Velocity

Season 3, Episode 13, Aired
EDIT

Episode Summary

After Pete refuses to throw a street race, the thugs that run it threaten his life, so he asks Clark to use his powers to stop them. Furious that Pete would put himself in this position, Clark must figure out a way to save Pete and still protect his secret. Meanwhile, Jonathan begins to suffer the consequences of his deal with Jor-El.moreless
8.8
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Great
583 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 (13)

See All

  • A Series low point.

    1.0
    "Abysmal"
    By shaydetta, May 03, 2011 Report Abuse
    Filler episode that proved the show had no idea how to use Pete Ross (the bawse). Drivers use Kryptonite to give their cars a boost. On paper the idea didn't seem bad, an episode for Pete but it failed. I quit on the show right then and there. I came back to the show after watching the season 3 DVD later that year. In my opinion, season 3 is the best season of Smallville. Makes me wish this sub par episode was in season 2. The video game need for speed had a better plot than this episode. Skip this episode.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    1 1

  • this was a good ep

    8.5
    "Great"
    By cube2k8, May 30, 2010 Report Abuse
    in this ep of the show smallville clark learns that pete is having street races and the guys want him to throw a race or they are going to hurt him . and so pete goes to clark to get him to use his powers to help him. clark is mad that pete let things get like this and he has to find away to not reveal his powers and help pete and lex is turning up the heat on adams doctors and lana is learning more about adam and this was a good ep i thought and that is why i gave it 8.5moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • Pete gets mixed up with an illicit street racing crowd, landing himself between blackmail and death threats - Clark has to cross moral lines to aid him. Lana learns more about Adam, while Lex turns the heat up on a medical researcher involved with Adam.moreless

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By cxtasy, Sep 04, 2008 Report Abuse
    Continuing the previous week's cliffhanger, "Hereafter," Jonathan is in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. Now Clark, don't blame yourself. Clark thinks that the powers Jor-El gave Jonathan, in order to save Clark from the effects of red kryptonite, were too much for his heart. The Kent's Dodge pickup is repaired yet again (or replaced by Vancouver's inexhaustible supply), but Martha and Clark are barely missed by a couple street-racers, one of whom is Pete. In a bit of pandering to the 2 Fast 2 Furious sport-compact crowd, the producers have come up with something of a hackneyed plot about irresponsible youth, with Clark having to play the mature, sensible adult. Clark confronts Pete the next day, looks like Pete has gotten a hot Mustang with a kryptonite-boosted engine for his late-night street races.

    Meanwhile, Lana has found a obituary on Adam, "Tulsa Valedictorian Dead at 17," but Adam pressures Lana to tell no one. Chloe and Lex continue their exchange of information on Adam - she had an analysis done on a fluid she found in Adam's place - it's a serum resembling blood platelets, and she learned that his hospital doctor was not doing physical therapy, but was a molecular biologist. They agree to keep Lana out of the loop for awhile.

    Pete soon finds that he's expected to throw a street race, and is in deep trouble when he refuses - he faces a $20,000 gambling debt or death, but Clark offers to intervene. Chloe and Clark find that the street racer crowd has extra license plates and vehicle registrations to match, and the VINs are for stolen cars. Clark tips Sheriff Adams, and it's barn-raid time, but all the incriminating evidence is gone. Pete gets worked over by racerboy Dante, who was tipped off about the raid by a deputy in the Sheriff's office.

    Pete appeals to Clark for the $20,000, and Clark asks Lex, who refuses, but Clark absconds with his Porsche, offering it to Dante as a race challenge (Uh, who has the car title to sign over?). But Clark is easily put down with some of that kryptonite stuff, while Dante has set up a bomb in Pete's Mustang, which Clark manages to defeat before Pete reaches 100 mph, sending Dante into a one-car wreck and his death.

    Lex visits Doctor Tang, whom he has learned was Adam's visiting doctor, and attempts to intimidate her with his knowledge of her work on Adam's blood. Later, Lex uses his influence to threaten Dr. Tang's position as a researcher, provided she works for him on the platelet research. Adam has to inject himself with serum again, while Lana presses him for the truth. He turns on her, and she gets more of a truth than she wanted. Lex gets his Porsche back, but suspects Clark was behind the joyride, and makes a point - Clark has crossed a moral line to help a friend, just like Lex has done.

    Finally, Jonathan is back home, and a remorseful Pete visits, still in his old Ford Falcon, trying to make amends with Clark, who is not ready to accept Pete's regrets and assurances. I can understand that, I'm not ready either. Re-run rating C-.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    1 0

  • A Need For Speed?

    5.1
    "Mediocre"
    By lenzinoH20, Apr 24, 2008 Report Abuse
    Velocity-After Pete refuses to throw a street race, the thugs that run it threaten his life, so he asks Clark to use his powers to stop them. Furious that Pete would put himself in this position, Clark must figure out a way to save Pete and still protect his secret. Meanwhile, Jonathan begins to suffer the consequences of his deal with Jor-El.

    Pete Ross has been one of the most underdeveloped characters of Smallville. In his 3 year run on Smallville, Pete has either been comic relief or just a plain jerk. I liked the writers tried something different by making Pete essential to Clark's development but he has always been useless. He has been terribly underused throughout his run on Smallville and this episode just proves that Pete's exit from the series was one of the best decisions the writers ever made. "Velocity" was a mess from the opening teaser and never generates even half the momentum of the race cars in this episode.

    First off, this is such a direct rip-off of the "Fast and the Furious" film series that I'm surprised the writers of the films didn't sue. The episode seems more like a parody of thos films than a plot driven episode that has an actual dilemma. Pete has never been more unlikeable and grating in episode! From his dilemma to him asking Clark for his help to him being completely being selfish made me dread everytime the character came on screen. I almost feel bad for Sam Jones III throughout this hour. The guest stars also sucked including the very NOT threating Ryan Merriman as Jason Dante and Moneca Delain as Dante's groupie, Mara. The kryptonite enhanced cars feel like a lame attempt at getting viewers into illegal street racing and the plot just...well...runs out of fuel fast...HA!

    The only 2 things that hold this episode together is developing situation with Jonathan's health. I'm glad that the writers established the hazard of having kryptonian powers in a human body and that Jonathan is facing the consequences for his decision. It's a good dilemma for the Kent family and 3 actors that make of the family commit to the conflict at hand. Also, Adam's storyline gets darker as Lana confronts him about his past and Adam's eye bleeds. It's a disturbing scene topped by an even more disturbing scene when Adam threatens Lana. Ian Somerhalder is really doing better than expected as the character and shows his more than a pretty face. All and All, "Velocity" is nearly a disaster of an episode but thanks to some great sub-plots, it's only pretty bad!moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • When Pete refuses to throw a street race, Clark must lie, steal, and cheat in order to save his best friend. Meanwhile, Lana and Chloe learn more about Adam Knight, and Lex blackmails Adam's physician, Dr. Lia Teng.moreless

    9.3
    "Superb"
    By scorpionqueen86, Oct 19, 2007 Report Abuse
    On the way home from visiting Jonathan in the hospital, Martha and Clark are nearly run over by a pair of street racers, and Clark is stunned to learn that one of the racers is Pete. Clark later confronts Pete, reminding his friend that street racing is both illegal and dangerous. Despite Clark's warnings, Pete continues racing, and is asked to throw a race by Jason Dante, a bookie/mechanic who introduced Pete to kryptonite-enhanced cars and taught Pete all he knows about racing. However, when Pete's unable to cheat, Dante angrily informs him that Pete just cost him twenty-thousand dollars, and demands Pete pay him back. In order to help out his friend, Clark lies, borrows Lex's Porsche, and intends to help Pete cheat in another race against Dante, though complications arise when Clark learns that Dante planted a bomb which will explode once Pete reaches one-hundred miles per hour. Meanwhile, Chloe and Lana each do some digging on the mysterious Adam Knight, while Lex meets Dr. Lia Teng, a research scientist experimenting on Adam.

    For filler, this episode was pretty memorable, and I mean that in a good way. Pete finally gets some more character development, nearly destroying his and Clark's friendship in the process, while the audience gains a tad more insight into the elusive character of Adam Knight. Though I enjoyed the action-packed racing scenes, the only thing that rubbed me the wrong way about this episode was how out of character Pete seemed at times, such as when he ignored Clark's warnings and insisted on racing, or when he asked Clark to slip on a red kryponite ring and "go Kal on an ATM". I mean, I understand that he wanted to step out of Clark's shadow and find something that he alone was good at, and I figure he has to be pretty desperate to ask his best friend to commit a crime, but I still don't like it. Therefore, I rate the episode four stars out of five.

    Highlights include: Clark confronting Pete about street racing, Chloe sharing her knowledge of Adam with Lex, Clark again confronting Pete about the dangers of street racing, Lex meeting Dr. Teng, Chloe and Clark discussing Pete, Pete's race against Dante, Lana and Adam's late-night talk, Lex's visit with Clark after his Porsche is returned to him, Clark and Jonathan's talk, and Pete attempting to apologize to Clark.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • In the final race with Dante, Pete shifts from either 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th gear. However, when the camera cuts to the rpm gauge, the RPM is going up. Shifting should have made the rpm go down. Pete could have been running that close of gear ratios, but we never saw him quickly shift again. His next shift afterwards was to late and would have caused the engine to blow or hit the rev limiter. Edit
    • The car Pete is driving is a Ford Mustang with the logo removed. Edit
    • How fast did Adam fix up the apartment? The first time you see it, it is filled with boxes, it's all dusty, there's garbage everywhere, and almost no furniture. But when we next see the apartment it's fully decorated. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Dr Teng In the comics, Dr Teng was a scientist at Lexcorp. Teng developed the cloning process responsible for creating Bizarro, and later oversaw the cloning of Lex Luthor. Luthor eliminated Teng and his lab to hide the evidence of his rebirth. Edit
    • Music: "Fix Up Look Sharp" by Dizzee Rascal, "The Way I am" by Knoc-Turnal, "Wonderwall" by Ryan Adams, "You know" by Saq, "Evolution" by Shocore, and "Rawkfist" by ThousandFootKrutch. Edit
    • The WB's Smallville Torch website spells Françoise Yip's character as Dr. Lia Teng. In the comics, Dr. Teng leads Lex Luthor's staff in the creation of the Superman clone: Bizarro. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Dante: (to Pete) Well, I got to hand it to you, Boss. You got quite a pair of lug nuts to take me on. Edit
    • (Clark and Martha visit Jonathan in the hospital) Jonathan: If you're suggesting that your biological father has anything to do with this... Clark: He gave you powers to bring me home that no human was meant to have, and I don't think your heart could handle it. Martha: Clark, no. There were other factors. Clark: If I hadn't put on that ring and abandoned you and Mom when you needed me most, you wouldn't be lying here in this bed. Jonathan: As hard as this is for you to believe, not everything that goes wrong in Smallville is Clark Kent's fault. Edit
    • Clark: My friend got mixed up with the wrong crowd, and now they're making him pay for it. Lex: Is this the old proverbial friend who happens to be you? Clark: Believe me, if that was the case, it'd be a lot easier. Lex: Well, tell your friend that in my experience, money-hungry thugs are like stray dogs. You feed them once, they're at your back door every night asking for more. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Chloe: So Dante is more of Grand Theft Auto than Indy 500? Referring to two popular Sony Playstation 2 games: Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and Indy 500. On GTA, other than racing cars, you could also steal cars. Edit
    • Chloe: As long as Lana has the Talented Mr. Ripley living above her . .
      Referring the movie of the same name. Edit

Show Forums

See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Smallville Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 3 Episodes

See All
Ep 22
Covenant (2)
Ep 21
Forsaken (1)
Ep 20
Talisman
Ep 19
Memoria
Ep 18
Truth
Ep 17
Legacy
Ep 16
Crisis
Ep 15
Resurrection
Ep 14
Obsession
Ep 13
Velocity
Ep 12
Hereafter
Ep 10
Whisper
Ep 9
Asylum
Ep 8
Shattered
Ep 7
Magnetic
Ep 6
Relic
Ep 5
Perry
Ep 4
Slumber
Ep 3
Extinction
Ep 2
Phoenix (2)
Ep 1
Exile (1)

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