- When Jim's super-strength falters, carjacking activity continues and eventually causes a hit-and-run on JJ's math teacher, putting the man in a life-threatening condition only Stephanie might cure.
- Stephanie tries to uncover the reason behind Jim's sudden loss of powers, which could put an end to his crime fighting days; JJ may be facing criminal charges after he's caught hacking into the school computer system by his teacher; Daphne uses her abilities to impress a boy; and Katie begins falling for her mysterious new beau.—ABC Publicity
- The trouble with being a superhero is it leaves no time for romance. George (Romany Malco) gets a call on the Batphone (police scanner) about professional carjackers who like to put their victims in the hospital as much as they like boosting cars. His date with Amanda is interrupted, and he in turn interrupts Stephanie's (Julie Benz) romantic night with Jim (Michael Chiklis). Jim is skeptical, but the call went out. Jim would rather stay at home, and who could blame him.
GEORGE: What's it gonna be man: the nooky or the crooky?
And before Jim can suffer any performance anxiety in the bedroom, he heads out after the bad guys...and still has some performance anxiety. His idea of using a dumpster as a roadblock doesn't work when he can't lift the dumpster. Stephanie is concerned the next day and takes a saliva sample from Jim for analysis, since she can't stick a needle into The Thing's arm. Katie thinks Jim has some sort of virus short-circuiting his powers, which she explains between her gushing over Will (Josh Stewart), her date from the other night. Or as we know him, The Watcher. Daphne (Kay Panabaker) doesn't have any performance anxiety getting a guy named Bret to study for an Art History project with her. She simply had to agree with his answer to "if you could only have one type of food the rest of your life, what would it be" question, which was sushi. It was almost as if she could read his mind. And JJ (Jimmy Bennett) is trying to help Kenny pass Algebra and get a football scholarship, only Mr. Litchfield gives Kenny an 'F,' accusing him of cheating off of JJ's paper. And ticking everybody off by referencing John Hughes movies while acting like a total jerk. JJ was trying to help Kenny, so he decides to pretend this is WarGames (1983) and hack into the school's computer to change Kenny's grade. Litchfield catches him and gives him the full Mr. Vernon.
Stephanie theorizes that perhaps some sort of allergen, instead of a virus, is prompting Jim's immune system to fight his altered DNA. She ran home to find items Jim might be allergic to, which gave Katie (Autumn Reeser) about thirty seconds to agree to a dinner date with Will. She's happy to go on it, but of course he's under orders from Dr. King (Stephen Collins) to find out anything Stephanie or anyone close to her knows about her research on Dr. Volson's work.
Daphne tried to get JJ to help her on her date, but he refused. However, when she told the chef she wanted something adventurous to impress Bret, the chef thought up everything she needed and she just had to say it back to him. They got odori, which are dancing prawns. And that they were.
Jim heads home after George accidentally slammed a door on his hand...and it hurts. Jim is freaking out, so much so he slams the damaged hand into the table, and his powers are back. Which was good, because the school called about JJ, and JJ wanted to know why breaking the law to help Kenny was any different than his father busting a perp's head in with his superpowers. Jim goes to talk to Mr. Litchfield, and now he understands why JJ thinks the guy is a jerk. (Sorry, but this S.O.B. wouldn't last five minutes in any school district with his attitude if he didn't have tenure.) It was semi-poetic justice when Litchfield got broadsided by one of the carjackers who just took a car several minutes before. The trouble was, Jim's powers happened to fail him right then. Even worse, a piece of pipe penetrated and cut Litchfield's aorta. (OK, I wouldn't wish that on the jerk.) Surgery is too dangerous to remove it. JJ felt it was his fault because his dad was meeting with Litchfield and made him late enough to get hit, and Jim tells Stephanie it was his fault because he didn't catch the carjackers the other night when he had issues with his powers. But perhaps Stephanie and JJ could tag-team on the solution. He read up everything he could on the heart, and he asked Stephanie if she could use her speed to fix Litchfield's heart. He was still feeling guilt and decided he wanted to do something very worthwhile with his powers. JJ showed her that she could suture the aorta fast enough to stop the blood from hemmorhaging and killing Litchfield. Jim refuses for both of them, but JJ won't be dissuaded. He takes off for the hospital. Since Litchfield will die without the surgery anyway, JJ feels guilty enough to try it himself. Stephanie finally caves in and agrees to do it, even though she hadn't been in an E.R. since medical school. And Jim will help by running interference for them, since obviously this surgery is unauthorized.
The Watcher has his date with Katie and pumps her for information (not THAT way!) about Stephanie, but Katie is happy enough to say she loves being the Pepper Potts to Stephanie's Tony Stark. ("Minus all the awkward sexual tension, of course.") The Watcher had a similar story about having a rough childhood until someone took him under his wing as well. He dolled up the story for Katie, obviously. The Watcher thanks her for the date, and they kiss. It gives Katie an idea about her research...and she liked it, too. Katie tells Stephanie to get down to the lab quickly, which she does, of course. Katie wants to know when she kissed Jim most recently. It was the cinoxate in Stephanie's lip gloss that was to blame. It killed the trisettum plant. Put simply, Katie found Jim's kryptonite.
Indeed JJ did do his homework. He administered the proper amount of sedative to Litchfield and knew Stephanie had 3 milliseconds to suture the aorta. Stephanie appreciated the bonding time she was having with JJ, although she would have definitely preferred bonding over mini-golf instead. Jim laments the carjackers still on the loose. Stephanie repairs the aorta, but Litchfield goes into cardiac arrest. She thinks the pipe may have severed another artery, but she couldnt' find it. JJ guides her along the path of the left inferior pulmonary vein, and she finds the tear. Jim has a problem outside, as the doctor who will perform a triple-bypass in the same room wants to inspect it. He gets past Jim, only to see Litchfield recovering.
Daphne runs into Bret the next day and was feeling guilt for what JJ was going through. She comes clean with Bret and tells him she doesn't know how to compete with Christy. Bret is upset because he wanted to be with Daphne, and Daphne hopes he'll still be around when she gets her new life figured out.
George lets Jim know about a chop shop the carjackers might have been using, but the police didn't trust the tip from their informant. Jim decides to go over there, even without powers and over Stephanie's protests.
JIM: Seeing you and JJ save a life yesterday, I felt something I hadn't in a long time: useless. With or without powers, I HAVE to help.
Unortunately, Jim got caught at the repair shop. He tried to pretend he was just some guy with a family, but the carjacker who found him shot him anyway. Stephanie is panicking when Jim doesn't answer the phone. BUt a funny thing happens: the effects of the cinoxate are only temporary. The trisellum plant comes back to life, as does Jim's powers. And the bad guys are easily dispatched.
JJ visits Mr. Litchfield. Litchfield was told some specialist attempted the surgery without telling anybody so no liability would fall against the hospital if things went wrong. Litchfield would prefer not discussing what he was doing with JJ before the accident, and JJ takes the win and runs.
Will/The Watcher visits Katie at work and gives her some flowers. And he gets to meet Stephanie, too.
THE WATCHER: I look forward to getting to know you better.
Dr. King meets with him later and is pleased The Watcher found a way to get access to Stephanie. He gives him an injection as a reward. Perhaps it is what keeps his powers going, but there is no way to know for certain.
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