Smallville Series Rewatch: Episode 1.12 (Day Six)
Due to my long windedness, the next three episodes I'll try to keep the reviews down to a paragraph.
By my count, there were two more car fatalities in this episode.
Episode 12 "Leech" original air date 2/12/2002, directed by Greg Beeman, written by Timothy Schlattmann
Field Trip! The teacher announces that a storm is on the way. Knowing what we know now, this is what we call an "omen".
Clark, you cheater! He used his xray vision to find the minerals for his assignment...hell, I'd do it too.
Why is Lana wearing the necklace now? She hasn't worn it since Metamorphosis. (I smell plot device)
I wonder if this was supposed to be a sign of how much of a city girl Chloe is, her complaining about the assignment to collect rocks when she says she can order them online.
Hey! It's Jimmy Henry James Olson's twin brother. He better watch out because Chloe is close by.
I kind of resent that they portray all the football players as assholes...my brother plays football (and he's damn good, too) and he's never acted like that.
Mr Summers is...a bit of a dick. Clark, being the good boy that he is, offers to find Eric. This is where the trouble happens.
Shallow Moment: Clark is...seriously prettier than every girl on the show in Season 1, lol.
Oh, poor Clark got burned. Sign #1. Second sign something is wrong: Clark feels tired. Third sign: Clark can't lift something simple, like a truck.
OH NO! This nose is bleeding!!
Secret shameful thought #1: I think deep down Martha liked that she had to get Clark a raincoat because since he never got sick, she didn't get to take care of him in that way.
Aaaand Clark has no speed. No strength, no speed, no invulnerability.
Aside: I learned in my training that what Mr. Summers is doing to Eric is considered child abuse. What Lionel does to Lex is also child abuse. Child Abuse can (but not always) lead to the victim displaying aggression or sociopathic behavior...but that doesn't make them unaccountable.
It's...kind of funny the type of things you never consider that Clark has never had to deal with, like a leg cramp, lol.
Clark's nose is bleeding again :(
This episode is another example of the difference between how Clark and his adversary handle similar situations. In Pilot, both Jeremy and Clark were Scarecrowed, but unlike Jeremy who sought revenge on his persecutors, Clark chooses to save them. Here in Leech, Eric gains his powers and shows off, and uses his powers to his advantage, sometimes with violent outcomes. We know what Clark does with his powers: helps his parents on the farm, saves people in secret without taking any credit. Even as Superman, it's the hero that gets the credit while Clark Kent is satisfied reporting about it.
We learn a little more about Whitney in this episode (and this episode is the catalyst for one of my favorite Clark/Whitney fics. WHAT?! I can ship Clark with almost anyone, lol. And this was pre-Lois, so it's not cheating.)
Nell is selling the flower shop. Random Fact: The Talon and the flower shop are a part of the same building. Nell owns (owned) both.
Secret shameful thought #2: I can't help but think that Jonathan is relieved that Clark no longer has powers. Not because he didn't want an alien son, but because he can rest easy for once without thinking someone is going to come and take Clark away and experiment on/exploit him.
This is the first time seeing the car-crash simulation. Ah, it's Roger Nixon. Lex is threatening Nixon to not leak this story. This is the one redeeming thing about Lex investigating. He wants the information for himself, and he hasn't told Nixon who it is he's investigating. So he IS protecting Clark, but at the same time, how long did he think he could keep Clark's identity in the dark. If Nixon is as good an investigator as Lex thinks (or else why hire him rather than just ruin his life), why wouldn't he think Nixon would figure it out (which he did eventually). Hubris? Arrogance? I don't know. This is one of the reasons I don't see Lex's "villainy" as a lightswitch. Plus one of my good flisters pointed out that Lex's hiring of Stephen Hamilton could very well have been the beginnings of his 33.1 project (which at this point in the timeline was tentatively called Cadmus). {ETA: I later learn that I gave Lex too much credit wrt Nixon knowing who it is he's investigating.}
Clark/Lex scene: Lex thinks he has Clark all figured out at this point and finds it amusing that Clark is physically tired from doing farmwork all day. He's still asking Clark about the bridge accident. He's also playing the "friend" card. Regardless of what your shipper or character bias is, Clark doesn't "owe" Lex the secret, which Lex never figured out, especially not 4 months into the friendship. (I'm about to go on a rant) See, the problem is that Lex took it as a personal affront that Clark wouldn't tell him the secret when, in Clark's eyes at the time, it had nothing to do with Lex, but Clark himself and his family's safety. You would think Lex, being a billionaire genius and all that, would've figured that out on his own and let it go. Chloe did, and this is me defending Chloe for once, so it must be serious./rant
How the hell did that once guy overpower both Chloe and Pete?
Chloe is reveling a little in the possibility that Clark might be jealous of her and Eric flirting.
Anvil #17: Superboy headline in Smallville. Very Silver Age.
The Kents now know that Eric is the reason Clark doesn't have his powers. Jonathan tries to get Clark use to the idea of not having abilities. Aww, he asks if his parents feel different about him *hugs him*
"Your abilities were a part of you, but they didn't define you." This is kind of true, but I believe that because Clark was raised by Jonathan and Martha, he would've been the same sweet, helpful, mannerable boy, but he wouldn't have that hero complex. He would do what he could to help people, because that's how his parents are, but at the same time he would probably be more outgoing because he would've been able to play with the other kids, join the football team, and have more confidence in himself because he wouldn't have been told to "be careful, stay close to home, you could hurt someone". So in a way, the fact that he does have powers DID define him to an extent.
Oh! I was right! My secret shameful thought #2 isn't so secret or shameful.
Clark says that the fact that Eric stopped a purse-snatcher isn't a big deal. Compare to what Clark has done in the previous 11 episodes, he's right, lol. This also shows that Clark (reasonably and naturally) would like to get credit for his miraculous saves. He IS a teenage boy, after all.
Hey, look at Whitney being nice to Clark, inviting him and Pete to play b-ball. Clark...isn't any good, but it's adorable that he loves it. Whitney pushed him down, Clark hurt his elbow...and his likes it, lol. Clark's so elated that he got to play with the other kids like a "normal" teenage boy that he didn't even blink that Lana went and hugged Whitney after the game. Wow, it's really hitting me how much Clark had to sacrifice growing up. Can you imagine not getting to play with the other kids. I don't know about you, but I loved freeze tag (even with my asthma), and if I had to sit and watch the other kids play...I'd be fucking depressed.
Hey, it's Metropolis in the daytime. First time for that.
First mention of Cadmus Labs, Victoria apparently learned of Lex's interest in the lab and Sir Harry bought it out from under Lex's nose. But Lex is no dummy.
First look inside the Talon. It meant a lot to Lana because her parents met there. This being the first season, I'm not annoyed with her mentioning her parents often (yet). Their death shaped her character at this point in the series. It's when they started treating it like her parents abandoned her that it started to grate.
Canon Fact: Clark likes Close Encounters of the Third Kind
So, unlike Clark, Eric's parents are afraid of his powers. On one hand, they didn't have 12 years to get used to them like the Kents did. But then again you can't really sympathize with two people that would willingly submit to their son being experimented on.
LMAO!!! Eric Summers is now dressed like Kal. This amuses me to no end.
Even without powers, Clark still has a need to save people. Is it his nature or his upbringing. Or is it the fact that he's had the powers for so long that he still acts as if he still has them? Or feels responsible for them? All of the above?
That punk threw my Clark. NOT COOL!
Dude! I must be psychic! Clark still feels responsible.
What does Mr. Summers seriously think he's gonna do with that golf club?
"You're my dad, you're supposed to protect ME." Another comparison to the Kents.
Clark even asks Jonathan if they were ever afraid of him. The way he asks makes your heart break a little.
Eric: "If you had the power to do anything you want, what would you do?"
Clark: "I'd stop people like you." [Me: YOU TELL HIM, CLARK!]
Jonathan: "Seeing how destructive Eric got, it makes me realize how special you really are." I'm starting to think I'm psychic for realz!
And Clark says that Eric didn't get Clark's two strongest gifts: his parents. [Me: AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!]
Oh damn, Lex DID tell Nixon it was Clark he was investigating. I apparently gave Lex too much credit. Now I'm pissed.
Gross, Lionel shagging a woman young enough to be his daughter. He gets the award for BARF WORTHY MOMENT OF THE EPISODE.
Clark gives Lana the St. George box, and quietly suggests she not wear it because it was "holding her back". Clark was projecting, lol.
Conclusions: Wow, I like this episode a WHOLE lot more than I remember. I can't help but think how NECESSARY this episode was to understand the nature, character, and morality of Superman. Give someone else his powers and watch how they use them (this happens twice in the series and both times the acquirers of Clark's powers use them in unethical ways). Take away Clark's powers and see what he does without them (and this has happened three times that I can think of, Leech, Arrival through Hidden, and Odyssey) and all of those times Clark has still acted heroically. "Mom, this is who I am, with my powers or not." Can I squish him?
As I said, I'll give shorter reviews for the next three episodes, but I'm saving one separate post for Stray because that is my favorite episode of Season 1.