First off, let me just say that this was not only my favorite episode of the season, but one of my favorite episodes ever since Promise, when Lana and Lex got married. In fact, this episode was very reminiscent of the Lost style of storytelling, where events from the past are slowly revealed, making sense of the present actions and giving the viewer a clearer look at a given character or relationship.
This episode focused on Kara, who is portrayed by the ever-lovely Laura Vandervoort. I’m really glad that the writers opened up the book on this character, as the series, as a whole, has been unclear and borderline inconsistent (if one wants to be harsh) with its portrayal of Jor-El, the only other Kryptonian regularly featured on the show. During the early years, Clark’s biological father was arguably sinister as he frequently risked the lives of humans in order to get a point across or to ensure that Clark does his biddings. I mean, he had manipulated a young girl into believing she was Kryptonian, and when Clark figured out the ruse, Jor-El nonchalantly disposed of her and threatened to kill Jonathan. Even when Jor-El came to Jonathan’s aid, giving him abilities so that he could stop Clark, he did so at a grand price.
However, in recent years we’ve seen a gentler, more caring Jor-El (which I prefer), even telling Martha that he was glad he left Clark with her and Jonathan. He also helped her without demanding anything in return. While one could mark this down as character development, it still makes Jor-El a difficult character to read, which, in turn, makes Kara a bit iffy as well.
Being a sucker for these sorts of episodes, it should surprise nobody that I really enjoyed it. Along with humanized Kara, it also made sense of some other things, such as her quick adaptation to Earth, since she had (unbeknownst to her) already visited once before. It also helped to show how close Kara was with Clark’s birth mother, the one Kryptonian universally portrayed as good natured and sweet. As an aside, I also appreciated the allusion to Season 3’s “Relic,” when it was revealed that Jor-El, as a teenager, visited Earth and met members of the Kent family, speculating that he had handpicked them to raise Clark.
The episode was off to a great start, having Kara’s mind wander about the destruction of Krypton, to the extent that she is nearly struck by a plane. What I especially liked about the scene (other than seeing Krypton for the first time) was that it had the viewers sympathizing with Kara right off the bat. We know that Clark has, at times, struggled with the fact that his home civilization has been destroyed, and he’s done this without any memories of that life. Imagine how Kara must feel, having lived on Krypton for 18 years, having grown up with a (seemingly) loving family, and knowing that they’re all dead, and that she can never go home again. It’s an unthinkable prospect, and I think the episode did an effective job of relaying that to the viewer.
It was also a good idea to distance Kara from her father, Zor-El, as he’s the reason why Jor-El and Martian Manhunter had continuously urged Clark not to trust her. Last Thursday, we discovered that Kara truly did care about Lara and Jor-El, and that she was excited about the news that she was going to have a cousin. Then, when things got volatile between Lara and Zor-El, Kara spoke out against her father and his actions, forcing him to wipe her memory of the entire day.
I also like how Clark recognizes that he’s the person he is today because of the love and support he’s received while on Earth, and he wants to provide Kara with that same opportunity.
The “twist” at the end I could see a mile away, especially since the entire episode kept advertising a super duper twist that will forever change the state of the series (what is this, WCW Nitro?) I’m a bit torn about whether Clark resurrecting his birth mother is a good or bad thing. I suppose it depends on how they handle it, because at the moment, she is the one part of his Kryptonian heritage that he holds dear, and I think it’d be unfortunate if anything happened to change that. I also don’t see the point of writing off one mother just to introduce another (unless that was their intention). All of that said, I thought Kara leaving Clark a photo of his birth mother was really sweet, and having them see the picture was a touching moment.
But hey, if bringing his mom back gets him flying, I’m all for it.
We didn’t have any Lana/Kara scenes last week, which I can excuse because this week Lana is going to obtain Clark’s abilities, and apparently goes a bit wacky with power. And that leaves who as the only person strong enough to stop her? Yep, that’s right, Kara! So I’m a bit optimistic that we get a little Lana/Kara smackdown!
Speaking of Lana, it seems her little organization has been outed. A couple of weeks ago I noted how interesting it is seeing Chloe hiding her meteor freak status, especially after attempting to discover Clark’s secret and urging him to share it with those that care about him. Now, it appears that Lana is hiding her fair share of skeletons as well, which is equally ironic due to the lashings she used to unleash upon Clark every opportunity she had. The one upside of this Dark Lana storyline is that it could conceivably end with Clark realizing that Lana is not the girl he thought she was, and finally moving on with his love life.
Who would have guessed a few years ago that Clark and Lionel would actually be hugging each other? Man, was that surreal! Incidentally, Clark’s alliance with Lionel is a great plot device, as it allows Lionel to, well, murder people who find out Clark or Kara’s secret. Basically, Clark and Kara are unable to commit such acts, even if it’s justified, as it would risk demonizing them in the eyes of the viewer. On the other hand, if Lionel does it, nobody would think twice about it.
I find so much about Lionel intriguing right now. His relationship with Lex is particularly interesting. Basically, Lex has finally turned into the ruthless, cutthroat person that Lionel had always wanted him to be, but it happened at a time that Lionel had obtained a grander view of the world. Basically, Lionel had always associated power and legacy with wealth and status. However, after realizing Clark’s ability, he’s recognized that he can achieve so much more having a super hero in his back pocket. So once again, Lex is a disappointment. The added irony, of course, is that Lex became this diabolical person because of Lionel’s upbringing.
On a side note, I’m writing this column Monday afternoon, the day that the writers strike kicked off. Of course, I have tickets to Tuesday night’s episode of Conan O’Brien (the only late night guy worth watching, in my opinion), which in all likelihood will be cancelled. That sucks, but it’s forgivable. However, word on the street is that Lost, which is set to return in 2008, has only filmed about eight of its 16 episodes. So if this strike impacts the return of Lost, I’m going to be pretty damn pissed.
For anybody wondering, I’m honestly not too knowledgeable about the specifics of the strike, other than the fact that it is centered on the fact that writers don’t receive any revenue from television shows that can be viewed on the Internet. Not knowing much beyond that, I have to side with the writers here. I mean, if other people are making a significant amount of money off of the work that you played a crucial role in creating, why shouldn’t you get something out of it? Therefore, I do side with the writers (again, with my limited knowledge on the subject), but I hope the two sides come to terms soon. Apparently the Heroes Origins miniseries has already been shelved. Then again, considering how much criticism Heroes receives for their poor introduction of new characters, that could be a good thing.
