Now this, on the other hand, you don’t feel like blowing your brains out after watching.
Honestly, I never thought for a moment the guy was an alien. But so what? Still well written, well acted, and Clark’s aching loneliness was palpable. When he said he didn’t want to be alone, a lesser show would have had the Kents saying, “You’re not alone, son, you have us,” and would have descended into maudlin pap. Instead they understood what he was saying and kept quiet.
I kept expecting to find that Lex kept a rose in that locked room, secured in a clear bell jar with the petals falling off one by one. That whole subplot just gets cooler and cooler. And hey…you have to love the difference between Chloe’s and Lana’s reactions to the prospect of encountering an alien. One trusts the difference wasn’t lost on Clark. Chloe or Lana is getting to be almost as much fun an argument as Veronica or Betty (just from my POV, definite Chloe and Betty, and it has nothing to do with them both being blonde.)
I kept waiting to see Dawn trussed up at the top of that structure with Joel Grey cutting her up.
PAD
• 
I was sorta hoping that the guy was an alien– from Daxam!
Then, all it would’ve taken to get rid of him (he had to die somehow; he knew Clark’s secret) was one of the bullies pulling a gun & grazing the kid…
Now I’m wondering just who picked up the kid’s transmission, and what alien menace is going to visit Earth as a result?
Oh, and Chloe has it all over Lana.
I was hoping he was braniac.
If Clark believed him and was willing to reveal his secret, why wouldn’t he also tell him that Krypton isn’t there anymore? Whether the kid is from Krypton or not, his whole transmitter deal is fruitless, and Clark should have known that!
And how did Clark know it’s called Kryptonite? Off-panel reveal from last episode?
Otherwise, another stellar episode in a season that’s improved in almost every possible way over Season 1. The “Room of Kents” at the end goes beyond creepy.
I must admit, the plot kept me wondering for a while. I still wonder about the transmission, if it went anywhere or not. I figured the Krypton stuff must’ve come from a transmission meant for Clark, but somehow directed at/intercepted by Cyrus. How did he create the tower and transmitter? How did he point to Krypton’s system?
aside: cool- the first mention of Kryptonite eh?
Looking forward to the continuation of the Lana subplot- will she learn something or not?
My biggest question of the ep is: just what was the good doctor’s smile at the end? Was it a “Allright now I’m starting to piece things together…” or “Oh great my boyfriend’s obsessed about an alien and I can’t say anything” smile?
I’m getting the feeling that she’s not as nice as she seems. She’s all about doctor/patient confidentality yet she deliberately searches Lex’s mansion. She certainly knew the right button to push on Lex to get him to open up that door. It seemed to me that she was using his actions as an excuse to get out of the relationship. First using the tabloid and Lex’s eagerness to live together, then the locked door.
Maybe I was watching a different show tonight. That was the WORST ep so far. We sat around laughing at it! Putting aside my absolute dislike for “Lana” (I try to mentally switch the names of Chloe and Lana as the show goes on…works much better that way) and the fact that Ma and Pa have done taht whole “You ain’t alone, son, you got us” routine already… maybe that’s why they didn’t rehash it, PAD… the show still made little sense. It was ok watching the Lex subplot develop FINALLY! But those friends o’ Clark’s sure are in the know. And then they run tell Clark. How do they always know where he is, anyway? And shouldn’t Lex be running the company he started… he is always someplace when Clark is. God, I hope they show he’s actually following him soon. And the bullies!? They always showed up. Why were they at the school at the exact moment the two “aliens” left? Didn’t see Clark’s truck and they wouldn’t be following CLARK anyway. Then they found the tower. Granted it was friggin’ huge but Clark had to be shown and he’s run all over that county in other eps. And the tower was pretty well made by ONE BOY to survive a tug of war between Clark and a truck. Episode smacked of an E.T. rip except it was the alien helping the human boy phone home. Buffy was a much better way to spend the night. At least that show didn’t suck so bad tonight!
The bullies were my biggest issue with the episode. Other than that, it was excellent. I really look forward to seeing which side of the fence the doctor ends up falling on…
I hate this show. I don’t hate it because they changed anything about his origins or anything. I just hate bad acting, poorly written scripts, and a complete lack of continuity (though my sister tells me it’s actually developing what they call in the biz, a plot).
I really hate Tollins and Robbins for screwing it up, along with the pile of garbage they managed to turn Birds of Prey into. My greatest fear now is that they have a Starman show in the works for ABC. Starman was one of the greatest comics ever written and I have no doubt they will create something not fit to wipe the bottom of my shoe with, from that great concept.
Maybe it’s time for television to realize that not every “hot comic property” can translate well to celluloid. They got lucky with Smallville, because everyone knows Superman and teennagers like looking at pretty young people with problems (and apparently super powers). BoP and Starman are comics that are contingent on the universes they inhabit. You need to know about Batman and the Joker and Black Canary before reading the comic. You need to know about Starman (Golden Age), and the JSA, to really appreciate Starman. Otherwise, Starman is just a guy who flies around with his rod (take it anyway you want).
Sorry PAD. I shouldn’t have used this place to complain, but it all came flooding out.
Future episode predictions:
1. Martha will lose the child before its first birthday at the latest, sad but true. After all, the Kents never had any biological children of their own. But if baby Kent makes it that far: it will be a girl Clark insists on naming either Lara or Kara for reason(s) he cannot explain.
2. Either Lex or the Doctor will put 2+2 together concerning Clark, but Lionel Luthor is already ahead of them, having been faking the continuation of his blindness for quite a while now. The big question of course will be what will they do with the information?
3. Hidden within the cave, when Clark is old enough or someone else stumbles upon it (heard a lot of guesses about the archelogist coming back as Brainiac) will be the necessary item(s) to establish the future Fortress of Solitude in the Artic so Clark can finish his Kryptonian transition to manhood ala the first Christopher Reeve movie.
Time will tell how accurate I really am. But are the producers still planning to bring a young Bruce Wayne into the show, and if so when?
The subplots saved this episode because the main plot (right down to the ending) was really just the movie K-PAX with added teen angst and superpowers. Not very original.
I wish I’d taped it, because of one single shot. It was the last appearance of Lex in the show, where it’s commented that “you really have a lot of stuff about the Kents.” You see him in extreme close-up, with all that blue neon and monitor light, and he says, “Yeah. They’re a great family, aren’t they?” He says this with a calm, cool voice – but the glare in his eyes says “HELTER SKELTER!”
Last nights was a good but not great episode. The bullies must have been crazy to come looking for Cyrus after their truck burst into flames at the school.
I will bet that the Doctor is still working for Lionel. The way she manipulates Lex into doing anything she wants is amazing. I think her betrayal will be the straw that breaks the camels back and sends Lex to the dark side.
This was the first episode of Smallville I had watched and I am not impressed. I came away thinking the writing as fairly unoriginal. For instance: Why not sever the chain rather than get into a tug of war with the tower? A somewhat implausble escalation of the bully’s characters from nuisance to attempted murderers (not that such a thing doesn’t happen – but it seemed forced in the episode) – or at least reckless endangerment (as aside, not sure if these 3 characters have been in previous episodes, but after this one they should be seen no more – or only from imprisonment). The aforementioned lack of Clark notifying Cyrus about Krypton’s demise. If not for Rosenbaum’s Lex performance, it would have been a totally wasted hour. Not sure if I’ll be back for another hour – there are far better things to spend time with.
Dang it… all I wanted to hear was:
“You shall kneel before Zod, Kal-El!”
Travis
And then there’s my biggest plot question: The elderly couple who originally took “Cyrus” in lived a half-mile from his parent’s house and they didn’t know who this kid was? Or if they did, they changed his name and told him nothing about his family? His parents are supposedly vaporized, but he was not in the house? Just how far away was he and why was he alone, if he was the same age as Lana when the meteors struck?
I could go on with the questions that this plot hole brings up. They were still enjoyable moments in this episode, but I would have to agree that the “A-plot” was lacking this time.
Re Lana and Chloe’s reaction to the alien question, Chloe’s comment initially made her sound incredibly open-minded, a perfect confidante/girlfriend for Clark, and Lana’s initial comment that she’d always be a bit freaked out about knowing an alien made her sound imperfect and shallower than Chloe — but in retrospect Lana’s comment sounds more “real life,” less delusional to me, and, as Clark said, “honest.” I think Chloe would like to think it would be whiz-bang grand to know an alien, but the reality of it would be harder to accept than she thinks — more along the lines of Pete’s reaction to knowing Clark’s secret. Both of the girls might grow into feeling comfortable with Clark’s secret, but if Clark had to choose which girl to trust with his secret he should pick Lana based upon the lack of delusion in her answer. (And because he loves her! Darn these Chloe’s and Lois’s that come between Clark and Lana!)
Steve Horton: And how did Clark know it’s called Kryptonite? Off-panel reveal from last episode?
Luigi Novi: Clark told Pete that that’s what Dr. Swann said it was called. (Though I don’t recall any such line from Rosetta, so it was probably an off-camera thing they’re retro-inserting now.)
Robert Sparling: Sorry PAD. I shouldn’t have used this place to complain, but it all came flooding out.
Luigi Novi: I can’t speak for Peter, but I think this is the place for such things. I mean, it is a discussion board after all.
Bill Ritter: Why not sever the chain rather than get into a tug of war with the tower?
Luigi Novi: Because to do so, Clark would need a clear line of sight with the chain, and in order to use it, he might’ve been spotted by Kyle and the others.
To add my two cents, I do agree that Lyle and his friends were a bit too stereotypical as bullies.
“They’re all laughing at us, so we’re gonna kick you ášš!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Geez, who wrote that line? Still, not a bad episode. The surface was unoriginal, but what the way it explored was going on between Clarka and the girls was pretty good.
I for one am grateful that the term “Kryptonite” has finally appeared in the series. It’s been awkward that the audience knows what the stuff is called, while the characters are stuck with “meteor rocks” as a descriptor.
while the characters are stuck with “meteor rocks” as a descriptor
Doug – While I agree, only 4 people on the show will be able to use that term and only when they are around those 4. (and Dr. Schwan of course, but that may not be for a while…)
So, I think we are still stuck with “meteor rock” at least from Chloe)for awhile.
Xyon
Orlando T said:
I was hoping he was braniac.
No, that’s going to be the scientist that Lex had working on the caves. He got all of the Kryptonian knowledge beamed into his brain.
At least, that’s my husband’s theory.
The whole thing with Lex had to be the biggest emotional letdown of the entire series, bar none. There’s no doubt in my mind now that Lex is just fascinated with Clark’s incongruities and sees him as a resource to be exploited; rather than the old “friendship” thing.
At some point there has to be an episode where Luthor is following Clark around spying, or at least his *agents* doing the same.
The question is now . . . is that room Lex’s . . . or Lionel’s room? Hmmmmmmmm . . . .
~~~JD~~~
I don’t have much to add, other than that I agree with a lot of what’s
been said so far.
I also really liked the first mention of Kryptonite. I also prefer Chloe
to Lana, and loved their differing reactions to the “alien question.”
The secret room actually really surprised me. When they first entered,
the thing that immediately caught the eye was the screen with the octagon
on it, and I was like, “Yeah, just like I figured.” But then in that
pan, they had Nixon’s reconstruction of the car accident, something that
Lex had claimed to have “closed the door” on. That had me pretty
surprised. So the investigation of Clark is not over… huh…
And yeah, what IS up with Helen? I actually really like the way they’ve
kept that subplot so mysterious. Smallville, as much as I love it, does
have a tendency to play all its cards right away. But with Helen, it’s
like… we still don’t know exactly what she did with Clark’s blood
sample. We don’t know how genuine her feelings for Lex are. We now
don’t know what Martha told her. And, as was pointed out above, we don’t
know how she really feels about the secret room.
I’m excited to see how the Helen thread unwinds.
Finally got to see the episode last night … Seeing Chloe in camouflage made me feel very patriotic!
I’m really curious to know what Helen told Martha. Really curious. And I’d like to know whether the school bullies are being charged with attempted murder — a fall from that height would have killed Cyrus.
Regarding someone else’s mention of Daxam … how cool/cruel would it be to do to the Mon-El story? Get someone who has almost exactly the same powers as Clark, a true peer, a brother … and then Clark would have to send him away or else lose him.
I doubt they’d do it, but it would make a powerful story, I think. (Maybe less so for those of us who’ve been reading comics for years and years or decades, but still, I think it would work.)
I think this week’s episode finally included the last bit of foreshadowing that leads to how Chloe and Pete will be written OUT before they reach the adult Superman mythology.
Because we already know that Lex and Clark/Superman will eventually become mortal enemies after a friendship that is the “stuff of legends,” I predict that the final reveal of the Luthor’s quest to find out who Clark really is will somehow result in the death of Chloe, Pete, and Clark’s little sibling. Thereby, removing the only people who do or will discover Clark’s secret when, as an adult, they aren’t around to spread such information. I doubt Clark is the type of person to allow such people to lose touch. he loves them both too much and is an icon after all.. So eventually, they MUST go!
I think Lionel will be the person who causes the deaths (and die with them), but Lex will think “Superman” is responsible and vice-versa. Thus, Clark has the motivation for seeing every act of Lex’s as motivation for pure evil, and Lex will want to bring down Superman as some sort of hypocrit, danger to society, and, of course, usurper of Lex’s desire for world domination. Perhaps this catalyst is what drives out whatever good we’ve seen in Lex and leave the residue of pure evil.
However, I’m willing to admit Lex’s good acts and feelings thus far were just an act… Thoughts anyone?
I like vocalyz’s theory as to why Lex and Clarke are enemies in the furture. I have a theory too and would like to hear others.
Mine goes like this. Lex was described at one point in the early episodes as never getting sick-after the meteor shower-and it having to do with his blood.
I reckon Lionel is going to get Kryptonite poisoning as he has been exposing himself a lot in order to heal his blindness. In the comics Lex clones himself a body when he gets Kryptonite poisoning, but if it happens to Lionel he has a son on hand with remarkable blood who never gets sick. Lionel becomes Lex, Clarke knows about it and hates Lionel for what he has done, Ergo great enemies.
I’ve felt for some time that we’ll see Chloe die at the end of the series, and that this and other events will lead him to leave Smallville for Metropolis. She might die trying to protect him from some plot of the Luthors — Lionel, Lex or (my personal theory) Lex’s brother.
There’s no need for Pete Ross to die, though. He’s still alive and well in the Superman mythology — as is Lana Lang. They’re just a part of Clark’s past in the comics … though we’ve never been shown why Clark was so easily able to just leave them there for the most part. I think we will see it here, and it’ll be more realistic than in the comics.
Think about it — no matter how close a group of friends are at 16 years old, things change and people do grow apart. Especially if they’ve seen a lot of their mutual friends die. Whitney’s death caused some tension we actually saw; I’m surprised we haven’t heard them mention Ryan any more (that was the telepath’s name, right? I’ve called him “Kid Psycho” in my head after the Legion character), since they all seemed to see him as a little brother; and Chloe’s death later on would be one more shared pain.
Enough of that group misery will cause the bitter memories to overwhelm the sweet ones. I could easily see Clark leaving Lana and Pete behind, and them not trying too hard to reach out to him — because it’s too depressing to remember how things were when they were good.
There’s no need for a tearful, melodramatic “I never want to see you again” conversation; having Pete do that would be completely out of character. Just a lot of phone calls they never quite get around to making, or times when Clark came back to visit Ma and Pa but didn’t get around to dropping by to see Lana or Pete.
That said, I hope the finale does recreate one thing from John Byrne’s Man of Steel. Clark really needs to take Lana flying and tell her all the things he’s kept back from her, and why (though if Chloe’s dead by then, she’ll know why).
Lana was also distant from Clark for a while (post-Crisis) because she was a Manhunter sleeper agent and spent a while homeless in Metropolis, waiting to be activated. We’ll likely be spared that in “Smallville”…
I didn’t think the episode was anything special, especially with the typical “I’m a secondary character who found out Clark’s secret, now I must go into coma or die” ending.
You need to know about Starman (Golden Age), and the JSA, to really appreciate Starman.
Not so. I knew nothing about the Golden Age Starman and very little about the JSA – not to mention the Mist, the Shade, the Black Pirate and Solomon Grundy – when I started reading STARMAN.
Even though I’d never known any of those characters, James Robinson introduced them to me and made me care.
It’s just what a writer that extraordinary can do.
I have always thought that Chloe would die at the end of the Smallville series. It would be the final straw that would force Clark to embrace his destiny and become the Man of Steel. With respect to Pete, isn’t he married to Lana now and VP of the USA in the current comics? I also thought that the comic version of Pete was Caucasian. Am I wrong? Not to say that Lana couldn’t marry Pete… just wondering about the whole role that Pete plays in the comics.
–Michael
To Michael: Yes, Pete Ross is a white guy in the comics, and is now the vice president of the United States, and married to Lana Lang.
In pre-Crisis continuity, Pete discovered Clark’s secret in high school — they were out camping, and something happened that required Clark to go into action as Superboy. Pete saw him change into that costume and fly off.
In post-Crisis continuity, Clark never was Superboy, and Pete never knew about his powers (that I can recall). Clark did, however, tell Lana his secret — just before he left the town.
As I said earlier, I really hope the finale has Clark telling Lana in a scene similar to what John Byrne did in Man of Steel. Byrne’s lost a lot of what he once had, but that scene was magic.