#7.14 “Traveler” Review

WARNING: If you don’t like to be spoiled go watch the episode and come back when you’re done. This review will spoil you rotten. So, what are you waiting for? Fire up your TiVO or warm up your VCR and watch this episode now. It was awesome!

This episode, unlike “Hero,” sounded fantastic from the time I read the official description. Clark gets kidnapped by Lionel, of all people, and held in a kryptonite lined cell?

Wow! That’s a great description and the episode held to the description’s promise. What a wonderful episode. It was full of loyalty, betrayal, bravery, intrigue, cruelty, love, duplicity, anguish, joy and murder.

Holly Henderson and Dan Whitehead wrote the script based on a story by Al Septien and Turi Meyer. They all did a wonderful job, but they were helped a great deal by the director and cinematographer. Its hard being on the outside looking in to really know what was a writing decision, a directing decision or a photographer decision, so I will move those two guys up.

Anyway, the only WTF thing about this story was that Lana and Chloe had inexplicably disappeared after the third act. Did they cut something out that would have explained where the girls were?

Lana and Chloe were instrumental in getting Kara’s memories and powers back so she could save Clark. Their absence from the final two acts when they were so involved in the first three was an extremely odd choice. Maybe in a way it makes sense, I’m going to talk about that more when I talk about the director since I think it might have been a directing decision…

Other than that I had no problems at all with this episode. The story started off strong. Lionel getting yet another letter sent to him. We’ve seen these before, Lana picked up one of those mysterious envelopes with the Veritas symbol when she’d visited Lionel’s office earlier in the season. There was no real clue given at the time of what was in that envelope.

They finally showed us Lionel getting one of those mysterious letters. However, I’m not sure why the contents were never shown in the episode. It should have shown us a cryptic message, “Heed our Warning, The Son of Krypton belongs to Veritas,” but the only reason I know about that was because the trailer showed that and I saw a screen shot of it. I’m confused why the letter was never shown in the episode.

As ominous as Lionel getting “another one” sounded, with how it aired its not really clear what is in the letter or why it made him so upset. Whatever the reason, that letter upset Lionel quite a bit. He looked visibly shaken.

The next scene, the amazing barn scene where Clark gets captured, was heartbreaking to watch. He hadn’t expected any danger and wasn’t cautious enough and got caught. It was scary, which was made more so from how the scene was shot and directed (more about that later).

It hadn’t been clear at first that Lionel had been responsible. Or, maybe, it might not have been clear if the Official Episode Description hadn’t spelled out that Lionel was the one responsible for Clark’s kidnapping. I wish they hadn’t done that and had revealed his involvement only inside the episode.

Lionel’s reasons for doing that to Clark were mysterious at first. I thought from the way John Glover played that Lionel was being forced to do it for some reason. He looked scared when he got that letter in the tease and later, when talking to Pierce, seemed to want to safeguard Clark’s health and safety.

He said it himself: “I built that cell to contain him, not for you to use as a torture chamber.” He had apparently built it for Clark, despite his later denials, so why does he then try to protect Clark? He actually threatens Pierce in his next line. “If anything happens to him, anything at all, because of your appetite for cruelty you will be held responsible.” Pierce took that threat seriously enough to look scared by it.

So, why try to protect Clark once he’s in the cell if Lionel’s the one responsible for his painful capture and imprisonment in the first place? Why be worried about Clark’s well being if he’d been working on building the facility, and planning on taking Clark, basically ever since he’d discovered his secret?

I thought that maybe the payoff with Patricia might have made that understandable. As soon as she showed up with the briefcase, Lionel was ready to let Clark go. Even after Pierce had gotten the jump on Patricia, he had ordered him to take Clark home so it seemed to make sense at the time.

However, in thinking about it that doesn’t seem like the only reason he had apparently put Clark through all that torment. Sure, he had wanted to get the evidence Virgil Swan had collected on the murders he’d committed. However, I think his reasons for taking Clark might have only been partly explained by getting Patricia Swann to hand over those files her dad had on Lionel, especially since he had Clark captured before it was clearly Patricia Swann who had been sending those letters. Was it really to protect Clark, as he had later claimed? How is painfully capturing him and keeping him locked up against his will protecting Clark? Is there some kind of logic there that only a Luthor can understand?

The odd thing about what Lionel had done was that once Pierce had turned and threatened Clark, Lionel killed him to protect Clark. Despite his betrayal and capture of Clark, that action again puts his real motives back into question. He’s not completely evil, apparently, but it is chilling that Lionel is willing to make Clark suffer like that only to achieve goals that maybe still aren’t completely clear. It’s manipulative and sadistic. Despite Lionel apparently being severely conflicted on taking Clark, the fact remains that he still did do it. The question is now why?

Maybe we will learn more in the next episode, “Veritas,” since the title is the same as the name of the program that was created to protect Clark.

Lex is getting more and more evil each episode. Last week ended ominously for Kara, with Lex shutting her in with him without comment. There had been good reason for me to be worried for Kara at the end of the last episode. He was planning on making her a lab rat, despite her stupidity in trusting of him, or maybe because of it.

I also want to know why Lex felt it necessary to kill Patricia Swann. He could have had her apartment burglarized or had her mugged to get the necklace. He probably didn’t have to kill her, so it makes me think that maybe he remembers more of Veritas as a child than he had admitted to her. Maybe he remembers that locket and that there is something important enough about that made him kill her for it.

While not perfect, the script was pretty darn close. Holly and Don had kept up a good pace and the act break cliff-hangers were all terrific. I liked Lana getting in on the scoobying with Chloe. Also, Clark acted so brave and resolved to keep on fighting despite the overwhelming odds against him ever escaping on his own. He was every inch Superman in this episode, although him not trying to use any of his powers back in the barn was maybe a bit of a stretch. However, it was a contrivance I can live with since the story that arose from his inexplicable carelessness was a terrific one.

I loved Glen Winter’s directing of this episode, for the most part. I think he had some poor shot coverage evidenced by several of shots of Clark first moments awake inside the cage getting used again later in the episode.

I hate it when they do that, but maybe things happened that were out of Glen’s control. However, it does show maybe some things didn’t happen according to plan with this episode. Is that also the reason why Lana and Chloe didn’t appear in the fourth and fifth acts?

Saying that, I must admit that it probably worked out for the best them being absent in the final acts. I mean, what would you have cut from Clark’s or Lex’s scenes in Act Five? I know I wouldn’t have wanted to cut a single second from Clark’s scenes with Patricia, Lionel and Kara. Those were great scenes and revealed a lot more about Clark’s character than a chick-flick moment with either Lana or Chloe would have ever done. And I know I wouldn’t have wanted to cut a second from that murder scene or Lex’s contemplative cleaning of Patricia’s locket. So, I can understand why any later scenes with Lana and Chloe were sacrificed; it was likely for the good of the episode as a whole, and for Clark’s character arc in particular.

So all in all, I thought Glen had done a terrific job. The acting was all above average and the blocking of the scenes was terrific. Clark’s capture scene was a hard scene to watch, but it was probably the best single scene in the episode. The way it was shot helped (which I’ll talk about more in a minute), but the way it was blocked (where the actors are in relation to the camera and each other and how they move while interacting with each other) was terrific and helped reinforce how trapped Clark was. I liked the way the scene had escalated as well. Clark started out in quite a bit of trouble from the first moment he stepped into the loft, but he just wasn’t aware of it. The danger revealed itself gradually until he was shot with that first taser. The danger and tension increased beautifully until it climaxed with Clark’s capture. It was an extremely well done scene.

The episode was shot by a Director of Photography new to Smallville, Gordon Verheul. According to his IMDB page, he’s usually a feature film cinematographer (aside from a few direct to video films and TV episodes he’s done), but I think he did an excellent job here. I loved when he had shots that were in Clark’s POV. It helped make the scenes in the cell especially underscore the fact how alone Clark was; how cut off from everything he was, the only voice he heard came from a tormentor shut behind a two way mirror.

At the end of that scene, Gordon shot it from Clark’s POV. The low angle as Clark knelt, trapped by the men who had surrounded him, as Pierce came up and grabbed him was a remarkably affective shot. At first all “Clark” could see was the green leads from the Tasers and the bright lights the men held. The men were nothing more than silhouettes. The only person Clark could see clearly was Pierce and he could only see him once he leaned into the shot. It was a dark, scary and confusing moment for Clark and the way it was shot made it even more so.

Another scene I loved was the murder scene. With Vancouver…. err… Metropolis off in the distance, the scene was beautiful and the murder happening almost casually, and off in the distance, helped to underscore how I thought Lex might be feeling about it. It was made matter-of-fact, business-like. It was very different from the last times Lex had murdered on screen. His murder of the doctor in “Promise” was desperate; his murder of Grant/Julian in “Persona” actually seemed to trouble him quite a bit, what with all that screaming in the rain later.

However, this murder was so casual, almost not worthy of even a look of concern, to him. So, the way that Gordon filmed it, in cold grays and in a long shot, was perfect. The way it was shot perfectly suited Lex’s attitude about it. It was just business and a cold blooded murder in every sense of the word. It was a beautiful moment.

The whole episode had a very cinematic feel to it, which is never a bad thing so I hope Gordon can come back. If he comes back to work his magic again with Glen directing, all the better.

Tom Welling was perfect in this episode. I’m not sure how he does it, exactly, but he does pain better than anyone that I’ve ever seen. It must be a surreal thing. The script says, “Clark is painfully poisoned by KRYPTONITE” and Tom does his thing and makes it seem so real.

The last time I’d mentioned this, the editor of the Smallville magazine actually contacted me about it. He pointed me to an upcoming article where Laura Vandervoort explained that Tom had told her to act like she’s got a really bad stomach ache. That’s a great explanation, but I’m not sure that’s the whole story. Either more is going on in Tom’s head, or he’s had some really bad tummy pains in his life. I’m not sure how he does it, but I’m amazed how easily Tom makes a little green light look like it’s the most painful thing in the world.

Despite the extreme nature of Clark’s confinement, Tom still managed to be subtle. Oddly perhaps, one of my favorite moments in the episode is when Clark first woke up in the cell. Tom had him wake up slowly. And Tom must have worked with the director and director of photography on that moment as well. The camera started on just his hand, as his fingers started to move just a little. Then as his fingers moved more and as he pulled his arm closer to his body, Clark still not quite awake, the camera moved with his hand. When Tom’s eyes opened, Clark seemed confused and it took several seconds for him to take in his new situation. It was the perfect response given the confusing change in Clark’s circumstances. The point of view shots that I talked about earlier helped that immensely.

I think probably my favorite parts were when Tom had Clark show how resolved he despite the danger he faced and Lionel’s betrayal. When Clark first came to understand what had happened, he fought to get out, even when it was clear he wouldn’t succeed. Once his cell was obviously escape-proof, Clark tried to talk his way out. The emotions that played over Tom’s face were amazing to watch as Pierce talked to him and taunted him. The moment after Pierce walked away, leaving Clark literally on his knees, was another amazing moment.

Tom played all the emotions that Clark had gone through in this episode perfectly. It was a terrific performance.

Michael Rosenbaum was awesome in this. He plays Lex’s descent into evil very smoothly. Lex is so casually evil now, using Kara’s naïve trust of him to try and learn her secrets so he can finally what it is that Clark had been hiding from him for so long.

I also loved Michael’s performance in Lex’s scene with Patricia in the library. He showed Lex has having seemingly recognized that something more than a childhood friend dropping by was going on. He played that scene perfectly.

Kristin Kreuk played Lana as tenacious and highly protective of Clark. However, I’m not sure I totally bought her threat to Lionel that she was going to kill Lex is he ever hurt Clark. Even with that, the way that Kristin had Lana deal with Clark missing was marvelous. I did like that she seemed to take the bull by the horns early on in the episode and came up with the plan that got Kara out of the Luthor mansion.

Allison Mack was absolutely fantastic as Chloe. She had made her strong because her best friend was gone, but there was still vulnerability. Her best scene was the one in the Fortress as she pleaded with Jor-el to cure Kara so she could save Clark. As she begged Jor-El to listen to her and not let her issues with Kara interfere with giving her back the powers she needed to save him, Allison portrayed a near perfect mix of hope and fear.

Even though this episode was all about Clark, John Glover totally owned it. Lionel was going through some sort of self-imposed hell. It’s not completely clear yet why Lionel felt forced to capture Clark and put him through such a tortuous imprisonment, but from the way John played it Lionel was definitely conflicted about it. So much so, John had Lionel seemed to be beaten down by the end of the episode. In his final scene with Clark, Lionel’s shirt collar was open and he was drinking heavily, but it wasn’t just that. John’s body language was all different. Usually, John plays Lionel standing upright, his stance confident and assured. His chest is even pushed out a bit, but as the episode unfolded, Lionel started to get more hunched and his movements became hesitant and unsure.

For example, he played the confident MB in the scene with Patricia Swann, even leaning in aggressively into her personal space. He was confident and sure and told Patricia that she is out of her depth. Then, it was true. A later scene with Lex, dealing with some of the same revelations Lionel was far less confident. His tie was loose and his shirt collar opened. In his last scene with Clark, his shirt was open further, his tie further loosened, as he walked to and around Clark. Clark was clearly the stronger man in that scene. By that scene, Lionel had completely lost whatever power he had. It was a brilliant performance and John perfectly played Lionel as a man getting worn down by the stress of the choices he obviously didn’t like, but felt he had to make.

The two guest stars, Gina Holden as Patricia Swann and Aaron Douglas as Pierce were both perfect.

Gina is elegant and an extremely capable actress. She is graceful and has an aristocratic air about her, perhaps due to her background in dance, but that was just right for the part. I’m very sorry Lex felt it necessary to kill her, mostly because we’ll probably never see her again.

Aaron normally plays the far more easy going Chief Petty Officer Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica, but he totally owned this part as the completely sadistic Pierce. He didn’t take it too far over the top, which would have been easy to do and would have made the part too campy. He was quietly angry and cruel, nothing big or overblown about the performance at all. He played the part exactly the way it needed to be played.

Production Designer James Philpott did a marvelous job, again probably squeezing blood from stone because of the cheap bastards at The CW. There was some nice touches, I loved how beautifully detailed the journal was. The Kryptonian symbols, the laborious notes, it was a wonderfully involved prop.

Show music composer Louis Febre did another wonderful job. I loved how the music built when something important was about to happen and then the music stopped with a chord, sort of similar to the cha-chung sound that happens on Law & Order, almost to punctuate the character’s thoughts. He used that especially effectively in the scene with Clark and Lionel. Lionel was trying to cover his betrayal with lies and claimed to have changed. Clark thought about it, Tom performing the moment of resolve perfectly, and just before he spoke the telling line, “No you haven’t,” the music climaxed to a single chord to emphasize his point. It was beautiful.

Also, the music inside the episode was well chosen. The aria Lionel listens to is s particularly demanding aria. It is “Queen of the Night” aria, but the German name for means “The vengeance of Hell boils in my heart” (“Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen”), from Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). (Okay, I’m no opera expert. I looked it up, but I only recognized the aria to begin with because it figured prominently in the film Amadeus.)

Anyway, in reading more about the opera and that aria, I think it’s a perfect choice for Lionel to listen to at that moment, just before Clark is captured. The aria is essentially about betrayal in an opera that has secret societies, treachery, kidnapping and murder.

The Queen of the Night aria is also a technically difficult aria to perform, requiring a soprano with two octave range hitting a high note not common in opera, an F6. (Yeah, I looked that up too.) The musical complexity of the aria, its beauty, combined with the message of betrayal is particularly apt for Lionel to listen to.

This isn’t quite a perfect episode, I think I would have preferred closure for Chloe and Lana, but as I said: in the end I didn’t mind that so much since it served the story better in the long run. Also, aside from a few contrivances, the story was well told, exciting and got better with each viewing. Since I don’t give out quarter points, I give “Traveler” 5 kryptonite tipped taser electrodes out of a possible 5. Although, if I had just been grading on Tom’s and John’s performances, this episode would have gotten a 6 or 7… They were both amazing in this episode.

Note: The views of Triplet don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send her feedback.