7.21 Apocalypse by TW and AM (Part VIII)

MR: I've got to ask: where's Lex? I mean, since you didn't nuke him this time...
AM: Actually, we come back to him after the commercial break. He's back in Metropolis, at LuthorCorp headquarters.
MR: And he's still not glowing in the dark or anything like that?
TW: No, he's fine.
MR: Okay.
ED: You can't irradiate him only a little?
AM: Thought about it, but no.
TW: We zoom in on him standing on a catwalk over a huge vehicle bay, watching ammunition containers and pieces of armor plating being loaded onto a truck. Hope is of course by his side. "Lex, General Weiss has asked for the EMP missiles to be distributed to all Athena rapid-deployment units."
MR: Got it...Lex nods. "Tell him we're loading them now. We'll deliver them to the airfield and distribute them there."
TW: "Yes, sir." Hope leaves and Lex leans forward, holding onto the catwalk railing with both hands. He looks serious.
MR: Iron Lex is serious! He has to save the world!
TW: And after a few seconds we hear Clark's voice. "Lex?"
MR: Lex turns towards camera-left, and he speaks as it pans over to show Clark standing a few feet away. "Clark? What are you doing here? I can't--"
TW: Clark looks a little nervous. "Lex, I need to talk to you. It's important."
MR: Cut back to Lex as he consults a PDA. "Unless it's more important than all the people who were killed today, Clark, I suggest you make an appointment."
KK: Oooh, bitchy.
TW: Clark looks down for a second. "It's...it's about Kal-El, Lex."
MR: And Lex looks up at Clark like he just grew a third eye.
AM: And cut from that to--
MR: Come on! Not another one of these random cuts from the good stuff!
JG: All the good stuff was earlier in the episode.
MR: No way! Clark is finally about to confess to Lex! You can't break away from this!
TW: It's called dichotomy, Michael.
MR: No, it's called bullshit!
TW [sighs]: Cut back to the NORAD facility. Lois is semi-sneaking through another empty hallway when we hear some indistinct voices growing louder. She ducks into another cul-de-sac and the camera pans over as the President, Senator Chandra, and four nondescript but large men in dark suits come around a corner. The President is on a cellphone, and he sounds pretty agitated. "I don't care what you have to do, Robert. Just make damn sure the American people don't get a whiff of it!" He hangs up. "For God's sake, Michael, how are we going to get--"
AM: And we cut back to Lois as she steps out of the cul-de-sac, now behind the group, and pulls out a small digital recorder. "A whiff of what, Mr. President?"
TW: Cut to the posse as everyone turns around. The President frowns. "Who the hell are you?"
ED: Reading my stuff...Lois walks up to the group, and two of the suits grab her by the arms. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet."
KK: Way to maintain her cover as Martha's chief of staff there...
TW: Lois's brashness is overruling her common sense. I mean, come on...it's Lois.
ED: Yeah! Brash rocks!
KK [after a beat]: I actually can't argue that point. Dammit, Tom.
ED: "So tell me, Mr. President, what information is our government withholding from our people?"
TW: Hard cut to Lex's office as Lex walks through the doors, with Clark following behind him. Lex gets to his desk, then turns to face Clark.
MR: Lex sounds frosty. "I could well have you arrested for withholding any information you had about Kal-El, Clark, but right now I don't have the time. What do you have to tell me?"
TW: Cut to a slow zoom on Clark. "I...I know where Kal-El is."
MR: Slow zoom on Lex. "Really? Where is he hiding?"
TW: Clark looks down, then away from Lex, for a few seconds. He looks conflicted.
MR: Like Iron Lex cares. "Dammit, Clark, where is he?"
TW: Clark sets his jaw and looks Lex in the eye. "He's right in front of you."
MR: Back to Lex as he looks genuinely astonished by that bit of news.
AM: And back to NORAD. The President says, "Get her the hell out of here."
ED: Lois struggles a bit as the suits lift her off the ground and begin to carry her off. "Is it Kal-El? Do you have information about Kal-El that you're not telling us, sir?"
AM: Chandra leans over and quietly comments to the President. "I know this woman. She's Martha Kent's in-house conspiracy nut...harmless. Let her make a fool of herself."
TW: And the President holds up a hand. "Hold it, boys. Let her go."
ED: Lois dusts herself off when the suits set her down, then looks defiantly at the President. "Changed your mind, Mr. President?"
TW: Reverse shot of Lois as the President walks up to her. "No. Did you miss what happened in Alaska today? In Russia? In Africa? These aliens are striking all over the planet, and thanks to the initial strike the later battles aren't going quite as well as the first one."
ED: "Considering that Fairbanks got nuked..."
TW: "You see my point. Things are going from bad to worse, Miss Lane, and I'm not interested in being the one to tell the American people that we're all as good as dead unless we bring in Kal-El. Do you understand that?"
ED: Lois frowns. Her voice gets quiet. "Is that all that you're hiding, sir?"
TW: And back to LuthorCorp.
ED: God, I hate this whiplash stuff.
MR: Lex still looks surprised. Okay, fine. "You. You're Kal-El."
TW: Cut to Clark. "Kal-El, the last surviving member of the Kryptonian race...the son of Jor-El and Lara-El..." He pauses for a moment. "The son of Jonathan and Martha Kent."
MR: Back to Lex, and we can see the wheels turning behind his eyes. "Of course they knew. They had to know. So they...they helped you keep this secret for seventeen years."
TW: Clark nods. "Because they loved me."
JG: Stupid gits.
KK: You just called Martha a stupid git.
JG: Okay, Martha's just blinded by a mother's love and all that. Jonathan, however, was a fucking idiot.
KK: Fair enough.
AoT [to JG]: Excellent recovery.
MR: Side shot as Lex turns and leans heavily against his desk. He starts talking, half to himself. "Even with your...adopted parents helping you, once you got older, unless you never did anything to stand out--tried to blend in--odds are you couldn't have maintained this secret without...without someone finding out. Or the occasional..." Closeup as he looks up at Clark. "Accident. Like at the river."
TW: Clark nods. "That's right. I tried to be careful, but--thankfully--only a few people ever found out about it."
KK: And fewer still would live to regret it.
MR: Wide shot as Lex turns away from Clark. "Chloe."
TW: Clark nods slowly. "And Pete Ross. He found out later."
KK: Q.E.D.
TW: NORAD again. The President: "Are we done here?" He turns away from Lois, as does Chandra, and starts walking away.
ED: And Lois gets all feisty. "Sir, you know we shouldn't just lay down to these ridiculous demands! Shouldn't Kal-El at least get a hearing before we turn him over to this...this tyrant?"
TW: The President stops and turns around again. "Miss Lane! We're dealing with the customs of a foreign power--"
ED: Lois power-walks up to the President. "What about truth and justice, Mr. President? What about the American way?"
AoT [groans]: Tom obviously wrote that.

TW: Shh. The President opens his mouth to reply, but Chandra beats him to it. "I think we've heard enough, Miss Lane. If Kal-El wasn't guilty of the crimes accused by this...Steppenwolf...he would have already turned himself in."
MR: Guilty until proven innocent?
KK: It's worked so far.
ED: "Yeah? Ever stop to think that maybe it's because you've already judged him? People all over the world respect America because of the freedoms we--"
AoT: Thank you for the unintentional comedy, Tom.
TW: Yeah, yeah. "One: we've got more important things to worry about than civil liberties, little girl. And two: this Kal-El isn't American, he's an alien--" Chandra snorts derisively. "He's an alien in the truest sense of the word, and so we owe him nothing!"
ED: Lois looks a little shocked at that. "Everyone deserves basic human rights, Senator!"
TW: The President motions towards his suits. "Okay, now get her out of here."
ED: Lois ends up being carried off yet again, and struggles all the way. "Let go of me!"
TW: Cut to Chandra smiling a short, bitter smile. Lois doesn't hear his parting shot. "Human rights? Only if they're truly human, Miss Lane."
JG: Ouch. He's got to die now.

Continued...