Stray

Season 1, Episode 16, Aired
EDIT

Episode Summary

A young runaway, Ryan, has the power to read minds and flees his abusive stepparents. The Kents take him in and Clark soon discovers the boy's powers and that he's immune to them. But Ryan's stepparents have plans to use the boy's powers for financial gain against...Lex.moreless
9.4
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Superb
769 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate It

Watch Online

Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
VUDU
Buy/Rent

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Fan Episode Reviews (19)

See All

  • this was a good ep

    8.0
    "Great"
    By cube2k8, May 09, 2010 Report Abuse
    in this ep of smallville clark meets this boy that can read minds except his and is trying to recue him from his abusive stepparents that are using him to steal and rob money to get wealthy. clark trys to help him out and the kents welcome him in and find out that he has another person that is apart of his family and at the end clark felt that he was like brother that was really cool. he learns clarks secret and knwos what he can do. but he lives his family member at the end of the ep it was a really good ep i thought.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • A young man with telepathic powers takes refuge at the Kent home, and Clark helps him deal with his troublesome talent and his criminal parents.

    8.1
    "Great"
    By cxtasy, Sep 03, 2008 Report Abuse
    Martha, driving the family Ford Taurus, hits a young man on the highway at night - turns out he's running from his burglarizing parents who are exploiting his telepathic powers. But after the Kents take him in, he finds that Clark is immune to his thought-reading. Other featured vehicles include the Kent's Massey-Ferguson tractor. Ryan Kelley (playing Ryan) does a fine acting job here, including a difficult tears-on-cue performance, and we're convinced of his attachment to Clark, who offers friendship and support. The silly scene in this story is Clark unnecessarily ripping open a steel garbage truck to rescue Ryan - how will anyone explain that damage? Clark eventually nails Ryan's evil dad with a well-thrown bowling ball at the city lanes. In a side story, Lionel urges Lex to return to Metropolis, and the head games between the two continue in some well-written dialog. Lex talks to Clark about his brother Julian, who suffered a crib death, setting up a theme that will develop in later episodes. Quote: Clark (to Ryan): "Don't worry, Chloe is the queen of obscure and irrelevant references." Rerun rating C+.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • The Brother He Never Had

    9.4
    "Superb"
    By lenzinoH20, May 20, 2008 Report Abuse
    Stray-A young runaway, Ryan, has the power to read minds and flees his abusive stepparents. The Kents take him in and Clark soon discovers the boy's powers and that he's immune to them. But Ryan's stepparents have plans to use the boy's powers for financial gain against...Lex.

    It' funny, even as a supernatural series dipickting the young life of an up-in-coming superhero with lots of powers and tons of mini-villains with powers, "Stray" works as a surreal emotional drama with little of that in sight. What could have been easily forgettable lifetime-worthy material is worked into one of the best episodes of the season by the writers. The thing that works most for the episode is Ryan and the excellent casting in the form of Ryan Kelley. This young actor has a way of conveying so much a emotion with litte effort and you can't help but fall in love with the kid by episode end. The scenes between Clark and Ryan shine as both Tom and Ryan really develop a convincing brother relationship. The best scene between them is when Ryan discovers Clark's spaceship and Ryan pours his heart out about his life to Clark. It's a very moving piece of acting by Ryan Kelley. Another great quality about the episode is Ryan's interaction with the rest of the cast. It's very touching how Ryan's presence inspires Jonathan and Martha to want to adopt again. The scene where they watch Clark and Ryan is very moving. Ryan's mind-reading brings up some running storylines of this season like Lana's growing feelings for Clark as well as providing some nice humor like Ryan discovering Chloe's little secret. But Ryan revealing of Lex's dark side by telling Clark to be cautious around him is a great development.

    Jim Shield (James John Gibson (Ryan's Stepdad)) and Brandy Ledford (Mrs. Gibson (Ryan's Stepmom) are good as Ryan's abusive foster parents. Even though they are the cliche abusive adoptive parents, they move the story along nicely. I also love the litle twist of Ryan telling his stepmom that his stepfather is gonna kill after he gets the money just before he does kill her. The end of the episode is sad as Clark and Ryan have a heartbreaking goodbye. The relatioship between Clark and Ryan is also great because it helps Clark to become more of guardian he will soon personify as well as giving him a chance to life a normal life for a while. "Stray" is an episode that succeeds so well in way that the last episodes haven't, which is create quite a powerful family drama that doesn't reek of "7th Heaven" melodramatic fluff!moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • Great Episode

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Beer75, Aug 22, 2007 Report Abuse
    Ryan Kelley, a young boy who can read minds, is exploited by his step-parents, who use his gift for criminal activities. Ryan escapes and goes on the run. Martha Kent hits him with her car, as he runs across a road in the dark. The Kents decide to take Ryan home, where he immediately bonds with Clark Kent. Ryan's step-father finds him in Smallville, and kidnaps Ryan. He attempts to use Ryan's abilities to steal Lex's trust fund. Clark comes to Ryan's aid, before his step-father can kill him. Ryan's aunt is located and she agrees to take custody of him.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • excellent episode. not only does clark have superhuman abilities, but he has the ability to make great relationships with kids

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By solstice333, Jul 07, 2007 Report Abuse
    this episode was good because clark must be awesome to have as an brother. ryan was awesome and i thought at first that he was just a simple thief, but as the story went by, it shows how good he is, and that even with his powers he has a good sense of morality. i'm glad he had clark as a friend because there's no one else in the world who can help him any better. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • At the end of the episode where Ryan is meeting his aunt, Jonathan's sleeve is buttoned at the wrist. When he walks to Clark by the fence it is unbuttoned and pushed up to his elbow. They show Ryan wave and Jonathan wave back. His sleeve is buttoned again. The scene pans out and once again his sleeve is at his elbow. Edit
    • When Ryan and Clark are playing basketball you can see a tractor near the guys. After some shots then the tractor moves for no apparent reason left and right about 1-2 meters. Edit
    • Trivia: We learn that Lex had a brother, Julian, when he was young, but the boy died of crib death (presumably) on the day he was due to be baptised. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Music: "Superman" by Five For Fighting, "You And I" by Micah Green, "Lonely Day" by Phantom Planet, "Free to Change Your Mind" by Regency Buck, "Is It Love?" by Todd Thibaud, and "Dragging Me Down" by Todd Thibaud. Edit
    • At one point when Ryan is reading the comic book, you can see a panel where the Warrior Angel is standing in the center of a gaping hole, and he says "Don't worry; you're safe now." When Clark rips open the garbage truck wall, you can clearly see the same thing, and Clark says the same line. Edit
    • The bowling alley sequence was filmed at a bowling alley in Richmond, British Columbia. Coincidentally or not, the name of the alley is "Lois Lanes". Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Clark: Ryan does say weird things. I mean, he even said that you wanted me to ask you to prom and that you'd already bought a dress. (Chloe stops in her tracks and exhales nervously) Clark: It's not pink, is it? Chloe: Uh... okay, I... I, you know, I was just looking at it. It's not like I actually bought it. Clark: How would Ryan know that? Chloe: I don't know. Maybe he's an alien or maybe he called Miss Cleo. You know, I don't know. Edit
    • Lex: (to Lionel) I know why you want me back. I'm driving you crazy, aren't I? I'm not clubbing till 6 A.M., not getting arrested. I'm on track. That's what scares you. You want me back where you can keep an eye on me. Edit
    • (talking to Clark) Ryan: You don't understand what it's like to be different. What it's like to have to hide so people don't think you're a freak. Everywhere I go, I hear people's thoughts. I can't block it out anymore. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Chloe: Maybe he called Miss Cleo. Refers to the briefly (in)famous TV Jamaican psychic who runs a 1-900 telephone psychic line. Edit

Show Forums

See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Smallville Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 1 Episodes

See All
Ep 21
Tempest (1)
Ep 20
Obscura
Ep 19
Crush
Ep 18
Drone
Ep 17
Reaper
Ep 16
Stray
Ep 15
Nicodemus
Ep 14
Zero
Ep 13
Kinetic
Ep 12
Leech
Ep 11
Hug
Ep 10
Shimmer
Ep 9
Rogue
Ep 8
Jitters
Ep 7
Craving
Ep 6
Hourglass
Ep 5
Cool
Ep 4
X-Ray
Ep 3
Hothead
Ep 2
Metamorphosis
Ep 1
Pilot

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
BROWSE | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use