"Toxic"
Original Air Date on October 2nd, 2008
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Chloe: So, it turns out global warming's just another excuse to take your clothes off.
Clark: I know what it looks like, but Oliver claims they raise a ton of money at this thing.
Chloe: [ Chuckling ] Yeah, at 500 bucks a plate, I'll bet. I'm just glad you've got your press pass. Although, as much as I love the one-on-one time, I got to say I'm actually surprised Lois unattached you from her hip.
Clark: What do you mean? Lois and I aren't always together.
Chloe: Clark, you see her more than I see Jimmy, and we're engaged.
Clark: What are you trying to say?
Chloe: Never mind. I guess I just always thought that I would be the one circling your typos.
Clark: Lois doesn't circle typos. She underlines them two or three times. And she couldn't skip out early. In typical Lois fashion, she's already on Tess' bad side.
Chloe: Tess. That's assuming that the Luthor wannabe has a good side.
Clark: I know she's a die-hard Lex supporter. But up until this point, she's been civil.
Chloe: Uh-huh. And I'm sure the flowing hair and piercing green eyes didn't sway you at all.
Clark: It doesn't change the fact that Lex knows my secret. And if she truly is following in Lex's footsteps, then she may not be far behind.
Chloe: You're right. And if Lex chose her to carry on his legacy, she must be handled with extreme caution.
Reporters: Hey, Oliver, over here! Over here, Oliver! Look over here! Mr. Queen, over here. Oliver, over here! Over here, Oliver!
[ Camera shutter clicking]
Reporters: Oliver, right here! Right here!
Chloe: Looks like Ollie's party started in the limo.
Clark: No. He'd never show up drunk.
[ Camera shutters clicking ]
Clark: Excuse me. Excuse me. Oliver, come on. Stand up.
Chloe: Hey, back off! Back off!
Oliver: I'm fine.
Clark: I know you're not drunk.
[ Breathing heavily ]
Clark: Come on, let's get you to a hospital.
Oliver: No, Clark! No hospital, please.
Clark: Oliver, what's happened to you?
Oliver: Poison. I have 12 hours to live.
Clark: Chloe, he's getting worse. If it's poison, we need to get him to a hospital.
Chloe: Davis is on his way.
Clark: He needs a doctor, Chloe.
Chloe: Clark, if Oliver said he wants to avoid all MDs and hospitals, I'm sure has a really good reason.
Clark: I'm not gonna stand here and watch my friend die!
Chloe: Clark, do you think this is easy for me? I know Oliver, too. I've worked side by side with him. And when he says to do something, it's always for a reason.
Clark: But this time it's different! His life's at stake!
Chloe: Clark, if you were lying on that couch, I would do whatever you asked, down to the letter. I wouldn't hesitate. Now trust him.
Clark: I'm gonna check his phone, see if I can find the number of the girl he was with tonight.
Chloe: Thank god. Davis.
Davis: He is a lot worse than you said he was, Chloe.
Chloe: We think he may have been poisoned.
Clark: Can you help him?
Davis: Uh ... his pulse is racing ... and he's burning up. He's stable, so I can set him up with a heart monitor, take his blood to the lab, but if things don't look better in one hour, I got to bring him in.
Chloe: I know you're risking your job to do this, but you can trust me.
Davis: [ Sighs ] Watch him. If anything changes, call. I'll get the monitor.
Clark: His date's name is Adrianna. It showed up in the calendar.
Chloe: And she didn't call after he disappeared from the event?
Clark: No, and she won't pick up, either. I'm gonna go to the bar and see if she's still there.
Chloe: Let's hope for Oliver's sake that she knows something. [ Sighs ]
[ Elevator bell dings ]
Lois: Latest dish with a side order of spell check, "Grisly Murders Down on Hampton."
Tess: Lois Lane. I haven't fired you yet?
Lois: Guess you're too busy printing my stories. What's with the Oliver Queen collage?
Tess: I figured the news had trickled down to the basement by now. You know, for a renowned party boy, Queen doesn't know how to hold his liquor.
Lois: Unbelievable. Metropolis may have its very own Jack the Ripper, and you're preoccupied with smearing a humanitarian. Do you even know Oliver Queen?
Tess: Not like you do. Come on. You can't tell me you don't get a twinge of pleasure seeing your ex take a public nosedive.
Lois: Look, he's a good person who stands up against corruption and social injustice.
Tess: Wow. I was gonna offer you the story. But after that bleeding-heart testimonial, you're obviously not objective enough to uncover the rest of it.
Lois: Well, it's not exactly a news flash. You drink, you get drunk.
Tess: When someone leaves a club fall-down drunk, the story only gets better. I need someone to get to the bottom of this without suffering from an emotional meltdown.
Lois: Please. You know, you need to read your gossip column. Oliver and I were through a long time ago. I'll take the story.
Tess: Okay.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
[ Cellphone dialing ]
[ Ringing ]
[ Cellphone ringing ]
[ Ringing continues ]
Clark: What happened to her?
Police Officer: Someone found her passed out in the bathroom, O.D.'d on something or other.
Clark: Did she say anything?
Police Officer: She's barely breathing. Lucky if she makes it to the hospital alive.
Chloe: Come on, Oliver. Whatever's going on inside you, you can b*at it.
Oliver: [ Coughs ] [ Grunts ] Hello! Can anyone hear me?!
[ Insects chirping ]
Oliver: [ Groans ] All right. Here's the deal. Normally, I don't eat anything with more than 99 legs on it, but I haven't eaten for days. Kind of a bummer for both of us, right? [ Sighs ] Okay, you win. Go.
[ Hog snorting ]
[ Hog grunting ]
[ Engine rumbling ]
[ Heart b*ating ]
[ Thud ]
[ Knock on door ]
Lois: Hey, have you seen Ollie? Apparently he's boozed his way into a ... Whoa, who's he been partying with, Motley Crüe?
Chloe: Lois, it's not what you think.
Lois: Find me a 24-hour market. I need a sports drink, as much vitamin B as you can get your hands on, and one dill pickle. Let's go! Tick tock!
Chloe: He's not hung over, Lois.
Lois: What's going on?
Chloe: Clark's trying to figure it out, but we do know that it's serious. He's been poisoned.
Lois: Oh, my God. Ollie? It's Lois. Hey. What's he doing here? He needs a real doctor.
Chloe: He specifically said no hospitals.
Lois: Well, I'm actually conscious, and I'm saying he needs one.
Chloe: Lois, I know what it looks like, okay? But right now, Oliver needs people he can trust, and this is what he wanted.
Lois: You're right. I know Ollie better than anyone, and if he said no hospitals ... [ Sighs ] ... Then I guess we have to take his word for it.
Oliver: Mercy.
Lois: Ollie? What are you saying?
Oliver: Mercy.
Lois: Hey. Can you hear me?
Tess: Can you hear me?
[ Insects chirping ]
Oliver: Ohh. Get these things off me.
Tess: Shh!
Oliver: I hate leeches.
Tess: Stay down. We can't take them off yet.
Oliver: [ Exhales sharply ] What the Hell happened? What is this?
Tess: You need your rest.
Oliver: What's going on here? What is this?
Tess: I'm Tess. I promised them that I could save you.
Oliver: With leeches.
Tess: They produce a curing enzyme. You were poisoned by a very highly toxic plant.
Oliver: It's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment.
Tess: I know it sounds crazy, but I'm a marine biologist. We study this stuff. Without this enzyme, you'd be dead in 12 hours. A hospital would have misdiagnosed you, pumped you full of adrenaline, and k*lled you instantly. I guess ... you're lucky.
Oliver: And that shotgun at the door ... should I feel lucky about that, too?
Tess: My friend and I ... We've been kidnapped.
[ Siren wails ]
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Clark: Davis. I'm looking for Oliver's date.
She was just admitted.
Davis: I'm bringing Oliver in.
Clark: Look, we just need a little more time.
Davis: We couldn't identify what the poison was, but we think it was something that they drank in the limo on the way to the fundraiser.
Clark: Adrianna's a victim, too?
Davis: Was a victim. She's fine now. We treated her with adrenaline, and her stats evened out.
Clark: But 10 minutes ago, she was dying.
Davis: Modern medicine, Clark. That girl's living proof that Oliver's too sick to know what he's talking about.
[ Alarm beeping ]
Davis: Code blue! Get a doctor. Her pupils are completely dilated. And her fever's through the roof. We need 40 cc of nitro ... now! Now!
[ Inhales sharply ]
Davis: She's going into shock. Stay with us.
[ Flatline ]
[ Bell tolls ]
Oliver: It's not quite the scenario I pictured if I ever ran into a woman on this island.
Tess: Just be glad that it worked.
Oliver: What did they do to you?
Tess: We were in Fiji doing marine research. And this speedboat came out of nowhere. And it att*cked us.
[ Inhales sharply ] They k*lled everyone. They k*lled our guide, three of my classmates.
Oliver: Well, how many are there?
Tess: There's the one at the door, and there's a guy named Marcos. They were on their way to Thailand when the boat started taking water, so they stopped here to fix it.
Oliver: How's your friend?
Tess: She'll be okay. We'll all be okay. We just have to get out of here.
Marcos: So, how's our golden goose? Oh. You don't think I know who you are? Oliver Queen?
Oliver: No idea what you're talking about.
Marcos: You're famous! Everyone knows you're that rich brat who took off with his friends on a yacht and partied his way into a shipwreck. And lucky for us, not all of you were shark bait.
Whoa!
Oliver: [ Exhales sharply ] Just let them go, huh?
Marcos: I have a different idea.
Tess: [ Screams ] Megan!
Marcos: We'll ransom him for millions.
Oliver: No! No! No! No! If you k*ll her, you're gonna have to k*ll me first.
Man: You're not gonna die for her.
Oliver: I have been stuck on this godforsaken island for two years! So I figure if I die ... at least I die for something.
Marcos: [ Grunts ] The boat's almost done. Then we're out of here.
Lois: [ Exhales sharply ] Look at us, the noble couple. I let you go. In return, you were supposed to save the world. This, Ollie ... this isn't saving the world, is it? This is you backing out on your end of the deal. You know, maybe ... maybe we had it wrong. Maybe our ... ... story ends and neither of us are heroes. Because you're not the only one who couldn't hold up his end of the deal. The truth is ... ... sometimes I wonder if I should have ever let you go.
Clark: Lois? How's he doing?
Chloe: Clark, can I talk to you for a second?
Clark: The hospital couldn't identify the poison.
Chloe: That's because the profile doesn't match any public database.
Clark: But how are we supposed to find an antidote to a poison that doesn't have a name?
Chloe: Name it ourselves. The cyanobateria in Oliver's blood shares a similar molecular makeup to the chloroplast found in a flower of the nerium genus. Here. Now, there's only one species of nerium, oleander, but that doesn't exactly narrow things down.
Clark: Chloe.
Chloe: However, the high concentration of cardioglycoside rules out several subspecies, orienting us in the South Pacific. Why are you looking at me like that?
Clark: You mean like I'm at a Met U lecture? Chloe, you're the smartest person I know by a long sh*t, but since when can you trace a few chemicals from an obscure flower?
Chloe: It's no big deal. I'm just expanding my knowledge base.
Clark: You're getting smarter.
Chloe: I don't have time to discuss this with you right now.
[ Keys clacking ]
Clark: What is all this, Chloe?
Chloe: Thanks to Lex's obsession with toxins and viruses, LuthorCorp has the most comprehensive collection of organic material on the planet.
[ Keys clacking ]
Clark: You're reading all this, aren't you?
Chloe: There it is. If LuthorCorp has this flower, then they have the antidote.
[ Printer whirring ]
Clark: Listen Chloe, as much as I appreciate whatever it is you just did here, this is all because of Brainiac, isn't it?
Chloe: All right, I admit it. After he att*cked me, my hacking skills went from analog to digital. And whether I like it or not, I can read and process data at lightning-fast speed. Now, I know that right now you are making a list in your head of all the possible ways this could be your fault, but please don't.
Clark: If this is because of Brainiac, then we don't know what can happen.
Chloe: Exactly! No one knows. So let's not worry about it until we have to. Clark, this is my life. And for once, something good came from something horrible. I'm choosing to look at this as a gift, one that could help us save Oliver's life. Now trust me.
[ Printout rustles ]
Chloe: I think it's time to call in a favor with your new boss.
Tess: It does bring out your eyes. That tie.
Clark: I was wondering if you could help me with something. A friend of mine has been poisoned. The doctors can't help him, but I think LuthorCorp owns the lab that makes the antidote.
Tess: Believe me, my heart goes out to your friend. But I don't have some secret stash of toxins or antidotes.
Clark: There must be something you can do. Lex never abandons a project.
Tess: He doesn't, does he? I'm still catching up on the ones he's named after constellations. But if this lab exists, I don't know about it.
Clark: Look, Miss Mercer, I realize that you're my boss and that your job requires a certain level of secrecy ... but the antidote to this plant could save my friend's life.
Tess: Who exactly is your friend?
Clark: His name is Oliver Queen. He doesn't have much time to live.
Tess: I'm not gonna stand here and lie to you, Clark. But I can't help you, either. The lab was relocated to Campo Grande, Brazil. Even if I made a call, we'd never get the antidote here in time.
Davis: You must be Lois.
Lois: You must be the one who's actually qualified to do this.
Davis: He's dying. I'm sorry.
Lois: Here is what's gonna happen, Dimples. You are going to reach into that handy little tackle box of yours and pull us out a miracle. Oliver Queen does not die today.
Davis: The best I can do is keep him alive a few minutes longer.
Lois: Then do it.
[ Insects chirping ]
Tess: [ Sniffles ]
Oliver: Hey.
Tess: I gave this bracelet to Megan for her birthday. She was my best friend. [ Sniffles ] She was joking around when she said that she'd wear it till the day that she d*ed.
Oliver: Okay, easy, easy. Shh. There you go.
Tess: [ Sobbing ]
Oliver: Shh, shh, shh. Come here.
Oliver: I'm so sorry.
Tess: What are you doing? They'll k*ll us.
Oliver: I swore that if I ever made it off this island, I'd change. I wouldn't waste my life. That starts now.
Man: [whistles ] Let's go!
Man: Boat's ready. Let's go.
Morgan: Hurry up.
Oliver: Careful. That flower's poisonous.
Morgan: [ Groaning ] You're not gonna leave me here to die.
Oliver: You want to live? You crawl down to the leech pond. Make some new friends. Are you ready to go home?
[ Monitor beeps ]
Lois: Just hit 106! He's on fire!
Davis: It's just like Adrianna. We need more ice and towels.
Lois: In the back. Come on, Ollie. Hold on. Come on.
[ Monitor beeps rapidly]
Lois: He can't take much more of this!
[ Flatline ]
Davis: Out of the way. Lois, I need you to breathe for me. Breathe.
[ Air whooshes ]
Lois: Come on, Ollie, stay with me. Clark, he's dying.
Clark: Use it.
Oliver: [Groans]
Davis: I don't get it. This ... antidote doesn't exist.
Clark: Queen Industries. They have a lab nearby.
Oliver: Mercy. You have to go find Mercy.
Clark: What?
Oliver: Tess Mercer. Clark, please. Whoever did this to me, they're gonna go after her next.
Clark: You know Tess?
Oliver: There's no time, Clark!
Clark: She's working late. She's at the Daily Planet.
Tess: [ Exhales sharply ] Damn it. [ Gasps ]
Morgan: Miss me? [ Grunts ] You left me on that island to die. You're not an easy person to track down, are you? There's that scared little girl I remember. You haven't changed a bit.
Tess: I think you'd be surprised.
Morgan: [ Grunts ]
Tess: I meant to write you a postcard to say "thank you."
Morgan: Aah!
Tess: You were one of the men in my life that taught me how to fight back.
Morgan: [ Grunts ]
Tess: [ Coughs ]
[ Air whooshes ]
[ Electricity crackling ]
[ Air whooshes ]
Oliver: Really?
Tess: Whatever happened to the party boy hanging up his beer bong so that he could do good for the world?
Oliver: Well, I'm not the guy in that article anymore.
Tess: Of course you're not. You're Oliver Queen, world-famous Samaritan. And I was his first save.
Oliver: Excuse me, you, um ... You know you were much more than that.
Tess: I'm glad you're okay, Oliver. After all, I need the chief of Queen Industries alive and well if LuthorCorp is gonna keep its competitive edge.
Oliver: I'm happy to help. This is great. A few pay grades up from your days studying jellyfish and protesting whaler ships, huh?
Tess: You're not the first person to wonder how I arrived at the helm of the Luthor dynasty.
Oliver: Well, what's to wonder? You play to win. I found out how ruthless you were long time ago.
Tess: After what you did to me, did you really expect me to just sit around and eat ice cream?
Oliver: No. You'd rather work for my greatest enemy, and then, just when I think the Kn*fe can't twist any farther, you take over his entire company.
Tess: Oh, so that's what you do when you're not writing checks and grinning for the cameras. You sit around pondering ways that I've dedicated my life to your downfall. I'm sorry to break it to you, Oliver, but everything I did, I did for me.
Oliver: Well, then I guess our past is behind us.
Tess: It has been since the day that you said goodbye. Oh, wait. You never actually did, did you?
Oliver: Is that why you called me here? Hmm? Because it's on the tip of my tongue.
Tess: No. I called you to give you this. I realize that Lionel Luthor is dead and buried, but maybe this will help you sleep at night.
Clark: Lois.
Lois: Hey, thanks, Smallville. Starting to get the hang of things around here.
Clark: That was ... I spoke to Chloe. She said you didn't come home last night.
Lois: [ Scoffs ] So not what you're thinking. I may have played nurse with Oliver, but it never progressed to doctor. I've been working here all night.
Clark: "Kitten-adoption fair this Sunday"? You gave up your article on Oliver for this? Doesn't sound like you, Lois. Is it possible you're more shaken up about last night than you realize?
Lois: You think? I was practically a three-sh*t martini.
Clark: Yeah, but it doesn't mean you have to bury your emotions in your work.
Lois: This will be the most heartbreaking kitten-adoption story you've ever read. What am I doing? Ollie and I are through.
Clark: Maybe, but just because your relationship's over doesn't mean the feelings go away. I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch the goodbye tape that Lana sent me more than once.
Lois: Well, I'd rather avoid a ride on the Clark-and-Lana roller coaster. No offense.
Clark: It's okay.
Lois: I've got a delicate enough ego as it is. I am not cut out to date a guy with a hero complex. I mean, you were there. You saw him at the fundraiser. He's practically an icon, "The Man of Tomorrow," and I'm just Lois Lane, the girl who writes about it.
Clark: Lois, there's nothing wrong with that.
Lois: Right. So, when the occasional feelings flare up, you just got to trust your gut, as hard as it is, and realize that you broke up for a reason.
Clark: Exactly.
Lois: [ Sighs ] That one's on the house, Smallville. You should know, I'm allergic to cats. Get to work. Chop-chop.
[ Footsteps ]
Chloe: I thought I closed those.
Davis: I'm sorry. They were open.
Chloe: What are you doing here?
Davis: Uh, well, I was, uh, checking in on Oliver. It was a hell of a close call last night. He's got a pretty great crew of friends.
Chloe: Renegade paramedic included.
Davis: You must have done pretty well on your S.A.T.s. I thought you said you studied journalism.
Chloe: Well, yeah, journalism, and then there were the core classes and some, you know, electives and stuff.
Davis: Level with me, Chloe. Are you some kind of genius? I'm embarrassing you.
Chloe: There's a reason I like to try and keep the doors closed.
Davis: You know, there's nothing wrong with being smart.
Chloe: When the seating chart at your wedding looks more like a Euclidean algorithm than a dining hall, you know you've got something seriously wrong.
[ Drawer slams ]
Davis: And the guy next to you on that seating chart, what does he think about all this?
He doesn't know.
Chloe: Well, it's all sort of just happening, which is why I would really prefer it if we could keep it between us.
Davis: Look, Chloe, I think that, in some weird way, we all have some part of us that we hold underneath the surface. Even I do.
Chloe: [ Chuckles ]
Oliver: So, I hear I'm not the only one in town who owes you a drink. Tess Mercer's attacker was arrested last night.
Clark: Why didn't you tell me you knew Tess Mercer before?
Oliver: It was in the past. Not exactly proud of the way things turned out.
Clark: Doesn't change the fact that she knew the guy who tried to k*ll you.
Oliver: Yeah, well, it makes sense to me. The guy came after me. Then he's gonna go after her. She's the other captain of industry in town, so ...
Clark: Oliver, with all that poison in your system, are you sure adding more is the best idea right now?
Oliver: Yeah, Clark, why don't you stick to your milkshakes, huh? I'll know when I've had enough. Lionel Luthor k*lled my parents.
Clark: You figured that out from flight records? I mean, it was a plane crash.
Oliver: Yeah, it was a plane crash, and according to that, there were LuthorCorp employees on the maintenance lot.
Clark: And you think Lionel paid them to sabotage the plane?
Oliver: Did you know about this? You were the son Lionel never had. The guy knew everything about you, right? So don't stand there and tell me that you didn't know a couple of his dirty little secrets.
Clark: Look, Oliver, I was afraid that you'd do something you'd regret.
Oliver: "Something I regret." Like what, Clark? You thought I was gonna k*ll him? Is that it? I wouldn't have k*lled him! I survived for two years on an island by myself, Clark! When it wasn't pouring rain, it was blistering sun! There were mosquitoes that ate me alive! It's okay, because you know what? It made me strong. You may be invincible, but you are not fearless, are you? You're afraid to trust your friends, and you're afraid to face who you were really meant to be. You're afraid of everything. Maybe you haven't been put to the test yet. Maybe your island's still out there, Clark.
Morgan: Take me to the airport.
Taxi Driver: Right.
Morgan: What the hell ... You.
Tess: Who do you think paid your bail?
Morgan: [ Gasping ]
Tess: Jail's too good for you. I think he's having a heart att*ck. You might want to take him to the hospital.
Taxi Driver: What am I, an ambulance?
Tess: They'll know what to do with him.
[ Engine turns over ]
08x03 - Toxic
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville.
A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville.