Previously on Smallville: Clark proposed to Lois and she accepted; the Vigilante Registration Act came down hard on Clark and the other heroes; in response, they shut down Watchtower and went underground; Rick Flag led a group of outlaws called the Suicide Squad; having seen the future with Fate's helmet, Chloe traded herself to the Squad in exchange for Oliver's freedom; Carter Hall/Hawkman died and all the heroes took his body to Egypt, where a mysterious obelisk zapped them all into unconsciousness.

Currently on Smallville: Lois stands in the Kent farmhouse kitchen, looking lost. She holds a glass of water without seeming to realize it's there. The kitchen table is strewn with scrawled notes and pictures of her and Clark as a couple. "The Blue Danube Waltz" plays over the speaker phone. A chipper recording breaks through the reverie: "Your call is important to us! Please stay on the line, or you can reach us on the web at www.VigilanteRegistrationAgency.fed!" Lois looks like she's about to cry. Being put on hold makes me emotional, too. The Strauss starts up again, but then an actual human voice cuts in. A woman says she's checked all the databases and they don't have a Clark Kent in any of their facilities. Lois lunges for the phone so quickly that the glass slips from her hands, shattering on the floor. The woman on the phone suggests Lois check with the Justice Department. Lois, fuming, says she's done that. She's tried a whole bunch of other departments, too, and they referred her to the VRA. "Ma'am, don't get huffy," says the object of Lois's wrath. That just makes Lois even huffier, although she proclaims the opposite: "I am a general's daughter! I don't even know how to get huffy, OK?!" I'm not following her line of reasoning. Maybe being on hold for so long has messed with her mind. To prove just how un-huffy she is, she calls the VRA drone a bitch and threatens to come after her. That earns her a dial tone.

Lois gives a long, shaky sigh and starts to sweep up the shards of glass on the floor, as much to just keep her occupied as anything else. She hears the front door open and runs over to see who's there. Why, it's Clark! He's wearing khakis and a gray tee, and carrying a duffel bag over one shoulder. He stands in the sunlight that streams through the front window. Sweeping music plays. Lois runs into his arms. She tells him she was released a couple of days ago and has been trying to find him ever since. "Lois, it was the VRA," he says. Who else would it have been? Lois is furious, because the VRA's full of lying liars who lie about not being involved. Clark suggests they deal with all that tomorrow, and just be happy for now. He looks pretty unhappy, though, so Lois is worried something is wrong. He insists he's fine and follows her into the kitchen for a nosh. He sees the broken glass and bends down to pick some up with his bare hands. Just as Lois asks why they would suddenly release Clark, he cuts his finger on a piece of glass. He holds up his bloody digit to explain his freedom. "They took away my powers," he tells her. Lois doesn't want to believe it. "How could they?" she asks. He doesn't remember about his time in captivity and neither does she.