WARNING: Okay, you know the drill. If reading spoilers isn’t for you, you should read this after you’ve watched the episode.
Wow. Okay…
That totally wasn’t what I had expected but before I go into the episode review itself, I think the first thing I want to do is take stock on the whole Lana situation.
She actually wasn’t in this episode much, considering, but some unexpected things happened regarding her. So, I want to sorta sum up all the weirdness that has been her character this season:
- She faked her death at end of last season and was hiding out in China.
- Somehow Lex is still fond enough of her to get her off from murder charges (Well, I’m not sure how hard that was because there wasn’t really a murder since she’d used a never-really-alive clone to fake her death.) and didn’t press his own charges for her embezzling money from him.
- She held Lionel captive and had him tortured (that steel trap on his hand), although no one’s pressed charges on that either. Perhaps it’s okay since she did that apparently out of concern for Clark’s safety.
- Lana wanted to spend money to help the “meteor infected” but used that as a cover to stalk Lex. Oddly, he doesn’t really mind and again didn’t press charges since it means he still means something to Lana. (Weird, but it is Lex… I guess he takes whatever love he can get since Clark no longer loves him.)
- Finally able to make love to Clark, after they’d been holding back for reasons not really explained, Lana inexplicably barely looks like she enjoyed kissing him.
- Clark had finally discovered some of the terrible things she’s done and begun to question his feelings for her.
- Clark’s mother, Lara, told Lana to be very careful and not let the darkness inside her take over. (How she could tell that, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s some freaky super-ability that only replicants of Kryptonian mothers have…)
- Lana herself has said that she’s afraid of not being able to “come back” from the brink.
I’m not sure at this point she’s just taken on Luthor tendencies, it seems like she’s becoming Lex. Next she’ll tell Clark she stays with him because he’s the only thing keeping her totally going over to the “dark side.”
You see, I’ve been curious where this was all going and even sorta gone along with it as a story because I thought Lana was only making mistakes. I thought she’d been letting the desire for revenge overpower her better judgment. I never thought that she was evil deep down. However, it seems like they’re turning into that and I believe that an outright evil Lana is a very bad idea.
I can see her being influenced by Lex and his evil machinations and manipulations of her, but becoming truly evil? I hope this is going to a good place because I’m totally confused why they they’re turning Clark’s childhood sweetheart into a female version of Lex.
And exactly how was Clark able to hold the kryptonite to trap Zor-El? Did the blue-k cancel out the green? I wish they woulda explained that bit…
And did anyone see Grant Gabriel really being Julian Luthor coming? I know I didn’t. It explains a lot about why he’s helping Lex and why Lex feels entitled to meddle in his personal life, but how the hell had Julian survived? He was smothered in his crib as an infant by his mother, Lillian.
“Memoria” is one of my favorite episodes. It was beautifully directed, shot, acted and written, so have seen it a lot and remember most of the details. When Lex has the flashback to when he found his mother standing over his Julian’s crib, she was holding a pillow. She’d clearly smothered her child.
If Grant really is Julian and his father knew the baby had survived because he’d helped cover it up, why was Lionel so rocked when Lex revealed that it had been his mother who had killed Julian? Lionel would have known that Lillian was innocent, he shouldn’t have been that upset. That was a great scene, by the way. John Glover deserved an Emmy for just that, so is Lionel that good an actor? I mean is he up to laying the blame on Lex’s shoulders for 20 years for a crime that had never been committed? I don’t think so.
Also, Lex was 12 years old during the events in “Memoria” and now is about 30. Grant is young for a managing Editor of a major Metropolitan newspaper, but doesn’t look 18. So, none of that makes any sense at all, but maybe it will when they explain it. I really hope so, anyway.
And what about Lucas? Why does no one mention the half-brother Lex had back in the Season 2 episode, “Prodigal?”
I was surprised that Kara was so easily taken in by her father’s machinations, but she is still fairly naïve so maybe that explains that. She wanted to believe he wasn’t the monster she’d seen in those flashbacks in Lara. I can understand that but too bad she was wrong. However, her getting lost and losing her memory at the end of the episode was an interesting twist. Did she lose her powers too? Weird that she didn’t pull the door off when she tried to open it.
I’m surprised Clark got so wrapped up in saving his “mother.” He’s not as naïve as Kara and smart enough to know that she wasn’t really his mother, but I guess Clark acting out of character is just another problem with this script. Despite all the times he should have learned to pay attention to the disembodied voice in the arctic, he still ignored Jor-El’s warnings. Maybe he deserves whatever “consequences” that Jor-El has planned for Clark. Jor-El’s threats were a menacing end to the episode, but certainly made what led up to it seem even more contrived.
I guess Todd Slavkin’s and Darren Swimmer’s writing kept my interest, despite how perplexing the story was. However, it was like a warped puzzle. The pieces, by themselves, all looked good, but put them together and the totality just didn’t make much sense.
The actors all looked good (except I didn’t like what they did with Tom’s hair) and even Helen Slater did a reasonably good job acting-wise. Too bad they all didn’t have less improbable storylines to work with.
You know, I’m just so disgusted with this episode (still trying to wrap my mind about Julian being alive and Lana being truly evil) I’m not sure I have much else to say. I know I don’t have it in me to watch this again to try and figure something out, so this is going to have to be it.
Overall, I guess the episode was okay on the surface but I’m going to have to deduct points big time for the totally nonsensical plotlines. I give this episode 2 inexplicable plot-contrivances 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.
