Originally aired October 16, 2001
Written by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Directed by David Nutter
In 1989, Smallville, Kansas is devastated by a meteor shower; in the midst of the chaos, 3-year-old Lana Lang's parents are killed, 9-year-old Lex Luthor is left bald, and Jonathan and Martha Kent find a young boy and a small spacecraft. Twelve years later, Clark Kent struggles to deal with his emerging powers, learns the truth about how he came to Earth, rescues and befriends Lex, and battles a young man with electrical powers.
Tropes present in the episode:
- The Ageless: Jeremy awakes from his coma still the same age he was when he was caught in the 1989 meteor shower. Chloe explains this is due to an electrolyte imbalance.
- Anti-Villain: Jeremy is a Type II.
- Asshole Victim: Jeremy's victims, who bullied him in high school.
- Bookends: After finding Kal-El in the cornfield, Martha remarks to Jonathan "We didn't find him; he found us." Jonathan later repeats Martha's words to Clark near the end of the episode.
- Bully Hunter: After coming out of his coma, Jeremy tracks down and kills the guys who bullied him back in high school. He planned to kill Clark's tormenters after seeing them string him up as a scarecrow, even if he has to kill everyone else at prom.
- Chest Insignia: Jeremy and later Clark have a red "S" spray-painted on their chests when they're hazed by football jocks.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Whitney and his friends attack Clark and string him up like a scarecrow after seeing him and his girlfriend Lana talking in the graveyard.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Clark, weakened by Lana's Kryptonite necklace, is strung up like a scarecrow in this way by Whitney and his friends.
- Death from Above: The 1989 meteor shower, in which many people, including Lana's parents, were killed.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Clark's ship looks very different in the pilot. It appears to have a scale-like outer plating as opposed to the smooth metallic hull in later appearances.
- I Owe You My Life: After Clark rescues him from drowning, Lex tries to give him a cool new truck. Sadly, Jonathan doesn't allow Clark to keep it.
- It's All My Fault: Clark's reaction after Chloe shows him the Wall of Weird, which displays all the reports of how the meteor shower is responsible for all the strange occurrences in Smallville over the past twelve years, including the deaths of Lana's parents.
- The Lady's Favor: Lana gives Whitney her Kryptonite necklace as a good luck charm for the upcoming game. He ends up unknowingly using it to weaken Clark.
- Mass Empowering Event: The meteor shower that hits Smallville in 1989.
- Mythology Gag:
- The red "S" spray-painted on Clark's chest resembles the Superman symbol. It's the first of many allusions to the comic book mythos.
- The newspaper that Lionel is reading in the opening has an article about The CEO of Queen Industries being missing. In a similar vein, the first shot of Teenage!Clark has him reading an article about a teenager who broke a world record for the 100 meter dash and became the fastest man alive.
- Lex asks Clark if he believes a man can fly. A nod to the tagline of Superman: The Movie
- Naked on Arrival: Kal-El is obviously naked after he arrives on Earth. (Nothing explicit is shown.)
- Nigh-Invulnerability: By the time we see teenage Clark, he already has super-speed and super-strength. He's now gained super-invulnerability (except against Kryptonite).
- Prom Wrecker: Jeremy plans to electrocute everyone at the Homecoming dance to get revenge for being "the scarecrow" in 1989.
- Room Full of Crazy: A non-crazy example. Chloe's Wall of Weird, which contains newspaper articles detailing all the unusual occurrences that took place in Smallville since the 1989 meteor shower.
- Shock and Awe: As a result of being caught in the meteor shower and being awoken out of a coma by a power outage, Jeremy gains the power to generate electricity.
- Sins of Our Fathers:Lex: Your father doesn't like me. It's okay. I've been bald since I was nine. I'm used to people judging me.Clark: It's not personal. He's just not crazy about your dad.Lex: Figures the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?
- Talking to the Dead: Lana talks to her parents' grave in the Smallville Cemetery, and Clark gets in on the act, telling Lana that her mother wants her to know that she's always looking over her and even remarking that Lana's parents are chatty once you get them started.
- Villain of the Week: Jeremy Creek, a teenager with the ability to control electricity.
