Smallville (2001–2011): Season 9, Episode 4 - Echo - full transcript

After a freak accident, Clark finds he has the ability to read Lois' mind...and takes advantage of his new ability by asking her out. Oliver Queen is taken hostage by someone who wants his own name vindicated...and Oliver's name run through the mill at the same time.

Previously on Smallville

Isn't it time to move
beyond these mental trials?

When you decided to return to your
training, i assumed you were ready.

- Tell me what you need from me.
- The test of a true hero

The test of a true hero is to struggle
with feelings of loss, not to avoid them.

I've come this far, and
i'm not looking back. I can do this.

I need you to pull an address
off of queen industries' database.

It's an engineer that i fired six
years ago. His name's winslow schott.

- What happened?
- He snapped.

He started bringing toys to work.

Then he started hiding
explosives inside the toys.



What are you doing in enemy camp?

I've purchased controlling
interest in luthorcorp.

Everybody down!

How does it feel to not
be in control for once?

- Untie me right now.
- After this little fella

clangs his cymbals
together 53 times...

it'll be the last
sound you ever hear.

Pieces of a toy bomb were
found in the wreckage.

- Lex deserved to die.
- This is murder.

This is justice.

Oliver crossed the line.
He killed lex luthor.

You're making a big mistake.

- What the hell were you so afraid of?
- You.

- Maybe we should start over.
- It's too late for that now.



You need help.

Not everybody believes
in the second coming.

Is there any part of the person
i used to know still there?

I took a look in the
mirror, and you were right.

I've been running away from
myself for a long time now.

But now i know who i really am.

Let's set up a perimeter. And somebody
get me a damn sight line.

We don't know how many
hostages are inside.

You, get me a barricade. Last thing
we need is anyone getting in our way.

Let's go! Let's move it!

Don't bother pulling the trigger.

Did i miss him?

If by "him," you mean me, barely.

Not you, the blur.

He was long gone by
the time i got here.

I was just trying to call you.

- From a pay phone?
- Apparently.

How'd you get here so fast, anyway?

My guy at met p. D. Didn't leak
this until a few minutes ago.

We all can't be as
fashionably late as lois lane.

Hello, sailor.

- What'd you just say?
- Nothing.

You should get your hearing checked.

Hot stuff.

god, i'm dragging ass today.

I should go for coffee. No, actually,
i should really get a b12 shot.

I have to keep up with clark.

You got to remember what
the general always said.

On certain days, you
wear certain underwear.

And today, of all days,
why you decided to wear.

You're in a good mood today.

Would be in an even better one
if our black-clad hero in hiding

would have stuck around
long enough for a quote.

We'd at least know what the
hell happened back there.

What happened back there is, the blur
saved all those hostages, end of story.

There's always more to the story,
grasshopper. Word on the street is

the bomber isn't the one who
flipped the switch. It was on a timer.

Why would the bomb be on a timer?

I don't know. I'm not a mind reader.

Why would you take hostages
and not make any demands?

No voicemails? No e-mails?

Just be a big girl and get over the fact
that the blur downgraded you

from confidant to
sidekick to nobody.

Computer's frozen again.

Doesn't help that stupid intern jeff

took the last stupid maple bar
rom the stupid doughnut box.

Here you go.

My eyes are bigger than
my stomach this morning.

No. Okay, i love you.

A bump in blood sugar might
help you from punching someone.

True. Give me that.

Whyever whoever did what he did, he couldn't have
picked a less-interesting place to have done it.

- Run-of-the-mill textile factory?
- Run-of-the-mill textile factory

which is a subsidiary
of queen industries.

You think it would be enough
to get oliver's attention.

That only matters if ollie's
sober enough to give a crap.

Yeah, you might be right.

What'd you say?

What?

What?

Thanks for meeting me.
I know you've been busy.

What am i thinking right now?

No clue.
So far, it's only been lois.

I know that my wall of weird
is so three upgrades ago,

but i've spent enough time

digitizing the strange
and unexplained in my life

to know that you don't
just catch e. S. p.

So the question is, how do we know that this
isn't just your superhearing on the fritz?

As loud as lois is, even she can't speak
with her mouth closed.

Good point.

Okay, i'll see what i can dig up,

but seriously, unless
your warranty's expired,

why don't you just check
in with dear old dad?

Are you okay?

Yeah, i'd just like to
bypass lois' inside voice

from here on out.
I'm fine.

I'll keep you posted.

I can't miss this meeting,
or i'm gonna get fired.

- This isn't the life i wanted.

I'll show them on monday.

Should have listened to janet...

once a cheater, always a cheater.

Reading people's thoughts.

You said my trials had
begun. Is this one of them?

I've planted within you
the seeds for this trial,

designed to self-manifest
when most needed.

An event must have
happened to trigger it,

some kind of error or
mistake in judgment.

I don't understand.

I saved everyone in that factory.

Assumptions are flaws

inherent in the human
instincts you have adopted,

but they are beneath you.

What you have yet to nurture
is your kryptonian intuition.

You shouldn't underestimate humans.

Neither should you.

Being able to discern
why humans truly behave as they do

will help you to
better protect them.

This ability is only temporary.

You must learn to focus, clark.

Perception

can be the difference
between life and death.

I know loose lips sink ships,

but tight ones don't do a
hell of a lot of good, either.

Chatty cathy,
we just need one answer.

You were actually a hostage, right?

This one's getting us nowhere.

Do not let them find out.

They can't send me back.

My baby needs me.

It's okay. You can talk to us.

We're not i. N. s.

I am sorry.

I saw a man.

Let me get this straight. You're saying
the guy who took you hostage

was short and fat

but also... tall.

Way taller
than your boyfriend there.

Thin...

thin like a rail.

This is so exciting.

I wonder who will talk to me next.

The fbi? Maybe interpol.

It's clear that this is the most
excitement you've had probably ever.

Now, you can mislead us,

but interfering with
a police investigation

to keep yourself in the limelight
will only land you in jail.

Is that understood?

Sorry.

I didn't see anything.

I don't care how cute he is.

I'd better not get fired for this.

I haven't seen you
eat a thing all day.

Owed you from earlier,
low blood sugar and all.

Look at this.

- Thanks for taking care of me.
- Wait.

Now we're even.

What else did you find out?

Mr. Murphy, our mystery man's puppet,
just got out of surgery.

He's still unconscious.

I've hit enough dead ends for today.

Really no reason for us to keep
hanging out here, then, huh?

You're absolutely right.

Why don't we just call it a night?

That's good. I have plans.

Lifetime and some chunky
monkey or rocky road.

Maybe both.

I was hoping that we could
grab something to eat tonight

once we finished up.
You know...

you said yourself i
hadn't eaten all day.

Is clark kent asking
me out on a date,

like a date date?

I'm not saying
we should go on a date.

Just something...

like a date.

As sweet as that notion is,
smallville,

this is metropolis
on a saturday night.

We ain't getting in anywhere
without a reservation.

Except maybe
the truck rally downtown,

- but there's no way he'd ever.
- We could probably still get tickets

to the monster-truck
rally down at the coliseum.

- It doesn't start for a few more hours.
- Shut up!

I'll meet you there.

Standard protocol...

two cars at the beginning of the night,
no drama at the end of it.

Barkeep, i'm gonna need...

something cold, tall, wet, sexy.

Put a...

put one of these in
it, will you, please?

Looks like i got dollar bills.
I got pesos. I got...

is that a euro?
I got this purple thing. These are fun.

Listen, why don't we just
take the whole thing,

and have a little vacation on me.
How does that sound?

*

*

*

*

*

*

Really?

If you wanted more face time,
all you had to do was ask.

This is me asking.

Why so fancy?

Monster trucks.

Monster trucks?

I've seen you do
monster trucks before,

and this is definitely more than that.
I would say that this is

strictly rhinestone-on-mud-flaps
territory.

Who's the prince charming?

I never thought i'd say
this out loud, but...

i know, right?
It's the weirdest thing.

Of the five things to do in kansas,

clark picked the one thing
i've wanted to do for weeks.

We've been on the same wavelength,
like, all day today.

I'll bet.

Sort of like he's
been reading your mind?

Like he's hearing things that
you've never actually said out loud?

Exactly.

That is the weirdest thing.

Me and clark.

I don't know.

We certainly kick
all kinds of ass at work, but

lately,

it feels like
we're more than just partners, you know?

I think i've gotten so used to
carrying the load all by myself,

what if i don't have
to anymore, you know?

Clark and lois versus the world.

Kind of lost myself
in there somewhere?

Don't wait up.

He forced me to do it.

It wasn't me. I'm innocent.

He strapped the bomb on me.

I just work there.

He said toys weren't good enough.

He wants to play a game.

He said queen will pay
for what he's done to him.

Toyman.

Let the games begin.

what the hell were you thinking?

- They could have killed you.
- Yeah.

You didn't really give
them a chance, did you?

And now... we'll never know.

Were you even aware that one
of your factories blew up?

Do you give a damn
about anything anymore?

Please tell me you didn't
waste all that jet fuel

to come down here and
deliver me a lecture.

Your company's failing.

Your stock is worth less

than you think of
yourself right now.

There's only so much more loss the
shareholders will be willing to accept.

I'm tired of making excuses.

Then, why don't you
stop making excuses?

Tell them the truth about me.

Then you can become sole c. E. o. It'll be great
for you. It's what you always wanted, right?

I've seen you go off
the rails before,

but this...

... this vanishing act?

These binges.

You're punishing yourself.

Why?

What did you do?

No matter what this is about...

i understand.

You know that.

Just talk to me.

It sounds like you're the one
who needs to do the talking.

So i guess the real question is,
what is it that you want from me?

I need your pretty face
addressing our shareholders.

Consider this one of the
many favors you owe me.

Is that all you want?

I've learned not to expect
too much from you.

Cheer up.

You can fall down drunk in a
gutter as soon as it's done.

Wheels up in 20.

It's a good thing he can't hear

- what i'm thinking or else...
- or else what?

Or else i would have to tell you

that i don't want you
breaking my cousin's heart.

How was i supposed to react

when i find out that you've
been rifling through lois' brain

like you lost your keys in there?

You can't just trick
someone into dating you.

I didn't trick her into
anything, and it's not a date.

You didn't see her when she left
my apartment. Believe me, it was a date.

And to add insult to injury,
now you're standing her up?

I asked her out not on a date.

Before i knew our bomber
was an innocent man.

- Toyman's back.
- Winslow schott is responsible

for the explosion in oliver's building.
That's why i didn't call lois back.

The last thing i need
is her showing up here

and following me into harm's way.

Winslow's trying to smoke
oliver out of hiding. He's insane.

Yeah, he was crazy enough

before oliver framed
him for lex's murder.

If he's trying to track oliver down, he
won't have a hard time doing it tonight.

Oliver's addressing his shareholders

at your requisite red-carpet,
black-tie a. O. c. Gala.

All right,
you head back to watchtower.

If winslow strikes again,
we need to move fast.

Mr. Pierson.

Kirkpatrick.

Let's see...

"kendall, kennair...""

there it is... "kirkpatrick."

Have a good evening, mr.
Kirkpatrick.

Name?

Kennair.

You have a plus-one
tonight, mr. Kennair?

I can handle this, smallville.
You've already done enough tonight.

What are you doing here?

Standing in the shadow
of 6 1/2 feet of handsome.

No, he doesn't get off that easy.

Kick his ass!

Do you honestly think that stacked
parking, not having a cocktail dress,

and being three steps behind
you on your mystery-man story

was gonna stand in my way? Did you?

Or that you hid the fact

that oliver returned for
the sake of an article?

You can't get rid of me that easily.

I have the internet on my phone.

I can explain.

I know how the boys' club works.

You wanted to scoop me on a story.

- Prose before hos.
- Now, wait a second.

Good evening.

How could you be so stupid?

This was never about
more than a story.

Maybe it never will be.

For your sake, there
better be an open bar,

because i think that bone
dawg has my purse in his truck.

Now, i don't need
your help on this one.

I can do it on my own.

Maybe you'd like to
think that you can,

but we all know there's no way.

This is my headline.

Oh, god, why would you let
yourself get attached?

You know better than that.

They always leave.

You know what? Maybe you're right.

I'm gonna get some air...

some really private air.

I'm out of here.
Good luck flying solo.

-Maybe i should buy her a drink.
- Company can't be in that bad of shape.

Mercer never should have
gotten us all into this.

I hope that comes out in the wash.

Everyone said it was a
gamble, but i wouldn't listen.

This stock was supposed
to put him through college.

She doesn't know this suit
is a rental. She can't.

I can't afford to
lose any more money.

He'll follow me if i leave.

So the devil came wearing
a blue dress tonight.

Ladies and gentlemen...

your fearless leader, oliver queen.

Look who decided
to grace us with his presence.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.

"I know this has been a
trying year for all of you,

"and hopefully i can remain
upright long enough "to say what...

needs to be said."

Obviously, whoever wrote this speech
has a pretty good sense of humor.

Use the earpiece

excuse me. It's...

sorry. Technical difficulties here.

Thanks, dad.

Yes, mr. Queen,

it's your old playmate
winslow schott.

I'm sure you remember.

You framed me for murder, after all.

And now that i've finally won
your little game of hide-and-seek,

i thought we might play something that
i'm a little more comfortable with...

"toyman says."

Read everything i've
written or you will die.

Toyman says...

don't try to run, don't take a step.

If you move one muscle,

i will kill everybody in this room.

Toyman says you're standing
on a pressure plate.

Toyman says...

you're standing on a bomb!

"I've never truly
worked a day in my life,

"too busy gagging on
the silver spoon...

wedged down my throat."

"And even when given a second
chance at life, i was...

i was unable to see
past my selfish nature."

Don't stop there, mr. Queen.

We haven't even gotten
to the good part yet.

"Time and again,

"i've put my own needs

"over the needs of
my devoted employees.

"In fact, the only thing i've ever
been selfless enough to part with

is the blame..."

"for a heinous act."

No. Chloe, the trials aren't over.

I just got my training
wheels taken away.

I think jor-el wants me
to use what i've learned.

Can you hack the security
feed to the building?

- He's got to be in here somewhere.
- I'm on it.

"My name is oliver queen,

"and i am a coward,

"i'm a thief,

"and i am..."

MURDERER
Don't forget you're standing on a bomb

too ashamed to admit

that you were really responsible
for killing lex luthor.

You didn't think twice
about blaming me for it!

We have to get these
people out of here now.

Oliver's standing on a land mine.

Just give me one second.

"And i..."

confess!

The emergency
alarm has been activated.

Please move in an orderly
fashion to the nearest exit.

Thank you.

I'm not gonna ask. Nice one.

How do i disarm the bomb?

I don't know who you are, but
you're interrupting my game.

I can't just go changing the rules
for someone who isn't even playing.

This isn't a game.
It's a man's life!

No.
It is a game.

- And toyman makes the rules now.
- What you're doing is pointless.

Oliver would never
let those people die.

But you already know that, don't you?
You don't allow for human error.

You have to control who wins.

That's why you put a
timer on the factory bomb.

The pressure plate that
oliver is standing on is fake, isn't it?

The bomb is on a timer.

You follow my work.

It's always nice to have a fan.

How long does oliver have?

Not long enough.

You know what, toyman,
i might be your biggest fan.

And i know
that the real winslow schott

would want to live and
dance on oliver's grave.

No one wins the game
if you both lose.

How'd you know the
pressure plate wasn't real?

I didn't.

I waited till the last
person got out.

I knew the explosion
wouldn't kill you.

At least the real
winslow... has been arrested.

Chloe was able to follow
the feed from the earpiece.

He's on the way to
stryker's as we speak.

Speak your mind.

I haven't been paying enough
attention to everything.

There's been danger all around
me that i haven't seen...

warning signs i haven't noticed.

And people in need
that i've neglected.

I didn't realize how bad things are.

I haven't been here for you.
I'm sorry.

With all due respect,
i'm not sure i'm worth your concern.

When i was reading
that speech in there,

when i decided to...

that speech wasn't just a
laundry list of all my sins. It was...

it was a fact sheet.

Ever tell you how old i
was when my parents died?

5.

I never really knew them very well.

Everything about my
life is not really mine.

It's theirs.

I didn't earn it...

and it's all a lie.

You of all people know what
it's like to wear a mask, right?

That's all this is...

the queen name,

green arrow.

Masks.

And i just realized there's
nothing underneath them.

There is something
behind those masks.

You're just afraid to face it.

You're not running
away from who you are.

You're running away from who you think you're
becoming. But you don't have to face it alone.

Just because you've given up on
oliver queen doesn't mean i have.

Thank you.

Sounds like they're
playing your song.

Go on, get the hell out
of here, go be a hero.

I... want...

my... lawyer!

I want my lawyer!
I know you can hear me out there!

Loud and clear, mr. Schott.

I know you.

You're oliver queen's
business partner.

Sorry about...

trying to kill your boyfriend.

You're not here for revenge,
are you?

Something like that.

Leave oliver...

the hell alone.

- Pretty please?
- Help! Someone!

The guard will be
back here any minute.

You're crazy!

That guard is going on
administrative leave,

and he and i have
a little agreement.

See, you tried to escape,

and he was only defending himself
when he shot you in the knee.

No, please.

They'll put me in solitary.

Which is exactly where
you'll need to be

to spend some quality
time with your new toy.

What new toy?

It's...

it's beautiful.

It is.

It's a meteor-rock-powered heart,

and you're gonna
tell me how it works.

You missed all the
excitement last night.

If i remember correctly,
it wasn't my excitement to have missed.

Was it?

I was expecting to
read about the exploits

of metropolis' journalistic
savior this morning.

That's the thing, i think i may have
bitten off more than i can chew.

Really?

What's this?

it's me asking for help.

I didn't exactly finish my story
last night and i missed the deadline.

I guess i'm not ready
to fly solo just yet.

The sky is a big place.

There.

Looks like you've got one
too many names on there.

I just thought you'd want
to have some creative input.

I am sorry for letting you down.

Is this an olive branch?

'cause there better be a
whole tree somewhere in here.

And maybe a new pair of jeans, too.

It's not every day lois lane
allows herself to be stood up.

Then it's a good thing
it was only like a date.

I don't even know how someone
would get a second date

after messing things up like that.

If people were to try that again.

They might want to do it
on a slower news day...

hypothetically speaking.

Those don't come along very often.

I'm sure people would make sure
they got it right the next time.

Hypothetically speaking of course

My thoughs exactly.