Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) is being held in Belle Reve Sanitarium in Asylum. Written by Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer, this episode was first aired on 14 January, 2004.

Clark (Tom Welling) is keen to help his friend get out (Lex is also not taking his meds – hiding them in his paint work) but Jonathan (John Schneider) isn’t sure Lex will keep his secret, which Lex is convinced he knows. Something that Pete (Sam Jones III) agrees with and points out the strain of keeping Clark’s secret.

We also get glimpses at some familiar faces in Belle Reve, including Eric Summers (Shawn Ashmore from the episode Leech), Ian Randall (Jonathan Taylor Thomas from Dichotic), and Van McNulty (Jesse Metcalfe from Extinction). And they are working on a plan to get out, by leeching Clark’s powers and busting out! And they may use Lex to get what they need.

Will Clark be able to stop this plan, even when Ian and Eric have access to kryptonite? But can Ian and Eric trust one another?

Oh, and Lionel (John Glover) is planning on having his son undergo electroshock therapy, something that may result in some memory loss (that will be helpful for keeping Clark’s secret).

Both Lex’s electroshock therapy and Clark’s fight with a super-powered Eric take place at the same time, so Clark may be too late to save his friend, but at least his secret is safe. But Lionel has access to the asylum’s camera system, and discovers, too late that Lex knew Clark’s secret.

Lana (Kristin Kreuk) is still on the mend, and is undergoing physical therapy for her broken leg. But is her life taking a turn for the better, when she meets Adam Knight (Ian Somerhalder). Is there something new happening for Lana?

Whisper debuted on 21 January, 2004 and was penned by Ken Horton.

Clark loses his eyesight temporarily when his heat vision gets reflected back into his eyes while he’s stopping a robbery. His hearing compensates for the loss of his vision. The robbers have a freak of the week, Nathan (Micah Alberti) has a sonic power! And that is going to be problematic when he kidnaps Pete to force his mother, Judge Ross (Felecia M. Bell) and demands the release of his captured partner.

Lex, who has forgotten Clark’s secret, and Clark discover that Chloe (Allison Mack) has been sharing information about them with Lionel. This causes a huge blow up between Chloe and Clark. But it gets worse for Chloe, Lionel ensures that Chloe is let go from the Daily Planet, and Lex fires Chloe’s father because Lex believes that he was Chloe’s source.

Going to be some interesting times for Chloe…

There’s some really nice bits throughout the episode. That being said, some of the effects of sound travelling don’t stand up very well, but you have to take into account that this show was shot on a television budget back in thee early aughts.

It is fun to see Clark refine his ability with some help from Jonathan and Martha (Annette O’Toole). Will it be enough for Clark to save his friend from Nathan? His next confrontation with Nathan and his attempt to rescue Pete sees Clark’s vision beginning to return… helped with… some glasses.

And things are a little strained between Clark and Lana, so that little obstacle will continue to be around.

A solid episode, but not quite as big as the previous one. Still, I like the emotional beats in this one a lot.