(S07E04) Okay, I have to admit, it took me a good long while to wrap my brain around this episode of Smallville. Not because of the schlocky "Cure" plot, but because of you-know-who. That's right ... Dean Cain. It was just more than a tad freaky seeing him go toe to toe with Clark, wasn't it? While this show is about a billion times better than Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was, Cain was still Superman. Throw in the fact that Christoper Reeve has been on this show, and you're just a couple of cameos away from having all of the living actors who have played the man (or boy) of steel on Smallville.
Admittedly, rather than looking a bit puffy-faced, Cain has aged pretty well. It's hard to believe that show premiered 14 years ago. Teri Hatcher has moved on to more "desperate" measures, but we haven't seen Dean Cain on the TV in awhile. While he wasn't too bad as the cure-all doctor, he was slightly over the top. Which is probably to be expected when playing a villain on this show. However, it was a fairly distracting with him on screen, and I kept waiting for him to slick his hair back (even farther) and pull open his shirt to reveal an S-shield.
Additionally, there's a much stronger Chloe/Jimmy subplot here than normal. Jimmy is the type of guy you kind of want to punch in the face a few times each episode. His cheese-eating grin and lame quips just sort of bunch up your neck muscles and you find your fingers curling into a fist. Okay, step back and deep breath. It's just Jimmy Olsen, cub reporter and photographer. Nothing to get bent out of shape about. No need to ... "I'll crunch a few pixels and see what I can come up with." GAAAAH! *punches TV*
Okay, back to the meat and potatoes. Dean Cain and his Doc Knox cure for meteor freaks sort of sounds like the "mutant cure" from X-Men 3. Although he's using it for much more nefarious purposes. At least he's a super-powered baddie, because having a powerless Dean Cain go up against Clark would be like having Mike Tyson fight a spectator from row 17. It just wouldn't be very fulfilling. Plus, toss in the fact that he's apparently immortal (sort of ... I mean, he bleeds from a few nine millimeters to the chest. Seems like a giant axe to the neck might actually do the trick, or maybe not), and you've got shades of Ra's Al Ghul ... or Kraven from the Marvel universe.
So, Dean Cain and his DIY meteor freak kit and assembly project are on the front burner, but then you've got Chloe seeking the cure, shades of The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Mister Freeze, Kara going after Jimmy with both guns blazing, Lana instant messaging someone about sums of cash and locations in Metropolis ... mix 'em all up and sprinkle in a dose of superpowers, courtesy of The Martian Manhunter (and woot, Kara calls him that for the first time), Clark, Kara, and the Doc. Is Smallville a magnet for amped-up superpeeps? Sure seems to be.
Plus, don't get me started on the purely gratuitous shot of Alison Mack in her bra. Plus, did you notice the red leather choker collar around her necklace while she was getting ready for the procedure? Hello Naughty Smallville. We haven't seen you for awhile, and welcome back. If your future plans involve Lois and/or Kara in a bikini, and some mud-wrestling, we won't be too upset.
And as a second plus, thank you dear sweet holy TV deities for letting Clark finally get suspicious of what's going on with Lana. It's about time he stopped being so dense when it comes to her and her shenanigans. Which apparently means setting up an uber-creepy surveillance system on Lex. Boy, he really needs to fire his security staff and look into some alternatives. Now, if we could just get Lana to exit stage left in a more permanent manner, we'd be set.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-19-2007 @ 6:26PM
Oreo said...
"While this show WAS about a billion times better than Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman..."
Fixed.
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10-19-2007 @ 6:33PM
Trace said...
>>>While this show is about a billion times better than Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was
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10-19-2007 @ 6:35PM
erica said...
I don't think it's completely fair to compare the 2 shows. I don't Smaville is better than Lois & Clark, they're at about the same level of cheese.
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10-19-2007 @ 6:37PM
Joseph said...
Are you kidding me? Lois and Clark kicks this crappy show's ASS.
Seriously.
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10-19-2007 @ 6:40PM
Joseph said...
Plus, they JUST had Kara in a bikini last week. Or do you not watch this show regularly?
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10-19-2007 @ 7:07PM
ac said...
I actually liked this episode better than the last two (excluding Kara in a bikini). Of course the premire was ten times better.
That said what the hell was Dean Cain, why was he immortal? Was he some kind of alien because he can't be a meteor freak, he was around long before that (he was Jack the Ripper for Gods sake). Smallville seems to just not tell you stuff now. Like how did Lex clone Lana? Thats what is ruining the show. And where the hell is Lionel!?
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10-19-2007 @ 7:08PM
Bill said...
"...but we haven't seen Dean Cain on the TV in awhile."
He did do several episodes of Las Vegas playing Sam's ex-husband.
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10-19-2007 @ 7:26PM
Sherpa Josh said...
It's not Kraven, he's is a Spider-Man villain. The character is Vandal Savage, hes the villain that's immortal.
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10-19-2007 @ 9:32PM
Imzadia said...
I found your comments about your Personal feelings on your enjoyment of Smallville's latest episode, "Cure", very interesting. I, too, thought it was a special 'treat' to have Dean Cain guest star as a 'mysterious' and formidable villain. Great acting by everyone involved, IMO. After learning that Dr. Curtis Knox, (DC), was immortal, him seeming to be emotionally bi-polar at times was understandable. He must be a bit insane as well as incredibly lonely, so DC pulled off Doc Knox's personal, tragic dilemma and what his life has become perfectly. I'd never before seen Dean Cain emote so convincingly. It hit Clark solidly to 'See' how that situation affected Dr. Knox associating it with what he's come to believe will be his own future, too. Oddly, during the fight between Knox and Clark, there were times when these two men's voices Sounded very similar. Maybe it's just me, but I tried it with my eyes closed and they sounded almost like one person talking at times. It was a great riveting story even if 'they' (TPTB) didn't explain everything and connect all the dots for us, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Usually, they eventually explain 'almost' everything by the end of the season to show us how everything pulled together for a reason. Knox was there to perform a specific task for Lex as he's trying, again, to cover his evil manipulations of the 'meteor infected', but also had his own agenda; Lana is watching Lex and 'I' think she just really wants some serious Revenge. I've read some spoilers, so I'm telling anyway, that Lionel is simply tied up in the woods somewhere held captive by someone...maybe by Lana??? I think she's using that $10M she usurped from Lex to axact her Revenge on the Luthors. Although Jimmy is often annoying, I was sad for him And Chloe during their breakup. Jimmy is mostly in the dark about so much that goes on surrounding him and Chloe, it's surprising they lasted this long. There was also one comment you made, 'S07E04', about Kara being the 'first' one to mention J'onn J'onzz as The Martian Manhunter. I disagree. In the episode "Crimson", when Clark escaped Lois' first advances at the farm and he'd gone to meet Chloe at the DP, Chloe told him that she'd been trying to find any type of info. about the "Martian Manhunter". Clark replied to her that the only 'Manhunter' he was presently worried about was Lois. Another thing, this new development of conflict, betrayal, treason, and family dysfunction within the House of El has me disconcerted and confused, especially since the MM is thrown into the mix. Hasn't J'onn J'onzz always been a 'good guy'? Has Kara/Supergirl Ever been considered one of the 'bad guys'? Although, the creators of SV, Al/Miles, have from the beginning declared that SV was a RE-interpretation of the Clark Kent/Superman story. Could they again be altering the Superman mythos to create more angst? With this twist, my personal question is 'why'? Oh well, I'll probably Still Love Smallville until its season finale anyway.
Now to the rest of you who are debating about the quality of the two series, SV vs. L & C. Well, it's all a matter of opinion isn't it? I LOVED L & C, but only for the relationship between Lois & Clark. IMO, they had that dynamic perfected. However, I HATED the 'campy', silly/ or juvenile villains on L & C and I think that's what killed that show. Too many of the plots were goofy. I only really liked it when 'Tempus', 'Lex', or when 'H.G. Wells' was taking part or when the plots directly interferred with L & C's relationship. The rest of it was almost cartoony. So, yes, IMO, I think Smallville is 'WAY' better in telling interesting Clark Kent stories, except for the FOTW stuff. Well, that was my 2 cts.
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10-19-2007 @ 9:51PM
Patrick Sweeney said...
I'm counting three living actors who would still need to cameo to complete the set; Brandon Routh, John Haymes Newton, and Gerard Christopher.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0746125/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628542/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0160569/
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10-19-2007 @ 10:39PM
Tim-1 said...
Smallville is better.
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10-20-2007 @ 1:05AM
Vince said...
Poor Chloe. She can not catch a break. The writers must like to torture this character.
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10-20-2007 @ 2:11AM
Los said...
"Throw in the fact that Christoper Reeve has been on this show, and you're just a couple of cameos away from having all of the living actors who have played the man (or boy) of steel on Smallville."
"Who makes a better Superman?"
Not to be a spoil sport, but I believe these are a little bit oddly worded. Christopher Reeve died October 10, 2004, 3 years 9 days ago.
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10-20-2007 @ 3:30AM
Brent McKee said...
"Hasn't J'onn J'onzz always been a 'good guy'? Has Kara/Supergirl Ever been considered one of the 'bad guys'?"
J'onn J'onzz was always one of the good guys but he's never had this degree of linkage to the Superman mythos before. He was created in the mid-'50s before the wave of superhero revivals that sparked the so called Silver Age, back when Superman basically only interacted with Batman and Robin.
As far as Kara goes, the whole Supergirl story is very convoluted (this is about the fourth version of the character since her creation in the early 1960s, not counting Power Girl). A Kara who was born before Kal-el but because she was in suspended animation and not revived for a long time appears physically younger and who is initially at least opposed to her cousin Kal-el because their fathers were enemies, is very much in the current continuity.
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10-20-2007 @ 12:40PM
Jen said...
Omg it's been 14 years? I was completely obsessed over LNC back in the day.. #loiscla anyone? Ahh memories..
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10-21-2007 @ 2:04AM
D said...
FACT: Not on it's best day is Smallville ever gonna be better than Lois & Clark.
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10-21-2007 @ 11:59AM
Derek said...
I really wanted someone to call Dr. Knox by the Vandal Savage name.
And I wonder what J'onnz did with him?
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10-21-2007 @ 6:24PM
Michael said...
Welcome to the blog Imzadia. Looks I'm not the only one who posts LONG comments!
I can't believe all the Smallville haters that actually think that Lois & Clark was a better show. It's like apples and oranges really. It is like trying to compare the first Batman movie (you know, the 1966 version with Adam West) with Batman Begins - and then saying the original was better! Lois and Clark was always more about the L&C dynamic and how much trouble Lois was to Supes than anything else. If anything, it reminded me more of the Silver Age comic style than anything else, right down to the corny, campy villains that rolled into town each week. Dean Cain made for a believable Clark/Superman and didn't all of us have it bad for Teri Hatcher in her prime? She made a totally smokin' Lois, especially after the abominable Margot Kidder version the studios delivered just a few short years before. Anyway, at the time L&C played, it was an enjoyable romp played mostly for laughs.
Enter Smallville, many years later. Not only have our viewing habits changed dramatically, so have our tastes in programming. Admittedly, Smallville has suffered its own share of weak episodes and villains of the week but I'm much happier with the past five (and now sixth) seasons being part of the continuity between Superbabe and Superman. L&C seemed to exist in its own universe, apart from everything else that has existed before or after. They've taken familiar characters and woven an interesting tapestry that seems familiar yet still quite fresh and innovative. Take the character of Lex Luthor in both series. Not only was John Shea horribly miscast in L&C but he never carried the scope of evil that the comic version implied. Michael Rosenbaum is perfectly cast as Lex. I believe he truly was (and on some levels still is) Clark's friend. He's given new depth and understanding to why Lex Luthor is and always will be Superman's most bitter foe. I could go on about Lois, Chloe, Jonathan & Martha Kent, etc all being perfectly believable in Smallville but I'll leave it at Lex.
Besides, all you have to do to compare the two is to take a look at the show numbers themselves. L&C was on one of the BIG networks and barely made it through four seasons. The show ended on a cliffhanger and then ABC decided not to renew for season five. Smallville has pretty much anchored the WB/CW networks since its inception and is now into season six. We've not only got DVDs of each season but also HD versions (which are spectacular, BTW). No numbers for L&C but Smallville consistently draws between 4-5 million viewers each week. I'd say those numbers alone speak louder than anything else I could say.
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11-09-2007 @ 1:41AM
charmiane said...
We dont have to compare Lois and Clark and Smallville coz they are both different...
But if I have to choose, I like Lois and Clark... I love the love stories...
"Omg it's been 14 years? I was completely obsessed over LNC back in the day.. #loiscla anyone? Ahh memories.."
Me too... I love this series..
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11-12-2007 @ 12:17PM
Nathan said...
Has everybody heard about the video blog (vlog) feature that The CW is offering? I'm so pumped that they're giving fans a chance to do this! The deal is that we can submit a video application and then be selected as a monthly "Vlogger" for the show! I hope I get chosen because I would love to blog about the episodes for a month exclusively on the site!
If you guys have time, everyone should do it because I am sure they'll keep doing this if it becomes popular. Let's support our show and the networks interest in our opinion!
Link: http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/sprint
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