#7.10 “Persona” Review

WARNING: If you are a spoiler-phobe, stop reading this now. You should wait until after you’ve seen the episode. Oh, and I should probably warn you this is pretty long too, longer than normal anyway. If you have somewhere you need to be in the next ten minutes, then you should probably read this later.

Overall the script, written by Holly Henderson & Don Whitehead, was terrific, although there were some faults (which I’ll talk about later). It kept up the suspense and showed that Bizarro isn’t as good at pretending to be Clark as he would have liked to be. Even if you look like someone else, it’s pretty hard to pretend to be him because you aren’t. Bizarro’s skin turning to stone in the sun is only the most glaring difference between him and Clark, so it was probably only a matter of time before he was found out.

Even without seeing his skin change in the sun, I am surprised that Lana didn’t suspect something was up. Maybe she was too busy enjoying the “new and improved version” of Clark to really think about why he wasn’t exactly acting like himself. Given the state of their relationship, Clark’s inexplicable aloofness since she came back, maybe I can’t blame her. If my significant other was like that, I’d look at any improvement as a positive thing. People only look for what they want to see, so that actually made sense.

Going further, Lana loving Bizarro more in that month than she ever did Clark was indicative of why their relationship will eventually fail in the future. Her wanting more from Clark than he can give her is something that will eventually come up. So maybe she has finally realized that there are some things about Clark that will never change and that fact makes him not as perfect for her as she would like. Also, as Clark has apparently discovered, the reverse is also true: the pedestal Clark’s put Lana on maybe isn’t where you want to keep any potential lifelong companion. No one is perfect, so she was bound to not live up to his expectations.

Bizarro rather pointedly bringing up the fact that maybe they aren’t perfect for each other was a terrific choice. Clark or Lana probably wouldn’t have recognized that fact as definitively unless someone from outside the relationship (in this case Bizarro), had brought it to their attention. There’ve been hints that maybe they were already heading toward realizing that, so maybe Bizarro just sped things along a little bit.

I know a lot of folks think they the producers and writers need to kill “Clana.” Some people hate that they’re dragging it on, but I can see the logic behind putting off the inevitable end of the relationship for at least a little while longer. A relationship with Lana had been something that Clark has wanted for the entire series. Now that he has it, it’s ironic that it turns out that it isn’t what he would have hoped it would be.

However, if they broke up the relationship and moved him into an emotionally happier place too soon, it would seem very contrived. If that happened, people would likely complain about the lack of continuity.

Done gradually, the progression toward their dual realization that it just isn’t going to work will seem a more natural one. Also, letting it happen over a longer period of time will allow them to become the friends they are in the future, hopefully side-stepping some of the bitterness Lana had shown recently in the comic books.

I was a bit confused by then ending of the episode upon my first viewing. I would have liked for them to have had some serious cuddle time once Clark was reunited with Lana, but I can understand their tension at the end. Thanks to Bizarro, they’d been shown what they thought they had known about their own feelings was wrong. It will take them some time to deal with such profound truths and to examine the state of their relationship.

Also I would imagine Clark also has to deal with the fact he’s not willing to give up his powers the way Dax-Ur had done. The man said he had made the decision to give up his powers in an instant for the woman he loved, but Clark will never make that decision. Even if he could find more blue-kryptonite, Clark won’t walk away from the world the way Dax-Ur had done. He won’t ever give up his ability to help people for anyone, not for Lana, not even later for Lois. The irony is that we all knew before he realized it himself that he won’t, but it was still a sad thing for Clark that he isn’t capable of doing that for her.

Just to prove that I don’t know everything, a friend pointed out that the ending book-ended the beginning. I hadn’t realized it upon the initial viewing, which might explain why I was confused by the ending at first, but she was right. The episode started out with Bizarro-Clark and Lana in a happy, brightly lit bedroom scene and ended with Clark and Lana being miserable in the same bedroom, but then it was dark and filled with deep shadow. I guess I’m not smart enough to have noticed that the plot had come full circle, or maybe I was just too annoyed with the contrived Lex scene just before it to understand, but I’m glad she pointed it out to me. Seeing the ending again with that in mind really added something to the episode for me.

I loved Brainiac in this episode. He was damaged, clearly barely keeping himself together, but he still was on top of things enough to be able to manipulate both Clark and Bizarro into getting him what he needed: Dax-Ur. It was brilliant pretending to be Lionel to get Clark to do the work for him. I didn’t see that coming, although Lionel looking at himself so critically in the mirror and then later holding Clark’s hand seemed out of character until the reveal.

Brainiac’s attack on Dax-Ur was startling and looked fatal. His determination to reach his goals, no matter what the cost, certainly spells bad things for Clark should he come back before the end of this strike-shortened season.

I was glad that Grant showed some Luthor style backbone as he tried to take what he thought he needed out of the life that Lex had created for him. It was a bit surprising that Lionel was so welcoming to Grant, so it makes sense that Lex was angry about that unexpected turn of events. Because of Lex killing another clone of Julian in “Gemini,” Grant should have realized that the real danger wouldn’t come from Lionel; instead the real peril would come from the furious Lex.

It’s too bad that he got killed. I liked Grant. However for Lex, Grant’s inability to be the brother Lex had dreamed about turned Grant into just the end result of yet another grand scheme that had failed, so Lex killed him for it. It was logical from his viewpoint. He reanimated the brother he couldn’t save to only kill him because he didn’t match his idealistic view of what a brother should be. He didn’t want Grant to ruin what little love Lionel might have had left for Lex, but it certainly looked like that was the way it was going after the awesome confrontation Lionel and Lex had in the library. Grant not being able to fulfill Lex’s ideal runs hand-in-hand with Clark no longer matching Lana’s, or Lana no longer matching Clark’s. That’s another nice piece of symmetry.

Another thing I really liked about this episode was the terrific dialogue. It was sometimes humorous, like when Bizarro-Clark complained about the sun turning his skin to stone, Brainaic replied: “Try a good sunscreen, a wide-brimmed hat perhaps….” Or when Fine told Bizarro moments later that “Lying to you would be like lying to a mollusk: there’s no point.” Those lines were very funny. Other times the dialogue was vicious, like when Lionel told Lex that Grant was “Insightful, courageous, direct: your exact opposite, Lex.” Then later Grant got particularly brutal when he told Lex “You’re so lonely and pathetic, you had to build yourself a brother.” Ouch.

No wonder Lex killed him.

One thing that was missing was any mention from Clark about what, exactly, Jor-El had been trying to accomplish by trapping him in the fortress. Was Clark somehow getting “trained” while he was frozen? Was it some kind of punishment? Hopefully, it will come up later so we can hear the explanation.

As good as the script was, I actually hated Lex’s final scene. He had clearly arranged the staged mugging which ended with Grant’s murder. However, if he was cold enough to have Grant gunned down in front of his father, hurting Lionel even while getting rid of his rival for his father’s affections (a win-win for Lex), why would he have such strong regrets that he would scream in agony out in the rain? Although the inherent melodrama is very Lex-like, I don’t think his motivations for that were well established in the script. However, I don’t think the crane up shot didn’t help.

Speaking of that crane shot, I think I’ll talk about the director next even though I usually save that for the end. Maybe it’s fitting that I talk about him after the writers since the director is a producer/writer for the show, Todd Slavkin. It would also appear that Todd makes his professional directorial debut with “Persona.”

I think Todd made a solid freshman effort behind the camera, the actors were ably led for the most part, but there were some missteps too. Mostly the mistakes seemed to be on the visual side of things. I think Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum both had similar problems with visual elements in their respective directorial debuts, too happy to be playing with new toys perhaps. So maybe it’s an expected newbie director error, but the most glaring problems I saw came from Todd’s use of the camera. Although technically well done, there were two particular crane shots that I thought were misplaced, or at least ill-used.

There was a crane down shot in the library scene between Lex and Lionel and then a crane up when Lex was out on the balcony in the rain. I loved the look of the first crane shot, it was beautiful, but it was perplexing because in the context of the scene the shot didn’t really make much sense. Why crane down to Lionel in a sort of a point-of-view shot from Lex? Was Lex really that focused on his father at that moment? Why emphasize him like that? Is there some larger metaphorical thing going on that I didn’t get?

Then that other one toward the end actually made me annoyed. The camera craned up, making Lex shrink suddenly inside the frame, just as Michael was about to deliver a pretty important moment for his character. I wanted to see Lex’s face as he dealt with emotional aftermath of Grant’s murder. We didn’t get to get a good look that, and the emotional impact of his reaction was deflated as a result.

That crane shot seemed to be reflexive of similar moments before (namely from “Memoria” and probably “Hereafter”) and, visually, was probably supposed to create a statement. In fact the look of that shot seemed to be the goal of that short, dialogue free scene: Lex standing in the rain with his arms outstretched as he screamed out in his agony. However, I think Todd was too intent on getting the look right, and it was a terrific crane shot (technically, it was very nice and all in one take), but he forgot to get the feeling of it right. He didn’t let the actor do his part. I couldn’t see Michael act the transition into the agony that caused him to scream and losing a sense of why he did that made the scene seem more contrived. I felt cheated.

That said, the very next scene was probably close to perfect. Clark and Lana’s bedroom scene was painful and rightfully so. They were both dealing with uncomfortable truths and that was justifiably reflected in the awkward scene. Both actors had their moments in that scene as well, even without speaking a word.

Although this probably wasn’t a perfect outing for Todd, he did very well for his first time out and he put in a solid episode. Some of the more subtle visual moments, the composition and blocking of scenes, the low angles used at times, were actually very good so I’m glad Todd had his shot at directing. I hope we have another season so he can give it another go to see if he can deliver an even better episode next time.

I love it that Smallville’s powers-that-be seem to want to bring people up from within their own organization, letting crew, cast members and writers take their shots at directing. I adore the idea that those people are given the chance to be more than they were originally hired to be, Al and Miles want to foster their budding talents. I hope I’m not being naïve, but it makes me think that working up there is more than just a job and that the creative people probably feel nurtured.

Now, for the actors: Tom Welling again did an excellent job. He had a huge amount of screen time, far more than usual, so it must have been a harder episode for him than normal. Given that, the fact that he performed both Clark and Bizarro so well I think says a lot.

Bizarro-Clark was perfect precisely because he wasn’t. He wasn’t a good copy of Clark, and couldn’t believably ever be so. So Tom again played Bizarro as if he were a different person who just happened to look like Clark. The way he stood, the facial expressions he made, the tone of his voice, even his inflections and delivery were so different from how Tom plays Clark that he really did almost seem like a different person. I’m not really sure how anyone can do that, but it’s a testament to the skill Tom Welling shows as an actor. He made it look easy while he also avoided turning the performance campy or making Bizarro too over-the-top “evil.”

Tom had some great moments as Bizarro-Clark. My favorite was when Bizarro mocked Chloe, silently mimicking her whining behind her back in their first scene in the Planet’s basement. Mocking her like that made the contempt Bizarro felt for Clark, and his friends, come through loud and clear despite the fact he hid it from her in his desire to continue the pretense that he was Clark. It added depth to the character, so the humor of it was just icing. I have a feeling it originally might have been Tom just fooling around behind Allison’s back, but kudos to Todd for keeping that take in if it was.

I’m sorry to see Bizarro go, I don’t know if Tom enjoyed playing him but I know I loved to watch him do it. Hopefully, they’ll figure out a way to bring Bizarro back. I miss him already.

Without a single word spoken, the ending scene between Clark and Lana was terrific. Tom and Kristin both did a super job in that. I understand it’s hard for actors to deal with scenes without dialogue. I think that makes sense since there is no framework to base the performance on. It’s a moment stripped bare of the actor’s most obvious tool: words.

Without dialogue, all the actor has left is his body and face. That probably would be terrifying to actors with less skill, and I know they only rarely used to give such scenes to Tom or Kristin. They’ve both grown so much, however, that I would guess that the prospect of having a scene without dialogue is a lot less scary for them than it would have been in the beginning. I do know they both do very well with scenes like now, so it’s a joy to see one so well done as the final scene in this episode.

Aside from the ending scene, Kristin Kreuk wasn’t at her best and I’m not sure if it was entirely her fault. I’m thinking the newbie director had something to do with it… Some moments seemed flat.

For example, I thought Lana should have shown more emotion at finding out she’d been unknowingly having sex with a homicidal phantom zone escapee. Then when Bizarro had pointed out the fact it was him (not Clark), that had made her feel more in love than ever, the realization that he was right should have completely shaken her and it apparently didn’t. Kristin’s been able to sell that kind of shock and horror before, so I believe I’m going to have to lay at least part of the blame for her failure in that at Todd’s feet.

Allison Mack was wonderful in this episode, her not believing in Clark when it was actually Bizarro, actually looked hard for Chloe to deal with. In Chloe’s scene with Lana in the kitchen when she was trying to convince Lana that Clark wasn’t acting normally, she played the shocked and confused Chloe perfectly. I loved the suspicion she showed when the real Clark showed up as well. She was definitely torn until he proved it to her.

John Glover was truly awesome as Lionel. It’s always a joy when Lionel is in an episode, but probably my favorite part was when he was Brainiac-as-Lionel. He was smooth and, like Tom’s Bizarro, different yet not different enough to really raise definite suspicion until the reveal in the elevator.

James Marsters’ return as Brainiac was awesome. Not only did he show a wry sense of humor, but he was cold blooded and ruthless to boot. He was as smooth as he could possibly be, yet he made it clear that Brainiac was damaged and not in top form physically. The menace he radiated was chilling as he casually killed the rat and apparently cold bloodedly killed Dax-Ur. It almost looked like he got a rush when he killed. I thought that was a nice touch, making that aspect of Brainiac echo James’ time as a vampire playing Spike in “Angel” and “Buffy.” I’m very glad James is back, I hope we see him again soon.

I’m going to miss Michael Cassidy. I got to like his Grant/Julian more and more the longer he was on the show. I hope because Grant was a clone that maybe Lex might try again to grow a new baby brother, so we might get Michael back someday.

Although Marc McClure didn’t have a lot of screen time, I really liked Dax-Ur. Marc, finally, was a stunt cast member that actually worked. He added a quiet grace to the character that had obviously been happy with the choices he’d made. I don’t think that Dax-Ur survived Brainiac’s attack on him, but if he did, then I hope he might be able to come back.

Glen Winter photographed yet another beautiful episode. The use of sunlight was very well done in this episode. The light, when it shone into a room, was overexposed and had a yellow tint which was perfect for this episode. I also loved how he had made what was probably part of the lot up in Burnaby look hot and dry when Clark visited the garage where Dax-Ur worked.

I wonder what little corner of the lot they’d turned into the shanty town inside Suicide Slums, but whichever one that was Production Designer James Philpott made good use of it. It looked particularly sleezy and run down, and of course Glen made it look even gloomier because of the way he shot it.

The choice of the song at the end, Interpol’s “Pioneer to the Falls,” was perfect.

Not a perfect episode but there was so much to love that I will have to spot it about a half point. I give it 5 Kryptonian shield beacons 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.