Anyway, I’m going to date myself here, but back when I was teenager I had seen Superman: The Movie in the theatre. And I think I had seen it several times, in fact. Dad was indulgent that way, he loved movies and he probably took us to see it more than once just because he was a nice guy. Or maybe it was because he liked Superman too…
It was an amazing film to see in the theatre, but looking back I don’t think the film has aged well. It was through watching that film that I fell in love with Christopher Reeve a little bit, he was just so good. However, more importantly for how I got to reviewing Smallville, I also fell in love with Superman.
What a wonderful idea that character is.
The thought that there is a guy who is the last of his race, has incredible powers that make him nearly impervious to almost everything, and yet he only uses his god-like abilities to help others and asks for absolutely nothing in return. He is the ultimate Boy Scout and do-gooder. Would most humans be that selfless given the same gifts?
I don’t think so.
So, I started to buy Superman comic books with the pittance of an allowance I was given at the time, I think I got only a few bucks a week, but I’d have to walk or ride my bike to the 7-11 that was several miles away to do it. Despite all that, I did it every week and I loved reading the comics. Eventually, however, the convenience store stopped carrying them and, living in suburbia, I wasn’t anywhere close to a real comic book store. So, as a suburban teen with no car of my own, I got out of the habit of buying comics, or maybe I just grew up. In any case, I went to high school, then to college, got married, and then had a couple of kids…
But then about seven years ago I heard about this teen Superman show. But because I had been so in love with Superman comics as a kid, I didn’t even want to watch it at first.
I mean, it was on the same channel as Dawson’s Creek. What would The WB, not even a real network and one that specialized in primetime teen soap operas, do with a teenaged Superman?
I almost literally shuddered at the thought.
I had been so convinced the show wouldn’t be good, I hadn’t even considered tuning in. This was despite the fact that back then (unlike now) I saw the promos for the show everywhere.
One of my triplet sisters (yes, I really am a triplet) watched the show and insisted that I would like it. I was skeptical, how could it be any good? It was on The WB! However, she kept encouraging me to watch. She had told me, “You loved Superman comics when we were teens, you’re going to love this show.”
It took until about mid-way through the second season and I finally gave it a try. And I didn’t love it, not right away. That’s probably not surprising since that first episode I had seen was “Visage!”
Can you imagine that episode being anyone’s first? (That was the episode when Tina came back disguised as Whitney and goes after Lana.)
I didn’t know who Whitney was or who Tina was and I had no clue even who Chloe was! I had not a single clue about what was going on, but I was intrigued.
Yeah, it was a soap opera, which The WB (now The CW) does do very well, but it was about Superman too.
Although I did know, John Schneider, Annette O’Toole and John Glover, but I didn’t know any of the younger cast. However, right from the start I could see how talented they all were, in addition to being extremely attractive, and the show certainly looked pretty. (Yes, I can be shallow and I’m not ashamed to admit it.)
I watched it fairly regularly after seeing the first two or three episodes, only missing a few here and there, but it felt like I didn’t completely understand the show. I had only seen a few installments from the first season by the end of the third and I felt like things were happening that I didn’t understand because I was missing part of the back story.
However, after the third season finale, the wonderful “Exodus,” I was hooked. I mean that episode ended with Clark on Red-K riding off into the sunset, leaving his parents and childhood sweetheart behind out of his anger and grief. How could anyone not love that episode? What a fantastic way to end a season!
I had to see more, I wanted to see them all before the fourth season started up that fall. Since the first couple of DVD sets had come out by then, I asked for the first two seasons for my birthday that summer.
My dear older triplet sisters (I’m the youngest) acted as enablers for my new Smallville addiction and chipped in to get me the first two seasons’ DVD sets. It’s their fault I’m reviewing, because it wasn’t until I had finally seen the Pilot episode that I fell in love with the show. If it can happen that you can fall in love with a show, I completely did once I saw how it all started.
I’ve seen a lot of TV and it is probably one of the best Pilots I think I have ever seen. It set up the show so well. It’s perfect, in fact.
It introduced complications that could easily sustain a series, yet also had fully fledged characters. Maybe it helped they had been based on existing characters, but most TV pilot episodes don’t do that as well as Miles Millar and Al Gough did with Smallville.
Love or hate ’em, Al and Miles created what is arguably the best live-action comic book-based TV show ever. It is certainly the longest running one.
The Pilot was what is best about the series, and still is my favorite episode because of it. It was the beautifully crafted characters, the terrific relationships, that helped me fall in love with the show. I easily forgave it its lapses (which used to be a lot more frequent back then than now), since the heart of the show was still always there: Clark’s relationships with the people around him, his family and his friends.
Watching the show then felt like something familiar, yet it was new. It was a different take on the mythos, true. They are definitely doing it their own way, but Smallville and Tom Welling gave me back my childhood love of Superman and I will always love them both for that.
I started buying comics again and I still love them and I don’t care what a geek it makes me, despite being the mom of two teens maybe I should. Comics are not only prettier than they used to be when I was a teen, the art is so gorgeous it can be breathtaking, but the stories are also better. That’s a complete win-win for me.
As the fourth season approached and my love for the show deepened and grew, I decided to start writing reviews. I had written quite a bit when I was younger (I had been a film major in college and had written several screenplays). Since the show inspired me, I wanted to express my thoughts and feelings about it.
So, I started writing reviews for the show on a now-defunct web site starting with fourth season premiere, “Crusade,” but before too long I had started having some issues with them. I won’t go into details here, but I started looking for elsewhere to post my reviews. I found out from James, the guy who runs TomWelling.org, that Craig was looking for a new reviewer. So, I lucked out a bit and started writing reviews for him here on KryptonSite.
I’ve grown a lot as a writer since I started. I actually cringe now at some of the things I’d said in the past, but the show has grown too.
It is a different show now than it was when it first it started. It’s different even from when I started reviewing it four years ago. The cast has changed and the younger characters have all grown up. And, of all of the regular characters that were in the show’s Pilot episode, only Clark and Chloe are left.
Despite all the changes, or maybe because of them, this season looks like it will be terrific. A changing cast forces them to move on from the same old storylines. Or at least I hope so. There are even some new faces, and there will be more, but the show seems like its still strong and moving forward.
This episode, although not perfect, gives proof of why it’s been on for now eight seasons. Like the Pilot when I saw it, the show is familiar, yet is still new.
No matter what the changes, both to the cast and the types of stories they choose to tell, I’m still in love with this show.
— Cindy
Definition of Odyssey:
a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune
an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest
Okay for the review portion of my weekly essay on Smallville, I’m going to start off with a complaint.
Is that ironic after saying how much I love the show? Maybe, but I’m angry…
I didn’t see every second of the episode because The CW Mobile, AL/Pensacola, FL affiliate had some problems. Perhaps they were network feed issues or someone in the control room wasn’t paying attention, but whatever the cause I hope they never do this again.
What happened was that during the commercial breaks there was dead air over a black screen and then the commercials (once they did start) appeared to overlap the show and the episode was clipped at the beginning of each act.
If it the timing of commercials continues to be a problem, I’ll be cranky. I hope they get whatever the problem was fixed.
Anyway, right from the start the episode was terrific.
The terrific recap at the start of the show should have gotten everyone up to speed on what had happened in show up until now. The editors did an amazing job of summing up the most relevant parts of the previous seven seasons in only a few minutes.
The teleplay was written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer (the story was penned by Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders) and the four of them didn’t really waste any time and jumped right into the story. And the teaser set up the episode in a terrific way.
It reintroduced us to the now-identified Lex minion, Regan, played by Ari Cohen (he had been credited last season as “Lex’s Bodyguard”). Also, the tease gave a pretty good introduction to the new Luthorcorp Acting CEO Tess Mercer, played by Cassidy Freeman.
The dialogue was tight and to the point. Through only a few lines of dialogue, they setup that both Tess and Regan are devoted to Lex and Luthorcorp, even though they plan go about trying to find him, and protect his interests, in different ways. Going from how the setup had them going at each other, the two of them were probably destined to not get along and throughout the episode they didn’t. They simply don’t have the same outlook on how to deal with trying to find their missing boss.
Only a minute or so in, the action starts up when Dinah, Arthur, and Oliver show up and take down the bad guys. However, they don’t find clues to where Clark had gone. All the nascent Justice League found was his ever-present red jacket. It was a nearly perfect tease.
Not only had they introduced a new, and very important character, but in very short order it also setup the rest of the episode. On top of that, the writers also introduced some complications that will no doubt come up as the season progresses.
So, by the end of the tease the hunt for Clark was on, but his odyssey had already in full swing by then since he’d been missing a month.
We didn’t get to see Clark until the end of the first act, but he was determined to finish his journey and get home. Yet, ultimately, that wasn’t the most important Odyssey he’d taken in this episode.
(I love it when the title of the episode is so apt, like it is with this one.)
No, Clark’s Odyssey didn’t just turn out be for him to find his way home, it was really an emotional one. Clark’s real Odyssey was one he’d been traveling for the entire series: he needed to decide what it is exactly that he needs to do with his life and his gifts. He needed to find his way to where he could really, and finally, accept his destiny.
It was touching that the love that used to hold him back, the love for his parents and for Lana, now pushes him forward and away from his comfort zone in Smallville. He’s now ready to put himself out there, and some people will say it’s far past time for him to get there, and he’s prepared to say goodbye to his childhood and move on to become whoever he is meant to be.
And yes, it is wonderful that Clark has finally “accepted his destiny,” but unfortunately the power of that scene was deflated because he’d accepted his destiny before. Actually, I think he’d actually done it more than once. Hopefully this time was him accepting his destiny for the final time.
One thing I was surprised I liked about the episode was how the writers had handled Lex being gone and introduced Tess as his replacement. The character had its weak moments, perhaps due to the actor being new to the part more than the writing, but overall I liked her. She’s intriguing and poses some lingering menace to Clark since she has already picked up vital clues that Clark was in the arctic with Lex.
I loved the humor in the episode. When Regan held the gun on Ollie, he said, “There’s a reason the cowboys won the west. Playing with bows and arrows can only get you so far.” He said that just before AC busts through the ice and throws him across the room. That was funny…
Clark’s and Lois’ snarky interchanges in the episode were terrific. Clark’s belittling Lois’ femininity and her mocking him in return was terrific. I loved how he was trying to annoy her at the end. She was teasing him about making his first save, as he smiled because he knew that it wasn’t. I love it when more is going on than what is stated in the dialogue.
Clark and Lois’ changing relationship looks like it’ll be a good one to not only bring some nice humor to the show, which has been largely joyless of late (and it was wonderful to see Clark smiling for a change). I’ll also look forward to seeing them getting them closer to the relationship they have in the comics.
There was also some wonderful continuity in this episode. The stone that formed the fortress showed up now that’s been destroyed, even though it’s unfortunately in Tess’ hands. Also, there were mentions of Clark’s parents, Lana and there was even a mention of Chloe’s mom. It was ironic that Moira’s powers had been harvested and used against her own daughter…
In a broad sense, the episode was extremely strong for the writers and I had few complaints. The dialogue was tight and focused, there were escalating stakes for all the characters throughout the episode, and they had some terrific act break cliff-hangers. It was an exciting episode that kept my attention the whole time.
However, as wonderful as most of the episode was some of the details don’t really bear up to close scrutiny.
This might be more a problem with the special effects company they use, and not the writers, but how on earth did Arthur come up through the ice? When the camera pulled back at the end of the tease, Ollie, Dinah and AC stood on an ice field surrounded by rocky outcrops. They weren’t out on the Arctic ice cap, they were in the mountains. So, there wouldn’t have been any liquid water anywhere close to where they were, yet Aquaman was wet when he threw Regan into that crate.
And how exactly did Clark get from an Arctic Ocean fishing boat to that work camp where he was basically kept as a slave? Especially when the town in question is deep inside Siberia? Although it has a fairly large port on a river in Siberia, the town Clark was in (identified as Verkhoyansk) isn’t all that close to the ocean. I know because I looked it up. Interesting what you can find on the internet, when you try.
But, how had Clark gotten into debt there to begin with? Why did he owe the guy who ran that work camp anything? They didn’t really explain any of that, but I guess we’ll have to go with it.
Also, I’m not that in love with Chloe getting yet another power. I wasn’t wild about the first one, so why is she getting a new one? Maybe something will happen that will explain that one later, or maybe they’d realized healing didn’t work out the way they’d thought. However, this one at least makes more sense for Chloe, given her skills with a computer. I just hope it will be used less as Deus Ex Machina plot device than her healing powers were…
Another detail that bothered me was how, exactly, did the Martian Manhunter save Clark if taking him into the sun helped heal Clark but took John’s powers away? I mean, Clark was out cold and John was out in space… How did John survive reentry back into Earth’s atmosphere, much less get Clark’s clothes changed and safely back in the barn?
It wasn’t a perfect outing for the writers, but there was a lot to delve into. They handled some of the cliff-hangers better than I had would have thought they would. Overall, despite some of the issues I had with it, I liked the script a lot.
Tom Welling was, again, truly wonderful as Clark. He played Clark as more determined to do what he needs to in order to help people. Tom played Clark as resolved and confident. Also, it seems like he is already laying the groundwork for how Clark will carry off having dual-identities later. His voice and mannerisms when he was with people who knew his secret were different than how he spoke and acted when he was with Lois. His voice was deeper, and his actions far more resolved and proactive, when he was with Oliver and Chloe than when he was with Lois.
I especially liked how active he had Clark be throughout the episode. The fights were fun to watch, Tom made Clark be more physical. This is something he’d done before when Clark had previously lost his powers, like in “Labyrinth,” or had met a villain that was his match physically, like in “Combat.” I hope it makes the episode more fun for him doing more than just shoving or tossing his opponents, forced to depend on special effects to make the fight exciting for his character.
Tom did such a good job in the scene where Ollie had shot Clark that it was actually hard to watch. Tom does such a good job at portraying Clark in pain. How real Clark’s suffering seemed I think must have helped the other two actors in the scene, Allison and Justin, because their reactions were flawless. (More about them later…)
I LOVED the last scene in the Daily Planet bullpen between Clark and Lois. It’s actually sad that Clark so rarely smiles that it almost seemed weird that he was so happy in that scene. Tom had Clark be so happy to be starting work at the Daily Planet that he was almost glowing. It was just icing that the wonderful banter between the Clark and Lois was also a lot of fun, as Tom had Clark enjoy toying with Lois a bit. That scene was a complete joy to watch. Tom delivered another terrific performance.
Allison Mack’s Chloe had quite the episode… she went through a wide range of emotions from frustration and confusion over her captivity and the tests they were having Chloe go through, to worry about a non-powered Clark still trying to be a hero and then Chloe’s anguish when Clark got hurt and she couldn’t do a thing to help him. Chloe’s complete devastation about Clark’s injuries and the failure of her healing power seemed so real, it made me tear up.
I hadn’t been very fond of the Chloe/Jimmy relationship lately, especially with how it’d started to seem so awkward toward the end of last season. However, Allison helped get them back on track in this episode. Her scene with Jimmy at the Talon (And exactly why is Chloe still living in a building that Lex owns?) was romantic and touching. She seemed so in love with Jimmy. Allison turned in yet another strong episode.
I love the fact that Justin Hartley has been added as a regular cast member. He’s charming, has a sarcastic wit and he has great chemistry with both Tom and Erica. Justin also showed he had some range in this episode. The scene where he tries to kill Clark, and comes really close to succeeding, was heartbreaking. Justin played Oliver’s horror at what he’d done so well.
Erica Durance’s Lois was a delight to watch. Not only was she getting into trouble without even trying, but Lois’ banter with Clark was some of the best she’s done. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute she was on the screen.
Aaron Ashmore’s Jimmy was barely in this episode, but he was adorable in the scene with Chloe.
I am sorry that Ari Cohen’s character, Regan, has gone missing. His role had been beefed up for this episode and he’d been given a name and I thought he was perfect. I hope he comes back if only because he actually has a better idea of what Lex had been planning to do up in the Arctic than Tess does and his knowledge could be a danger to Clark.
As for Cassidy Freeman, she had a very tough job to do in this episode. Michael Rosenbaum will be a very hard act to follow.
.
Yeah, I gave the occasional lukewarm review for Michael Rosenbaum’s performances the last few years (And I checked, I had never actually used the words the exact phrase “phoning it in” for any of Michael’s performances, despite self-inflicted rumors to the contrary.) However, none of those less than enthusiastic reviews meant that I didn’t love Michael’s Lex, because I did. I sincerely adore his Lex Luthor. He made Lex far more complicated a character than I think most actors would have done.
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In fact, I had said more than once in previous reviews that his is, or should I saw “was,” the best Lex Luthor ever. However, this is the first episode of Smallville ever where Lex doesn’t appear.
So, it was bittersweet watching this episode. I had so looked forward to it all summer, but it’s sad to think that this is the first episode Lex doesn’t appear in.
Going by Tess Mercer’s (Cassidy Freeman’s) intro here I think she did well, but probably has some ground to make up. Only time will tell how well she does, but I think she has potential despite some of the scenes that I thought she played a little awkwardly. Her scenes with Lois and Regan were terrific. I’m looking forward to seeing where they’re going to take her character and what Cassidy will do with it.
And I’d like to announce right here and now that Smallville’s costume designer is my new best friend! I LOVED what she had dressed Clark in for this episode.
Yeah, I know that the ever-present red jacket and blue t-shirt are Clark’s pseudo-Superman costume and will probably never completely go away, but thank goodness when she does dress him outside what he normally wears that she makes him look so damn good. The dirty, scruffy look at the beginning of the episode was awesome. Then that loose shirt with the white t-shirt underneath that he wore after Oliver rescued him was grown up, yet still casual. It was perfect. I’m looking forward to seeing Clark wear more grown up clothes now that he’s going to start working at the Planet.
Glen Winter did a wonderful job filming this episode. I loved how gritty the work camp was and how cold and industrial looking the Montana facility was. Those scenes had a very cinematic feel.
While not a perfect episode, there were a few head-scratching moments for me, overall I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. It stood up well to repeat viewings. I give this episode 4.5 missing Fortresses of Solitude 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.
CM Houghton has been a longtime lover of stories well-told and prized the time she spent watching (and writing about) "Smallville" for KrytponSite, writing as 'triplet.' Currently, she's busy at work for a wireless Internet Service provider and still manages to find time to watch excellent TV. Her not-to-miss shows now are "Game of Thrones", "Arrow," "The Deadliest Catch" and "Hannibal." She is avidly looking forward to seeing Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel." Follow her on twitter at @cmhoughton.
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