Smallville Recap

[thedeadlyhook]

And then everything changed forever. Spoilers for the episode.

Smallville 5.12, "Reckoning"

Okay, on Smallville terms, that was a pretty damn good episode! Exit Bo, at last. (Since the trailers have been predicting "things will change forever" for weeks, and showing Clark at a funeral, I figure it's not too out of line to start this writeup with the news that someone died. And yes, it was Pa Kent.)

But the real good news about this episode was its structure - we get one of my favorite plot devices, turning back time, for a tightly plotted little exercise on inevitability. (For more on this idea - shameless plug alert - my SO toysdream just posted a little thinkpiece here, nominally about Batman, but ends up being more about how an ending defines what a story is ultimately about.) Smallville, when it gets neat about its own conceit, that Superman's origin story has a natural endpoint, insofar as it leads up to his actually putting on the cape and tights, has this quality of following a track of already foreordained events. The series is, in effect, about studying the forensic evidence to see how things ended up that way. And in this case - well, every case, really - it all leads back to Lex.

I'm actually kind of sad I didn't tape this one.

Excerpts from the conversation on our couch:

Lana enters the barn; Clark starts stammering his way through his confession that There's Something He Hasn't Been Telling Her
Clark: I can tell that I'm losing you.

The Deadly Hook: Well, duh. So is he finally going to tell her?
Toysdream: I dunno... This might be a dream sequence.
TDH: (rolls eyes) Oh, god. That would be totally stupid. But not impossible. (stares at screen, expecting Clark to wake up any second)

Clark and Lana go to secret chamber of the Mysterious Caves. Clark brandishes magic Kryptonian coin.
Clark: This may change how you feel about me.
Lana: Whatever it is, it's okay.

TDH: That was a really dumb thing for her to say. (thinks about other ways that line might have been read) That actress really isn't very good, is she?
TD: She was good in Eurotrip. (laughter, discussion about how Lana was probably cast for her ability to do "frustrated face")

Fortress of Solitude

TD: There's been more plot movement in these first few minutes than in the last two years. Although they still could call dream sequence.
TDH: Hey, is he proposing to her?
TD: Oh, right, with this lump of coal I crushed into a diamond, I--hey, is it all faceted and stuff?
TDH: (laughs) It is!
TD: You'd think at least he'd use his heat vision--

Clark uses heat vision

TDH: Ha ha! I've so gotta write down that you said that!

Commercial break

TDH: Well, if that was a dream sequence, they're really keeping it going.
TD: It IS weird they didn't call it before the commerical. I guess that was real.
TDH: (ponders) You know... I'm kind of wondering now about Lana now.
TD: What do you mean?
TDH: I mean, the previews made it look like it's gonna be a car crash. After all that buildup about Bo's heart... it might be a fakeout. And now Clark's told Lana everything, and he's proposed to her--
TD: It's gotta be Bo.
TDH: I'm just saying. That would be the totally stupid TV thing to do, to kill Lana. Whoa, tragedy.
TD: They can't kill Lana. She's in all the comics.
TDH: Hello? Smallville doesn't always stick to the comics.
TD: No, but I still say Lana's protected. She's golden, just like Lois and Lex. They're characters everyone knows. Chloe's the one in real danger, because she's not in the comics. I don't think she's going to live out the series.
TDH: I still wouldn't bank on it. I'm just saying that would be the totally TV thing to do.
TD: The current versions of Superman's origin in the comics disagree about whether one or both of his parents are alive, so they could kill Ma Kent.
TDH: I'm just saying. If it's not a heart attack... (shakes head) I mean, not that I care, because Lana annoys me, but that would be the really stupid TV thing to do.

Back to program. Confirmation that yes, it was real. Clark tells his parents that he told Lana, and asked her to marry him. Pa Kent Expresses CONCERN.

TDH: Oh, shut up, Bo!
TD: He is so dead.
TDH: Bo is so paranoid! He's the reason why Clark can't trust anybody.
TD: Die, Bo, die. I'm so sick of him.

Cute scene with Clark and Chloe. Chloe is flabbergasted that Clark finally owned up to Lana and popped the question. Clark says he asked Lana not to give him an answer yet because "it was a lot to take in." Strange followup scene with Lana and Lois, in which Lana wanders around in sort of a daze while Lois babbles.

TDH: She looks like she has the biggest boobs in the world in that shirt.
TD: I'm sure that had nothing to do with why wardrobe chose it. Hey, why is Lana suddenly telling Lois all this?

Lois says something about Clark being an awesome guy, and she'd be lucky to end up with someone like him someday.

TD: I guess that answers my question.
TDH: They do love their foreshadowing on this show.

Lana and Clark meet again. Clark is wearing a suit.
Clark: Do I... look different?

TDH: (Lana imitation voice) Yeah, you're wearing a tie.

Lana says yes. Bo wins the election. Clark goes to pose for celebration photos, Lana gets phone call from Lex.

Castle Lex - Lex is drinking alone.

TDH: The only political candidate in the world alone on election night.
TD: You'd think Lex would at least have a party ready to go in case he won.

Lex and Lana scene. Lex is DEPRESSED and says a lot of drunken things about how he'd hoped to achieve something on his own, out from under the shadow of his father. Obviously hoping for comfort from Lana.

TD: This is sort of a nice followup to the Christmas episode. (Animated discussion about Lex, and how his whole arc mirrors Clark's - both sons of tyrannical fathers who neither wants to emulate, but Clark has a surrogate family to provide a counterexample, while Lex has to do it alone, and under a veil of constant suspicion. Since the fact that Clark is Kryptonian is kept secret, he enjoys a freedom from taint that Lex, in his public battle to escape from Lionel's shadow, can't ever have. Lionel is seen as Lex's future, preordained. Something neat there on positive/negative exmamples and self-fulfilling prophecies.)

(Further discussion on the father topic - it's noted that Jor-El = Lionel Luthor used to be much more explicit, because Jor-El used to be characterized as a supervillain type, but has been retconned almost into a good guy, because of the General Zod/Brainiac plot. So there's been a little shift there - Clark now has both "dads" grooming him, in a sense, while Lex just has the one.)

Lex spots the wedding ring. Confronts Lana about it. Realizes that for Lana to overcome her recent bitterness enough to agree to marry Clark, he must have told her whatever his secret is. Lana denies that Clark is hiding anything. Lex flips out, shouts at Lana, grabs her by the arms. She pulls away and runs, freaked.

TDH: He's right, though, she IS lying to him. Clark told her, and now SHE'S lying to Lex to protect Clark. She just chose sides.

Lana driving. Also talking on cell phone. Lex drives up alongside her, honking, tries to get her to stop. Car accident. Lana is DEAD, OMG!! Clark gets there too late. Pa Kent drives up a second later, tells Clark there's nothing he could've done.

Commerical break

TDH: (feeling very what-did-I-tell-you)
TD: You know... They could still do a do-over. Turn back time, like in the movie.
TDH: You think? (hopeful, inwardly thinking that Clark hating Lex forever because of dead Lana would be understandable, but super lame)
TD: Well... I saw some spoiler pictures of Clark at his Fortress of Solitude carrying Bo--and maybe those were phony, studio fake-outs, but... we do know that we get the voice of Jor-El in this episode... (from the opening credits)
TDH: (thinks) ...and there was that scene of Lex and Lana kissing in that one preview.
TD: I'm thinking we might be in for a bargaining phase.
TDH: Hmmmm...

Fortress of Solitude. Clark bargains for Lana's life. Gets a do-over.

TD: Oh, is he NOT going to tell her now?
TDH: He is!

Clark dithers. Lana's had it, and pretty much breaks up with Clark. Then Clark goes to see Chloe, tells her about the do-over day and what happens, asks her to watch out of Lana.

Election party goes ahead as before, with differences. Lois injures herself in a fall from a stool which Lana had originally stopped in their previous scene.

TD: Ah, I thought that looked dangerous! Another fakeout, like it could've been Lois who died there. Nice continuity.

Revised Lana and Lex scene. This time, Lana is bitter about Clark continuing to lie to her. Lex says he never would lie to someone he loved, and tries to kiss her. Lana pulls away and leaves, freaked. Car chase scene repeats as before, with Lex chasing Lana, wanting to talk. But this time, Clark shows up to stop the bus that Lana originally collided with. Then Clark hangs out to spy on Lana and Lex, who share an uncomfortable moment.

TD: Obviously, the X-factor in this equation wasn't Lana.
TDH: It was Lex.
TD: He should've told Lex.
TDH: He could've told Lana, and told Lex. This is all happening because Clark doesn't trust Lex.
TD: He should've told Lex.

(discussion about how Clark's friends finding out his secret has actually been a running series thing, with Pete Ross first, who felt betrayed about being lied to, and Chloe, who found out only this season and not because Clark told her. Mention of the fact that Clark and Lex used to be friends, and were driven apart for the same reason Clark is now alienated from Lana - because Clark lied to him all the time.)

Pa Kent cruises by in a car. Goes to Kent Farm to meet with Lionel Luthor. Has confrontation with Luthor, stumbles out into the farmyard and keels over from heart attack.

TD: Okay, so now we know where Bo was going in his car. I like that him dying would've happened anyway.

Sad scene with Clark and Ma Kent. Annette O'Toole v. good, as always. Clark hugs his mother. He is Very Tall.

Funeral scene in the snow. Artistic slo-mo.

TDH: You know, typically they don't do funerals in the winter in cold climates. Ground's too hard to dig.
TD: It's a TV funeral. Nice music choice, though.
TDH: This is beautifully filmed.

Slow-mo shot of Lionel walking behind Martha Kent with a Significant Glance.

(laughter)
TD: (deep voiced Lionel impersonation) You belong to meeee now!
TDH: I can visualize the icons now.

episode ends

It's been said before, but I'll say it again - there are a lot of ways in which Smallville is more the story of How Lex Came to be Superman's Nemesis than How Superman Came to be Superman, and those two things are interconnected. Weirdly enough, Superman often doesn't come out looking too good. Sometimes it's hard to tell how aware the writers are of this - Clark is the "hero", after all, and Lex is destined to be his villain - but considering that all of this is done deliberately, and given how much effort they put into making us see Lex's side of things - particularly in this episode, I thought - the theme of Can You Escape From Your Destiny becomes a really interesting one.

So, yay! Smallville really can get it going on sometimes. Not subtle, not ever, but... interesting.

Comments

[zerographic.livejournal.com]

wow. thanks for the awesome recap. Smallville is one of those shows I really had trouble connecting to, but every so often want to know where they are in the story.

I have always thought that Clark should have told Lex. Lex could've handled it, there was a lot of good in him. Especially when you think about how wildly the Lex of the comic books has swung back and forth between good guy and supervillian.

One of the few episodes I watched had a moment between Clark and I that made me cry (literally, I'm almost ashamed to admit). Clark and Lex are in the barn looking soulfully up into the sky and Lex says something to the effect of, "No, our friendship will be the stuff of legends."

Clark's a bastard if he couldn't tell Lex after that little moment >:(

And oh lord, how Lana needs to die.. and has needed to die since the very beginning. The Mr. and I always hope they would change things around enough that Clark could get together with Chloe, who is omg-so-much-cooler than Lana (who, you are right, could not act her way out of a paper bag. especially if that paper bag did not contain her sparkly eyeshadow of simpering)... (not that I am bitter) ;)

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I probably rattled on more about the theories we were having while watching it than the episode itself, but as Smallville goes, this one was rock-solid. It really got us talking, as you can tell.

Lex could've handled it, there was a lot of good in him. Especially when you think about how wildly the Lex of the comic books has swung back and forth between good guy and supervillian.

Yep, that drives me bonkers. Esp. when - in Smallville, not so much in the comics - the other characters are always coming to him for help. You just keep wondering what would happen if once, just once, they did trust him instead of suspecting the worst all the time.

Clark and Lex are in the barn looking soulfully up into the sky and Lex says something to the effect of, "No, our friendship will be the stuff of legends."

Awww... yes, I think I remember that one. I think if I went back and watched some of those earlier episodes now, they'd have way more resonance for me too. Even then, you knew it was going to turn out badly, but there was still so much yet to go wrong.

always hope they would change things around enough that Clark could get together with Chloe, who is omg-so-much-cooler than Lana

You said it! I love Chloe. Although at this point I wouldn't want to see her with Clark - I wouldn't wish Clark on anyone, although I've been enjoying his interaction with Lois lately. Probably because it gives me a thrill to see him snarked at by somebody... anybody!

[sarahlynnl.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I probably rattled on more about the theories we were having while watching it than the episode itself, but as Smallville goes, this one was rock-solid.

I enjoyed reading your recap of Smallville.

Lex could've handled it, there was a lot of good in him. Especially when you think about how wildly the Lex of the comic books has swung back and forth between good guy and supervillian.

I believe Lex could handle it and he would help Clark and not tell his secret which even though he doesn't know he has tried to keep Clark protected and it always ends up making him look bad.

You said it! I love Chloe. Although at this point I wouldn't want to see her with Clark - I wouldn't wish Clark on anyone, although I've been enjoying his interaction with Lois lately. Probably because it gives me a thrill to see him snarked at by somebody... anybody!

I wanted Clark with Chloe but when Lois came on the scene I liked her with Clark immediately. I seem to like couples who don't start out liking each other for some reason.

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

Aw, you make it sound so fun. I wish I were watching the show with such a lively couple of bantering commentators. Hey, wait a minute...

If nothing else, our continuing enjoyment of Smallville is testament to the occasional benefits of very low expectations. I kinda feel sorry for the folks currently struggling through the sophomore slumps of certain highly regarded shows, while we're happily munching on the reliable comfort food of Smallville and Stargate. :-)

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

As always, I'm keenly aware that our geekish tendencies allow us to get far more brain stimulation than the average viewer might have for this sort of thing, because we're all up and thinking hard on the subject of superheroes all the time. If that weren't your thing, I'm not sure you'd get much out of Smallville beyond the fact that Tom Welling isn't half bad-looking, Michael Rosenbaum will probably go on to bigger things after the series is over and he's allowed to grow hair, and that Lana can't act. Oh, and Chloe. I left out one of my comments from our banter session about how I'd probably watch Veronica Mars if Allison Mack played her.

[shapinglight]

Sad scene with Clark and Ma Kent. Annette O'Toole v. good, as always. Clark hugs his mother. He is Very Tall.

That last sentence made me laugh. He is very tall, isn't he?

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

That was just the only thing my eyes could focus on, in that scene. Poor Annette O'Toole trying to hug him, and oh god, that man is Big!

[shapinglight]

I was going to make some sort of eye-rolling comment on my LJ about how I was sick of seeing Pa Kent hug Ma Kent to his manly bosom. However, sounds like even though I shan't have to watch it for much longer, she's going to carry on getting hugged by someone much taller than her anyway.

Oh, well.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Clark hugs his mother. He is Very Tall. Hee! It was also quite noticeable when JM did scenes with him. Buffy and Riley all over again.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

It's so true. JM looked like such a wee little thing in comparison. And he's of a pretty average height.

[itmustbetuesday.livejournal.com]

and Chloe, who found out only this season and not because Clark told her.

Actually, she found out last season. But that's just me being picky ;) Too bad Lana didn't die. Bah - most pointless character EVER!!!

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Ah, you are correct. I keep forgetting that was a thing in the finale, not the season opener. I saw those again recently, and they really hang together like a two-parter.

Too bad Lana didn't die. Bah - most pointless character EVER!!!

She does annoy the hell out of me in general, but the thing that gets me with Lana is that her story is sort of like Clark's relationship with Lex - we know that they're not going to end up as Twu Wuv 4Eva, because that's Clark and Lois, but we know that she was Clark's first big romance. So she's important, but the series has managed to stretch out their inevitable break-up for four years, which is, I think it's fair to say, way too long. I'm reeaaally hoping the rest of this season will give us some kind of Lana/Lex fest to pay off all our patience in this matter!

[sarahlynnl.livejournal.com]

I'm reeaaally hoping the rest of this season will give us some kind of Lana/Lex fest to pay off all our patience in this matter!

I second that for Lana seems more interesting with Lex but that might just be because of MR acting making her acting if you call it that look better.