NOTE: This review discusses major plot points. Read no further if you wish to remain unspoiled.
To be honest, I really wasn’t sure I was going to like this episode before I saw it.
After all a major flashback episode to reveal secrets of Lex’s past had been done, and done brilliantly, before.
I loved the third season episode “Memoria.” It was beautifully shot, had a terrific story and revealed tons about Lex’s and Lionel’s relationship. Not only did it have some terrific performances from John Glover and Michael Rosenbaum in it but the episode shed some much needed light on the reasons the father and son have such an epic love-hate relationship. But did they really need to do another major Lex flashback episode? Upon hearing about this episode, I didn’t think it was needed…
Well, I was very pleasantly surprised and it turned out it was needed.
While the revelations in “Reunion” weren’t anywhere as devastating to Lex as the ones in “Memoria” had been, the episode did expose a particularly dark part of his past. It also laid out why Lex feels such animosity toward Oliver and revealed a lot about why Oliver has become the man he is.
This episode was a particularly solid writing job by Smallville scribe, Steven DeKnight.
It was awesome the way that the ‘A’ and ‘B’ stories really complemented each other. It was done far better than in most Smallville episodes. Clark investigated the murders and the danger posed to his new friend Oliver while also he used his new connection with the Green Arrow to find out more about the other ‘Zoners’ that escaped the Phantom Zone with him. (I really wish they’d thought of something other than that for Chloe to call them, but oh well…)
Lois also had a part to play in both storylines and the way DeKnight interweaved the intersecting plotlines was terrific. I liked that Lois discovered some of the same information that Clark did in a different way and how she tried to take over Clark’s investigation, just like Lois from the comics would do. She’s showing more and more hints of her future-investigative-reporter self in Smallville and it’s a very, very good thing. It is remarkably enjoyable watching Clark and Lois work together like that.
Lois’ line at end of Act Four is a classic. When Clark tells her that sometimes people keep secrets to protect the ones they love, Lois said “That is totally retarded.” I actually laughed out loud.
I loved that Clark was doing the investigating while Chloe moved into more of a support role. I love Chloe, but her super hacking powers shouldn’t always be saving Clark’s butt. He’s Superman, after all. He should do some saving from time to time.
I think the best part of this episode writing-wise was how differently the sins of their pasts affected the men in the show. Oliver’s line about him scrubbing his dirty hands “real hard” compared to Lex’s getting his own dirtier and dirtier was telling. It revealed a lot about the man Oliver has become in spite of the boy he was. For Oliver, his mistakes made him see that he should be a better person.
Oliver’s talk with Clark in the barn during the final act drove that point home. Clark has also made some bad choices and he’s had to live with the consequences, and will continue to do so. However, Oliver counseled Clark that trying to make good choices in the future is the best you can hope for.
That’s a lesson that Lex apparently has never learned. His way of moving on proved it. He chose to press his father for the test results of the last treatment the doctors had given Duncan. Instead of trying to become a better man, he chose to take advantage of his father’s unethical experimentation on his friend.
I thought the three guest stars, Bryce Hodgson (as Duncan Allenmeyer), Lucas Grabeel (as young Lex), and Ryan Overton (as young Oliver Queen) were all wonderful in this episode. Bryce Hodgson had an intense vulnerability as Duncan that was especially fitting to the role. Serious kudos to Lucas Grabeel! He did an excellent job playing a tortured teenaged Lex and it was a bold move to take the part in the first place since he had to shave his head to do it. All the teens looked a lot like their adult counterparts, even Geoffrey and Alden. It was an excellent job of casting all way around by director Jeannot Szwarc and he got terrific performances from all of them.
Michael Rosenbaum’s chemistry with Justin Hartley just keeps getting better and better. The scenes between Oliver and Lex were great. The two men play very well off of each other. The barely disguised animosity they both show so ably adds a lot to their scenes.
I’m sorry Tom wasn’t in this episode more, but it looks like we get a Clark-centric episode next week and he did such a terrific job here, so I’ll deal. Tom portrayed the earnest Clark so well as he doggedly tried to get to the bottom of the mysterious deaths. He also showed an easy sense of humor in Clark’s scenes with both Chloe and Lois. It was funny that he was so amused by Chloe’s finding Ollie sexy. In addition, Tom and Erica Durance have a great comedic chemistry that gives a boost to any scene they’re in together. I love watching them play off each other like that.
The photography was simply fabulous in this episode. The flashback scenes were de-saturated, soft focused and the contrast ratio was extremely high (the dark areas were very dark and the light areas were very light), all reinforcing the feeling that the scenes had taken place in the past. There was more gorgeous nighttime photography in Oliver’s penthouse, which is making me like that set more and more. Director of Photography David Moxness shot a beautiful episode.
This was a wonderfully written episode that was highly entertaining as well as revealing a lot about Lex and Ollie and some of why they’ve become the men they have.
I give “Reunion” 4.5 electronic pulse emitting arrows out of a possible 5.
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