(S07E14) Tonight's episode taught us a lot about the Luthor family. They seemed to be more the focus of this episode with Clark and company as supporting characters.How is it that anyone can sneak up on Clark in a barn like that? I know flight hasn't kicked in, but doesn't he have superhearing and supervision? For that matter, doesn't he have superspeed to dodge the tasers? It's a minor quibble (since it could be argued that proximity of the Kryptonite lessened his powers), but it's a quibble nonetheless.
It was cool to see Aaron Douglass taking a break from his Battlestar Galactica duties to guest-star on Smallville as the militant Pierce (formerly of LuthorCorp's 33.1 organization). I always wondered who would win if Superman fought the Cylons. There was certainly a lot of property damage; that barn is going to be a bitch to fix.
It seems to be a television/movie cliche that wealthy villains always listen to opera when they're alone, such as when Lionel Luthor did in the beginning of the episode. Usually, Smallville has kickin' pop rock bands. Perhaps it was to save money this week on the soundtrack.
In this episode, we learn that Christopher Reeve's character from the early seasons of Smallville, Doctor Swan, had a daughter Patricia. Judging by the dialogue of the episode, Patricia is probably either the same as Lex or just a couple of years older. Or at least she was until the end of the episode when Lex had her killed (I'm assuming it wasn't Lionel since Lex has holding her locket at the end).
The mentioning of the organization Veritas is a set-up for next week's episode (not surprisingly titled "Veritas"). It's an example of the smallness of the Smallville universe when we've already met all the member families of this secret organization.
Smallville seemed to borrow a trick or two from The X-Files for this episode; the cinemagraphic style of the meeting between Patricia and Lionel, with the rainy day subtle hues, seemed to have been inspired by that show. Or perhaps that's just a Hollywood style whenever the plot involves clandestine organizations and alien conspiracies.
As usual, Chloe's computer skills get the information to save the day. Why couldn't that be her meteorite power rather than healing? It would have been easier to believe. Thankfully, Lana's whining was at a minimum this episode and I actually started to like her character.
It was pretty easy for the two women to break into Luthor's home like that. I guess it helps when one of them is a computer genius and the other is his ex-wife.
Of course, at the center of the plot was the Luthors. I think this episode highlighted the differences between Lionel and Lex better than any of the previous ones. Lionel is an expert liar and cheat (he is the Picasso of bullshit artists), but he has mostly tried to negotiate his way out of tough situations rather than resort to violence. Whether that has to do with a presence of conscience or a lack of opportunity, I leave to you. Lex, on the other hand, had grown into a cold-blooded killer (giving the orders if not pulling the trigger himself). Also, Lionel seems to think of Clark as some sort of savior while for Lex he is viewed as a means to obtain power.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Pierce thought of Clark as a monster. I found it ironic that the character died from a piece of sharp debris in the midsection. In effect, Pierce was pierced.
I lost count of the number of biblical references in the episode. From Clark being the savior to Doctor Swann's journals becoming a sort of Bible to Kara acting as a guardian angel. She certainly seemed angelic in her stance while being engulfed in light as her powers and memories were returned. Even Clark's nickname of "The Traveler" by Veritas (a religious-sounding organizational name if there ever was one) is reminiscent of the story of Christ.
Jor-El didn't have to talk in this episode. The voice of God was nowhere to be heard. I guess that was another way to save on the budget.
Overall, the episode felt rushed. Kara's sudden recovery and the quick movement of the plot felt like a result of the writer's strike. For that reason, I would rate the episode as "fair". It probably would have been better if it were spread out among more episodes. C'est la vie.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-20-2008 @ 11:18PM
xnifex said...
This was a great ep & I'm happy that Kara has her memory back. I think Lex is the greater evil & that Lionel is really on Clark's side. He really didnt want Clark hurt at all during this ep & was upset that Chief Turol was torturing him & wanted to kill him.
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3-20-2008 @ 11:57PM
eugene said...
Argh... they did this with Lex... Lex tries to be good, clark is untrusting, Lex feels betrayed, lex becomes evil and now... Lionel tries to be good, clark is untrusting, lionel feels betrayed... round and round we go...
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3-21-2008 @ 12:39AM
amazo said...
sooo... veritas is religious sounding... cuz its latin for "truth"? as well as in most university latin catch phrases?
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3-21-2008 @ 1:27AM
rtms said...
I can't believe you left out Chloe's confession of her love for Clark and how it was the deciding factor for Jor El to give Kara back her powers and memory. That little speech was the best part of the show.
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3-23-2008 @ 4:08PM
Gowan said...
I totally caught that she said she loved him. Now, of course, you could say it was that she loves him as a friend nowadays, but I don't think so. I thought Alison's delivery of that whole speech was really well done.
3-21-2008 @ 1:34AM
Captain Obvious said...
I miss that show Traveler.
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3-21-2008 @ 2:11AM
xnifex said...
me too!
3-24-2008 @ 12:40PM
kevjohn said...
I miss that show Veritas.
3-21-2008 @ 1:50AM
Robobagins said...
You know, I used to like Smallville. But now I seem to be watching it just because I've already invested so much time in it, that quitting now just would just be wrong.
Guh, another standard episode. Someone out of the Luthor past shows up, plays Lex and Lionel off each other. Clark is somehow involved. Clark is saved/saves the day. Clark learns a Luthor is a bad, bad man. Rinse, Repeat.
Really, feel this series is becoming more and more about Lex and Lionel then it is about Clark.
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3-21-2008 @ 7:02AM
iuqiddis said...
I share your sentiments too. I used to watch it regularly and enthusiastically for the first 3 to 4 seasons. Then I watched it regularly because I had invested too much time in it. But now, I just gave up on the show. I stopped watching it when Kara lost her powers. Didn't even bother watching it later. Now I just read the reviews here to see whats happening. It seems that the show has just stopped progressing. Its the same old stories, retold in a slightly different fashion every season.
3-21-2008 @ 5:04AM
Patrick said...
Did anybody else notice Lana wasn't at the Fortress of Solitude? What... her skinny little body couldn't fit through the space portal with Chloe and Kara. I know the creators slash writers have a no fly zone and want to remain cape and tights free... but c'mon... let the boy fly already... Free Clark Kent!
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3-21-2008 @ 10:02AM
Ray said...
I've seen various entries that more-or-less "bag" on Smallville, in particular, this season. Although some issues, I found this episode to be much more in line with what most of us found appealing about this show: quick moving, fairly cool twists, somewhat plausible alternative to using kryptonite other than holding up a rock.
Granted, this has been a somewhat rough season, I would like to believe that the writer's strike has forced some of this. Like other shows (Hero's), most episodes seem unbelievably rushed and underdeveloped, problems get solved in rediculous ways at times, and the season-wide story arch is all over the place. Most of us know that this season had to be designed to make next weeks episode a cliff-hanger in the event that the strike did not end. The positive: they almost always deliver a home-run on the season cliff-hanger, so lets hope that happens next Thursday. The negative: there is a possibility that this will make the next 5 or so episodes they have ordered a mess unless they had a plan for what ended up happening with the strike.
I have been a superman fan 30 out of my 37 years, so I have to hang in through the good times and the bad, I just hope that they pull it out for the rest of the season.
My wish list for next season????:
•Culminate the season with Clark in his training chamber finishing what he started at the beginning of season 5
•Lana moving away to restart: I happen to like Lana, but her character has evolved way past where it really should have... we know she was only a past love of Clark and has been made to stay a season (if not 2) too long. They have made it apparent that they are growing apart - good move - keep it going (since we know she's not signing on again, that's probably a shoe-in).
•Lex out of the picture a while: Again he's not signing on (except for the "as needed" appearances with him and Lana next season). This will give them a chance to reinsert him in all of his glory.
•Justice League join-up
•Wrap-up: done with training, flying the whole season, evolving into the suit (doesn't have to be what we are all used to though), getting it "on" with Lois, and coming up with some type of story that is action-action-action with Lex revisiting true to form, and a hero finish with Mom, (dad's ghost???-could be good, could be bad), Jor-El in holographic form (did it in Sup Returns, why not here), Kara, Lana, Pete, Chloe (of coarse), Perry White (we HAVE met him), Jimmy, Lois (again, of coarse), and, OBVIOUSLY, Lex.
We'll see.
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3-21-2008 @ 12:00PM
Rob said...
I actually thought this was one of the better episodes of this season. However, I'm with everyone else here that thinks Smallville has gone downhill/run out of ideas. The fact that some of you are talking about next season boggles the mind. Let it go already. Smallville needs to wrap it up.
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3-21-2008 @ 1:58PM
Edward said...
I agree. This season should have been the final season for Smallville. Take out half of the freak of the week episodes of the past couple of seaons and replace them with the in-season arcs would have made the past couple of years much more bearable. At this point of the show, there was no need to have any more freak of the week episodes.
3-24-2008 @ 3:01AM
Stigmata said...
this show has gone down the tubes, i'm surprised its still on air.
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3-30-2008 @ 10:09PM
Py said...
I agree with rtms that Chloe's confession at the FOS and part in getting Jor-el to give Kara her memories back was a glaring omission on your part, Brad. Pity, I was looking forward to going through the rest of your reviews, but I'm glad I found this one - it means I won't have to waste time reading the rest of your reviews.
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