A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 8-16

Since this is already late, I'll just post the column on the blog.

I apologize for the extreme delay in posting this column. I had a conflicting engagement to attend to last Thursday, but I set my VCR (remember those?) to record Smallville. Well, I guess I never changed the clock from day light savings, so it recorded Supernatural instead. And the CW website only got around to posting the full episode, like, today (Monday). So here we are.

As it is, despite a fair amount happening this episode, there’s not a whole lot to say. Clark did reveal himself to be a unique sort of superhero, as he attempts to get his female boss drunk in order to get her to spill information. Then he deprives her of oxygen in order to keep his abilities a secret. Looks like Clark is becoming his future self after all.

Click the "Read More" link for the full column.

All kidding aside, I did enjoy the little winks (some not as subtle as others) in regards to Clark officially embracing a dual identity. This included a fun little scene in which Clark quickly changes from his suit and tie to his red/blue blur disguise, and then back again with some mixed results. The conclusion of the episode also saw him actually using a telephone booth (remember those?) to change outfits. Although the cliched question must be asked: What exactly did he do with that other set of clothes?

So Tess finally brought up the fact that she’s (a) running Lex’s company and (b) living in Lex’s mansion despite the fact that she seemingly hates the man. Actually, she comes across as just a bit hypocritical here. I mean, she’s all frowny face about Lex violating her personal space when she’s, let’s go over this again, (a) running Lex’s company and (b) living in Lex’s mansion. Why exactly can’t she rent an apartment? Or buy a house? Actually, considering the fact that she works at the Daily Planet and LuthorCorp – both of which are located in Metropolis – why is she living in Smallville at all? It’s more than a little creepy if you ask me.

I did love how Clark came THIS CLOSE to coming up with a plausible lie, though.

The argument at the conclusion of the episode with Chloe and Jimmy was almost uncomfortable to watch. On the one hand, Jimmy is right. On the other hand, they did a fairly nice job of having Chloe support Jimmy, particularly at the beginning when Davis accused the dosage machine of being faulty. However, was a stun gun really the only alternative to preventing Jimmy from hitting Davis with a pipe? She couldn’t try to, ya’ know, talk him out of it? And checking to make sure he was alive was nice and all, but Jimmy very well could have sustained non-fatal injuries. But why check that? Let’s first go and apologize to the monster man.

By the way, did anybody catch that guy in the suit in the background by the receptionist desk during the hospital argument? He just walked away the second the fight ended. He was totally just staying to see how the scene would play out. C’mon, we’ve all done that before (pretending to be doing something while we’re really just watching two complete strangers argue with each other).

I do have to ask this, though: Does anybody truly want to see drug addict Jimmy Olsen? The charm of his character is that he’s some sweet, wholesome kid. To such an extent that Clark appears to be mature and grounded. Why hinder him of that main character trait?