Lex: "Who wrote this?"Lana: "Either an admirer or a psychopath, depending on who you ask."
Love poetry. And yet another meteor freak obsessed with Lana Lang. (Why does this seem so familiar?) Poor "home schooled" Byron chained up in the basement seemed like an extreme case of child abuse, not Dr. Jekyll meets the Incredible Hulk. I guess context is everything.
I love Lionel, I do. He's so much fun. His arrogance has certainly returned with a vengeance. After running through assistants like used tissues, he managed to fixate on, of all people, Martha Kent. And he and Martha Kent just fit together, somehow. It's a fun relationship, and makes Martha a lot more interesting. (Plus it pisses Jonathan off, and that's always fun.) Lionel may have ridiculed Lex for being fixated on the Kents, but is Lionel falling in love with them, too? Lionel so obviously likes Martha, and says he thinks Clark is extraordinary. And Martha is already pushing Lionel to do good.
There was an excessive amount of tossing people in this one, even for Smallville. Byron threw Clark across a yard. Byron threw Pete into a car, breaking the windshield, which actually meets all three of my Smallville greatest hits criteria. Then he tossed Lana into a gravestone, and Lionel across a lawn. Clark and Byron then threw each other around. Good lord, I think that's eight points. A new record.
Bits and pieces:
— Lex quoted poetry to Lana, talked about seduction, and looked her right in the eyes.
— Lionel's blindness again came in handy. He's "seen" some sort of super event in each of the past three episodes.
— The cemetery was full of un-Kansas-like but suitably moody fog.
Quotes: (lots of good lines in this one)
Lana: "Clark Kent, man of steel." This week's requisite Superman reference.
Lex: "That's the fourth one you've devoured this month."
Lionel: "I wonder if your talents have been wasted on organic produce."
Martha: "I'm going to take that as a compliment."
Pete: "This place is like an NRA petting zoo." Good one, Pete.
Lex: "Hope your mom likes helicopters."
Clark: "My family doesn't fly much."
Lionel: "Lex, I can feel your smirk from here."
Two 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.
Richard Moll, who played Byron's Dad in this episode, is most famous for his starring role on Night Court as Bull. Never watched Night Court, but I know of the character and his funnyness. Hence... noting it.
ReplyDeleteIf Smallville episodes were permitted more than a one word title, I would call this one Father Knows Best.
ReplyDeleteWe've got Lionel firing all the assistants that Lex hires for him, saying that they just can't cut it. Then, as you point out, Billie, gong after Lex's new family, the Kents. All the time, basically telling Lex that he is no good and that he has a lot to learn.
Byron (suitable name for a poet!), meanwhile, has been chained up by a father who knows that he can't go outside because of what will happen in the sunlight. We are meant to leap to what a wonderful father Jonathan is because he has a different child and didn't feel it necessary to chain him up (as if he could). We are also meant to see how wonderful Jonathan is because he drops everything and goes rushing off to rescue a boy in trouble.
All I feel is annoyed by the man. If there was ever a boy who needed rescuing, it is Lex. Yet, Jonathan (who constantly preaches that you have to give people the benefit of the doubt), can't see it and behaves horribly to him. I was SO glad to see Martha finally standing up to Jonathan and taking the job. While I can't see this ending well, she is obviously the one with the brains and the education -- two things she gave up to live on a farm. It's time for her to go back into the world.