From this episode, the budget overruns on special effects were dramatically reined in as The WB was very unhappy with the amount of money being spent on CGI.
While Chloe Sullivan survived her fall out of a window, this episode shows one of the first occasions that Clark Kent failed to save someone. His guilt despite being repeatedly told that it is not his fault is reminiscent of the behaviour of Superman in almost all adaptations, feeling that with his incredible powers he should be able to save everyone and is always struck by his conscience when he could not.
Clark Kent uses the following abilities in this episode: super strength, super speed, and X-ray vision.
The term kinetic refers to kinetic energy, or the energy of motion. Three thugs used meteorite-tattoos to speed-up their molecular motion, enabling them to go through solid objects.
Whitney Forman remarks that Clark Kent is trying to be a 'boy scout' to him, referring to Superman's nickname, "the big blue boy scout."