Jitters 

Earl Jenkins claims that his violent shaking disease was a result of illicit experiments on Level 3 of Luthorcorp. Lionel denies that it exists, so Earl takes a plant tour group hostage. Lex offers himself in exchange for the hostages.

Director:

Michael W. Watkins (as Michael Watkins)

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (character created by: Superman), Joe Shuster (character created by: Superman)

Stars:

Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Welling	...	Clark Kent
Kristin Kreuk	...	Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum	...	Lex Luthor
Eric Johnson	...	Whitney Fordman
Sam Jones III	...	Pete Ross
Allison Mack	...	Chloe Sullivan
Annette O'Toole	...	Martha Kent
John Schneider	...	Jonathan Kent
John Glover	...	Lionel Luthor
Robert Wisden	...	Gabe Sullivan
Tony Todd	...	Earl Jenkins
Michael Eklund	...	Will
Andrew Johnston	...	SWAT Commander
Michelle Goh	...	Suki
Mitchell Kosterman	...	Sheriff Ethan Miller

Storyline

Former Luthor Corp employee Earl Jenkins, and who also worked at the Kent farm, has an unknown disease that violently shakes all his body. He arrives at the Kent farm during a party Clark throws while his parents are out of town and claims that the disease developed following an explosion at his former workplace: Level 3 of Luthor's Smallville plant which was experimenting with meteor-rock laced fertilizer. Trouble is, there is no Level 3! Determined to prove his case, Earl breaks into the plant and takes a class touring the plant hostage. Lex arrives with the police and trades himself for the hostages, while Clark stays behind to try to help Lex and find out more about 'Level 3' which Lex claims to know nothing about. But Lionel apparently knows about the mysterious secret underground level when he arrives with his personal goon army determined to keep the secret experiment under wraps... at the expense of anyone, even his own son Lex.

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Plot Keywords:

party | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The fourth episode to be filmed. "Jitters" was originally slated to run as the second episode. However, because of constant changes and retooling to the script it kept getting put back in the schedule. This explains why the episode had three directors - Michael W. Watkins, Greg Beeman and Philip Sgriccia.

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Goofs

When Whitney uncovers Earl in Clark's barn, Clark mistakenly calls him "Pete" when he tells him to stop before Whitney skewers Earl with a pitchfork.

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Quotes

Clark Kent: Look, Earl worked on the farm for six seasons. I spent 12 hours a day with the guy out in the fields. He even tried to teach me how to play guitar. He said it was a good way to impress women.
Chloe Sullivan: Yeah, we're all a sucker for a guy with a 6-string. How come I've never heard you play?
Clark Kent: I kept snapping the guitar strings. I think Earl got sick of replacing them.

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Connections

Featured in Smallville: Blank (2005)

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Soundtracks

Pacific Coast Party
(uncredited)
Written by Paul De Lisle
Performed by Smash Mouth

User Reviews

The Legacy of Lex Luthor

The former employee of the Luthor Corporation, Earl Jenkins (Tonny Todd), has an unknown disease that violently shakes all his body, and claims that it was contracted in an inexistent Level 3 of the plant. He accidentally kills a man, and kidnaps Clark Kent's high school class during a visit to the plant, trying to contact Lionel Luthor (John Glover) and prove his assertion.

In my opinion, "Jitters" is the best episode of "Smallville" up to now. The last scene of this dramatic episode is very touching, when Lex Luthor, my favorite character of this series, observes close to his own father the reaction of the Kent family when Clark Kent returns safe and sound to their arms. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "No Limite" ("In the Limit")

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 December 2001 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver Technical Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tollin/Robbins Productions, Millar Gough Ink, DC Comics

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1