his own perceived purpose and identity, and his call for help is him trying to get the others to agree, but they are dismissive and then leave. Compare this to LvT, where they initially dismiss his concerns but quickly come around, and Leonardo is reassured they're safe and would help him if they could. Compare also to UFL, where he thinks the others don't know where he is and that he's in danger. April provides as much support as she can, but the cycle is only ever complete once the team reunites and removes the threat together, and this doesn't happen. So, like the stages of grief, Leonardo bounces between them until he can reach a resolution. Now Leonardo is physically alone, LEX is a physical threat to his well-being, and when he calls for help, their comm system is down. He does get a hold of Raphael and Michelangelo, but again they're dismissive of his concerns, and he accidentally breaks the connection in his distress. Firmly in the survival stage, Leonardo is off-balance, clumsy, and unable to think straight. Now would be a really good time to get some support, but even that blows up in his face. So he calls for help again, but all he gets is Donatello's jarringly cheery voicemail greeting. Finally, Clarke breaks out the scared voice. Despite everything he's gone through, it took this long, which makes sense, given we’re in season 5 now. He's likely gained some coping mechanisms, but not enough to avoid the panic completely.

Leonardo's continued efforts to get help and protect himself are impeded, and his scared voice keeps getting worse as he descends further and further into panic, but he keeps going because he can't do anything else. At this point, the other turtles finally realise something is wrong and come back just in time to find . . . that Leonardo has actually resolved the threat on his own. This diverges entirely from previous episodes! It's so remarkable Donatello literally remarks on it. April has been his cheerleader all episode, but even she's surprised and impressed. We don't go completely off script, in the closing scene, Splinter and the guys reaffirm to Leonardo that he is skilled and capable beyond the niche he's created for himself in the team. His initial concerns and the perceived threat to his identity and usefulness and all that good stuff are resolved, as they always are, together. Still, this marks a turning point for Leonardo and segues nicely into the last episode I want to look at.

Unlike previous episodes, in "Snakes Alive!" the primary threat isn't the villain but Leonardo's snake phobia and his loneliness is a product of hiding his fear from the team. He's still hanging on to that lesson from TMtYL that the guys depend on him to lead, so he's not honest with them about his fear and instead tries to distract them and spends most of their time together dragging his feet. But it’s hard to hide that you're terrified when your scared voice creeps out every time someone mentions snakes, and you can't even say the word without a voice crack. The others aren't used to seeing Leonardo in survival mode like this and are understandably confused. He passes out, gets separated from the team, flings himself out a window, and rams into April's van in a panicked haze. When he comes across another threat with April and Vernon unrelated to snakes, we see the progress he made in LtRT, and he confidently handles it on his own. Checking back in with the guys, we find Michelangelo a little hopeful they'll be saved, but Donatello convinced Leonardo won't be able to. Interesting that here and in LtRT, Donatello seems to have the least faith in Leonardo's ability to resolve things on his own. But neither does Leonardo, who, even after speaking to Master Splinter, is despondent. The plot is thankfully saved by a bunch of kids who call him a chicken and later by the villain who claims snakes are superior to turtles in every way, which snaps him out of paralysis both times. Much like LtRT, he's too panicked to really come up with a plan, so he just brute forces his way to save the guys. Donatello is again quite shocked Leonardo did it by himself. The minute he's reunited with them, all is balanced and well with the universe, and he thinks up a plan to save the day. He doesn't seem to be afraid of the snakes anymore, but the closing scene makes it clear the fear is not totally gone, just assuaged when he's with his team. Leonardo is always going to do his best to be their Fearless Leader, even if he's not a fearless turtle.

tl;dr In the episodes examined above, Leonardo exhibits similar behavioral patterns whenever he is alone and threatened. This pattern is disrupted and reshaped by various traumatic experiences and thus makes an excellent marker for how he changes as a character throughout the series.

In the 1987 tv series Leonardo is a good leader and team player but "Unidentified Flying Leonardo" demonstrates that alone he is an on-fire trainwreck of a teenage mutant ninja turtle. In this essay I will

[dukereviewstv]

Duke Reviews TV: Smallville 1x08 Jitters

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Tv, Where We Are Continuing Our Look At Smallville By Talking About Episode 9 Of Season 1, Jitters...

This Episode Introduces Us To Earl Jenkins (Played By Tony Todd Who Is Known To Fans Of The Horror Genre As The Candyman In The Candyman Horror Films But Is Most Known To DC Fans As The Voice Of The Villainous Zoom On CW's The Flash) Who Is Suffering From Seizures Due To Exposure To Meteor Rocks At The Luthorcorp Plant From A Mysterious Level 3 That Doesn't Exist Or Appear On Any Blueprints, Taking Hostages During A Smallville High Field Trip (Including Clark), Earl Is Intent On Finding What Poisoned Him So That He Can Cure Himself, Will Clark Find This Level 3 So That He Can Save The Hostages And Cure Earl?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Jitters...

The Episode Starts With Clark's Parents Going Metropolis For A Few Days To Celebrate Their Anniversary...

(Start At 0:05, End At 1:32)

Speaking Of Metropolis, We Meet Earl Jenkins Who Is Suffering Violent Seizures From When Worked At The Luthorcorp Plant, Attempting To Talk To Lionel Luthor, A Janitor Who Works There Who's A Friend Of His, Tells Earl To Go Away Or Else He'll Call The Police, However, When One Of His Kryptonite Seizures Happens He Manages To Get In...

Accidentally Killing The Janitor With One Of His Seizures, Earl Runs Off To Try To Find Someone Who Will Help Him...

Back At The Kent Farm In Smallville, Clark Goes To School As Pete Asks Him What He's Going To Do Now That He Has The House To Himself? To Which He Says..

I'm Kidding, Of Course, What He Does Say Is That He That He's Going To Invite A Few People To A Small Gathering, Them A Few Other People And Maybe Lana At The Most But Chloe Takes That As Party At The Kent Farm BYOB!

With Lana Coming Over, She Says That If She Had 100 People Over She'd Be Freaked Out Too, However As They Continue Talking Fireworks Start Going On Outside Thinking That Pete Was Behind It, He Tells Him To Knock It Off But Lex Arrives Saying That The Fireworks Were His Idea As He Wanted Clark's Party To Be A Party To Remember...

Meanwhile In Metropolis, Martha Has Been Calling The House For Hours With Nobody Answering, So, Yeah, She's A Little Worried About Clark But Jonathan Tells Her Not To Worry About It...

As The Party Continues, Whitney Arrives Being The Condescending Boyfriend By Asking Lana Why She Didn't Tell Him She Was Coming Here? Which Leads Them To Talk Briefly In The Barn Only To Hear Rumbling In The Rafters...

Getting Clark, Him And Whitney Find Earl, Who Says He's There To Talk With Jonathan However, Having One Of His Seizures Again Which Causes Clark To React In The Same Way He Does When He's Around Kryptonite But Either Way, Clark Calls An Ambulance Which Takes Earl To The Hospital, There He Tells Chloe How He Knows Earl...

Turns Out Earl Used To Work On The Kent Farm, Even Tried Teaching Clark How To Play Guitar But His Kept Causing Him To Break The Strings, And When He Got A Job At The Luthorcorp Plant, He Quit Because The Pay Was Better...

Which Sheriff Ethan Arriving To Arrest Earl For The Murder Of The Janitor, Him And Clark Hear A Noise Which Causes Them To Earl's Room Only To Discover That He's Having Another Seizure This Time He Hurts, Nurses And Police And Even Tosses Clark Through A Window To The Hallway...

Returning Home To The Aftermath Of The Party, Clark Cleans It Up Using His Super Speed But Unfortunately His Parents Are Home...

Telling His Parents About Earl, Clark Tells Jonathan That He Wanted To Talk To Him And That He's Wanted For Murder Which Shocks Jonathan But When Clark Mentions Not Being Able To Get Near Earl Because He Gives Him The Same Reaction That Meteor Rocks Do, Clark And Jonathan Go Down to The Hospital To See Him...

Talking With The Doctor, She Says That It's Caused By Something That Has Given Him Mineral Poisoning, Tiny Fragments Of The Mineral Are Embedded Under His Skin And His Body Is Trying To Slowly Push Them Out. With Jonathan Asking How It Happened? The Doctor Tells Him That Earl Claims That There Was An Explosion At The Luthorcorp Plant Six Months Ago That Never Happened...

Going In To Talk To Earl, Jonathan Tells Him That He Doesn't Believe That He'd Ever Want To Kill Anybody But Telling Jonathan That It Was An Accident Because He Wanted To See Lionel Luthor To Find Out What They Were Using On Level 3, Jonathan Doesn't Believe Him...

Earl Explains That When He Got The Job At The Luthorcorp Plant, He Was Assigned To Clean Level 3 Where They Were Doing These Secret Crop Experiments On A New Type Of Fertilizer That Was Supposed To Make Corn Grow Twice As Fast, But There Was Something In That Fertilizer That Was Unstable And It Caused A Huge Explosion While He Was Cleaning And It Got Under His Skin Just As They Shut It Down And He Was Transferred To Metropolis...

But Then 2 Months Ago The Seizures (Or Jitters As Earl Calls Them) Started And He Saw About 50 Doctors And None Of Them Could Help Him Because They Didn't Know What Was Causing Them But When Earl Went Back To The Plant They Told Him Level 3 Didn't Exist...

Having No Idea If Earl's Story Is True, Clark Suggests Using The Field Trip To The Luthorcorp Plant This Afternoon As An Opportunity To Take A Look Around But Jonathan Doesn't Know If Earl Is In His Right Mind So, He Tells Clark To Do Nothing, Unfortunately However, Earl Heard Their Entire Conversation...

So, While He's About To Be Taken Out Of The Hospital By Metropolis Police, Another Seizure Happens Which Gives Him The Opportunity To Escape...

That Afternoon, The Teens Of Smallville High (Including Clark, Whitney, Lana, Pete And Chloe) Are Taking A Tour Of The Luthorcorp Plant That's Being Led By Chloe's Father, Gabe...

Clark Asks About Level 3, Which Leads Gabe To Joke That It's Where They Do The Alien Autopsies..

Sneaking Into The Luthorcorp Plant, Earl Enters A Room, Which He Quickly Demolishes...

Uh, It's Right Near The Entrance, Pal...

With Clark, Separating From The Group To Discover If Level 3 Exists, The Rest Of The Teens Enter The Control Room Where Earl Takes Them And Chloe's Dad Hostage...

With Lex Arriving At The Plant, He Lets Jonathan And Martha In To Tell Them The Situation Involving Earl And Jonathan Tells Lex What He Knows About Earl, Meanwhile, Clark Discovers That Earl Has Everyone Hostage Which Leads Clark To Go To The File Room, To Find Blueprints To The Plant In The Hopes Of Finding Level 3 But Clark Finds Nothing And Takes Them To Earl To Show Him That There Is No Level 3...

Lionel Flies In By Chopper Only To Be Mad At Lex Which Leads Jonathan To Remind Lionel About What's Important Right Now...

Telling Lionel His Assessment Of Earl, Lex Tells His Father That He Told The Press That There Is No Level 3...

Said The Scorpion That Killed The Frog...

With Jonathan Asking Lionel What He Intends To Do? Which Leads Lionel To Tell Him That He's Going To Let SWAT Do Their Job When Earl Makes A Mistake But With Martha Saying That For The Sake Of The Kids, He Should Talk With Earl, But Lionel Tells Martha That He Does Not Negotiate With Terrorists, Which Leads Martha To Tell Him That He's Not A Terrorist But A Sick Person Who Needs Help...

So, Getting On The Phone With Earl, He Tells Lionel To Tell Him What He Was Using On Level 3 But Lionel Just Tells Him The Stuff Everyone's Been Saying To Earl Which Causes Him To Have A Seizure That Breaks The Methane Gas Valve Which Means If They Don't Turn The Gas Down, The Entire Plant Is Going To Go Up...

With Whitney Not Willing To Sit By And Wait For Help (Like An Idiot) He Asks Clark For Help In Trying To Take Him But Clark's Not An Idiot And Stays Out Of It (Mainly Due To The Meteor Rock Thing) And Of Course, Whitney Gets Hurt...

(Sarcastically) Whitney, Whitney, He's Our Man, He Can't Do It, No One Can, Yay...

Uh, Though I Will Say Whitney Was An Idiot Here, He Wasn't Shot So, Why Is This Guy Saying One Hostage Down?

So, With A Hostage Situation And A Potential Bomb Threat (According To Jonathan), Lex Decides To Go In To Handle The Situation, Despite Lionel Forbidding It, But Lex Says It's His Plant, So It's His Call...

Don't Do What Again, Lex?...

Going In With A Bulletproof Vest, He Tells Earl That His Father Doesn't Give A Damn About Anybody Here Because His PR Firm Will Spin It, His Insurance Company Wil Pay Out Everyone And Earl Will Just Go Down As The Bad Guy. But Not Wanting That, Lex Tells Earl That If He Lets Everyone Go He'll Take Him To Level 3 And So He Does..

But Not Willing To Abandon Lex, Clark Stays Behind While Everyone Gets Out, Going To Exactly Where Earl Said He Went And Uses His X-Ray Vision To See An Elevator, Telling Earl That He Found It, He Takes Lex Down To Level 2 To Show Lex Himself, While Clark Deals With The Gas Situation...

Taking Lex On The Elevator, He Takes Him Down To Level 3 To Find...

(Start At 0:28)

Yep, It's Nothing But An Empty Building, As Clark Follows Them, Lex Tells Clark He Had No Clue This Was Here As Earl Has Another Seizure Which Causes A Bridge To Hang By Its Side With Lex Hanging On By The Rails...

Losing Hold Of The Rails Only To Hang Onto Earl's Leg, Clark Grabs Earl (Despite His Kryptonite Weakness Acting Up) And Manages To Pull Earl Up, Leaving Lex Hanging Onto The Bridge To Which Clark Pulls Him Up..

But Just As They Get To Safety, Earl Has Another Seizure Which Causes To Bridge To Fall Just As Clark And Lex Get Off..

Asking How Clark Pulled Them Up, Just Tells Lex Adrenaline I Guess. With Both Of Them Coming Outside, Lex Talks With Lionel About How He Lied To Him, But All Lionel Says Is That It Was Just A Failure That They Moved On From, Talking To The Press, Lex Promises To Get Earl The Best Help Possible Because He Was A Luthorcorp Employee...

And That Was Jitters And It Was A Good Episode...

The Story Was Good, The Characters Were Good, The Villain Was Sad As You Feel The Pain That Earl Is Going Through And If You Think That This Is The Last We Hear Of Earl You'd Be Wrong As A Web Series Known As The Chloe Chronicles Which Was Done In 2 Volumes Delved Into What Happened To Earl After That And Unfortunately He Ended Up Dying Six Months After The Incident And Possibly More For On That The Videos Are Here For All To See

This Link Leads To A Playlist With All The Videos Enjoy! But As For The Episode, I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...