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Smallville: Fanatic

Lois: "Okay, Miss Overachiever, I think you're taking this campus Gestapo thing way too seriously."

Maybe I'm in denial, because I thought at first that the opening scene was a dream sequence.

This whole senate race thing does nothing for me. Why is Jonathan risking the exposure of Clark's secret in order to prove himself? And what's really going on with Lionel's attempts to stop Lex? I think Lionel may be sincere about deep-sixing Lex's political career in order to save Lex from himself, but I just can't help thinking that Lionel is also channeling Jor-El. And we never know what Jor-El is up to.

Lex's groupie, Samantha Drake, was convincingly Hitler youth-like. Having the actress actually shave her head (they couldn't have faked that) was a surprise, and made her a lot scarier than your average blonde campaign worker. (Dan thought she'd turn out to be a meteor freak, but thankfully, they're getting away from that overused plot device.) The Lex masks on the bodies of the two campaign workers were also creepy and effective, as was suspending an unconscious Jonathan from the ceiling of the barn.

Which character is going to bite it? We're getting clue anvils that it's going to be Jonathan, the most logical candidate what with his heart condition and all. I am, of course, rooting for Lana. And it makes sense for them to write her out at this point. How else can they transition Clark's romantic interest from the death grip he's had on Lana to his future amour, Lois? We even have Lana on the verge of figuring out Clark's secret, which is usually fatal for guest stars. The 100th episode is approaching; since they keep showing Clark at a gravesite, we'll probably find out then.

So I'm shallow. What I enjoyed most about this episode was Clark discussing the whole Superman having sex issue with Chloe, his Krypto hag. "Wow. Uh... awkward factor eight. Um. So basically what you're saying is that you're afraid that in the heat of the moment, you might... please don't make me finish this sentence, Clark."

Bits and pieces:

— I always enjoy seeing Lionel with Martha. He clearly cares for her, and she has a small tendre for him, for sure.

— This week's Most Obvious Symbolism was the little Lex necklace Samantha was wearing. She said, "Used to be a cross." She replaced worshiping Jesus with worshiping Lex.

— During the "fake office" scene, Clark was wearing a grey suit with a green tie. He's almost never out of blue and red. Of course, the Kents at this point were pretending to be something they weren't.

— Both Lana and Lois were in this episode. It's usually one or the other, but not both.

— Griff was found dead. Did Lionel kill him? And what did Griff have on the Kents? How far was Lex going to go?

— The special effects sequence with the bullet was very cool. I especially liked the way it went through the balloon. Was the speech on television? If so, what about slo mo?

— To which political parties do Lex and Jonathan belong? Given the corporate interests and the fact that he's a "fascist environmental annihilator," Lex must be a Republican. Representing the common people instead of big business, talking about corn subsidies, and resembling John Edwards probably indicates that Jonathan is a Democrat.

Quotes:

Lana: "Looks like someone had a long day of campaigning."
Clark: "More like a long day of Lois."

Lana: "Things between us haven't been the same since you miraculously came back from the dead."

Lex: "Well, there's always the White House."
And the missile vision, lest we forget.

Another good one. 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. Samantha's co-hort, James, was played by Sage Brocklebank, who does an awesome job on Psych as Buzz McNab.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I want a "Vote Lex" t-shirt.

    Psycho bald Samantha in real life went on to become Hillary Clintons campaign manager.

    Lex uses his birthdate as his security password to enter the mansion????

    ReplyDelete
  3. The whole "Full Powered Clark can't have sex" arc is a little weird for me. I'm willing to buy that it's because he's young and hasn't fully learned to control his abilities. I refuse to believe that Clark and Lois in the future have a long-term, but sexless, relationship. Nobody signs on for that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good but unenjoyable, I hated seeing the Lex fan running around and causing trouble. I hate stories where political underlings go fanatic and over the edge... it just makes me really angry and wish the underling got worse punishment than they ultimately get. This kind of story was a little more interesting/moving with motivations like Sherriff Ethan's

    ReplyDelete

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