NOTE: Major spoilers and plot twists are revealed in this review! So if you haven’t watched it yet go turn on your TiVO or VCR and watch before you read this… Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Recap:
Worried he is about to lose Lana, Clark waits for her in the loft. He takes her to the Fortress of Solitude to finally tell her his secret. She is understandably confused but is amazed. He then (in a very romantic moment) makes a diamond in his hand, uses his heat vision to set it into a band and gets down on one knee to ask her to marry him.
Clark tells his parents that he told Lana and asked her to marry him. Lana talks to Lois about Clark after saving her from a fall. Clark and Chloe talk about what he did and why. Lana decides to marry Clark.
Lex loses the election to Jonathan and calls Lana, upset. He realizes that Lana has only agreed to marry Clark because he told her his secret. She gets scared at how angry he becomes at her lying about it, so she runs and he chases her in his car. She dies in a car accident but Clark goes to the Fortress to plead for a second chance. Jor-El grants the second chance but says he can’t give him another.
REWIND back to the first scene.
Back in the loft and still worried he’s about to lose Lana, Clark lies about why he had asked Lana to meet him. Upset, she tells Clark that they need to take a break. Clark tells Chloe about what Jor-El did and why he didn’t tell Lana this time. Chloe agrees to help keep an eye on Lana so fate doesn’t take her life again.
Clark saves Lois from death because Lana wasn’t there to save Lois. Lex again loses the election to Jonathan and Lana goes to talk to him. She confesses that she and Clark had their “last fight.” Lex kisses Lana and makes her upset and she runs out. Lex chases her in the car again but this time Clark saves her without her knowing that he did.
Lionel has a confrontation with Jonathan and he shows Jonathan a photo. Whatever the photo is it makes Jonathan angry enough to hit Lionel. Jonathan suffers chest pains and tells Lionel to leave. He collapses in the driveway and dies in the arms of his wife and son.
Clark and Martha have a heart to heart and she tells Clark it wasn’t his fault. She tells Clark that his father would be proud of him. Lana holds Clark’s hand at the funeral but pulls away at the end.
Review:
What a great job everyone did in this vitally important episode!
Writers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson delivered a terrific story. I was initially perplexed, and even a touch angry, with the whole time reboot thing. However, in thinking about it the gimmick wasn’t as bad an idea as I first thought. So, yeah Clark has yet another person that learns his secret “forget” it, but this time it’s different.It wasn’t another “mind whammy” moment. This is a do-over, instead of another memory-wiping contrivance, this time it was a conscious choice on his part. No going back to square one, like I thought would happen. Clark said it himself about Lana, “She’s really done this time.”
Jor-El said that there would be no more second chances and I don’t think he was just talking about turning back time.
Anyway, the writers kept the action steady, even if it felt a bit rushed at times, and the act break cliff-hangers were some of the best ever. There was beautiful dialogue, touching moments, some wonderful one-liners and terrific references to the Superman mythos.
I especially liked Chloe’s line, “Great. What’d you do? Spin the Earth back on its axis?” That was a hysterical nod to Christopher Reeve’s first Superman film. This was a terrific episode for them.
The acting was fantastic. All of the actors turned in some of their finest work. Greg Beeman has a lot to proud of in this episode. He pulled wonderful performances out of his actors and ably supervised one of the most important episodes of the series.
“Reckoning” showcased a performance that was easily some of the best work Tom Welling has ever done. Clark’s journey here was a tortuous one. He went from the deepest anguish to the most infectious joy. There are too many wonderful things about Tom’s acting for me to mention them all, but probably his most powerful moments were the grief stricken ones. He perfectly portrayed Clark’s agony after he found Lana after the accident. It was a devastating moment. The scene in the Fortress when he pleads with Jor-el was an extremely powerful one. Also the remorseful note he added to Clark’s grief while talking to Martha was heart wrenching.
Tom has really grown as an actor. It’s episodes like this that make me realize that as gorgeous as he is, he is so much more than just another pretty face. In this wonderful outing, Tom has again proven he is also amazingly talented.
Michael didn’t have a lot of screen time in this episode, but when he was on he was magnetic to watch. In both versions of Lex’s scene with Lana at the mansion, Michael was astounding. His face was mesmerizing as he went through all the emotions that Lex usually is too cool to show. Lex’s building fury at Lana’s lies and his devastation when Lana dies in the crash were especially impressive moments for Michael.
Kristin Kreuk has put in another terrific performance here. Lana had a lot to deal with and as much trouble Kristin’s had in the past with being consistent, she hit all the right emotional notes in “Reckoning.” Kristin has improved a lot the last season or two. “Reckoning” was probably her best performance to date.
Annette O’Toole’s performance was an absolute revelation. She’s always been one of the better actors in the show, but she really hit it out of the park last night. I was especially moved by Annette’s acting in Martha’s scene with Clark before Jonathan’s funeral. It was devastating to watch her grief.
John Schneider gave a terrific performance in Reckoning. Aside from any possible future flashback cameos, this is Jonathan Kent’s last major appearance and John gave Pa Kent an excellent send off.
John was astonishing in Jonathan’s confrontation with the Magnificent Bastard, Lionel, who was looking for his own reckoning. Jonathan’s passing itself was poignant and moving. He died in the arms of the two people he loved most in the world. It was truly a fitting end for Martha’s husband and Clark’s father.
The special effects were terrific. I loved everything Clark did in the Fortress of Solitude. From getting there with that wonderful vortex of the portal to that jump (or flight) to forming the diamond, it was all beautifully done. Lana’s car crash was a visceral experience. I literally had trouble breathing, it was so hard to watch.
DP Barry Donleavy shot another beautiful episode. I loved the soft focus photography in the Fortress. The slow motion photography during the final scene was also extremely well done and I’m not usually a huge fan of slow-mo. In this case it fit in perfectly with the music and the tone of the scene to underscore the emotional impact of Jonathan’s death on Clark and Martha. It was terrific episode for him.
This is probably one of Smallville’s best episodes and in terms of impact to the show’s series long character arc for Clark, it is certainly the most pivotal one so far. It was an important episode on so many levels and there was nothing in it that disappointed.
I rate this one five out of a possible five.
Note: The views of Triplet don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send her feedback.
