Episode Title: Exposed
Episode Airdate: November 3rd, 2005
Episode Recap:
We kick this week off with Chloe and Lois at the Daily Planet. Chloe is doing some work with obituaries, while Lois is sending some aliens to the obituary section (that’s my witty way of saying she’s killing aliens in some video games….have I ever mentioned how cute I think it is when women play video games???) Lois starts buttering Chloe up, in return for Chloe’s help in moving Lois to the Talon. This is like 90210, where the characters basically just rotate from one apartment to the next. Suddenly Chloe gets a phone call from a frantic woman, pleading for a reporter to meet her. The woman wants a reporter to meet her and 7th and Edgemont. Edgemont? Didn’t Kristin Kreuk do a TV show by that name? Anyway, Lois and Chloe go to meet this woman, and as the three of them run towards each other, the woman is plowed over by an SUV (in a very sick looking scene). Chloe and Lois run over to her, and, unsurprisingly, she’s dead.
Clark and Jonathan are doing some chores around the farm, where Clark tells Jonathan that Lana is away for the weekend. Their moment is suddenly interrupted by a high speeding, beat up car, which swerves right in front of them. Jonathan smirks and says “is that the best you got?” when Senator Jennings, played by Tom Wopat (Luke Duke, of Dukes of Hazzard fame). Apparently, he and Jonathan are old friends, and Jennings is in the middle of a campaign. Also, apparently Lex Luthor is running of senator.
Detective Maggie Sawyer is getting information from Chloe and Lois, when Lois accuses the investigator of putting this case under the rug. Lois notes that the woman was wearing $500 shoes, so this isn’t a run of the mill murder in that area. The detective tells them that she’ll do her job, and that they should do theirs. Um, what does that mean exactly? Chloe should write obituaries and Lois should brew some coffee? Usually that line only works when saying it to somebody who has a different job, but ultimately is trying to accomplish the same thing. Chloe does a search of the area in which the phone call was made, and aside from warehouses, there’s a night club called the Windgate. Lois says “I’m guessing she didn’t get all glammed up to do inventory.”
At the Kent House, Jennings tells some old tales about Jonathan’s past. Moments later, detective Sawyer arrives to ask Jennings some questions about the murdered girl, Melissa. She then shows Jennings a photo of him and the woman together, to which Jennings claims it’s a fake. The insinuation is that Lex forged the photo, to which Clark defends “do you really think Lex would go this far?” Um, the guy was willing to put your family and girlfriend’s lives in danger for the off chance that you MAY have some sort of ability, yet you’re shocked that he would doctor up a photo? Jonathan brings up the point that Lex wouldn’t enter a race unless he knew he could win.
Later that night, at Lex’s mansion, Clark asks Lex if he forged the photo and how long he was thinking of running for Senate. Lex says he’s thought about it for a while, but he doesn’t owe him an explanation. Lex denies having anything to do with the photo, but says that he does recognize the background: The Windgate club in Metropolis. Lex tells Clark that if he wants to get into the club, he’s going to need more than his license. He then hands Clark a card. He tells him to stay out of trouble. These two remain far too friendly for two people who are not supposed to like each other anymore.
At Metropolis, Lois and Chloe (both looking absolutely smoking) attempt to get into the Windgate, but to no avail. They then spy some women (dancers) walking through the backdoor, so they follow them. That was awfully easy. Once inside, Chloe starts asking around about Melissa, but the dancers blow her off without saying a word. They then see a door which says Super Duper Private No Access Whatsoever Under Any Circumstances Whatsoever No Entrance, which is unlocked. They start snooping through some files, when somebody walks in. He asks what they’re doing, to which Chloe quickly says that Lois is a dancer. The guy tells Lois to take off her clothes to see what she’s got. If there was ever a moment NOT to go to a commercial, it’s right now…
Commercial…
At the Kent House, there’s a knock at the door, and moments later Lex walks in. He says to Jonathan “I knocked, but you must not have heard it.” Jonathan says he did hear it. Lex wants to see Jennings, but Jonathan wants no part of the mudslinging. Jonathan tells him that he never liked Lex much, but he’s surprised what lengths he’d go to win a race. It must be nice for Jonathan, now that Clark and Lex are no longer friends, he doesn’t need to pull any punches. Lex tells Jonathan that he must have a nice view of everything from atop his pulpit. Actually, that was a good point….Jonathan is awfully holier than thou. Jonathan says that he’s never had a more loyal friend than Jennings, and that the Senate needs more people like him. Lex then shows Jonathan Jennings’ cell phone records, which show that he’s made several phone calls to the stripper who was killed. Jonathan asks when he’s releasing this, but Lex tells him he’s not, but that the press should find it sooner rather than later. Again, Lex is acting a bit too nice this episode. The Lex Luthor we saw in the first couple episodes of the season would have released that information with no warning or guilt whatsoever.
Meanwhile, at the Windgate, Lois gets changed into her dancing costume. Chloe again tries to get information from a dancer, but the woman quite bluntly tells her not to talk to any of them. Lois asks how she looks (we don’t see her), to which Chloe says “God Bless America.”
Meanwhile, Clark walks into the club and is immediately approached by somebody. He hands the man his card, and tells him he was referred by Lex Luthor. The man asks if Mr. Luthor will be meeting him, but Clark tells him that he’s meeting Mr. Jennings. The man says he’ll show him to his usual table. At the table, a waitress asks Clark what he wants. He nervously asks for a Coke, and when she gives him a strange look, he stutters and says “Straight up, on the rocks.” Okay, that was pretty funny.
Moments later, Lois is introduced onto the stage by the Pussy Cat Dolls’ “Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me” song. She’s initially wearing a sexy sailor suit, and nervously starts stripping down. Slowly but surely she gets more comfortable, using the pole and everything. The look on Clark’s face when he discovers that the dancer is Lois is quite priceless. It gets beat, however, by Lois’ reaction when she sees Clark. After the dance, she walks over to Clark and asks what he’s doing there. She’s being watched, so she starts pretending to give him a lap dance. The facials during this entire scene are quite humorous. She tells him to give her a 20 and to meet her out back. He takes out a 2, and uncomfortably doesn’t know what to do. She rolls her eyes and grabs the money, and puts it in her bra. After she leaves, Clark uses his super hearing to overhear two guys in the distance asking about Lois, asking who she is. Clark gets up and is about to leave, when the place is raided by the cops. The man asking about Lois sneaks her out, but Chloe and Clark are arrested. I don’t know, buddy, but that would have been a good time to use your super speed.
As they’re being hauled to the station, Clark and Chloe passed each other, and Chloe is surprised to see him. Meanwhile, Clark overhears a conversation between the detective and a bouncer, to which the bouncer reveals that Jennings was drunk, but he had nothing to do with the girl’s murder.
As they await questioning, Chloe once again asks the dancers about Melissa. Man, she’s relentless. They reveal that this suave, euro looking guy chooses a girl a month and takes them out of this place. A girl in shiny leather reveals that nobody sees these girls once they are taken, and that she saw him take Lois.
Moments later, the detective tells Chloe and Clark that they’re being released, thanks to Lex Luthor. Again, an awfully nice gesture for somebody who isn’t supposed to be friends with either of them anymore. Chloe tells the detective about Lois leaving with this guy, and Clark adds that he heard him making a deal with the club owner. The detective brushes them off, saying that they don’t even know the guy’s name. Ya’ know, I find it very disconcerting how lackadaisical every police officer on this show is regarding missing people or murder victims. It’s as if they don’t want to do ANY investigative work whatsoever. Like, unless you say to them “Bob Murphy took my friend. He was wearing a red shirt, a black hat, a pair of blue jeans from Gap, some beat up Timberline boots, and proceeded to go to his apartment at 425 Washington Avenue, fourth floor, room 4B. And he should be in his bedroom, which he recently painted white,” the police don’t want to be bothered trying to find anybody. The detective is very condescending, and seems more upset about the fact that she was underage, dancing, escaped a police raid, and was doing some investigating than she is about, ya’ know, her potentially being murdered.
At Kent Farm, Senator Jennings is on the phone when Jonathan arrives, speeding up in his beat up car. He tells Jennings to get in, to which he climbs through the passenger window. In a humorous moment, Jonathan gives him a confused look, to which Jennings says “What? The damn thing has been stuck since I bought it.” The two of them drive off, and we get the classic clip of the car flying through the air as it drives down the street. Ya’ see, it’s these sorts of allusions that are fun. Jonathan asks what’s going on and wants some straight answers. Jennings reveals that his marriage is more of a business arrangement and that the only person who makes him happy is a dancer half his age. Jennings asks Jonathan if he’s never had a lie get out of hand, or if he’s just never been caught. Jonathan slams on the breaks, and tells Jennings that he’s never been in a position that somebody looks up to him, and that Jennings is Clark’s hero. Jennings says that he’s a good senator, and that he doesn’t want to see that power go to Lex Luthor.
The suave euro man takes Lois to his apartment, and goes into his closet full of red dresses. Lois does some snooping, and finds a picture of Melissa. She changes into the dress and the man takes a picture of her. By the way, if she wasn’t wearing that bra, her boob would totally be sticking out. The man tells her that she looks better than all the others. As she tries to leave, the man grabs her. Lois proceeds to kick the crap out of him and instead of, ya’ know, escaping, she continues to beat him up, and is suddenly on the receiving end of a stun gun. Okay, that was her own stupid fault.
At the Daily Planet (by the way, that gold Daily Planet globe graphic is absolutely awesome, always felt that way…) Chloe and Clark discuss the information they uncovered. Chloe reveals that she took pictures of the license plates of every car at the club, and finds the diplomatic plates they’re looking for, and discover that he’s in the UN tower. Strangely, Clark decides to use his super speed at this point. Yes, let’s use the super speed in front of the hard nosed investigative reporters.
On the roof, the suave euro guy takes Lois towards a helicopter. Clark bursts into the apartment, but nobody is there. He calls Chloe, who reveals that there’s a landing pad on the roof. Clark rushes up there, and uses a cable to pull the copter back down to the roof. Lois wakes up, and proceeds to beat the crap out of the suave euro guy. Oh, and his bodyguard too. The detective arrives shortly afterwards, to which she tells them that he has diplomatic immunity, so he is free to go, even if he committed murder. Okay, isn’t this like not at all how diplomatic immunity works? If memory serves, can’t they be tried for crimes they’ve committed if the crime is illegal in their home country? What is this, Lethal Weapon 2?
At the Luthor Mansion, Lex looks over some campaign posters. Clark walks in, and thanks him for his help. Again, the two are far too friendly. Clark says that he can’t believe he looked up to Jennings. Lex asks Clark about the story of King David, so Clark tells him how he slain Goliath. Lex then adds that David fell in love with his best friend’s wife, so he sent his best friend to die in battle so he could have his wife to himself. Lex adds that they all need to believe in heroes, and even the best ones are far from perfect. What a beautiful, season 2-esque thing for Lex to say.
Senator Jennings throws some darts in the loft, when Clark walks over to talk to him. Jennings asks Clark if he thinks Jonathan will ever forgive him, to which Clark says that he thinks he will. Clark tells Jennings that there are a lot of people out there who look up to him, to which Jennings replies that you can only keep on the illusion of being super human for so long. For Clark’s sake, let’s hope the opposite isn’t true. Clark asks what he’s going to do now, and Jennings tells him that he’s pulling out of the race.
Later, as Jennings prepares for the press conference, Jonathan tells him that he hopes he’s not pulling out of the race because his old buddy can’t climb off his pulpit, that’s not what he wants. Jennings reveals he’s pulling out because he’s no longer the best man for the job. All those things he said about him being loyal, and trustworthy, and willing to take on the Luthors of the world are no longer who he is, but he knows somebody who has those qualities. Jonathan asks if he’s really talking about Lex, to which Jennings tells him he’s talking about him. He tells Jonathan that the Senate could use somebody like him, and he should consider running. As Jennings leaves, Jonathan stands there, deep in thought. Hopefully for Jonathan’s case, he’s not dead before he has the chance to run.
Even later, Lois packs up to leave the Kent house to move into the Talon. Hilariously, Lois asks Clark if he has a spare key “no that they’ve been…doing it?” Clark says no, and Lois adds good, because she doesn’t want him dropping in. As she moves in, Clark notes how weird it is, having spent so much time there with Lana. Predictably, Lois says that she’s not replacing Lana, just subletting. Chloe walks in, saying she has her first byline in the Daily Planet. Clark looks at the front page, but Chloe corrects him, saying it’s on page 73…on the bottom. Clark and Lois simultaneously congratulate her, in a funny moment. Apparently Interpol did arrest the suave euro guy. After Chloe leaves, Lois uncomfortably thanks Clark. And adds that if he even thinks about telling anybody about the lap dance, “your Elmer Fudd nightlight is going to make a very public appearance.” Clark responds, “Aye aye….sailor…” I do have to wonder, though, why a guy who has X-ray vision AND is more or less completely invulnerable would need a nightlight.
Episode Review:
Diplomatic Immunity (according to Wikipedia): “a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments, which ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country’s laws (although they can be expelled). It was agreed as international law in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), though there is a much longer history in international law.
It is possible for the official’s home country to waive immunity; this tends to only happen when the individual has committed a serious crime, unconnected with their diplomatic role (as opposed to, say, allegations of spying), or has witnessed such a crime. Alternatively, the home country may prosecute the individual.”
Well, technically, we were both right I guess. If the crime they commit in their home country is illegal, it is up to that government to enforce the laws. However, the host country isn’t exactly “powerless” as the detective put it, as the diplomat can be expelled from the country over major crimes. Let’s just say that, in real life, I’m sure diplomatic immunity isn’t maneuvered so nonchalantly.
Despite the more-than-usual sarcastic comments, I actually did quite like this episode. I must admit, though, that I am disappointed by the execution of the Clark/Lex relationship. I understand that there is a need for these two to interact, but it seems like the last few weeks, Clark has continually defended Lex against accusations that by no means seem unfair, and then the episode ends with Clark going to Lex’s mansion and thanking him for all his help. The two just seem far too chummy, considering what’s happened between them at the beginning of this season. We saw a much darker, more villainous Lex at the end of last season and the beginning of this one, yet here he is, bailing Clark out of his latest predicament, playing a clean campaign, and selflessly making sure Clark still looks up to the guy he’s running against. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that side of Lex, so much so that it upset me knowing that side wouldn’t prevail, but I just feel like Lex’s character has evolved (or devolved) to a level in which we wouldn’t see him acting that way anymore. I honestly believe that the writers on this show are exceptionally talented, and I think they can come up with more creative ways for Lex and Clark to interact with each other. Right now, though, they seem far too friendly.
I was never a huge fan of Dukes of Hazzard, but I had fun catching the allusions, and they were done a lot more cleverly than last week (with Buffy), I felt. Okay, the car flying through the air was not so subtle, but it was easily excusable. You just HAD to know that was going to happen. But having Jennings climb through the window, only for Jonathan to look at him with this “what the hell are you doing?” look on his face, and for Jennings to explain that the door’s broken was great. That was up there with James Marsters’ deadpan “there’s no such thing as vampires” line last week. Like I’ve said before, you can tell when the writers are having fun, and when done right, its fun for the viewers we well. I thought the allusions managed to be clever, and not overly contrived.
While my heart will forever belong to Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang), Erica Durance (Lois Lane) continues to make a fast approach each week. Once she got comfortable playing Lois, the actress really nailed the character. I might even go as far as to say that in the two years Lois has been on the show, they’ve managed to make more of a character for her than the five years Lana has been on. It seemed strange to me that, all throughout high school, Lana was this ultra popular, cheerleading, dance queen, then last week she seemed so nervous, awkward, and uncomfortable during the pledging portion of the sorority scenes. She just seemed so unsure of herself, and it made me realize that her character isn’t necessarily as solid as Lois’. Along with that, it’s nice to have a strong female character, even though they take it to insane levels (honestly, it is a TAD unbelievable that she can not only single handed beat the crap out of one guy who is bigger than her, but his body guard as well….AT THE SAME TIME). However, I do really enjoy the edginess to her character, and she delivers her bitingly sarcastic comments so perfectly. To the writers’ credit, all three female lead characters are very distinct in their own right.
I am exceptionally intrigued by the news of Lex running for Senator. In the Superman comics, Lex eventually becomes President, and while I obviously don’t think we’ll ever see that on this show, it’ll be fun watching him gain more and more power. The prospect of having him possibly run against Jonathan is definitely interesting, and it has thrown my prediction of Jonathan being the one who dies for a loop. However, I do believe that as Lex goes deeper and deeper into the campaign, he’ll journey deeper and deeper into the dark side, as well.
The lack of Brainiac was disappointing, but from what I understand, November will be a big month for his character. The preview for next week was rather confusing, as it appears that something happens to Clark to cause him to become paranoid and go insane, so I don’t really have anything to say about it quite yet. Until next week…
