Smallville Series Rewatch: Episode 1.10-1.11 (Day Five)
Episode 10 Shimmer, original air date 1/29/2002, directed by D.J. Caruso, written by Mark verheidan and Michael Green.
Both of these writers have written for Superman related comics titles (Superman, Superman/Batman, though the latter did a better job on his run on S/B than the former because the Kryptonite story arc remains one of my favorites of the series and is reminiscent of the run by Jeph Loeb for the first four arcs.)
Lana volunteers for everything. I liked Clark teasing her about passing out after scraping her knee in elementary school. God, they so got the Clana right in the first season! I almost don't want to ruin it by watching subsequent seasons. Chants *it led to Clois, it led to Clois, it led to Clois*
Amy (Azure Skye) starred in Zoey, Duncan, Jack, and Jane with Michael Rosenbaum. But you all know that.
Jeff had emo-hair. The Palmers were the only servants of the Luthors we've ever seen. Hey, remember Enrique, Lex's fanon butler?
Clark is coming out in nothing but a towel...and he's wet...Oh, right, Plot! So, after rewinding, we know something is awry because Clark could feel the effects of Kryptonite. They red herring'd us because the shape of the "ghost" that attacked Troy looked feminine. Maybe Jeff is in transition. *shrugs*
Clark is explaining to Chloe about the locker room incident. Clark asks Chloe if she thinks it's a ghost and she says "Not unless the meteor rocks conjure up ghosts of dearly departed jockstraps, which I seriously doubt." Boy, wait till you get to Spirit, Chloe.
Whitney is avoiding Lana. Something is up and Lana can tell, but he says he needs some space. She says fine, but "if you can't even confide in me, I don't know why we're going together in the first place." Ah, the first insinuation of "secrets and lies". I almost missed you and thought with all the "sweet Lana" that maybe I'd made it up in my head. Not that she doesn't have a point, but it would've been better to say, "When you're ready to tell me, let me know. Me? I'm going over there so you can have your space." See? That's that nice-nasty my mom taught me. Just enough to be reasonable, but not let them think they can walk all over you. Try it, it's fun.
Holy Smokes, Chloe is being nice to Lana.
That green rose is in the foreground, but out of focus...Seeing as how I never noticed it before, it was a nice little giveaway.
Kent family scene: Even Jonathan notes the irony of him telling Clark that he can't always be honest with people. At least they had the Kents recognize that they were slightly hypocritical, but once again, they were protecting their son so I can't fault them for it when they raised him to be an amazing person. And the fact that Clark is such a horrible liar shows that he doesn't take pleasure out of it, which stops him from being pathological.
Clark comes bearing tulips. Yet another scene that gets misconstrued in Clex vids, lol. The phantom knocks them over, which I don't appreciate because I love tulips
.
Clark wonders what we all want to know, what does Lex see in Victoria. Lex teaches Clark the lesson that not all relationships are about love. That's a great lesson to teach a teenage boy, Lex. Seriously though, Lex, you better stop looking at Clark like that before Jonathan comes around with his shotgun.
Clark catches Vicky on Lex's computer, but something interrupts and he goes running out.
I never understoof what that freaky light and banging on the door was supposed to be. I think this was to play up the "ghost" bit for a little longer, but I would've liked an explanation as to how it was done, like in Sherlock Holmes.
I think this was before they decided to have Chloe speak in metaphors because I completely understood what she was saying the first time around.
Clark "admits" to having a "thing" about needles. He didn't even have to lie.
Clark brings up the fact that Jonathan and Nell used to date, but according to Lana, Nell doesn't talk about it much. The farmboy that used to date the smalltown girl, but went to the big city and fell for the city girl. Hmm...
Nell interrupts Clark and Lana's almost kiss, and very pointedly suggests it's time for Clark to leave. Does she not like Clark because he's Jonathan and Martha's son, or because he's not Whitney, the star quarterback, or was she genuinely just looking out for Lana's virtue.
Clark uses similar lines for the women he loves: "Would you like to see the sunset from my loft" "Take you on Clark Kent's tour of the galaxy" He's such a HORNDOG, lol.
Anvil #14: Clark, you're not the flying type.--Pete
Oh, but Clark notices Whitney talking to the counsellor and being the good guy he is, he goes to help out. But he's being nosy too. Oh Clark, boundaries, my friend.
Clark tells Lex that Vic was going through his files. But Lex already knows. Clark doesn't understand the relationship Lex and Victoria have, and I'm glad he never tried to find out.
Random Canon fact: Lillian Luthor died of a bad heart...and she was a little insane.
I don't believe in drowning people, but I wouldn't have missed Vicky if she'd died. But Clark is a good boy (and didn't even ogle the naked woman). And he noticed that ghosts don't have skeletons nor do they bleed.
Clark demonstrates his eidetic memory.
Okay, so I love this scene with Clark and Whitney because it shows just how good a guy Clark is. (And this time when he says that Whitney has an unbelievable girlfriend, I can buy it, lol). This scene goes a long way of redeeming Whitney because it shows he really does care about Lana (and he stopped being a jerk long enough to confide in Clark). And Clark tells Lex that he doesn't have the heart to go after Lana now, and Lex recognizes that while he would take advantage himself, he likes that Clark wouldn't.
Well, Lana is waiting for Clark in his loft, but damn, Clark is gonna be the good guy that sacrifices his happiness because Whitney needed Lana more at that moment. Sound familiar? Good thing he broke that pattern with Lois in Crossfire.
The Palmers are leaving, but Jeff is staying behind to "pack everything else"...and the invisible person is back (or rather, never left).
Wow, Chloe was extremely rude to interrupt Clark talking to his mom. What if it were important? And she literally stepped over Martha to sit in front of Clark. (And there is a line in a later episode-Crush I think- that goes back to this scene when Clark leaves Chloe to go to Lex)
Lex says "that kind of love could get me arrested. She was too young for me." That...doesn't stop you from looking at Clark like a drink of water on a desert island.
Jeff also says that Lex talks about Clark like he's something special...refer to my "desert island" line. With that in mind, is it possible that Jeff was just as obsessed with Lex as Amy was, because he seemed a little jealous that Lex noticed that Clark was special but not him.
The moon on Smallville has always been freakishly large, then.
Clark is watching Lana and Whitney talk. It doesn't feel like it, but you did the right thing, buddy. And...stop spying on the girl.
Conclusions: I like Shimmer. Continuity wise, if you care about the Lex/Victoria story arc then you need to watch this episode, but other than that it's more of a one-shot episode. I sympathized with Amy a little, but not so much with Jeff. Even with the implied homoeroticism (which always gets extra points from me), Jeff was just...creepy in an almost incestuous way. Plus he lost points for the emo-hair and trying to kill Clark. NOT COOL, Jeff.
Episode 11 Hug, original air date 2/5/2002, directed by Chris Long, written by Doris Egan
I remember that my original love for this episode was mainly because of the ending...let's see if it holds up to my memories.
When the bad guy enters saying "Killer view"...you move away from the window.
The wish-fulfilling meteor theory is holding true. Either that or the writers just REALLY think it's poetic to have the meteor abilities match the infected's personality/job/situation at the time of infection.
Anvilicious Anvil #15: Clark on what he wants to be when he grows up: "As long as it doesn't involve putting on a suit and doing a lot of flying."
I'm still in love with Clark's season 1 wardrobe. Clark in a turtleneck...yum.
Nell is overreacting to Lana fall off her horse. She wants Clark to lie about what he saw Kyle Tippet do. Clark doesn't believe Kyle is a bad guy and wants to give him a chance. *Hugs him*...no pun intended.
Foreshadow much Kyle? "[Friends] always betray you in the end."
Whitney...I was just starting to like you, why are you overreacting to NOTHING.
Clark is sweet, offering to take Kyle home. Kyle is the second person to warn Clark about Bob (Lex was the first).
Clark notices Whitney's truck while leaving Kyle's property...oh, and Kyle breaks a baseball bat across Clark's cheek.
Oh I wish Roxy was here to see how close Clark and Whitney are right now.
Here comes Lana with her first ever accusation of the series. I don't miss these. This Clark/Lana exchange is interesting. Lana is justifiably on Whitney's side, I'm not knocking her for that. But when she says that Whitney would never attack anyone and Clark reminds her that Whitney strung him up in a field, she accuses Clark of holding a grudge. The Fuck? If Clark had been human, he could've died out there. He was half naked in the middle of October strung up on a post crucifixion style. If you've ever read how crucifixions kill people, then you'd understand the urgency of the matter. But Clark isn't human, so he's safe, right? WRONG! He had a kryptonite necklace around his neck, so even if the potential pneumonia or asphyxiation didn't kill him, the Knite would have. So, no Lana, you get no love from me on this one. And how dare you accuse Clark of pretending to be Whitney's friend when Whitney has done nothing but return Clark's kindness with grunts and glares. Damn it, I was just starting to like you! So, yeah okay it wasn't Whitney's fault, but don't act like just because the boy's dad is sick that gives him a free pass.
Are those the same workgloves that Martha reminisced over in Hostage?
Martha is reasonably upset, and she reminds Jonathan that he's in no position to let his pride prevent Clark from asking Lex for help.
Lex just spoke words that were proven in Salvation: he tells Clark that the key to leadership is not only knowing you're right but convincing everyone else of the same. Which is exactly what Clark did not only with the JLA/JSA, but with the Kandorians. (Did I mention how much I loved Salvation?)
Kyle "persuades" one of the deputies to let him out of jail...and apparently to loan him his uniform as well.
Clark is only slightly faster than a speeding bullet since it still got Kyle's shoulder...but at least it wasn't his heart.
I think Toby made one appearance ever on Smallville, but he's made countless appearances in fanfic. Clark takes Kyle to Lex's and is justifiably wary of Toby being a "doctor", lol. This is the second time someone has mentioned Club Zero to Lex (and us) and we get a smidge more to the story as Toby mentions a knife wound. Continuity abounds.
Lana is waiting for Clark in the loft. Now, this scene I love because a) Clark isn't happy to find her there, b) he tells her if she came over there for an apology, she was out of luck, which means that c) Clark stood up to Lana. I love it. Hate that she got the last word, but he stood his ground and I miss that about the early seasons.
Bob thought he would get to Clark, but his abilities not only don't work on Clark, but Clark squeezed his hand really REALLY hard.
Aaaand it's the start of Chloe's metaphors/references.
This scene with Kyle/Clark/Chloe was both necessary and unnecessary. They needed exposition, but the Chlark pimping was gratuitous and humiliating for Chloe. Smallville loves its angst and triangles. I'll admit that when I first started watching SV, I liked Chlark but only as an alternative to Clana (because after a while, I just wanted him with anyone but Lana). What's funny is that this is the first time you realize that Clark doesn't think that Chloe has a crush on him because when Kyle is "persuading" her, Clark scoffs like "yeah, right"
.
Random fact: Clark's got perpetually minty fresh breath...no wonder Lois recognized his kiss. (I'm exagerrating; it's what I do.)
There were whole seasons where I wished Clark would've taken his own advice just then: "When you have a gift, you don't hide in a hole until it goes away."
Rickman got to Lex. And we have some foreshadowing. Especially since earlier in the episode, Clark said that Lex was the only one he could trust with Kyle. And Clark is using his abilities in front of whammied!Lex. Lex: "Lucy Clark, you have some explaning to do."
I would ask where Rickman got an automatic from, but he's a persuasive kind of guy.
This is how Clark learns that he's bulletproof. So 2 of the three times he learned the extent of his invulnerability was because of Lex.
Bob isn't as persuasive as Kyle. And I think Kyle is the first of the meteor infected that Clark has inspired to do "good" things with his powers.
Wow, Clark's powers have come such a long way. Here, he has bruises from the bullets, and now he doesn't get so much as a mark. Vitamin D is good for you.
Lana is back, should I brace myself? She looks contrite, but I wish she would've apologized for being wrong instead of reducing it to their friendship being more important than admitting she was wrong. I don't think this is what the PTB meant for me to get out of this episode.
Ah, this is the famous scene that had clouded my judgment years ago. Such forshadowy Anvils (#16): Our friendship is gonna be the stuff of legends. How many times has this line been used in fics? It's like the "secret friends" thing in Clois fics, but I guess every ship in this fandom has it's "thing".
Conclusions: I still like the episode, but it's not a "favorite" like I thought it was. But it is definitely a must-see episode because some things were brought out (continuity wrt Zero), we had foreshadowing with the Clark/Lex friendship, there was more Clark being awesome, inspiring, and RIGHT! And there were things that we'd probably never see again on Smallville (Clark standing up to Lana and her being called out on being wrong) so we better soak it up while we can. Bob Rickman was a pretty Competent Villain, so he gets a nomination. His downfall was underestimating both Clark and Kyle, but no villain is perfect (especially since philosophically speaking, that is an oxymoron).
If I missed any anvils that may have fallen on your heads during the rewatch (all episodes so far), sound off in the comments.