Smallville: Fragile (TV post)
Smallville is about the adventures and early life of Clark Kent before he became Superman. It's set in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas. According to Wikipedia, the first four seasons focus on Clark and his friends' high school years. Beginning with season five, the show ventures into more adult settings, with some characters attending college. Later seasons see an increase in the introduction of other DC comic book superheroes and villains.
In the episode Fragile, Clark and his mother Martha take in a young foster child named Maddie after her foster mother is murdered by an unknown party while Maddie is in the house. Callum plays Maddie's biological father, Tyler McKnight, who wants her back so they can be a family. Keeping with the superhero/supernatural theme of show, both father and daughter have a unique ability which can be used for good...or bad.
The IMDB page: Smallville : Fragile
Smallville debuted in 2001. It was created and produced by the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. They have collaborated on several projects including writing episodes of the television shows Timecop and Martial Law and writing the screen story for the feature film Spiderman 2. Fans of Smallville were stunned when they announced their departure from the show at the end of season 7.
Cast / Characters:
Tom Welling
Kristin Kreuk
Michael Rosenbaum
Erica Durance
Allison Mack
Annette O'Toole
Callum Keith Rennie
Emily Hirst
Bud the Dog
Anne Marie DeLuise
Maxine Miller
Clark Kent
Lana Lang
Lex Luthor
Lois Lane
Chloe Sullivan
Martha Kent
Tyler McKnight
Maddie
Shelby
Naomi
Mrs. McKnight
Original Air Date: April 13, 2006 (Season 5, Episode 18)
Runtime: 42 minutes (60 minutes as aired)
Country: USA
IMDB rating: The episode Fragile has an impressive 7.8 rating based on 115 votes. The series overall has a 7.9 rating based on 11,763 votes.
Genre: Action / Adventure / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Keywords: Wet Jeans / Best Friends / Shipper / Young Versions Of Characters / Good Versus Evil
There are 5 user comments on the IMDB page for this episode of Smallville, all of them positive.
One example:
A character, who isn't even credited in this episode [ed note: this is wrong. He's credited.] is the actor who plays Maddie's biological father. The actor is the very same man who played a very philosophical Cylon in Battlestar Galactica who was introduced in the miniseries, and we have come to love and hate at the same time. And through this character, Tom Welling is able to make a point in this episode, a message that he had learned and passed on to this wonderful little girl, that anyone can become a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad, and I could totally see Clark being a great dad. We have seen this with Ryan, Evan, and now Maddie. It was a great episode, and Callum Rennie should be credited for this part.
You can find all the comments here.
Callum Quotient: 25% (He's on screen ~11 minutes throughout the second half of the episode.)
Pictures:
Quotes:
- Tyler to Maddie: "All those years locked up. You're the only thing that kept me going. I would do anything for you."
- Lois, describing Tyler to Clark: "Good-looking, in a psycho-killer kind of way."
- Tyler to Maddie: "All I want to do is put our family back together."
- Tyler to his police escort: "Nice glasses."
Trivia:
- The episode Fragile is notable for being the directorial debut of Tom Welling, the actor who portrays the lead character Clark Kent.
- Smallville is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Maddie's foster mother is played by due South alumna Anne Marie DeLuise, formely Ann Marie Loder -- i.e. Stella Kowalski.
- Guest star Emily Hirst was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her portrayal of Maddie.
- The bad guy/gal with special powers that appear in many Smallville episodes are fondly referred to by fans as the "Freak of the Week" or FOTW. Callum is the FOTW of this episode.
Interesting scenes:
- The first shot of Callum is quite dramatic. It brings to mind the archetypal loner hero--not villian.
- When Callum's character, Tyler, is pleading with his daughter, you know this is an actor who's way above the usual "guest star" fare. He's so subtle and quietly sympathetic.
- In the final scene, Callum does this head-twist movement as he prepares to unleash the full measure of his wrath. His expression and the gleam in his eyes are deliciously evil.
Do I want to show this to my parents / friends / co-workers?
Poll Smallville: Fragile
So, Tyler McKnight -- Good? Bad? Misunderstood? Sexy? Uggo?
Poll Tyler McKnight
Does he die?
You really want to know? Are you sure? Really sure? Well, then. (highlight to read)
::Nope!::
Articles/interviews:
Nothing really. Though there is a blog entry here about the episode by a TV Guide Network Producer who refers to Callum as "the very cool Callum Keith Rennie".
Links
There is a character page for Tyler McKnight at the Smallville Wiki.
c_regalis posted comments and a small picspam here.
Availability
Season 5 of Smallville is available from many online DVD sales site, including Amazon.
Final comments from the editor:
Callum is quite good in this "freak of the week" role. He brings a pathos to Tyler McKnight that a lesser actor (*cough*Tom Welling*cough*) couldn't. Also, he's really handsome. GUH. And he's having a good hair day. Always a plus.