Other mistake: Early in the episode, Clark uses his heat vision to blow up a police car. In the shot where we see the policewoman diving for cover, there is a front view of the car as it is exploding. The license plate on the front of the car IS a Metropolis plate, however, as the plate falls off, the white placard that auto companies and dealerships place in the license plate frames on new vehicles before they are registered and which are removed once plates are installed is visible. (00:07:10)
Continuity mistake: When Lewis says to Lex ".the bitch that set you up." he is holding the stick with the point in his wrist. In the very next shot he is gripping the stick by the side and not from the point.
Continuity mistake: When Chloe and Lionel finish their discussion in the cave the shot focuses on the Naman/Segeth glyph and focuses through the glyph to a transition shot of an island that Lex is on. When we first see this island it is flat and covered with trees. The next time the island is shown there is now a large volcano/mountain that was not their when we first see the island.
Phoenix (2) - S3-E2
Plot hole: When Edge needs the vial of Clark's blood back, Edge holds Clark's parents hostage. Clark decides to use a sharp piece of kryptonite rock to cut his skin and give Edge a new sample. When Clark picks it up, and when he places the kryptonite rock on his skin, he shows no sign of the usual effects of the rock which include the green lines radiating up his arms.
Phoenix (2) - S3-E2
Continuity mistake: As Morgan Edge hands Lionel the bag with the mason jar of blood the camera is on Lionel's side and bag has a very neatly folded flap to keep the top closed. As Lionel takes the bag, while the camera is on Edge's side, the opening is wrinkled and not folded shut as it was before.
Phoenix (2) - S3-E2
Continuity mistake: When Clark and Jonathan return home, Jonathan collapses on the couch. It shows Clark rushing to his side. But in the next shot where it shows Martha's reaction, you can see Clark rushing to his side again.
Phoenix (2) - S3-E2
Continuity mistake: When Lex pulls the gun on Linoel, when the camera is on Lex he is pointing the gun in Lionel's face. When the camera is on Lionel, Lex is pointing the gun in Lionel's chest.
Phoenix (2) - S3-E2
Revealing mistake: When Clark rips the door off the Lincoln, you can see there's no interior panel or door glass.
Revealing mistake: While there was a close up on Clark while he was asleep, you could see a small cut right above his eye, which is impossible if he can't be hurt.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning when Clark and Lana are on the small pier by the lake, it alternates from sunny to shady between shots during the scene.
Revealing mistake: Lana and Clark are supposed to be skinny dipping at Crater Lake. When Clark pops up out of the water and goes "boo" to Lana she spins around and splashes Clark for making her worry. As she starts to splash Clark her body comes out of the water far enough to see she is wearing a tan tube top instead of actually skinny dipping.
Revealing mistake: When Nicholas throws the lighter it is supposed to be lit so that it will light the gas and kill Lana but as it flips through the air, before Clark grabs it, the lighter has no flame at all.
Revealing mistake: At the beginning of this episode Lana is supposedly naked. However, when she dives off of the pier, she is wearing a pair of red shorts.
Continuity mistake: When Clark goes to give the flowers to Sarah, her uncle answers the door. The first shot is of the uncle through a flyscreen door, which he opens. We then see a shot of Clark outside the door, and then the uncle opens the flyscreen door a second time.
Continuity mistake: When Lana undresses before jumping into the lake, she kicks all her clothes right beside Clark's feet. But in the shot where she dives off the end of the pier, all of the clothes are piled well away from Clark.
Audio problem: In the beginning of the episode, Clark leaves for the Talon to meet with Pete. He is offered a ride by his mother, but says he'll run there instead. As he closes the door behind him, we hear the sound of him taking off in super-speed, but we can still see him through the glass in the door moving down the stairs in normal speed.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the episode, Perry and Clark arrive at the intersection to wait for the bus. They walk out into the intersecting road, and the bus arrives, positioned in the middle of the road, since they are standing in the right lane. Perry and Clark say their goodbyes, and a new shot of the bus from behind, shows the bus is in the right lane only as it starts up from the stop.
Continuity mistake: Just before Clark gets the call from Lana we see inside the trunk of Pete's car. At this point there is a coiled rope in the trunk turned parallel to the rear of the car. When Pete gets the rope for Clark a little later the rope is turned perpendicular to the rear of the car.
Answer: The kryptonite only creates mutations when it reacts with the environment and an individual. Remember, the FDA and several environmental groups did check out Smallville after the meteor shower, but found no danger in the rocks. Obviously they're not always emitting mutating rays, or all the flora and fauna of the surrounding area would be horribly mutated.
Phoenix