NOTE: If you haven’t seen this episode, read no further if you wish to remain unspoiled…..
This episode was not as good as I’d hoped, despite the fact that it was exciting, well-acted and beautifully shot. The good stuff in the episode was almost negated by writers Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer having included some hard-to-stomach plot points in the story.
Well, almost negated but I’ll cover the hard to swallow stuff first…
The return of super-online-researcher-Chloe was over the top, even for Smallville. Just how did her contact find out so much about super-secret pharmaceuticals so quickly?
It’s too easy to give tricky techno-babble dialogue to Chloe and just stick a “my contact told me” line in there to explain away how she came to learn details… Smallville’s “Deus Ex Chloe” usually isn’t quite so glaringly obvious as this, although it was the bio-chem expert that gave it to her this time instead of some implausible googling on her part, but still…
Another problem I had with the episode writing-wise was with Clark stating that maybe his dad would still be alive if only he were normal. Understandable as it is that he’d miss Jonathan at the first major holiday following his death, it’s odd for him to talk about wanting to be normal now. This is an old worry for Clark that they’d clearly established him getting past, especially after the epiphany Clark had at the end of “Fallout.”
And then there was the icky moment with Martha and Lionel almost kissing. Thank goodness that possible romance doesn’t look like it will go any further. However, why did they have Lionel actually go to Thanksgiving dinner and sit next to Chloe? Chloe may have forgiven Lionel for trying to kill her in season three because of how he’s helped Clark, but has Oliver forgotten that Lionel threatened him only a few months ago? Given that Lionel’s status as a reformed Magnificent Bastard is in question (Lex implied earlier this season that Lionel’s rehabilitation was a sham), it was creepy that he was part of such a warm family gathering… He was like a snake in the grass.
However, I loved the contrast between how the Kents celebrated Thanksgiving with how Lex and Lana did. It was extremely character revealing how stark and formal the mansion scene was compared to the far more cozy Kent dinner. Is there really any romance left in Lex and Lana’s relationship? Have they perhaps become as distant emotionally as that long table kept them physically?
The big reveal of Lana’s pregnancy had already been spoiled by several different outlets (thank you very much, Mr. Welling), so I wasn’t surprised by it but what a fascinating twist to the Clark/Lex/Lana triangle! I have to think that Lillian’s appearance to Lex in last year’s “Lexmas” (where she showed him that he could be happy with Lana only if he made the right choices), will finally come into play.
He’s close to getting what he wanted, Lana and a happy family, but he still hasn’t made the right choices. After what his mom told him, is there any chance this will end happily for Lex? How well will it end for poor Lana? I am looking forward to seeing where they’re going with this.
The act break cliff-hangers were strong and the story kept moving so I really enjoyed the episode, the plot oddities aside. Ollie’s dilemma is a practical one: how can he do what he needs to do if he’s always worried about dying in the process. Given how they’ve established his character, and the bullet-proof example Clark has set, it makes sense he would try to do something to help his odds. The storyline advanced his character arc in a nice way and had Clark teaching Oliver some lessons for once.
In “Rage” Tom Welling delivered another great performance and Kristin showed that she keeps getting better. The finest moment for both of them in the episode was the scene between Clark and Lana in Lex’s library. Clark went looking for Lex at the mansion but found his ex-girlfriend visibly upset instead. Off-balance yet genuinely concerned for Lana’s well-being, Clark still tried to help her and Tom played that combination of concern, confusion, and painful regret with a remarkably subtle touch. Kristin ably portrayed Lana’s conflicted emotions when her ex-boyfriend caught her in such a vulnerable moment. It was an extremely powerful scene and both actors played it perfectly. It’s some of the best work they both have ever done.
Michael did a great job in this episode. Lex is so manipulative of Lana, despite her not recognizing it, and now kills people as a matter of routine and Michael’s still playing him as smooth as silk. Michael’s Lex is so casually evil, it’s brilliant.
Justin did a wonderful job getting across just how angry, frustrated and unstable Ollie had become under the influence of the drugs here. The confrontations with both Clark and Lex also showed what a wide acting range Justin has. He’s such a pleasure to watch that I wish he had more episodes in his contract; or at least a spin-off Green Arrow series in his future…
This episode was a fantastic outing for the Director of Photography, David Moxness. I especially loved how he shot the stand-off between Lex and Oliver. He had matching, yet opposing, shots of Oliver and Lex holding their weapons (with some particularly nice focus-pulling between their faces and weapons, btw) and next showed close-ups on the two weapons as the men squeezed the triggers followed by close-ups of their eyes just before their weapons fired, blowing them apart. Their steely resolves to win was clear as they both held their weapons rock-steady and glared at each other as the editor cut between the opposing set-ups.
The way the entire sequence was shot and edited showed not only Lex’s and Oliver’s physical opposition in their stand-off, but suggested it in a more figurative sense as well. Those ideas were supported very well by the way the actors portrayed their characters, with Oliver’s unstable fury compared with Lex’s cold menace. It was a wonderfully dynamic scene which looked great too.
One thing that was just plain odd in this episode was Lois going to the hospital at Smallville Medical Center, despite the fact that she got hurt in Ollie’s Metropolis penthouse apartment. Why did they need to transport her to a hospital three hours away? That made absolutely no sense.
Thanks to the wonderful acting and photography, this episode managed to overcome the plot oddities which would have otherwise made it merely okay. I rate this episode 4 experimental-drug-filled hypos 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.
