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Smallville: Slumber

Chloe: "Clark Kent dreaming of the girl next door. Isn't it nice to know some things never change?"

Even though it was somewhat obvious that the first part of this episode was a dream, I was still impressed with how it managed to stay sorta kinda real enough that I kept thinking, well, maybe it's not. There were several major clues:

1. Lana suggesting that she and Clark skinny-dip. Like that would happen.

2. Clark wore a white tee-shirt. He never wears white. (And Tom Welling can take off his shirt anytime as far as I'm concerned. Wow.)

3. The Kents gave Clark a brand new truck. They were losing the farm five minutes ago.

4. There were flowers everywhere.

5. Chloe took down the Wall of Weird.

6. Lex knew Clark wasn't human. (This was the last and biggest give-away, of course.)

This was, again, an interesting and unusual plot that was a good departure from Smallville's traditional monster of the week. Did Clark's alien nature have something to do with why Sara Conroy was able to enter his dream? This episode called back to Nightmare on Elm Street right down to the coffee, as well as the "Nightmares" episode on Buffy.

Lionel wanted Lex in the business before, but now he appears to be putting up one obstacle after another. Psych tests? What does Lionel really want? Lionel did a scene with his shirt off, too, and John Glover has nothing to be ashamed of. One thing, though. Lionel has been seriously injured more than once. Shouldn't he have scars all over his chest? Well, I guess he could afford primo plastic surgery if he wanted it.

Bits and pieces:

— My favorite scene was dream Lex breaking a samurai sword over Clark's head. The way the pieces broke away was a great effect, too.

— Caffeine appears to work on Clark like it does on a human. What are the odds?

— The "Traveler" threw Clark across the farmyard, and later, across the beach at Crater Lake. Clark tossed evil Uncle Nicholas into a tree. Clark fell asleep at the wheel and wrecked the truck. And Nicholas was going to kill Lana by setting fire to her truck. (But Clark stopped him, so does that count?)

Quotes:

Dream Clark: "You're not mad?"
Dream Lana: "About you running off? No, I had a good view when you left."

Clark: "How could you miss him? He had a big red cape on."

Lex: "Spare me the Jungian cliff notes, Dad."

Chloe: "Even Red Bull has its limits. Trust me, I've tested them."

Lex: "Now you're saving people in your dreams, too. Bet a shrink would have a field day with that scenario."

Well written, well-constructed episode. Three out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux had a love-hate relationship with Smallville, which is why some of her reviews are briefer than they should be.

4 comments:

  1. Sara Conroy was played by the AWESOME Katherine Isabelle. She's been in many, many things (including some of my dreams), but is probably most notable to us Bille Doux-ers as Ava in season 2 of Supernatural.

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  2. My favourite part of this episode is the Lex/Clark scene where the sword breaks (amazing effect!) and Lex accuses Clark of lying to him since the beginning.

    I am not surprised that this is something that would haunt Clark. Lex is a persistent son of a gun and I'm sure that Clark is very worried about the day Lex discovers the secret.

    Which leads me to what Lex said. Imagine how different this story would be if Clark did tell Lex the truth. Lex would be so honoured and proud, he would do everything in his considerable power to protect Clark. He might, actually, make Clark's and his parents' lives much, much easier.

    But -- we all know that this will never happen. Perhaps, as we watch the slide to the dark side, we should ask ourselves how much responsibility for it belongs to the Kent family.

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  3. Is it worth pointing out the clever touch that all the music (maybe five or six songs) in this dream-themed episode was by R.E.M.?

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  4. I kept falling asleep. How does it end?

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