Extinction (Smallville episode)

"Extinction" is the third episode in the third series of Smallville.

Clark discovers Van McNulty has been killing kryptonite infected people. When he confronts him, the kryptonite Van is carrying stops him. Knowing Clark's weakness, Van manufactures kryptonite bullets, and almost kills Clark. Using Lana as bait, Van tries to increase his efforts, but both Lana and Clark prove to be too much for him to handle.

The episode was written by Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer and directed by Michael Katleman. It first aired on 15th October 2003.

Plot

Lana gains an admirer in a fellow student, but things take a sinister turn when he stalks her on a nighttime visit to the swimming pool. He attacks her under the water, but suddenly stops dead, shot by a Kryptonite bullet. As Lana exits the pool, she sees the assasin escaping. The Kryptonite bullet has the word 'freak' embedded on it.

Chloe reveals that she suspected the student for a while and invites Clarke to rejoin the school newspaper.

Lionel welcomes Lex back to Luthorcorp and asks him to fill in a corporate application for life insurance. Lex is suspicious of the amount - $50 million, but Lionel tells him that without it, he'll have to leave Luthorcorp.

Clarke visits Lana to ask her about the attack, but she is upset that he's been avoiding her. Chloe arrives with post-mortem pictures of the dead student, and they debate the vigilante's intervention. Chloe later visits Lionel Luthor to tender her resignation, but Luthor blackmails her by threatening her father's job.

Clarke talks to the dead student's friend, Van McNulty, and tries to get information for his Torch article.Van is edgy and doesn't divulge much, but after speaking with Chloe,they deduce that Van may be hunting meteor freaks because one killed his father. Clarke and Pete discover a shack in the woods with an asrenal of weapons.Hung up around the shack are pictures of the victims and one of Lex Luthor. Clarke surmises that Lex is the next target and races to save him.

He arrives at Luthorcorp in time to stop Lex being killed, and tries to aprehend McNulty. However, the Kryptonite bullets fall from his bag, weakening Clarke. McNulty realises the effect the Kyrptonite is having on Clarke and taunts him with it, but runs off when Luthorcorp guards drive up. Afterwards, Clarke explains to Lex that McNulty believes the meteor-infected have special abilities.

Clarke tells Chloe that her personal files on the meteor freaks have been hacked, and she blames herself for the deaths that McNulty has caused.

Lex talks to Lionel and questions how he has never been sick since his experiences during the meteor storm.

Clarke hands Chloe's list to the police for them to investigate, then meets Lana at The Talon. They have a discussion about McNulty, and Lana tells him that it would have been better for everybody if the meteor shower hadnever happened.

Meanwhile, in the woods, McNulty is making bullets out of liquid Kryptonite. He follows Clarke home and shoots him. Not realising that the bullet is Kryptonite, Clarke initially tries to catch it. It rips through his hand and lodges in his shoulder. Jonathan and Martha take him into the house and remove the bullet. 

At Luthor mansion, Lex is replaying a computer simulation of the car accident Clarke saved him from.

In the alley behind The Talon, Van McNulty approaches Lana and tells her that Clarke caught a bullet in his hand. He tells her that he killed Clarke. She knocks him into the basement, but as she tries to phone the Kent Farm, Van catches her and threatens her.

Maggie Sawyer appears at the Kent's house and tells Clarke that there's been a report of his death. She sees a blood stained shirt which Jonathan explains away as a barb-wire accident. Clarke disappears and uses the police band to call McNulty and tell him to meet at his locker in the school. McNulty bundles Lana into the boot of his car.

Using Lana as a hostage, McNulty shoots Kryptonite bullets at Clarke, but he isn't affected. Lana kicks McNulty into a display case, knocking him out and Clarke reveals that he's borrowed a bullet-proof vest from a police car. The lead in the vest protects him from the effects of the Kryptonite.

Afterward, Clarke visits Lex to tell him McNulty is in custody. Lex is in pensive form and questions whether he is bulletproof.

Later, Lana talks to Clarke and asks why he's prepared to take a bullet for her, but he won't open up to her.

Lionel Luthor threatens Chloe that if he ever catches her investigating one of his family, "a computer glitch" will be the least of her worries.