NOTE: This review discusses major plot points. Read no further if you wish to remain unspoiled.
Well, well, well. This episode wasn’t as bad as I had feared, despite some strangeness I found the episode highly enjoyable.
One huge point in its favor was that the leading man of the show was back in a leading role in the episode. On top of being very Clark-centric, Tom looking gorgeous in “Subterranean” was just icing.
Tom did a wonderful job. When he went to Jed McNally’s farm to scope out the situation, Clark actually thought of a good reason to get there. “I was hoping you might have a spare pivot pin?” I have no idea what that is, but him asking the farmer for that gave him a legitimate reason to be at his farm. He did it in a way that would not easily raise suspicion. That was a very nice touch.
I love that Clark isn’t taking a back seat to Chloe anymore in the investigating-things department. Chloe is great, but Clark should do more on his own without depending on the super-computing powers of Chloe. It’s a very nice thing to see Clark actually go out and do some investigating and do it believably.
Clark is also stubborn when it comes to helping others, no matter what. Clark helped an illegal alien, who just wanted to see his mom. It wasn’t legal, but it was the right thing to do. It’s the kind of compassion that makes Superman the kind of hero he is. It’s nice to see signs of that in Smallville.
Tom had a great chemistry with the kid who played Javier (guest star Tyler Posey). Tyler played the earnest young Javier ably. Although I wish his hair hadn’t been quite so long, it made it hard to see his eyes sometimes.
I was a bit confused about exactly what Jed McNally (guest star John Novak) was doing and how Clark beat him at the end. How did his power to move through earth help his farm succeed? Why was he still working the farm if Luthorcorp had bought it? That was confusing, but he was sort of funny. Jed McNally looked a lot like the bad guys in the old Scooby Doo cartoons. He even had the dusty fedora. Too bad some of the hammy dialogue was also typical of a Scooby Doo episode. Anyway, McNally was a typical meteor freak so it didn’t really get in the way of my enjoying the episode.
I loved Michael Rosenbaum in this episode. Lex has gone fully into Evil-Criminal-Mastermind mode and I love it. He did really well in the scene with Lana after she came back from Amsterdam. His face went through a wide range of emotions. When she was talking about the money and the power it gives, Lex looked happy she seemed corrupted by the money. But when she said wanted to use the power for good and then his face fell, confused and concerned that maybe she hadn’t been fully corrupted just yet.
The scene at level 33.1, with poor Jed McNally laid out on the exam table in a coma, was terrific. There’s no wishy-washy-ness going on here with Lex’s intent. He’s all out evil now, and that scene at the end with him walking past the cells of the poor souls he’s kidnapped and tortured was awesome. He’s cold and evil now.
As much as I liked this episode for Tom and Michael, it made me feel sorry for Kristin Kreuk. This episode had Lana going back to being a good little girl again. Will she be good or evil in the next episode, Hydro? I’m betting evil since she seems to be flip-flopping every episode, but I guess we’ll find out.
I really hope the writers and producers have a good plan for Lana, because I’m confused by what they are taking her. I just hope it all makes sense once they get her there.
I loved Aaron’s Jimmy in this episode. I think he has great chemistry with Allison Mack and I really enjoyed the scenes they had together. Jimmy speaking more loudly so that Javier could understand him was painfully embarrassing but also endearing. Later, his line, “I’m your bro not your foe,” was funny. Jimmy’s so clueless, he’s adorable.
Allison was awesome in this episode. Her Chloe was so enamored of Jimmy it was cute. I’m not sure I’d love my boyfriend being quite that clue-less, but she played it beautifully. Also, her hair was gorgeous this episode. I’m not sure what they’re doing differently, but they should keep it up.
The script by Caroline Dries wasn’t quite as good as her previous efforts (Cyborg and Oracle), but part of that might have been because they likely had to do some re-shoots to get it to fit in the current continuity. This episode was filmed fifth and was supposed to air in the slot that Reunion took before the episodes were reshuffled. That first Lex and Lana scene, which definitely had been re-shot since it directly referenced the proposal in the 8th episode “Static,” was particularly stiff. Not knowing what else changed, it’s hard to say how much that was a factor but I think that must have affected it.
The episode was beautifully shot by Glen Winter. The ending of the “Subterranean” was especially well done. I loved the music from AFI and the terrifically dramatic lighting. The low angle hand-held shot of Lex as he walked along the hallway, going in and out of the light spilling out from the cells, spoke volumes about whether or not he’s really gone over to the “dark side.” He definitely has now, so it’s nice to see it expressed so beautifully visually. The music really helped that moment work too, it was a terrific choice.
All in all, despite some strangeness with McNally and some awkward dialogue, this was a pretty enjoyable outing for Smallville. I give the episode 3.5 trips to Amsterdam to view rare Vermeer’s out of a possible 5.0.
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