Smallville – Recap – Episode 5-10

Episode Title: Fanatic
Episode Airdate: January 12th, 2006

Welcome to the first Smallville recap/review of 2006. Before we jump into things, I’d like to share an interesting e-mail from one of my readers, Brett, who discussed some of the political flaws and details of this past episode:

You may recall I wrote you about how a person had to be 30 years old to be a U.S. Senator, and that Lex clearly did not fit the bill.

Now, I know the show represents a world where Superman exists and isn’t reflective 100 percent of our reality, but you gotta admit, they portray it as closely as possible to ours’ as they can, and this stuff is not really annoying, just a bit sloppy by the Smallville peeps. With a minimal amount of research, they could have found this out.

That was definitely some interesting information that I was not fully aware of. I do agree with Brett that the show has represented this election as a statewide big deal. Additionally, the show has definitely tried to steer towards “realistic” outside of the Superman/meteor freak aspects of the series, in the sense that “real laws” and the like apply to the show’s universe as well.

I was also bothered by Martha’s “Jonathan can never know about this” statement, but for an entirely different reason, which I will discuss in the review portion of this episode. Anyway, thanks to Brett for the very informative read, as it shed some light on some inaccuracies of a major plot thread of the show.

Episode Recap:

The episode kicks off with a really helpful and effective recap of the past few episodes, basically focusing on Jonathan running for Senate (with the support of Lionel Luthor), Lex being hungry for power, Clark being afraid that he may hurt Lana, and Jor-El telling Clark that somebody’s life with be exchanged for his. This was a great tool to use, since it’s been so long since the last episode.

Things start off with a rally for Jonathan Kent. He sure has a lot of supporters, I must say. He’s decked out in a nice suit, as somebody above starts putting together a rifle. Jonathan begins his speech, telling everybody why he has decided to run, in order to help all Kansans whether they’re rich or poor. He wants to put the heart back in the heartland. Red, white, and blue balloons fall from the sky as Jonathan blows Martha a kiss. Meanwhile, the camera pans around the sniper above, and it’s….. Lois??? She lines up her shot, and fires. We go to the opening credits as the bullet sails towards him. Very intriguing.

The episode resumes 45 hours earlier, in Lex’s mansion. This is reminiscent of the prom episode, in which a well known central character is doing something deadly and uncharacteristic, and we flash back to days earlier and discover how things came to be this way. I actually quite enjoy this method, and considering they only use it in great moderation, it’s quite an effective and unique way of storytelling. Anyway, Lex’s office is full of campaign posters as, I assume, Lex’s campaign manager goes over his itinerary. Lex asks for the new poll numbers, as the Central Kansas Students for Lex Luthor representatives walk in. Lex gives the usual Lex-esque speech, and thanks the students for their help. However, they cannot be complacent. He tells them to not only go the extra mile, but to go an extra ten. He then adds that defeat is not an option. Following the pep rally, Samantha Drake introduces herself to Lex as the president of Students for Lex Luthor. Lex thanks her personally, prompting her to ask for a picture with him. She displays her wealth of knowledge on Lex, which seems to perhaps creep Lex out a bit. He then notices her necklace, which says “Lex” on it. She tells him “I used to wear a cross.” Yep, that would creep me out.

As Lex walks through the hall, Griff calls him and says he found an atomic bomb (metaphorical, of course) on Jonathan Kent. Lex tells him the line isn’t secure, so Griff tells him to meet him. After Griff hangs up, he sees Lionel standing behind him. Griff pulls a gun on him, but Lionel fires back with some money. He says “the deal usually goes to the highest bidder.” Griff takes the money, and gives Lionel the information. Lionel looks at it, and then lights it on fire. Man, that paper really, REALLY burns. Griff looks at him with a confused look on his face. In response, Lionel gives him a really hilarious looking raised eyebrow look. Ya’ know, I’m starting to really believe that this benevolent version of Lionel that so desperately and selflessly wants to help Lionel is actually Jor-El. To me, it just seems like the prospect of Lex going mad with power would only make Lionel prouder of his son. I’m not exactly sure what Jor-El benefits from helping Jonathan, but it just seems more characteristic of him than it does Lionel. Also, I feel like Lionel would have kept the incrimination evidence instead of destroying it. Perhaps Jor-El is just trying to protect Clark’s secret?

We return with a very fancy looking office, which turns out to be Jonathan’s. Lois walks in, and notes that this doesn’t seem like Jonathan. She notes that his campaign manager is trying to turn him into a Luthor. The campaign manager takes offense to this, and Lois retaliates that people are not going to vote for him if they don’t believe he’s looking out for their best interest. The campaign manager replies that it’s closing the voter’s gap. Lois then brings up how she misquoted Jonathan, prompting Jonathan to read an excerpt that says he said “it is possible to serve corporate interests and maintain the public welfare.” The campaign manager confesses that he really said that, and Jonathan fires him. Lois notes that he has no idea how he’s going to find a replacement so quickly. Jonathan says “I do” and hires her. The phone rings, and a disguised voice threatens him to drop out of the race. He hangs up, and then takes a red pill for his (I assume) heart condition.

Meanwhile, at Central Kansas, Lois puts up campaign posters for Jonathan. Samantha then tears them down, telling Lois that they are not regulation size. The two trade some quips, resulting in Samantha and her cronies to storm off. Samantha repeats to her minions “defeat is not an option.”

Meanwhile, Lana looks at some satellite images when there is a knock at the door. Clark walks inside, and they kiss. Clark collapses on the bed, and they start making out. Clark rolls Lana over, and she hurts herself on a compass. Clark worries her hurt her, making him stand offish. Lana says “this couldn’t be more awkward, but we haven’t been together since I came to Met U.” She specified that, indeed, they have not had sex. She adds, “Things have not been the same since you miraculously came back from the dead.” Clark tells her that it changed him, and she responds that he’s still the same person. She adds “it just seems like you’re afraid to touch me anymore” and then asks “did something happen?” She brings up that they said they wouldn’t keep things from each other. Clark gets defensive, saying she left for college two weeks after they got together. Clark asks about her obsession with astronomy, and tells her that the honesty thing works both ways. Lana says “Nice deflection, but I don’t fall for that anymore.” She then walks out. This was, quite simply, an excellent scene. I’ve wondered for a while whether they’ve had sex since Clark got his powers back, and it’s nice to now know for sure that they have not. I also like the fact that they haven’t, because it makes perfect sense for Clark to be hesitant to do something like that now that he has his powers back (for many reasons). Further, it was a wonderfully scripted scene, with both of them having very realistic physical and relationship-oriented concerns. And yes, while Clark was defensive (and obviously so), he still made some valid arguments. And while Lana perhaps did owe Clark an explanation, I felt she was also justified with her response. I just felt like this was an excellent scene that answered a lot of questions.

Jonathan is in the barn doing some chores when he sees a dark figure standing in the distance. Jonathan follows the guy, asking if he’s the one who’s been calling him, but is then attacked by another man with a baseball bat. Then, out of the darkness, Samantha emerges with a sinister smile on her face.

During the commercial break, we got a glimpse of the 100th episode, which shows Clark at a funeral. No other details other than that.

The show returns with Martha walking outside the Talon, and staring at a campaign poster of Jonathan. She sighs. Lionel approaches her, and notes that the campaign must be taking up a lot of time. He then notes their financial standing, saying that they are down to nothing. Martha notes that she would never give up on her husband. Lionel then hands her a check, saying that he can match Lex’s resources. Martha seems hesitant to take it, and then tells her that Jonathan would never accept this. Lionel tells her that he hoped she would be more savvy, and then wonders if she has his own reasons for not wanting Jonathan to win. He then walks away.

At the Daily Planet, Clark asks Chloe how far she wants to cross this friendship boundary. He then tells her about his concerns about being with her sexually now that he has his abilities back. Chloe is initially uncomfortable, but quickly becomes helpful. He tells her that it takes time for him to adjust to his abilities in new situations. Chloe humorously says “So basically you’re afraid that in the heat of the moment…” and after a noticeable pause “please don’t make me finish this sentence, Clark.” Chloe notes that he’s able to control his abilities in every day interactions, so isn’t this the same thing? Chloe then notes that Clark is in denial about what she knows, and that she’s studying astronomy and constantly bringing up the undead issue. Clark tells her that he can’t tell Lana, because it’s too risky. Chloe tells him that he needs to change his game from defense to offense, because eventually Lana is going to ask all the right questions to all the wrong people. Another very good scene.

Martha and Clark walk into the house with some groceries, and are disrupted by the dog’s barking. They go into the barn, and find an unconscious Jonathan tied up upside down, with the message “Drop out while you can” written in red.

The episode resumes at the hospital, where Lois tells Martha that she’s moved the rally to next week so Jonathan can recover. However, when they walk into his room, they see that Jonathan is up and ready to go. Lois notes that she’ll tell them the rally is on. Jonathan and Martha get into an argument regarding all these phone calls and threats. Jonathan insinuates that he thinks Lex is behind it, but Clark is initially skeptical. As Clark leaves, he runs into Lex in the hall. Lex insists he’s not behind it, and that he’s offered a reward for the assailant’s capture. Clark asks Lex why state Senate is so important to him. Lex says it’s a stepping stone, and says that he’s still searching for what he wants. Clark asks Lex what happens if he gets to the Capitol and can’t find what he’s looking for. Lex answers “There’s always president.” Lex promises Clark he’ll find who’s responsible for the attack.

At Central Kansas, Samantha makes plans to kill Jonathan. Her two cronies want to turn themselves in, worried that this could make people believe it was Lex. When they demand that they’re going to the cops, she kills them. She says “Lex would have never given up that easily.” She then walks over to a mirror, and begins shaving her head.

Meanwhile, Lex walks into his office at the mansion, where a now bald Samantha sits inside. He notes that he didn’t recognize her. She’s naked beneath her robe. She tells him that she wants to show him how devoted she is. Lex chuckles nervously and says “you certainly have. I have all the enabling devices I need, thank you.” He then adds, quite humorously, “Apparently I need better security.” She then notes that she’s wearing his mother’s favorite perfume. She then brings up that Jonathan is out of the way, and mentions a newspaper quote where Lex said “strike while you can, but never leave yourself vulnerable.” That’s an awfully violent sounding quote to be giving a newspaper, especially when you’re trying to win over voters. Lex quite aggressively tells her that she shouldn’t assume she knows him, and insists he’d never hurt the Kents. She then hits him over the head with a lamp, knocking him out. She straddles him, and tells him that he’s just having a moment of weakness, that’s why he needs her.

We return with Clark and Chloe discussing the attack on Jonathan. Clark notes that Jonathan has turned into a different person, like he has to prove something. Chloe says that it may be because of him, since its tough being a role model for a guy who stops nuclear missiles between chores and dinner. Chloe then discovers that the call was made from the Students for Lex Luthor office at CKU. I never noticed it before this episode, but is the “Central Kansas University” name an additional homage to Clark Kent’s initials?

Clark arrives at the Students for Lex Luthor office, and finds the two dead bodies on the floor. They’re both wearing paper Lex masks, and have locks of blonde hair laid on top of them. Clark then finds the picture of Samantha with Lex.

We then arrive at the moment we began at, with Jonathan preparing for his speech. Lois notes that the “heart” back in “heartland” line is a great finisher. Jonathan confesses that they’re Martha’s words. Lois assures Jonathan that they can still postpone this, but Jonathan tells her that he can’t let pranksters have their way. Pranksters? They beat him to unconsciousness with a baseball bat and then hung him from his roof upside down. I’d say that’s a little more than a prank. Anyway, moments later Jonathan is introduced, and Lois tells him to knock ’em dead.

Meanwhile, backstage, Lois is knocked out by Samantha. Okay, so this girl regularly beats the crap out of numerous big guys at once, yet has trouble with a girl no bigger than she is? Samantha wakes Lois up while pointing a gun at her. She then tells Lois that she’s going to shoot Jonathan. Lois aims the gun at Jonathan, but insists that nobody would believe he’d shoot Jonathan Kent. Samantha conjures up a story about Lois and Jonathan having a sordid love affair. She tells Lois to point the gun and shoot him in the head, but instead Lois fights her off.

At this point, Clark (drastically underdressed in his usual jacket and flannel) walks in. At this moment, Samantha takes the gun and fires at Jonathan. We have a very cool super slow motion visual of the bullet soaring towards Jonathan, but Clark runs and grabs it before it hits Jonathan. Meanwhile, Lois wrestles Samantha to the ground.

During the commercial break we got another 100th episode glimpse, which seems to hint that Lana may be the person who bites the bullet. I’ll discuss this (again) in the review.

Lex walks into his office and finds a copy of The Art of War on his desk. Lionel approaches him from behind, and quotes some passages. Lex notes that he read it three times before he finished high school. Lionel notes that Jonathan has now surged ahead of him in the polls, and that his disciples succeeded in created quite a mess. Lionel accuses Lex of running for senate for a power trip. Lex says he’s running because he has to work for it, forcing Lionel to bring up the method of using hired guns to dig up information on the Kents that could destroy them. Lex then informs us that Griff is dead, and somehow he doesn’t think the Kents did it. Lionel says it’s a dangerous neighborhood. Lex asks if it would have killed him to be on his side, just this once. Lionel tells Lex he’s slipping, and then hands him the book, saying “it may be time to dust this off.”

At the Kent house, Lois prepares Jonathan for a series of speeches and meetings he has coming up. After Jonathan leaves, Lois informs Martha that they don’t have enough money to realistically compete with Lex. Martha then says she’s been trying to tell Jonathan for days that they’re out of money, but there is one other option. She then tells Lois that she has to promise not to tell Jonathan.

Meanwhile, Clark walks up to the loft, where Lana is waiting, looking up at the stars. She tells him that she wasn’t going to leave things the way they were. Clark confesses that she was right, and that he was pulling away. He’s wanted to be with her for so long, he was worried he’d screw it up. She assures him that she’d never let him go that easily, and that maybe they just need to slow down and get back to where they were. Clark says he freaks out, screws up, and blames everything on her and she forgives him, no questions asked. Lana admits that it’s not all his fault, and that she has been studying the meteor showers for a reason. She tells him that the meteor shower changed her life, and that there’s no way the second one was random. She brings up the spaceship she found in the last one, and that a similar one appears in the satellite images of the first shower. She proposes that perhaps a ship landed last time, and that the person that was in it could be amongst them this whole time.

Meanwhile, Martha waits outside the Talon, where Lionel picks her up. She gets into the limo with him, and he says “I’ll always be here for you, Martha.”

Episode Review:

Well first things first, let’s extend on some of the things that Brett had mentioned in his e-mail above. There were a few things that annoyed me regarding Lois and Martha’s financial discussion at the end of the episode. First things first, we’ve seen numerous instances in the past that would lead us to convincingly believe that there is no way that Jonathan would be so hands off the financial details that he would be completely unaware (for days, no less) that there was no money left. I refuse to believe that he’d be that unaware of their financial situation, especially since he’s been so hands on regarding their money in the past. Secondly, Lionel is obviously offering them a significant amount of money (it is implied that it was even more than what Lex was using), and are we to believe that Jonathan wouldn’t notice such a lump sum spontaneously being used for his campaign? I am certain that Martha will lie about where it came from in the next episode, but right now it just seems very implausible. Also, had Jonathan solidly turned down Lionel’s offer to help finance his campaign? I don’t remember the end decision he had come to.

That said, I do find the idea of Lionel financially supporting Jonathan very intriguing. First off, I like how Martha has always seen this inner good in Lionel, to the extent that she’s willing to turn to him when she’s desperate enough. I also like that because of the fact that she’s seen this inner good she’s sometimes been even more reluctant to trust him. It’s also as if she doesn’t want to set herself up for disappointment. What is also nice is that other characters recognize this, as well. When Clark and Lionel switched bodies last season, Clark knew that Martha would be the only person willing to visit Lionel. Further, that episode showed that Lionel has undeniable feelings towards Martha.

Again, though, I have this sinking suspicion that Lionel is actually Jor-El. The biggest obstacle in this theory is that Lionel acts very Lionel-esque in his interactions with Lex. However, it should be noted that there is no direct proof that comes to mind that Lionel is aware of his actions (regarding the Kents) during his talks with Lex. So, perhaps it is Jor-El trying to protect Clark’s secret. I still feel like Lionel would have kept the evidence regarding the Kents, instead of burning it.

I thought the stuff with both Clark and Lana and Clark and Chloe were both fantastic. I had long wondered what Clark and Lana’s sexual situation had been since Clark got his powers back, because that’s definitely something worth venturing. Not to sound crude, but the physical repercussions of Superman climaxing is definitely something he should concerned about, and I’m serious about that. Along with that, the consequences of getting her pregnant are also a lot more severe than they were when Clark was human. Additionally, Clark has seemed paranoid about physically hurting Lana since “Splinter,” so it’s completely understandable that he would be concerned about her well being in the heat of the moment. It was a very realistic scene with relatable concerns, and it answered a lot of those previously unanswered questions.

The stuff with Clark and Chloe was also spot-on. I really enjoy the level of trust Clark and Chloe are at now, not just with super powers, but with personal issues as well. I also really like the maturity Chloe has displayed during all of these issues, and she’s been completely selfless when she dispenses advice. I also like that Chloe recognizes that if Clark tells Lana his secret, she’ll lose a special part of their relationship, but she still thinks he should. Again, she’s been very selfless and very mature. She remains one of the best developed characters of the series.

I’m still very hopeful that Lana is not the one who dies in the 100th episode. Based on their hinting at it in the preview, I’m thinking it won’t be, but I also feel like the writers recognize that they may have exhausted her as a character, and feel this is the best way to write her off the series. I am a firm believer that Clark needs to come to the realization that Lana is NOT the love of his life, and actively choose to leave the relationship. In the end, Lois needs to be the woman of his dreams, and Lana needs to be remembered as his high school sweetheart. If Lana dies, it’ll seem like the only reason Clark and Lois eventually end up together is because Lana died, and that SHE was truly the love of his life. I also love Kristin Kreuk, but I really think the Lana character needs to be abandoned should the show go on another season.

Lex was still a little kinder than I would have liked this episode, but I am fully open to believing that it was solely for manipulation and public appeal. His interaction with Lionel at the end of the episode was pretty interesting, because it actually had me feeling badly for Lex (even though, technically, Lionel is backing the “good guy”). It seemed like he was genuinely hurt and disappointed that, even though he’s doing everything his father had always wanted him to do, he still can’t get his support and approval. I still think he’s going to end up winning the election (perhaps due to Jonathan’s death?), but it’s going to be an interesting ride along the way. Oh, and based on next week’s preview, how many times does this guy have to get shot?