A BLAST FROM THE PAST THREATENS TO UPEND CLARK’S WORLD ON AN ALL-NEW SMALLVILLE.
When Alicia Baker (returning guest star Sarah Carter), the teleporting teen who once tried to slide a knife between Lana Lang’s ribs, is suddenly released from Belle Reve sanitarium, she heads straight for the Kent farm. Armed with an ugly lead bracelet that supposedly suppresses her powers and a doctor’s note declaring her totally sane, she begs Clark for a second chance. Despite Jonathan and Martha’s completely reasonable “she’s a homicidal stalker” alarm bells, Clark finds himself falling hard for the one girl who actually knows his deepest secrets and doesn’t care.
But things go south faster than a speeding bullet when Alicia’s creepy doctor shows up, sending her into a tailspin. Desperate to keep Clark by her side, she breaks into the Torch, steals an old Red Kryptonite class ring, and slips a piece of it around his neck. Enter “Kal”, Clark’s uninhibited, leather-jacket-wearing alter ego who promptly whisks Alicia off to Las Vegas for a quickie wedding. Meanwhile, over in the B-plot, Lana Lang navigates some major relationship speed bumps with Jason Teague and decides a major milestone might be the only way to save their romance. Don’t miss this wild, emotionally super-charged hour!
Episode Review
“Unsafe” is essentially Smallville’s equivalent of a very special, slightly unhinged after-school special. The overarching theme here is intimacy, trust, and the crushing weight of virginity in a 2000s teen drama. On one hand, it’s a blast to see Sarah Carter return because her chemistry with Tom Welling is absolutely electric, easily some of the best pairing chemistry in the first half of the series. On the other hand, the episode takes a bizarrely casual approach to relationship boundaries and criminal rehabilitation. They even make sure to tell us that Chloe lost her virginity to “Jimmy” at the daily planet. (The silliest Easter Egg of all time)
The show handles the concept of a “rehabbed stalker” with the typical subtlety of a freight train. Clark’s desperation to be normal makes him incredibly naive, but Tom Welling sells the heartbreak beautifully. The dynamic between Lex and a newly “reformed” Lionel also provides a great, tense backdrop, keeping the Luthor drama simmering while the teens are busy making terrible life choices in Vegas. It’s campy, it’s dramatic, and it features Clark Kent in a leather jacket—what more could you ask for?
Who Stars in the Episode
- Tom Welling as Clark Kent / Kal
- Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
- Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
- Jensen Ackles as Jason Teague
- Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
- John Glover as Lionel Luthor
- Annette O’Toole as Martha Kent
- John Schneider as Jonathan Jonathan
The “Freak of the Week” (Guest Star)
Sarah Carter as Alicia Baker: Our favorite meteor-infected teleporter returns! Carter plays Alicia with a tragic, fragile sweetness that almost makes you forget she belonged in a maximum-security asylum. Her ability to pop in and out of existence is as sleek as ever, but it’s her emotional manipulation this week that really drives the plot. We also get Kevin Kilner as Dr. William McBride, the incredibly creepy Belle Reve psychiatrist who treats his patient with a healthy dose of intimidation and a side of lead-poisoning therapy.
Thoughts on Special Effects
The visual effects for Alicia’s teleportation remain some of the cleanest practical-looking CGI of the era, utilizing a sharp “whippit” vacuum sound effect and a quick camera pan that holds up surprisingly well. The real visual highlight, however, is the ice-skating rink sequence. Watching a super-powered alien look completely helpless on ice while trying to hide his abilities is a masterclass in physical comedy from Welling. The Las Vegas backdrop feels aggressively green-screened, but given the camp factor of a Red-K wedding, the cheesy lighting actually fits the mood.
Music Track Listing
The soundtrack for this episode is a time capsule of mid-2000s teen angst and pop-rock.
- “Laura” – Scissor Sisters
- “Beautiful Soul” – Jesse McCartney (The ultimate anthem for Clark’s yearning)
- “Life for Rent” – Dido
- “Welcome to My Life” – Simple Plan (Perfect for the “nobody understands me” vibe)
- “It’s Now or Never” – Elvis Presley (Playing during the chaotic Vegas wedding)
- “Funny Little Feeling” – Rock N Roll Soldiers
- “Break So Easy” – Jonathan Rice
Rating
⭐⭐⭐½ (3.5 / 5 Stars)
Complete Synopsis & Plot Breakdown
The episode kicks off at the Talon, where Clark is moping over his homework. When a couple of attractive girls invite him to a hot tub party, he bails with the classic “I have to study” excuse. He confesses to Martha that it’s just not worth dating anyone because his life is built on a mountain of lies. Meanwhile, at Belle Reve, Dr. William McBride officially signs off on the release of Alicia Baker, claiming she is 100% cured of her homicidal obsession with Clark Kent.
Alicia immediately teleports—wait, no, she drives her parents’ car—to Clark’s loft. Clark is startled, expecting a jailbreak, but she shows him a heavy lead bracelet that keeps her powers completely suppressed. She explains that knowing someone else out there was “different” was the only thing that kept her going in the asylum. Clark checks with Chloe, who confirms the legal release. Over the loud protests of Jonathan and Martha, Clark decides to take Alicia out on a normal date.
Their date at the ice rink is going swimmingly until Dr. McBride shows up in the shadows, creepily telling Alicia that she needs to stop seeing Clark or he’ll throw her back in the psych ward. Panicked, Alicia begs Clark to run away to California with her. When Clark hesitates, wanting to take things slow, Alicia snaps. She sneaks into the Torch office, finds an old Red Kryptonite class ring, and crafts a makeshift gemstone necklace. She puts it on Clark under the guise of a parting gift, and boom—bad boy “Kal” is back in the driver’s seat.
Kal and Alicia take Lex’s sports car and jet off to Las Vegas, where they get hitched at a cheesy drive-through chapel while Elvis plays in the background. Back in the hotel room, things get heavy. Alicia realizes she wants the real Clark, not this reckless, Red-K-fueled version, so she tears the necklace off. Clark instantly snaps out of it, completely horrified to realize he was essentially drugged and manipulated.
They head back to Smallville, where Clark has to face a legendary scolding from Martha Kent about the sanctity of marriage (ignoring the fact that he was literally mind-controlled). Dr. McBride tracks Alicia down to the Kent barn, armed with a gun, determined to take her back or eliminate the “trigger” of her psychosis. He shoots at Clark, but Alicia teleports in front of the bullet, taking the hit to save Clark’s secret. Clark uses a super-shove to disarm the doctor, and Alicia survives, leaving her lead bracelet behind as a sign that Clark truly made her feel normal.
In a parallel storyline, Lana confronts Jason at his university. He pushes her away, saying they aren’t ready for “that kind of relationship”. Misinterpreting this as a demand for sex, Lana talks to Chloe (who casually drops that she lost her virginity to Jimmy Olsen during her Daily Planet summer internship). Lana decides she’s ready to take that step to keep Jason, though Jason’s motivations are later revealed to be deeply tied to his mother’s mysterious orders regarding Lana’s countess lineage.
Lessons & The Journey to Superman
Lessons from the Episode
The obvious lesson here is that you cannot force intimacy, and “drugging” your partner with metaphorical or literal Red Kryptonite is a fast track to destroying a relationship. But on a deeper level, the episode highlights the profound isolation of being a teenager who is radically different from everyone else. Clark learns the hard way that shared trauma or shared secrets aren’t enough to build a healthy relationship if one person is fundamentally unstable.
Relation to Clark Becoming Superman
This episode is a massive stepping stone for Clark’s emotional maturity. Up to this point, Clark has viewed his powers as a curse that isolates him from humanity, making him gravitate toward Alicia because she represents a shortcut to total honesty.
By experiencing the toxic fallout of this relationship, Clark begins to understand the heavy burden of his secret. It teaches him the ultimate Superman lesson: discernment. He realizes that his future partner can’t just be someone who knows his secret; it has to be someone stable enough to ground him when the world gets heavy. This heartbreak subtly prepares him for the patient, mature, and deeply trusting dynamic he will eventually build years later with Lois Lane.
Photos
Talk Ville – UNSAFE (S4E11) w/ SARAH CARTER! Horned Up Smallville & Clark’s Stamina
Review Notes
I really hated the Chloe/Jimmy reveal.
Clark is really dumb at times, I like how mom called him out on it.
I am having a lot of trouble with this season. Loved the show before, hope I will again.
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