A Man. And His Blog.

Season 1, Episode 21 (21)
Date of airing: May 21, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 17, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 102/112

A pretty solid season finale. No “supernatural” things going on (except a flying and glowing ship), instead just story and conflicts. And in season two, almost all episode will be meteoroid-monster-of-the-week episodes, until the season finale gets on with the story again. I call that lazy storytelling, but whatever. The episode was good, it was dramatic for a bit, the goodbye between Lana (Kristin Kreuk) and Whitney (Eric Johnson) was kind of heartwarming, the romance between Clark (Tom Welling) and Chloe (Allison Mack) was sweet, and the conflicts Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) finds himself in are interesting enough to not serve him up with generic episodic storylines in the next season. In addition, the story of the twisters turning into a tornado (yeah, I know it can’t be considered a story by itself) feels kind of thrown into the mix, just for the cliffhanger.

I still think that Roger (Tom O’Brien) is a pretty shitty character, who can’t just reveal everything about Clark without asking anybody (just leak this stuff, idiot), but at least he’s creating some tension now. Would be cool for Jonathan (John Schneider) to do something stupid, and for him and Martha (Annette O’Toole) to have a fight every now and then. Until now, they came over as the perfect parents with a secret, the perfect married couple with a farm, the perfect everything. Now there’s a chance the façade is breaking, and I would give the story of one angry Jonathan and one mad Martha a welcome parade, when it should come in the second season. Fortunately I can’t remember anything what happened, so it’s all gonna be new for me.

The spring formal was a bit boring though. It was just leading up for a kiss between Chloe and Clark, and for a goodbye scene between Lana and Whitney. Other than that, the spring formal was basically nothing. Normally, teen shows like SMALLVILLE, whether a Superman adaptation or not, would use the shit out of a spring formal to create tension, but that’s not what it is about, right? The talk between Whitney and Clark was empty of anything though. I was expecting for them to share a few more words than just “take care of her while I’m gone”. Like a realization Whitney’s that Clark really feels something for Lana, and that Clark might be the only one to watch out for Lana in the first place, which is why Whitney trusts him so much now. In addition, there could have been a bigger date between Chloe and Clark. Didn’t feel like one, since Clark was hanging out with Pete (Sam Jones III), promoting Remy Zero, while Chloe was seen with other girls. Lame.

Lex’s story was good though. But I wanted more madness between him and Lionel (John Glover), after latter closed down the plant. Even though there was supposed to be loads of tension between everybody (mostly the folks of Smallville and Lex), I didn’t feel it. Instead Lex just tried for a buyout, hates the guts out of his father, and Lionel just wants his son back to Metropolis for whatever reasons. Yeah, there are not just motives and reasons missing, but the whole fight between father and son is completely lame. And every honest son, who hates his father, would let his father die during the storm. Sadly I already know it won’t come to that, and I have to get myself through more Lionel years. Uargh.

And the cliffhanger? Well, it’s obvious that Lana will be saved and Clark will be a savior, while the storm is winding down. No surprises there, though I’d give anything for Lana to find out about Clark here. Sadly, I already know it won’t come to that and the writers will have ruined another potential good storyline. What a shame. 7.5/10

Action in the barn calls for something extraterrestrial to happen

A twister calls for the stuck Lana to cry for her life

Season 1, Episode 20 (20)
Date of airing: May 14, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 16, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 97/107

To be surprised, I didn’t even remember this episode having a story preparing for the season finale. At least one story in the penultimate episode was good enough to lead to the finale, though it wasn’t good enough to be thrilling. The writers would have never let Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) made contact with either the ship or Clark’s secret so early in the series (especially since SMALLVILLE proved to be a success). It would have been a great story though, when Lex turned out to be an enemy better earlier than later. Well, now this, but it’s not even him who gets all the secrets of Clark. I can’t even imagine how bored I was, when Roger (Tom O’Brien) was the one watching through the binoculars.

The story itself wasn’t a burner, but it was also not boring. Chloe (Allison Mack) kidnapped, Lana (Kristin Kreuk) kidnapped, Lana having superpowers, Chloe not wondering how Clark (Tom Welling) was able to get out the casket without digging, Lana not asking questions, when it came to her rescue… It’s these kind of questions, which completely destroy the entertainment factor. When I have to question the believability of the characters ability to ask question, the episode failed. In addition, it wasn’t really something of a suspenseful hour, since Chloe got rescued after half the episode, and Lana wasn’t kidnapped very long also. It would have been better to either get both girls in danger for a whole episode, or to make just one kidnapping out of it, and letting Clark fight for his love(s). Because it sucked that it took a whole damn act for Lana to realize her visions are real, and that Chloe is in danger.

That was something, which completely sucked. The writers had a kidnapper for one, a pretty normal case, a crazed-up cop and all, but they give Lana superpowers with it, so that Clark can easily find out where Chloe is. Baah, ugly cop-out. No scene where suspension was built, no dramatization. The script hasn’t done anything with its story. And Gary’s (Darrin Klimek) reasons for his actions were also pretty stupid. Again, no real reasons behind it, instead the writers just needed a villain. And forgot to make him a character first.

Well, at least the lookout for some alien something was okay. That Roger returned… not really cool, because he is a clichéd character. That he knows about Clark now, could be interesting. That Lex found a fragment of the ship and doesn’t know what to do with it or what it is… okay, but I doubt he’s going to know. That Dr. Malcolm (Joe Morton) is involved in it, cool, since I’m expecting him for the future of the show. That Lex still has troubles to get through Jonathan and is calm as a flower, when Johnathan rejects him… it’s gonna get unbelievable with every scene. Let Lex be uncool to Jonathan (John Schneider) for a second. Because it really looks like Lex wants to kiss Jonathan’s ass. Uargh. 5.5/10

One of those early career moves from Galen Tyrol

Mysterious artefact on Lex's table. Omigod

Season 1, Episode 19 (19)
Date of airing: May 7, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 16, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 93/102

A surprisingly good episode. Blame it on Adam Brody, because he showed what he could do, before he rose to stardom with THE O.C. But again, and I could mention it in every episode, as it seems: Justin was way too villain-y for the episode to succeed and entertain. Why not making those mutant-of-the-weeks a bit more edgy, why not giving them more character depth? The writers had their chance with Justin, because he was in a serious relationship (even though it only lasted for a day or so), but then he was ready to kill her? For what actually? Just because Chloe (Allison Mack) was betraying their relationship? Uargh.

But besides the whole thing with Justin, the episode was good because of the hidden conflict between Clark (Tom Welling) and Chloe. Finally the Lana crush for Clark is over for now, and he considers having a time with Chloe. That would especially be great, since it will kill the Lana/Clark story. And after all the quiet and romantic tension between the two, it would serve SMALLVILLE well, when the writers forget this story for a couple of episodes (a.k.a. Seasons). Let Clark have a romance with Chloe, when he can’t have one with Lana. Let him be happy, when he’s supposed to be in romantic pain. And it took the writers a whole season to get there. Which is kind of lame, but at least it happened.

In addition I have to say that I didn’t like the subtext between Clark and Lana (Kristin Kreuk). Seems like the writers still can’t let go of them, even when it means they are bringing Clark and Chloe together. The talk about missed chances between the two was just … the biggest stereotype with subtext I have ever seen. I was feeling my vomit in my mouth, because I couldn’t believe how fake this scene looked and sounded. Please no more of that!

And finally, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) and Pamela (Donna Bullock). Romantic storyline right there, but it didn’t give me anything, except Lex saying he loved two women in his life. It could have been a chance to give Lex a few more character edges, especially with Lionel (John Glover) in the background, giving all the hate for Pamela. Yet this whole story was about redemption, and the writers haven’t even given Lex enough time to show redemption, to make the story worth the while. Furthermore, I couldn’t see what this story had to do with Justin’s storyline. Usually there’s the same motif in both stories of the episode, but here I wasn’t seeing one. Justin’s motif was justice/revenge, Pamela’s motive was redemption/love – kind of in comparison. Well, maybe that was the motif. 7/10

Chloe finds herself very beautiful

Symbolic, isn't it?

Season 1, Episode 18 (18)
Date of airing: Apr 30, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 16, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 89/95

The episode was alright. A nice little story, and even though it was a predictable one, I liked that the whole secrecy thing was kept down to a minimum, I already knew from the beginning that Sasha (Shonda Farr) is the queen bee, and it’s good that even the writers decided to reveal that information in the first third. I’d wish that all writers would think about revealing secrets to the audience, when even they know it’s gonna get predictable throughout the story. You are able to kill a bunch of ridiculous story plots with that, as an example.

What a shame I haven’t seen THE GODFATHER yet (sue me), but I loved all the known and unknown references to it. I don’t know what a school election had to do with THE GODFATHER, and I don’t know if the writers intentionally put that into the script, but it felt good that the episode was going through some tiny little anecdotes, making the references clear throughout the whole episode, and not just two scenes. Other than that, I rather liked the political aspect of the story, and how it shined on Clark (Tom Welling) and Lex (Michael Rosenbaum). First the whole “Man of Tomorrow” thing, and then how Clark’s friends see him as the leader he is – also with Clark realizing he doesn’t need to be a politician to be a leader. Nice little foreshadowing of the Superman franchise. Also, Lex wanting to be a President. I don’t know if that was really in the minds of the writers back then, or if they just started to remember the flashforward/vision scene from episodes ago. Or if they were just quoting the comics. Sure, it’s gonna look interesting with lex wanting to be the President, but it doesn’t look good, when SMALLVILLE itself doesn’t go into it, and just mentions it because it was in the comics.

The bee story… Well, I’ll accept that, but only because the ridiculousness of it was shown in a handful of scenes. When Paul (Simon Wong) was attacked in the teaser, I was thinking about the bugs episode of SUPERNATURAL, and how bad the effects were then. Here, the effects were better, with the exception of that face scene with the bees. Oh my God, I was cringing. But hey, bees supporting their queen bee, what else could they have done? I would have wished for less evilness from Sasha though. Seemed like she totally accepted the eventual deaths of Paul and Felice (Chelan Simmons) – I didn’t wanna have her as a killer, instead I just wanted to have her as the girl, who wanted to win the election, because the previous class presidents ruined the school to shit. It could have been a better story this way, but again, the writers do the mistake of simplifying everything.

Lex and Ms. Castle (Marguerite Moreau) were okay. Nice little games between the two, and a nice little outcome. I want Lex to lose every now and then though, he doesn’t have to win a fight against Lionel every damn time. And I kinda liked the chemistry between the two, which is why I hope for a return of Ms. Castle. Wouldn’t hurt for Lex to have a person in his life, who is as recurring as Clark or his own father. Again, the whole thing of simplifying things also belongs with Lex: He is shown too often as the villain for whole Metropolis and Lionel, even though he isn’t. Yet. 6/10

Because Lex's campaign needs to be stolen by a superhero

Shocker!

Season 1, Episode 17 (17)
Date of airing: Apr 23, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 13, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 84/90

A pretty boring episode. And a horribly written one at that. The monster-of-the-week plot didn’t work at all, because it was one thing missing: reasons. I mean, why was Tyler (Reynaldo Rosales) so interested in taking the lives of old and sick people away? That also brings up the question, if Tyler can be considered a zombie in SMALLVILLE terms, but not even this part of the story was brought up. The urgency was missing, the whole point to the story was missing. The writers could have easily built in the twisted mystery fact of Tyler combusting himself, when he doesn’t take the remaining live days away from sick people, but instead he just took their lives away for non-selfish reasons at all. Silly writing.

At least Tyler’s plot was quite short, and the episode rather focused on the whole deal with Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) being “investigated” by Dominic (Jason Connery), and the father/son deal between Jonathan (John Schneider) and Clark (Tom Welling). The former wasn’t much interesting, since it didn’t develop the conflict between Lionel (John Glover) and Lex. At least Lex finally realized he has become a competitor for Lionel’s business, which means that the writers have the opportunity to go back to that story in the future. The latter was also not really my thing, because it wasn’t played out very well. One fight between Jonathan and Clark, then the two are not talking, and at the end everything is fine again. That’s silly writing 101: conflict, result, resolution, and all of this back-to-back in just one scene each. Very lame.

At the end, I don’t even know why I should remember this episode. Maybe because it was another try to get Whitney (Eric Johnson) into the story – only the focus on him came way too late and couldn’t save anything anymore. Or maybe the scene where Lex and Jonathan kinda understand each other. I just don’t believe it’s gonna be important for the future of the show. Or maybe the next kiss on the cheek from Lana (Kristin Kreuk) to Clark. Well, even I know that this kiss won’t lead to anything, as long as Whitney is still part of the show. Yes, the episode was pretty useless. It doesn’t need any more words to describe its uselessness. 3.5/10

When you die, you dust away

Some business between son and father, and no one cares

Season 1, Episode 16 (16)
Date of airing: Apr 16, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 13, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 77/77

Considering how great the show is currently not, it was a pretty solid episode. The brother theme was refreshing, and the whole play on secrecy and them being on the surface for a little kid was interesting to make me hot for the later seasons of the show, when the secrets in fact come to the surface of the story. This episode was basically a little teaser of what could come, when people know the deepest secrets about their friends. The thing is just: The episode could have played that theme much bigger, instead of giving another villain-of-the-week episode with a gun (this time a shotgun) and weak motives for his actions.

Yeah, James (Jim Shield) was a total boring villain, because I didn’t even care about what he was doing. He was just the evil stepfather with that evil bitch of a bride (Brandy Ledford), who had no reason at all to steal money and kill people. At least the writers could have given a motive for his actions. But no, the focus was on Ryan (Ryan Kelley), and how he sees the world. Yeah, that part was okay, considering that the most interesting aspects of the story were missing from this episode. But hey, at least Ryan was somebody, who could level with Clark (Tom Welling), and not just because they were brothers they never had to each other.

Yes, the Ryan/Clark friendship and relationship was good. There wasn’t even a thought of jealousy between the two. I was a bit thinking about Ryan and how he sees the familyship between Clark and his parents, especially with the whole secret in the back of their heads. Though I was not surprised that Clark was on his savior trip really fast. I mean, he was practically out to find out what’s wrong with Ryan, when he started to play ball with him. Unfortunately, the story became a bit of a stereotype and way too happy-end-ish in the middle. Ryan totally liked Clark and all his friends, except Lex, and Clark was way too much into finding out what Ryan’s secret is, without even asking him. What a great scene it would have been, when Clark and Ryan had a real conversation about their secrets and hiding out, and what is happening in their lives – instead Ryan just found the spaceship, understood Clark, and Clark wasn’t even freaked out much.

The result of the story: Ryan was just a throwaway character, who was used for a brother storyline for Clark in one episode. Basically, the episode looked like more than it actually was. But still, the theme of brothership still saved it, especially with the fact that there are people out there now, who know about Clark (and probably will be in the future of the show). Not even Lex’s (Michael Rosenbaum) side plot with thinking about going to Metropolis could save this episode above standards. Especially since I didn’t get why Lex decided to stay. It couldn’t be just about Smallville itself, or maybe Clark. Like James, a motive was missing for his decision. 6.5/10

Happy little parents

Angry big stepfather

Season 1, Episode 15 (15)
Date of airing: Mar 19, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 12, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 72/72

Seems like the writers have found a use for guns. It’s the third episode in a row with a gun being used (or so). This time I was just wondering why no one noticed that Pete (Sam Jones III) already had six shots. I think the mini revolver like his only has six shots. Yet the peeps were still terrified by Pete and his empty gun. This was kind of the funniest moment of the show, because it was such a ridiculous mistake. And I asked myself why things like this don’t get noticed in post production. You could have easily taken out one or two of the shots, and yet no one noticed the mistake and left them in.

That was not the only bad thing though, because I don’t get my head around the conclusion of the episode. An evil flower, which looks alien to me, which sneezes on humans (and no one tells they were sneezed on by moving flowers… come on), and the guys needed so long to find a book with a cure. When it was clear what the flower was all about, couldn’t have Hamilton (Joe Morton) looked for the book earlier? Especially since he was recreating the flowers. I’m missing all kinds of logic here, which could have ended the story, before it even began. By the way, what was the whole teaser about, the “I found something” – I mean, Hamilton was already recreating the plants, so I don’t really think that Hamilton was keeping secrets about his science to anybody. Especially people who just found a super-rare plant. But that was maybe it. Anyway, the logic killed the story.

At least it had some fun scenes. Jonathan (John Schneider) being the crazy guy, about to kill anyone, Lana (Kristin Kreuk) being the sexy beast (the fast cuts of her sexy body lets me think she had a body double for those shots – dammit!), about to seduce Clark (Tom Welling), and Pete being in the center for a minute, about to shoot more than six bullets out of a mini revolver. They were amusing scenes, because they were ridiculous. Except Lana. I mean, you show ass, you show tits, but you never show them together with Lana’s face. Damn body doubles. Curse them! Or give them their own porno. That also means Kristen Kreuk doesn’t have the body to strip naked. What a shame.

I don’t really know what else to say about the episode. It was lame. It tried something. The green screen at the end looked ugly (I don’t mean the Metropolis skyline, I mean the two heads in front of the green screen). It wasn’t really funny though. Chance missed to make something out of the out-of-body experience. Especially with those lost memories. Again, have a little plot, which can chance something, but have it back to square one, when you make everybody forget. I hate those twists.5.5/10

Lana boldly goes where no Lana has gone before

It's gonna be a running gag with those guns

Season 1, Episode 14 (14)
Date of airing: Mar 12, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 12, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 68/68

Pretty lame episode. I already knew Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) would have a shady past and I expected for it to bite him in the ass. I have the feelings more shady characters from Lex’s shady past will return to bite him (and Clark) in the ass, making it for a villain-of-the-week episode. If only the stories would be more interesting.

Maybe the long hiatus I’ve had between first and second half of the season didn’t do anything good. Because the show is boring at this stage. Not shitty, but nothing is moving forward. It’s really just one proceduralized episode after another, and the stories don’t have something moving the characters forward. And that’s definitely something a proceduralized show needs nowadays. And even ten years ago. So I hope the second season has what it needs. Fortunately I can’t even remember what happened in season two, since I watched it the first and only time like ten years ago. Anyway, Lex’s past wasn’t interesting for me. It was just one tiny story (of many), and Lex wasn’t even the guilty one. At the end it was just a stupid revenge plot, and one with not much of a big surprise. Seriously, the episode would have been better, when Jude (Corin Nemec) would have been Jude, and not just a doppelgänger. That didn’t just make the scenes with not-Jude pretty ridiculous, but it also killed the mystery plot. You could have used the meteorite for Jude’s appearances, not a stupid brother Amanda (Jud Tylor) has never mentioned in front of the camera. What a deus ex machina to make clear that there are no monsters in Metropolis, as it seems.

The school assignment was interesting though, but only because of Chloe (Allison Mack) and her terrier-ish behavior, when it comes to Clark’s (Tom Welling) past. There seems to be mystery, and there seem to be things Clark’s parents won’t tell him. I can think of ways how Clark was legally adopted, and I can think of reason why probably some more people know about Clark’s secret (an adoption for a five-year-old also probably means medical exams and stuff, especially when the adoption was all kinds of legal). So, I’m glad that Chloe was digging, making an ongoing story out of it. If the writers just would go back to it really soon. Here they had the chance for a bigger arc in the season, yet it doesn’t look like they won’t use it. Just because Chloe clicked on “save” doesn’t mean it’s gonna be a big mystery in the future. It only means that Clark will be angry about Chloe, say some harsh words, and over and done is the story. Blah.

And the grand opening of the Talon? Not interesting. Only one scene. And the only opportunity for some smiley flirt moments between Lana (Kristin Kreuk) and Clark. They have to be in every episode, right? I wouldn’t mind for them to miss in the next episode, because it’s getting way too heartthrob-y for me. I can’t stand unspoken romance. Especially when it’s going around for a whole season. 5.5/10

Another gun. It's the show about guns now

Something is fishy here...

Season 1, Episode 13 (13)
Date of airing: Feb 26, 2002 (WB)
Rewatched for review: Jan 12, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 64/64

Well, Whitney episodes are boring. This one is the best proof why the writers never really knew what to do with Whitney (Eric Johnson) as a character in the first place. He was just written in to be an obstacle between Clark (Tom Welling) and Lana (Kristin Kreuk), and now the writers are forced to give him some sort of storyline. They never did something about the friendship between the two, and how opponents, as they were during the first phase of the season, became close friends, even with Lana in the middle of the two. Again, the writers hang themselves too much onto the action genre, and they are not able to make a real story out of the situation. Which means that the whole monster/villain(s)-of-the-week episodes become generic, predictable, sleepy. Boring. And completely shitty, when you’re watching those kind of episodes for four years.

I never had fun with the episode. It was good that Whitney was in the center of attention, but the story… waah. In addition, I couldn’t believe how fast Whitney was on the way to become the next best villain, and how he didn’t even think about the fact that his new friends can go through walls. That also made Wade (Kavan Smith) pretty much a completely boring character and villain, because he couldn’t shine at all. Not even a character. I can’t take the sorry excuse of losing scholarships, which is why he decided to rob the whole county. And Whitney hasn’t even gotten a proper reason why he joined the group. Just because he lost the scholarship? Dude, you just did that with Wade and Scott (David Coles) already, you can’t just bring the same motive for another character… Lazy writing.

The whole secrecy around the robbery and the disc stolen from Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) was also crapping. I didn’t even understand how the group could realize that it was such a big secret for Lex to have hacked into daddy’s system. The disc itself came pretty much over as a deus ex machina, to explain the storyline, to explain why Wade is still interested in Lex, even though the story already had one of the characters in danger, as well as a reason for Clark to go after them. Lex wasn’t even needed in the story, but I think the writers give him the B arc, because it’s Lex. Also boring.

And Lana’s business proposition? Well, it’s a nice one. Okay, I already know what’s coming and how cool a coffee/bookstore is. There should actual be coffee/bookstores in big cities, because I’m missing them. And I like the proposal, because, as Lex already said it, it’s gonna be the beginning of a wonderful partnership, and the writers can finally start writing the whole deal regarding Lex and Lana (yes, I’m spoiled, I kinda know what will happen). And it’s connecting Lex with the first batch of characters – which hasn’t really happened so far. That kid needs contact not just with Clark, but also Clark’s friends. To make it shine that Lex really is Clark’s best friend (or the other way around). 4.5/10

Chloe hangs around...

Another one of those dangerous guns on the show...

Season 1, Episode 12 (12)
Date of airing: Feb 12, 2002
Rewatched for review: Jan 12, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 60/60

The episode was alright. It’s nice to play with the superpower-switch for once, but since I’ve gotten much about Superman into my brain between the last episode and this one, I don’t really find it believable that an extraterrestrial like Clark (Tom Welling) can fully lose his powers and fully come over as a human being with all the blood, the pain, and all the weaknesses against the meteoroids. When I think about the comics, this episode is pretty much stupid (though I don’t know when and how often the comics brought that story twist), but what the hell, it’s a TV show.

The writers could have done more with Eric (Shawn Ashmore). Like, depicting that he is more of a sorry big boy because of his family situation than Clark ever was. Or that he doesn’t know what to do with his new-found powers, because he never had somebody to talk to. Okay, Eric going nuts with the powers basically happens, because he doesn’t have anyone to talk about, but did he ever think about Clark here? After all, when Clark realized that Eric got his abilities thanks to the lightning, but Eric doesn’t even ask himself where he got the powers from? I don’t know if it’s because the writers decided to write Eric as a sorry villain, or because they didn’t find a way to just write him in a sorry way. So, something didn’t work out like I wanted it to see. But the story was still acceptable, because it showed Clark as a human.

And this was the most likable plot of the episode. Clark having fun with the pain and the blood, Clark finally feeling what it is to be normal. It could have been a multi-episode arc, just to make it more thrilling, when it comes to getting the powers back. Because the whole “fight” between Eric and Clark wasn’t just short, it was completely anti-climactic. And when Clark is a real human for an episode, he should have taken all the opportunities to live like one. I’ve had the feeling the writers were using it for the baseball match with Pete (Sam Jones III) and Whitney (Eric Johnson), as well as Clark having some great romantic talks with Lana (Kristin Kreuk). The whole catchphrase thing (“letting go is the only way to move forward”) was a complete cliché, and since the writers didn’t have the balls to bring Clark and Lana together in the first season, it just becomes more of a cliché, because it’s not leading to anything. It’s the typical teenager romance in a teenage romance show. Featuring Superman.

Lex’s (Michael Rosenbaum) story was completely boring. Sorry, I don’t care about his investigation, and I don’t care that Clark’s situation in that episode saved him from another villain (pretty convenient to finish that story between Lex and Clark in this episode…). Especially when it was just all about the quote that the Kents were off-limits to Roger (Tom O’Brien) (and ultimately Lex).

At the end, some ideas were just left out of the episode, to make Clark vs. Eric look more like it’s belonging in an action show. When the writers would have thought through the storylines before writing them, it could have been a great episode about teenage angst, and teenagers with superpowers. This episode shows that completely. 6.5/10

When Clark becomes The Flash

When Eric becomes Superboy with a bad image