#6.17 “Combat” Review

NOTE: This review, you guessed it, discusses plot points that would probably spoil you completely once you learn of them. So, go watch this episode and come back when you’re done. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

It’s episodes that can be so much fun like this one that keep me a Smallville fan. Yeah, they produce some stinkers from time to time, although there have been very few this season, “Static” being the most wasteful of my valuable viewing time. However, when the episodes are just fun like this one it makes me glad to be a Smallville fan.

Writers Al Septien and Turi Meyer penned a particularly strong episode. However, the writing wasn’t perfect and I knew that from the first frames of the tease. It was easy to tell things weren’t going well that quickly since they had used a plot device that is a longstanding pet peeve of mine: flashbacks.

Come to think of it, whenever I see a flashback being setup it makes me think not so fondly of a certain film school screenwriting Professor. A man who, perhaps believing his advice sound, had cautioned us against ever using flashbacks and said no good writer ever uses them. He actually went as far as to say you should never write flashback sequences unless you want your spec script to end up in the recycle bin instead of in the recommend pile.

However, given what I know now I realize his position wasn’t completely accurate. James Cameron seemed to do okay writing a film that was almost all flashback and Titanic actually did more than a little okay in the box office. Memento, one of the most inventive films ever made, was a flashback of sorts since it started at the end of the story and ended at the beginning. Also there have been Oscar Winning screenplays that were told in mostly in flashback, The Usual Suspects being the most obvious. So what did that particular Professor know? I don’t know, maybe not much, but still it’s a pet peeve of mine.

Why, do you ask? It’s maybe less from that one teacher’s advice, I think he was probably a bit of a pompous ass looking back on it, but I still think it’s an annoying device to me mostly because I agree with his assessment that most writers use flashbacks as a crutch. Unlike the films I mentioned above, which actually used the device in good ways, most writers fall back on flashback sequences to either plug up holes in their story or to create false suspense. That’s what I mind. I mean, if you can’t construct a good story without relying on most of the story happening in the past, you probably shove it in drawer and start over.

Smallville has even done this before, actually. They setup up a flashback in the tease, and did it very badly, back in season 4’s “Spirit.” The mistake they did there was that the reveal in the tease spoiled a major act break cliff hanger later on in the show.

So, given this history for me I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that I was extremely annoyed when I first realized that the tease was going to be setup for a flashback. However, I guess I shouldn’t have been worried. Turi and Al did a terrific job the last time they wrote a Smallville script. “Labyrinth” was close to brilliant, in my not so humble opinion. Also the ending of the “Combat” tease made it work so much better than the tease in “Spirit” had. No spoiling of a pivotal act break cliffhanger here. No, in “Combat” the tease ended with Titan saying, “Time to die, Kryptonian,” right before a cut to black as he is about to skewer Clark. That’s the way to setup a flashback! That was true suspense!

Of course Clark was going to prevail in the end, the show would be over if he hadn’t, but the suspense they’d built made me forget the fact that I hate flashbacks. Given how much I truly LOATHE the device, I think that’s really saying something so I’ll let ’em slide on that one.

Well, probably the one thing that I’m not sure I could let them slide on was what Clark said in his very heartfelt and earnest speech to his mother about the fight. He said, “I wanted to kill him, Mom. I wanted to kill him with my bare hands. I’ve never felt rage like that before.”

Turi and Al need to break out their DVD sets of the show to refresh their memories of how many times Clark had previously felt so enraged he’d come close to killing someone. I can think of at least three times he did feel exactly like that before without really breaking a sweat. (“Rogue,” “Pariah,” and “Vengeance” if you were wondering). But they shouldn’t have to work hard to remember the scene where Clark nearly killed that mugger in last season’s “Vengeance” since they wrote that episode.

Other than that, I didn’t have any real complaints about the writing. The act break cliff-hangers were terrific and the episode’s pace kept on moving and had some twists and turns, so the show didn’t lag at all. Lex is really stepping it up a notch in the evil department and there was also excellent continuity in this episode from previous story arcs. They lightened things up at times with some much needed humor in an otherwise pretty dark episode. The episode was well balanced and I really liked that Titan gave Clark some respect and a smile, “Good fight,” before he died.

The acting continues to be strong in each and every episode. Tom was most effective in the scenes were Clark needed to be angry or resolved. I especially liked Clark’s confrontations with Maddox and Titan. Tom does angry very well. When Clark had Maddox by the collar and was yelling at him, it was a very effective scene. Can you imagine Superman having you by the collar angry at you? I’m not sure I would have known before that scene, but I know now: it would be a very scary place to be. Tom played Clark so cold and yet angry at the same time. He was scary.

Later, the fight with Titan was brutal, but it was far more complicated a fight than is normal for Smallville. Normally Clark punches, pushes or throws his opponents. The overwhelming superiority of Clark’s strength is what usually wins a fight for him. This time, it wasn’t that easy. Physically, Titan was Clark’s equal and there was nothing easy about the battle. It was a nice touch that Clark didn’t resort to using some of his more unique powers, his heat vision for example, to overcome Titan. He more than held his own with Titan and Tom made that believable. For Clark it was more physically strenuous than usual as he spun, jumped, and kicked during the fight. Tom was good at that stuff but he had Clark enjoy the contest at times, even smirking at one point, as the fight dragged on. It wasn’t all brutality. After it was over, his tender look Lois at the end was sweet given his growing affection for her…

Erica’s Lois was a particular delight in this episode. Her Lois is finally truly becoming the Lois from the comics. She’s feisty and pigheaded and hangs on like a pit bull to pant leg when going after a good story, even if it gets her knocked out cold while Superman saves her life. I loved her pseudo fight with Clark and the way she reacted when Lois hit Clark was hysterical. It gave the dark episode one its best much needed lighter moments.
Is Lex really getting evil, or what? Michael Rosenbaum is so good at playing the conflicted villain. Even as he was poisoning his lovely bride to cover whatever it was that he’d done to her, he showed her a great deal of affection as she suffered during this episode.

I imagine it would be hard to play both sides, deliberately hurting Lana even while he’s doing it out of love of her, and Michael is doing a terrific job portraying that dual intent. Lex looked truly regretful and remorseful when he saw how much pain Lana was in, even though he was the one who’d hurt her. He did especially well in that last scene with Lana. The play of emotions over Michael’s face was amazing to watch as Lex watched the totally destroyed Lana begin to disintegrate right in front of him knowing it was his fault. What a great moment for him.

Kristin Kreuk really hit this one out of the park. She’s gotten so good, it’s amazing. I’m not sure before this year she’d really done anything really spectacular but she’s doing it almost every episode, especially in the second half of this season. In this episode, she did especially well in the scene where Lex told Lana she’d lost the baby. Lana’s despair was heartbreaking. Kristin did a wonderful job portraying the devastated Lana, she seemed so distraught….

I know not everyone likes the whole baby/marriage thing with Lana and Lex, but I think it’s been good for their characters development-wise but I suppose that’s up to some debate. Some commentary I’ve seen online has said that nothing good has come out of it. I would heartily disagree. No matter how you feel about that storyline itself, it’s clear that storyline been very good for Kristin as an actress. She’s really moved to a new level acting-wise, which is a very good thing.

The show is looking as good as ever, with stellar photography by Glen Winter and costume design by Carolyn Cranstoun. Tom and Erica looked wonderful in the dark cage, wearing contrasting red and black, before they were going to fight. Tom looked pale and he wears black better than anyone I think I’ve ever seen. Too bad Clark doesn’t wear it much. Erica should wear more red, it fits her character’s feisty nature and she looked good in it.

The fight between Titan and Clark was particularly well lit and photographed. The strobes flashing on and off in the smoke filled air, at times punctuating the punches the two men, and judicious use of slow motion worked to heighten the suspense until it built up to its terrific conclusion.

One problem with the fight scene, however, was the special effects. At one point early on in the fight, Titan punches Clark through a hole in the fence and he sails toward the camera. It looked, for lack of a better term, cheesy.

Probably one of my biggest problems with the episode was how much they played up Lois’ homoerotic interaction with Athena. You know, I get it. Guys like seeing girls together, but this is a show aired in the family hour and they shouldn’t have made it so obvious. Let the adults in the room see the homoerotic undertones of a scene, if they’re looking for it, but it should never be so overt. I’m no prude, but I watch this show with my kids. Director James Marshall should have had kept the homoeroticism in the subtext, where it belongs.

Not a perfect episode, but it was a highly enjoyable one. It had so much going for it, despite its faults, that I’m going to have to give it 4.5 black leather jackets 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.