#10.6 “Harvest” Review

NOTE: Just to let you know, there will be spoilers inside this review, so read no further if you try to avoid them.

Well, probably not quite the best outing of the show this year, but this ended up being something I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. It started out great. I loved Lois giving Clark the third degree in the car. That was awesome. Now that she knows his secret it’s understandable that she has a lot of questions for Clark, so I’m glad they showed us at least a few of them. I also liked how amused Lois was by Clark’s almost casual use of his powers. That was great.

Written by Al Septien & Turi Meyer (and directed by the latter), this episode had some hackneyed story elements that probably would have felt right at home back in season 1 (unexpected and potentially fatal peril because of a meteor rock infection gone rampant), but they were handled much better than they would have been back in the day so in the end I didn’t mind them. Added to that, the episode also had some remarkably effective moments too. I liked the way there were constantly rising stakes for Clark and Lois, and for Tess and Alexander.

Things just got going from bad to worse almost immediately for Clark and Lois: first, they seemed so happy taking a drive in the country with the top down, enjoying each other’s company while also giving Lois a chance to grill Clark. Yet, even from the first scene it’s not all hugs and kisses for the happy couple, which I’m very glad for.

It is possible, even though a lot of shows don’t seem to believe it, that you can have a happy couple and still have their relationship be dynamic and worth watching. Usually, most shows want to have a happy couple be only that: happy. Yet, this isn’t the 1950’s with June Cleaver. Lois won’t be making Clark dinner every night at 6. Neither will she always agree with Clark.

She’s smart and feisty and does things that will sometimes make Clark annoyed or upset, and no doubt the reverse is also true. It doesn’t mean they’re not happy, or no longer in love, it’s just real. Think about the loved ones in your life. You love them, but do you always love everything they do?

I can think of a few things that have annoyed me about my family from time to time. Does that mean I don’t love the people around me? Not at all. It’s an unrealistic that every single minute of a character’s life with someone they love will be happy and conflict-free.

Yet, few shows have committed (or married) couples exhibit a realistic give-and-take relationship. Usually, it’s flat and boring and probably the reason why some shows suffer when the main romantic leads finally commit to each other. The ‘sexual tension’ is gone and they agree with each other too much. If this episode is any indication, I don’t think that will be a problem for “Smallville” when it comes to Clark and Lois. It is a difficult balancing act to keep up, yet Al & Turi seemed to have done a good job with it.

I liked how their interaction played out, even as Lois got herself into danger. At first the danger wasn’t clear. Charlotte’s weird talk with her dad and him saying she saved the town indicated that things weren’t quite as innocent and idyllic as they had appeared. And the sheriff really going over-the-top to refute Clark’s story about the girl was a bit worrisome too. It wasn’t really clear that something was up until the sheriff’s deputy (or whatever he was) got the drop on Clark and knocked him out. Lois didn’t know that she even needed rescuing yet, much less that Clark would be unable to help her once she was. The tension built perfectly, the reasons behind this seemingly inexplicable series of events didn’t become clear until the creepy little girl told Lois she’d just had her last supper and Lois was the intended sacrifice.

I’m kinda sorry we didn’t see exactly what had happened to Clark after he had gotten knocked out, but I suppose knowing that really wouldn’t have changed the story much. I did like that once he was awake, that he was calm and resolved, despite not being able to do a thing to help them escape. I loved that Lois put the pieces together and figured out that the blue kryptonite was what kept him from healing back in ‘Lazarus.’ I’m glad that Clark finally found out that it had been Lois who had pulled him back from death.

And it was terrific that Lois was able to take up the slack when Clark couldn’t do any super-powered things to rescue her. It showed that it doesn’t always take brute strength to think your way out of a trap. I also like her explanation too, her picking locks her dad used to try to enforce curfew makes sense with how raucous her teen years seem to have been.

I liked that as sneaky as Clark and Lois were, she was only tripped up when the townswoman noticed her pink nail polish. That was an awesome detail and something that would be very hard to cover up.

Even as weak as Clark was after he tried to rescue Lois, he still was the hero and protected her from the fire. The man goes through hell almost every week. Not that I’m complaining too much, it showed Lois what he was willing to do to protect her. It’s more than him running interference for her at the Planet to keep her from covering stories that might put her into harm’s way. Clark puts his money where his mouth is, as it were: he’s willing to risk his own life save hers. It’s what Clark does, but this is probably the first time Lois was awake to see him do that for her.

Oh, and before I forget: I adored that Clark gave Lois Dr. Swann’s journal. In fact it’s AWESOME with a capital A. It’s something tangible that he can give her that shows Lois just how deeply he trusts her. He’s willing to disclose all of his secrets, so it also shows Lois how profoundly he loves her. He’s willing to open himself up to her completely, all his secrets and vulnerabilities included.

That profound show of love and trust made their lovemaking in the next scene all that more touching and romantic. The way it played out, the way it was acted and directed, was beautiful and showed in a physical way just how much the two of them have come to mean to each other.

Because the sex wasn’t just about sex, it wasn’t at all gratuitous: it was heartfelt and meaningful even while showing a lot more of Tom and Erica than we normally see. That makes it a total win-win. I think it’s a pretty neat trick to make a sex scene be more than just an excuse to show off the skin of two very attractive cast members. Go Al and Turi.

Tess’ and Alexander’s side of the episode was probably what I had the problem with. While the story was pretty effective at advancing the whole Lex-clone storyline, it initially felt nearly totally divorced from the main storyline with Clark and Lois. The two storylines didn’t seem to have a thing to do with each other, not even thematically.

Yet in looking at this episode again, I realized that the stories were good foils for each other. They were opposites. Clark’s and Lois’ storyline was about the growing love and trust in their relationship, so it actually makes sense that Tess and Alexander’s storyline showed the nearly complete failure of their relationship and the loss of any love and trust either of them had for each other. Tess doesn’t make for a good mother, I suppose. Or maybe no one could be given Lex Luthor as a son.

It was nice to see Connor Stanhope again, now a 12 year old Lex-clone. And man, does Connor make for a creepy little kid, so cute yet so angry and Lex-like. It was a very nice acting job on his part.

Despite what I see now as strength in the episode’s two major storylines, and the fact they were the reverse of each other, I guess my major issue with the episode still was that I had really wanted what Tess had: I had wanted to see Alexander side-step Lex’s fated turn as the villain of the story. It makes me sad he hurt Tess so badly that, like the original Lex had hurt her, it made Tess willing to just let him die instead of using that formula to save him. That’s cold and bitter, but like Clark maybe Lex (even the smaller cloned version of him) can’t escape his fate.

Yet, Alexander was such a cute little boy the first few times we saw him and Connor made for an attractive slightly older version too, I had hoped that he could avoid going down Lex’s dark path. I suppose that who you are is largely formed by what you remember. The Lex clones growing up with Lex’s memories is pretty much the same as growing up as Lex, including all of the hate and anger brewing inside of him. That’s the fuel for Lex eventually turning evil.

A person being the product of their memories is an idea that has come up before in “Smallville.” Al & Turi had probably best exhibited that in their script ‘Labyrinth’ (probably one of my favorite episodes, where Clark distrusted his memories and began to doubt himself in a huge way). It was also shown beautifully in the season 4 episode ‘Blank’ written by Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders. In that episode, Clark lost all of his memories and acted very differently in so many ways.

The producers and writers I suppose are leaning more toward nurture, rather than nature, when it comes to the developmental psychology of the show’s characters. Although ‘Blank’ probably isn’t as strong an argument toward taking nurture over nature as ‘Labyrinth’ had been. In the earlier episode, Clark still did some things exactly the same he would have done before even without remembering his life. He was still a hero and still earnest and forthright. He was just more open emotionally…
Anyway, I digress: It’s a pretty big thing to expect the boy to live life on a different path than his genetic antecedent had, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see how Alexander’s failure to do that will impact Tess. This may be important later if she comes across any other clones that might still be out there, especially given the fact she just consigned this clone to death by growing up way too fast. Tess’ choice to read “Peter Pan” to the little boy is ironic, given that is a story about a boy who never grows up read to a boy who is growing up too fast.

I loved how Cassidy played Tess during all that. It was painful for her to see how much like the adult Lex the child-clone of him was. He was so bitter and angry. Making the decision to let him die clearly wasn’t an easy one for Tess, and Cassidy played that so well. She was a joy to watch.

While I enjoyed the episode, I did have some problems with it. The use of the blue variety of kryptonite was probably a bit on the overly convenient (read that as ‘contrived’) side, but I suppose it worked pretty well. The blue-k causing the town to be healthy, yet also a bit ‘whackadoodle’ as Lois had said, was an inventive use of the mineral. Not only does it take Clark’s powers away in a more subtle way, which doesn’t make him sick otherwise, but also makes the characters affected by it crazy. That’s probably the only way it would be believable that the whole town would be murderous religious fanatics. The way they used it was pretty consistent too.

The first time Clark was obviously without his powers (having trouble picking up the tire and then getting that cut from the rim) was just as the town sheriff had just shown up. Yet, the man’s presence making Clark lose his powers wasn’t immediately obvious. It was nice they built that up a little, making it hard for Clark to put the tire into the trunk and then getting that cut, instead of just springing the blue crystals on Clark. It was subtle, but made the use of blue-k in the episode consistent. When the guy knocked Clark out with a hit with the butt of his shotgun, it was a bit surprising, but with all that blue-k in the water in front of Clark it made sense.

I’m sorry that with Clark being separated from Lois, then knocked out and later buried alive for good chunks of the episode made his screen time be a little less than I would normally like it. Tom I know needs a break from time to time from being in almost every single scene of an episode, he’s only human although it might not seem like it, so I can’t complain too loudly about that. Mainly because of the good stuff that came about it I didn’t really mind too much.

More screen time gave Erica and Cassidy time to shine. There was some gorgeous acting from those two in the episode. As long as they can push those ladies into giving us some great performances, I think it more than makes up for the lack of Clark.

Probably not the best outing this season, but hardly shabby by any other measure, this episode was surprisingly entertaining and well-crafted. In terms of having Clark and Lois have a dynamic give-and-take in their relationship, each doing things the other doesn’t like, yet still being clearly in love with each other was probably the best aspect of this episode. Al Septien & Turi Meyer did a fantastic job with this script.

While I liked the writing, I’m not sure I’m ecstatically happy with all of the directing choices that Turi Meyer had made. While visually it had some very nice moments, I had a problem with how act three opened, with two point-of-view shots that had both Clark’s and Lois’ faces upside down. In looking at the scene a few times, I think I get what he was trying to do (have reversing, visually similar POV shots, one from Lois’ POV, one from Clark’s), but it still was a bit odd.

Visually, the episode was strong otherwise. I especially liked the visual bridge between the sex scene and Alexander’s hair shaving scene. (A visual ‘bridge’ ties one scene visually to another, creating a bridge or connection where there may not have otherwise have been one.) The camera coming down along the carpet in Clark’s bedroom led perfectly into the camera moving up another carpet in the next scene in Alexander’s bedroom. Director of Photography Michael Wale did a beautiful job with that shot, and how the episode looked in general. I loved the candle light in Clark’s bedroom during the sex scene and then earlier in the crazy minister’s house. The sunset in the scene between Clark and sheriff was beautiful. It was probably total luck to get such a beautiful sky to shoot, but it looked fantastic.

Production Designer James Philpott’s sets for this episode were outstanding. I don’t know where they got the money to build (or rent) the outdoor back-lot sort of set they had in the village, but it all looked amazing. It looked like there was a lot more money than normal was up on the screen. The Set Decoration by Andrea French was also phenomenal, very detailed with some very nice touches.

As usual, I adored the costumes by Costume Designer Melanie Williams. The old-fashioned lace dress Lois wore was perfect for the plot, looked like she’d stepped back in time. And Erica’s make-up and hair were also flawless, thanks to Key Make-Up Artist Tina Teoli and Key Hairstylist Sarah Koppes. I think it’s easy to make someone look good for a party or for day-to-day things, but have Erica look good even after Lois had been crying over the apparent death of Clark is probably a pretty neat trick so kudos to them.

I absolutely adored Louis Febre’s score. It was fabulous. I loved the semi-bluegrass theme that played as Charlotte and Lois rode in the wagon and which was picked up from time to time in later scenes. Later, after the love scene that played under “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Cary Brothers, I thought the music built beautifully from that into Alexander’s reveal as being a true clone of Lex. I really think this is some of Louis’ best work.

Probably not perfect, I had a few nitpicky problems with it, but overall a very enjoyable outing that did very well with multiple views. I give this episode 4.75 flat tires out of a possible 5.

Note: The views of Triplet don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send her feedback.