According to Gough, they had a specific intention for the ending of the second season: "Season one ended with the height of heroism, with Clark running into a tornado to save Lana. For season two, we wanted to see the nadir of that, which is Clark running away [...] from his problems." Gough likens the finale to the ending of "The Empire Strikes Back", in that Clark leaves Smallville and everyone he loves because he is scared. According to Gough, in order to do "the character justice", you have to take his journey through the darkness, with him failing along the way.