#7.20 “Arctic” Review

WARNING: I tell you now: DO NOT read this until after you’ve seen this episode, otherwise you will be spoiled rotten. There are HUGE spoilers ahead.

As a public service, I will again include the Official Description so people who haven’t read it before will understand why I feel royally betrayed.

LEX DISCOVERS CLARK’S SECRET — Kara (Laura Vandervoort) tells Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) he is destined to defeat the Traveler and offers to take him to the Fortress to learn how. Clark (Tom Welling) is stunned that Kara would go to Lex but it is revealed that Brainiac is impersonating Kara and she’s actually trapped in the Phantom Zone. Chloe is arrested by the Department of Domestic Security and Lana awakens from her comatose state. Meanwhile, in an epic turn of events, Clark and Lex face off in the Fortress and Lex learns Clark’s secret. Erica Durance and Aaron Ashmore also star. Todd Slavkin directed the episode written by Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson (3T6320).

If this site wasn’t family friendly I’d use very strong, un-family friendly, and extremely unladylike, language to describe how angry I got when I realized that the Official Description writer, or writers, had yet again ruined what should have been one hell of a powerful reveal. However, because KryptonSite is a family friendly web resource for all Smallville fans, and I try to act in a professional manner whenever possible, I will restrain myself.

What I don’t understand, and why it had gotten me so angry, is why they did it.

I know not everyone is a spoiler-phobe, a lot of people want to know major plot-points ahead of time. I can understand that since I used to be that way, but back in season 6 when Lana was killed, I felt the power of the moment was diluted by knowing ahead of time that she was going to “die.” Spoilers were everywhere online, if you knew where to look for them.

Not that they had disclosed it in any official way. Nowhere in the Official Description had her death been spoiled.

Even back earlier this season, there was a huge surprise when it was revealed that it had been Bizarro, not Clark, who had setup housekeeping with Lana in “Gemini.” That wasn’t spoiled in the official description and I had been completely floored at that reveal. What a wonderful episode and what a terrific surprising cliff-hanger of an ending…

So, I had thought (wrongly, it would seem) that reading the official descriptions was pretty safe. Like I said in my “Apocalypse” review, they’re usually pretty vague and often have facts wrong.

For example, in the “Gemini” Official Description, for example, said that the bad guy had been infected with an alien substance. Where? When? That must have come from an earlier draft of the script. In the episode as aired the bad guy, Adrian, was actually a failed clone of Lex’s dead baby brother, Julian. He wasn’t a mutant and hadn’t been infected by an alien substance that we know of. Maybe his cloning was made possible by the alien DNA that Lex had somewhere, but it was never mentioned in the episode. How much more wrong could they be?

Even in this Official Description, they got some of the details wrong. For example, the Official Description said that Clark was stunned when he found out that Kara had gone to Lex. Maybe it happened in a scene that had been cut or maybe it happened that way in an earlier draft, but it wasn’t something he seemed to know at anytime in the course of the episode as it had aired.

However, maybe I should have been more cautious earlier this season when they’d started spoiling the episodes in the Official Descriptions. You might not realize that “Apocalypse” wasn’t the first episode spoiled in the Official Description, although it was the worst, before “Arctic.”

In the Official Description for “Hero,” they did spoil the fact that Pete was a gum chewing meteor freak, so that was also spoiled ahead of time. However, for that episode it had so many other problems, who the heck cares that it was spoiled in the description?

Another bad case was in the “Traveler” official description. They had spoiled that Lionel had been to blame for Clark’s capture and torture. I watched that episode again recently and it occurred to me that we probably weren’t supposed to know about Lionel’s involvement until the end of the first act, when he walked in on Pierce’s torturing of Clark and made him stop. That would have been another wonderful reveal that had been completely spoiled by the Official Description. I wish I’d said something about that back then, maybe the rest of this nonsense could have been avoided. However, I doubt my stating anything about that in a review would have helped at all. I’d like to think that they change things for the better, but considering how well Lana’s character had been handled all season maybe not…

Anyway, with “Arctic” I can sort of understand them teasing Lex finding out Clark’s secret and them having a confrontation in the fortress. That’s a huge event. That is just the kind of thing that the show has been building toward since the Pilot. Especially given that they’d earlier spoiled Lex finding the Fortress in a promo for “Sleeper,” it probably was not that big a surprise even for people who hadn’t read the description.

However, how in the world can they justify ruining what should have been fantastic surprise like Kara being in the Phantom Zone and Brainiac impersonating her? Like “Apocalypse” and Jor-El being responsible for the alternate universe Clark had found himself in, her not being herself clearly had been intended to be a surprise.

Even if I hadn’t known, I would have suspected something was up by her strange behavior, but we were likely supposed to find out when Chloe held out that kryptonite. After all, ‘Kara’ just smiled and joked when Chloe had held out the rock that’s toxic to Kryptonians. It was then it had been clear that she was not really Kara.

I just don’t understand why they would choose to ruin the biggest surprise from this episode and the episode-ending cliff-hanger from another.

But hold on!

Does the “Apocalypse” cliff-hanger even make sense now given Brainiac’s explanation of what had happened and how he got to Earth? In “Arctic” he had said that he came back disguised as Kara to protect himself from Clark. He said that impersonating Kara was the only way he could return to Earth without Clark damaging him…

So, if it was Fine who had really been Kara at the end of “Apocalypse,” why the hell was he going to drink milk? Was he trying that hard to maintain the illusion to drink milk when there wasn’t anyone around to see him do it? Maybe he might do that, but then why did he collapse in pain? None of that makes sense given what Fine had said in this episode…

So, who’s at fault with that? Al Septien and Turi Meyer for writing the end of “Apocalypse” like that? Or Don Whitehead and Holly Henderson for making sure that a good (albeit completely spoiled) cliff-hanging ending from that previous episode made no sense?

I just don’t get what any of them were thinking in regards to that.

Anyway, I mostly liked this episode, despite being officially spoiled, but it was pretty uneven. It had some great act-break cliff-hangers and at times was very exciting, but it didn’t really flow, especially toward the end.

I understand that Kristin Kreuk wasn’t in Vancouver to film a kiss-Clark-goodbye-while-breaking-his-heart-again scene, so I can see why they had her send him a Dear Clark DVD. She was still in Thailand filming her new movie, “Street Fighter.”

It even makes sense, given Lana’s history of leaving guys without facing them directly to break the bad news. (Thanks to a friend for reminding me about that particular trait of hers, by the way. I’m not quite that on top of things when it comes to the show.)

She’d previously sent Whitney, her boyfriend from the first season, a ‘Dear John’ (or a Dear Whitney) video to break it off with him while he away in the Marines. She then was going to leave Lex at the altar just last season after leaving him a Dear Lex letter until Lionel had forced her to go through with it anyway…. So, her sending Clark a ‘Dear John’ video makes sense, but I wish there had been a better way to handle it.

Kristin isn’t coming back full-time next year, so she’s going to have a much smaller recurring role, so it feels a bit contrived. I hope that this isn’t the only goodbye that Clark and Lana will get. I hope they can give us a more satisfying ending to their relationship when she finally does come back.

Jimmy’s proposal of marriage to Chloe was sweet, especially after she’d just been in the hospital in a Brainiac-induced coma. However, the arrest was happened so quickly on the tail end of that scene that it felt like it had been shoe-horned in.

The final act probably should have been solely about Lex and Clark, but they added the Jimmy/Chloe marriage proposal scene almost as a way to insert happiness for them both just before it got snatched away by her probably not totally unexpected arrest (especially since they’d spoiled that too).

It felt contrived, not sweet and romantic. I mean, to begin with why would Jimmy who loves Chloe that much think that Lex would just let Chloe get off her Federal rap scot-free after losing her as leverage against Jimmy?

Jimmy knows Lex killed Lionel. He knows that Lex probably also had others killed. Why would he rely on Lex’s good will with Chloe’s freedom at stake? I don’t buy someone even as guileless as Jimmy being that trusting or naïve.

The ending with Lex and Clark at the fortress should have been as legendary as their Lex had said their friendship would be way back when… It just wasn’t. The way it was staged and shot didn’t help it any (I’ll talk about that more when I talk about the director).

One thing I didn’t see coming was the destruction of the fortress. Wow. Why would Jor-El send a device through space to control his son and destroy the only source of Kryptonian knowledge on Earth? Why would using the device on Clark cause him to collapse like that? Why would Jor-El want to destroy the Fortress, much less think his son capable of losing control so badly he’d give power over him to others? It doesn’t make sense. I think something else must be going on, but I hope they clarify that come the next season premiere.

Overall I think Holly Henderson and Don Whitehead did a pretty good job with what they probably had to deal with, but this clearly wasn’t their best effort.

Todd Slavkin directed this episode. It was his sophomore effort (his directorial debut was “Persona”), and I’m not sure I’m in love with his visual style. There were too many long shots. I want to see more of the actors when they have “moments” than we did. I don’t know what Todd had intended with all the long shots, or even whether that was what he’d intended at all since I found the shot choices ill-conceived.

Maybe he ran out of time or did the best with what he’d been left from what had been shot before (parts of this episode had been intended to be in the original season ender, “Veritas,” before the strike had ended in time for them to shoot 5 more episodes). However, I wanted to get a better look at the actors in the pivotal moments of the episode.

I wanted to see Chloe’s desperation as she got dragged off by the police. Instead we got a long, Jimmy Point-Of-View shot where I could barely tell that it was Allison Mack at all.

I had wanted to see Clark’s reaction to Lex’s betrayal. Instead, we got a Lilliputian Lex and Clark (and it was impossible to tell who was really portraying them in that scene, they were so small) as Clark was felled by whatever that little glowing lilac ball did to him.

I don’t know about you, but I feel cheated in both scenes, especially when it came to Clark and Lex’s confrontation at the end.

We should have seen the moment when Clark realized what Lex was doing to him. The physical pain would have been dwarfed by the betrayal he would have felt. Why didn’t we get to see that realization? Why did Todd decide to show us only the final moment when Clark, helpless, could only look up in confusion at Lex? Why not show us Lex’s reaction to what happened to Clark? Why not let us see how Tom portrayed Clark as he became helpless and fell in a flash of light and pain?

It’s the culmination of their relationship. This was the ending of their hot and cold running friendship that had turned so acrimonious that Lex was willing to kill Clark. Why not spend more time on the relationship’s end? Seeing how Lex Luthor may not be in the show at all next season, why not show us as much as possible of their final showdown?

Again, I don’t know what he was thinking or what he might have been possibly compensating for, but no matter the cause I’m unhappy with the result. It did play better on subsequent viewings than it did initially; the scene was almost five minutes long which is an incredibly long scene in TV, but still… I felt a bit cheated.

The actors, on the other hand, all turned in nearly flawless performances.

Tom Welling was outstanding as Clark. The cold anger Tom portrayed when Clark realized that Brainiac was responsible for Chloe’s condition was chilling. Then, when Clark fought Fine with such a determination it was amazing to watch. When the time came to kill Brainiac to save Chloe and Lana, he played Clark killing without hesitation, but Tom gave Clark just a hint of horror at destroying something sentient. The way Tom played it, Clark clearly hadn’t enjoyed killing even though the man wasn’t really alive.

However, what was probably his best moment in the episode was when Clark watched the Dear Clark video that Lana had made for him. Clark’s world appeared to crumble as he watched… Tom took Clark from concerned and worried at what he was going to see to complete devastation and all of it without speaking a single word. What an awesome scene, what an awesome episode, we got from Tom.

Kristin Kreuk almost literally phoned it in since she filmed her one scene while on location in Thailand, but considering she had no one to play off of from the show she was absolutely amazing. In that one minute or so of screen time Kristin had believably shown how much Lana loves Clark despite having to leave him and Smallville. Kristin was terrific.

This is possibly Michael Rosenbaum’s final appearance on Smallville and he did a wonderful job. Lex had didn’t actually have a lot of screen time, which is a shame especially considering this is possibly the last time he’s Lex Luthor, but what time he did have he made excellent use of. Michael played Lex as cold and business-like most of the episode, neatly manipulating the naïve Jimmy, but he was truly shocked to find out that Kara was an alien and his savior from the season opener.

In the ending scene with Clark he played Lex as resolved to end the threat to the Earth that Clark posed. He made it believable that Lex would kill the man he loved like a brother. He seemed to really regret the choice, but went through it anyway. Lex went through a lot of emotions in that final scene, so if it is Michael’s last it was a very good one.

I’m really going to miss Michael. However, I hope the powers-that-be can convince him to come back at least for a few episodes next season.

Allison Mack was terrific as Chloe. She was ever the reliable friend for Clark. I think she performed admirably in this less than stellar episode despite the more unwieldy than normal expository-heavy dialogue she had to deliver. I really liked how she played Chloe facing Kara and then Brainiac. Kara is a nearly unbeatable Kryptonian, Brainiac a nearly unbeatable machine, and Allison played how brave Chloe was for facing them flawlessly: resolved, but with a tinge of fear of what was going to happen.

Erica Durance was pitch-perfect as Lois Lane. She was adorable in Lois’ opening scene with Clark when she tried to convince him to apply for a job at the Daily Planet, but her best scene was one where she didn’t really speak much. In that final scene with Clark, Erica had Lois go through a wide range of emotions and I could almost tell what she was thinking, her face and body were so expressive. What a terrific scene for her.

Laura Vandervoort did better in this than her previous outing in “Apocalypse.” She believably portrayed Brainiac in the scenes where Fine was impersonating her, especially in that one scene with Chloe in the Talon apartment. The only time she didn’t sell me on her Brainiac-as-Kara portrayal was the long scene with Lex in the Luthor mansion where she slipped back into a more Kara-like delivery, and her very Canadian accent, for most of the scene.

Aaron Ashmore was terrific as Jimmy. He made the turbulent episode for him realistically played. I could almost see how torn Jimmy was in the scene with Lois. Aaron did a terrific job.

James Marsters didn’t have a lot of screen time, but he was marvelous in every second. I loved his scene with Chloe after she’d discovered he wasn’t really Kara. He played Fine as cold and calculating, but then was all but horrified by Chloe’s power hurting him the way it did. And the scene at the power station was truly amazing. James played Fine as clearly on his last legs, and yet he still had enough energy to believably taunt Clark. What an incredible scene for him. I hope he can come back next year, even after Fine’s apparent “destruction.”

While I wasn’t all that happy with the director’s shot choices in the final scene in the Fortress of Solitude, I must say I love how Glen Winter photographed and lit the set. The multiple colors helped make the set look a lot bigger than it probably really is. Despite all the white and glowing ice crystals, the scene had an incredible amount of depth.

I really hope since Allison Mack is indeed coming back that next year they use wardrobe that is more flattering to her figure. Caroline Cranstoun’s decision to put Allison into such continually frumpy clothing mystifies me. She’s a beautiful woman with a nice figure. I hope the frumpy clothing goes before the 8th season starts production.

Overall, this wasn’t the best season finale I’ve ever seen, not by a long shot, but despite its fundamental faults it kept my interest and was better acted than most. Not a complete waste of bandwidth, but I give this episode 3.5 lilac Clark remote controls 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.