Pete: "Clark, you're awesome."Clark: "I'm glad you're happy, Pete. Because I had to lie for you, and I had to steal for you. Now I have to cheat for you."
Pete had a need. A need for speed.
So, supposedly Pete was feeling a little Superman envy, probably combined with teen hormone issues. (Shades of Buffy and Willow. Except Chloe is Willow, not Pete.) Actually, I think having Superman for a best friend would be a lot of fun; Pete had some nerve bitching about it. Pete, of all people, should know better than to play with the green stuff, too.
This is probably the perfect time to talk about Pete as a character. I love the idea of Clark having a best friend in on his secret in whom he can confide, but basically, Pete is still chronically boring. Even when he gets a complex episode all about him, like this one, I'm pretty much waiting for it to be over. Is it the fault of the writers? Did they fail to give him any depth at the outset, and couldn't make up for it later? The actor seems likable enough, but was he miscast?
Whatever. The more interesting part of this one was Clark's moral dilemma. Do you steal from one friend in order to keep another friend alive? Stealing Lex's car to use as a gambling stake was an interesting way to go, although it nearly backfired (pun intended) on Clark. I also liked the fact that Clark didn't just forgive Pete and move on, because Pete was certainly way, way out of line.
Lex and Chloe were still investigating Adam together (Chloe called him "the talented Mr. Ripley," which made me laugh out loud) and sharing information. Adam Knight used to be the late Chad Nash, "Tulsa valedictorian dead at 17" of a rare liver disease. Is Adam good or bad? What is he hiding? And why are there so darned many freaky guys in Smallville?
Last but not least, Jonathan had a heart attack. A weakened body was the price he paid for Jor-El's gift of superpowers. This is a new and interesting interpretation of Pa Kent's "heart condition." Does this mean we're going to lose John Schneider some time soon? I really hope not. I like Jonathan, dammit. He works as a character. Having such a loving and morally strong father (yes, and mother, too) made Clark who he is.
Bits and pieces:
— With all this hospital time on Smallville, you'd think we were watching ER.
— Clark, as a rule, ought to stay away from the superfast cars with green exhaust. Considering how many car crashes they have in this series, I could certainly feel one coming. I'm just surprised that we got only one. At least it wasn't Lex's Porsche.
Quotes:
Jonathan: "There's a lot of things that you can do. Causing cardiac arrest is not one of them."
Chloe: "So I've been following up on our mysterious tenant in the Talon. It seems he has an intimate relationship with needles."
Lex: "I take it you're not talking about embroidery."
This made me laugh out loud, probably not so much from the witticism as from Michael Rosenbaum's dry delivery.
Lex: (to Chloe) "Privacy laws don't seem to faze you much, do they?"
Lex: (to the gorgeous Dr. Tang) "I've heard you like to play doctor. Think I could get a checkup?"
Jonathan: "In the world, things aren't always black and white. Sometimes you gotta just wander out to the gray areas, and do what you think is best." Taking Lex's car was pretty gray.
I liked the subplots but not the main plot. 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.
Unlike you, I am not a fan of Jonathan Kent, but I certainly hope (for Clark's sake) that he sticks around a while longer. This was, actually, another time he wound me up. Telling Clark that he (Jonathan) and Martha respect Clark's judgment actually made me roll my eyes. Martha may, but Jonathan only does when he agrees with the decision that Clark is making. If not, no holds barred in terms of getting Clark to do what Jonathan wants.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you about the character of Pete. His only role now seems to be "the one who knows the secret" and this story seemed almost forced to give him something to do. I agree that he was out of line -- yes, knowing the secret is hard, but forcing Clark to do what he did was SO far over the line. Here's hoping they find a better use for this character soon.
I think the problem with Pete is that up to this episode, he's hardly seen to exist independently of Clark. Chloe often gets important scenes with Lana, Lex, Lionel without Clark. Lana has had relationships with Whitney and now Adam and while she's still a little bland, she at least functions as a plot device. Pete just seems to trail around behind Clark. And while this episode individualized him a little more, it did so in a largely negative way. It's disappointing they couldn't do more with the only major character played by a person of color.
ReplyDeleteAnd I really struggled to buy the plot. Once his life and that of his family his threatened, why wouldn't he and Clark just go to the police? Yes, maybe it wouldn't have worked because of the corrupt cop, but they didn't know about at the time.
Pete-san... that was so sad when Clark refused to play ball with him...
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