Lex believes that he needs his memories back,but Clark can't take the risk of his secret being exposed.

On Christmas Eve, Lex travels to a dangerous neighborhood in Granville, Kansas, dealing dirty means to cut Jonathan Kent of the race to the senate. He is shot twice in cold-blood when a couple of junkies steal his car, and Lex has a near-death vision of having a possible middle class lifestyle with a pregnant Lana as his wife and their son Alexander. In his near death experience, Lex is a simple man beloved by the people of Smallville and best friend of Jonathan and Clark. Meanwhile in the real world, he is submitted to a life-threatening surgery ordered by Lionel to avoid becoming crippled. Also, Chloe asks Clark to deliver many Christmas gifts to poor children, and Clark meets a sad and disappointed Santa Claus contemplating suicide. In the end, Lex concludes that love is cursed, based on the fate of Julian, Lillian and Lana, and power and money are the most important values in his life... which leads to him finally starting down the path of the dark side beginning when he secretly orders the execution of the junkie couple who attempted to kill him.

The lonely Lana gets addicted in a meteor rock cocktail developed by her new acquaintance student of medicine, Lance, which allows the user to have a near-death experience and visit the dead loved relatives and friends. Meanwhile, Clark goes to Honduras, where there is a massive destruction, trying to find Milton Fine and the spacecraft after following a lead from Chloe. When Lana gets in trouble, Clark returns to Smallville but is injected with the serum. In his trip, he meets Jonathan, who tells him that Lionel Luthor knows his secret, while Martha gets close to Lionel.

Clark is convinced that he can find his cousin's whereabouts if he can get into Lex's mind, who's just been shot by the man holding Kara and Lois prisoner.