Conspiracy - Recap

In Metropolis, Clark finds Faora wearing her Kandorian tag and reading a newspaper article about the destruction of the Solar Tower. He warns her to be careful about revealing herself as an alien, and Faora admits the only thing that gives her hope is that he helped find her sister, Vala. Vala comes over from the bookstore where she works and insists that Clark will take care of them. Faora isn’t so sure. As Clark leaves to fight crime, Faora suggests to Vala that they get coffee after she closes up at the bookstore.

Vala returns to the store and hears the door open briefly. She goes to investigate but doesn’t find anyone there. As she goes back to work, a man wearing a gas mask grabs her and uses gas to render her unconscious. When she wakes up, Vala discovers that she’s been taken to a makeshift laboratory and fastened into a holding device. There are two other unconscious Kandorians present.

The next day at the Planet, Lois is working on her story when she gets a call on her Checkmate comm device. It’s a message from Amanda Waller, but Lois is forced to hide the device when Clark comes in. She tries to distract him by suggesting they take a break from work and go for a romantic dinner, and Clark agrees. However, Faora arrives and Clark has to lie and explains that she’s his lead on a story he’s working. They talk in private and Faora tells him that Vala has disappeared.

Tess slips into Oliver’s office as he finishes his exercise routine. She notes his apparent lack of interest in the destruction of the RAO/Luthorcorp Solar Tower, and accuses him of being involved. Oliver denies it but Tess says she no longer accepts anything he says as the truth. She then shows him records proving that someone is embezzling funds from LuthorCorp and tells him to find the guilty part and stop them.

Clark goes to the bookstore and discovers Zod there. Zod tells Clark to let him deal with the Kandorians while Clark helps his beloved humans. He accuses Clark of leaving the Kandorians defenseless against whoever it is that is now abducting them, and painting their cress on the walls. Zod demands that Clark give them the superpowers they’re entitled to and tries to hit Clark, who easily stops him. Clark reminds him that he can’t tell his soldiers what he knows of Clark, because he doesn’t know which of them are loyal to him any more. Disgusted, Zod leaves but not before warning Clark that the blood of any dead Kandorians is now on his hands.

Vala's abductor, Dr. Bernard Chisholm tells her that she's part of an alien force invading Earth, and he's going to get the proof to convince people of what he says. He dons his mask and then turns her to watch as he cuts apart one of the Kandorians.

Oliver goes to see Chloe at her apartment and turns up her music. He then feigns hugging her and warns that Tess may be listening in on their conversation. Oliver then whispers that he knows that Chloe took the money and asks for an answer. Chloe tells him that she only borrowed the cash, and she needs it to buy insurance for the planet.

Clark talks to Faora and asks her what Vala's connection was to the other two abducted Kandorians. She explains that they were all cybernetic engineers trying to recover the Kandorians' powers, and they were experimenting on humans.

Lois goes to the restaurant where she wanted to meet with Clark. As she sits, surrounded by signs of romance everywhere, Chisholm comes over and tells her that he has a story for her, and sent her letters explaining that there were aliens invading Earth. She notes that his letters probably ended up in the whacko pile at the paper. When she starts to walk away, Chisholm says that he's captured Kandorians and wants to present them as evidence. Thinking quickly, Lois agrees to go with him but say she needs to go outside to get a clear signal to call her editor and get approval. She tells him to wait, goes outside, and tries to call 911, but Chisholm realizes she's up to something and captures her at gunpoint.

At his secret lab, Chisholm handcuffs Lois to a table and shows him the blood samples that he's harvested. She warns that no one will believe it, but Chisholm explains that he's been dissecting humans and will send them to scientists to prove his claim. He reveals that he has Vala captive in a cryogenic unit and starts freezing her over Lois' protests. Chisholm then reveals that the Kandorians brought back after he died from a heart attack. Now he has a series of scars on his head from where the Kandorians inserted kryptonite nails into his brain and resurrected him. When Lois points out that Vala saved his life, Chisholm explains that the process has driven him insane and now he needs to save mankind.

Clark and Faora go to Metropolis General and she explains that they left the bodies behind once they were done. She insists they didn't kill anyone, but Clark says it still isn't right. He notes that Zod was wrong to approve the procedure, and Faora says that they did it behind Zod's back. She explains that during the Battle of Argo Valley, Zod saved her life, and Clark doesn't know as much as he thinks he does. When Clark question Zod's involvement in Jor-El's death, Faora insists that Zod has always considered Jor-El a friend and Clark doesn't know the man.

At the Planet, Zod sneaks in disguised as a reporter and steals the press pass, notebook, and glasses that he needs. He then talks to reporter Molly Nichols and convinces her to give him the crank file on alien invasion letters sent to the newspaper. Going through the box, he finds Chisholm's letters with the return address.

Chloe shows Oliver the storage container where she's assembled dozens of kryptonite-based weapons. When Oliver wonders why she's helping the Kandorians, Chloe explains that she's placed tracking devices in their IDs. She doesn’t to just sit back and trust Clark. As they talk, Tess' man Lenkov takes photos of them.

After Chisholm leaves, Zod sneaks into the lab and tells Lois he's there to help, and that he's actually an FBI agent. He finds Vala and starts to free her, but Chisholm comes in and shoots him. He then tells Lois to go back to work and meet her deadline. After he leaves, Lois manages to get the handcuffs open and runs to help Zod. She insists she'll stay by his side until the FBI gets there, and he wonders why. She says that it's what Clark would do. Zod tells her that there is no backup and she needs to help Vala.

Clark and Faora talk to Dr. Flores at the morgue. He admits that one missing body, John Corben's, never turned up. When Clark pursues the matter, Flores says that they need to talk to Chisholm, who has been let go for psychiatric reasons. When Clark threatens to quote Flores as his source, Flores explains that Chisholm complained he was attacked by aliens, had a heart attack, and was brought back to life. He agrees to give Clark Chisholm's address.

When Chisholm returns to the lab, he discovers that Lois has escaped. She ambushes him but the doctor knocks her out. He spots Zod's Kandorian tag and picks up a drill to dissect him, ranting about how he'll stop the invasion. Suddenly Clark swoops in at superspeed and gets Lois to safety. Puzzled, Chisholm prepares to dissect Zod, but Clark arrives and throws him aside. The doctor tries to attack and swings his drill overhead, and inadvertently electrocutes himself when he cuts open a cable. Clark spots the kryptonite nails and avoids them, and gets Vala out of her cryogenic chamber. He then turns to Zod and tells him that Jor-El wanted him to save Zod's life. Zod warns that he can't save him. As Zod dies, Clark takes one of the nails, cuts open his hand, and drips his blood into Zod's wound. There's a burst of energy and Zod stands up, healed.

Lenkov and Tess go to the storage container but discover there's nothing there. Tess tells her man to find the weapons, while Chloe secretly watches. Oliver approaches her and explains that he had the weapons moved once he realized Tess was using him to find the stockpile. Chloe asks where the weapons are but Oliver won't tell her where they are. She insists she doesn't want Clark's loyalties to lead them astray and wonders if they should tell Clark the truth. Oliver says they should, when the time is right.

At the Planet, Lois puts Chisholm's blood sample in a box and calls someone to get it analyzed. She goes to her desk and hastily hides the box in her desk. Clark notices and Lois explains that Vala and Zod both disappeared. He tries to claim that Zod is a deep cover agent, and Lois figures he's hiding something. Clark offers to deal and asks what is in her drawer. Lois concedes the point and Clark backs off. They both get calls: Clark's is from Zod with an invitation to meet him on the rooftop. After Clark leaves, claiming it's an assignment, Lois checks her call. It's from Waller, saying thanks for the blood sample. Lois checks her desk and discovers that the blood sample has been replaced with a white chess piece.

On the rooftop, Zod asks after Lois and admits he can understand why Clark cares for her. Clark admits he wasn't sure what would happen when he used his blood, and Zod acts as if he's still in pain. Zod admits that he's accepted that Clark cares about the Kandorians and he can trust him. Clark promises to make sure the Kandorians blend into American society. They shake and Clark speeds off to deal with a crime.

Once Zod is alone, he walks to the edge of the roof, spreads his arms to absorb the sunlight, and jumps. Halfway down, he starts flying and soars off into the sky.

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