A Case of the…. Smallville – Episode 7-10

Shows

So let me get this out of the way first: Next week there is apparently a sneak peak at the movie Jumper. To the average person this probably doesn’t mean anything. But, to me, that means that next week both Kristin Kreuk and Rachel Bilson will be taking over my television. Hooray!

Before the Smallville hiatus, I had proposed that the show go a few weeks of Bizarro posing as Clark, unbeknownst to the rest of the characters. Well, the story line came to an end tonight, but it was well done. I’ve often complimented the show for how well they’ve developed the characters of Chloe, Lionel, and Lex, but they’ve also done a fantastic job with Jor-El. He began the series as an iron fisted, very strict ruler of sorts, but slowly he became a caring father. This episode, he released Clark (despite his punishment) so that he could stop Bizarro, and essentially save the world. In the past, Jor-El’s stubbornness would never have released Clark, and if he had, it would have been for a price.

I loved, loved that Chloe was the one to discover that Bizarro wasn’t the real Clark. Really, she was the perfect person to make the revelation, because – despite what the writers try to make us feel – Clark’s strongest bond and relationship is with Chloe. I especially enjoyed was how Lana told Chloe that she (meaning Chloe) might not know Clark as well as she thinks, when actuality, she was able to recognize that Clark wasn’t himself after a brief interaction, whereas Lana didn’t realize it despite living with him, and spending nearly every moment with him. This quick scene drove three points home: How much better Chloe knows Clark than Lana, how manufactured the Clark/Lana relationship is, and how self-involved Lana can truly be.

Hell, Lana didn’t even put two and two together when, shortly after that very interaction, Clark explicitly states, “I’ve been gone for weeks” and “that wasn’t me.” She even twists what Chloe said in order to prove that she’s right. I will say that the writers have done a nice job of planting the seeds for quite some time now that these two really aren’t meant for each other, but they’ve used this relationship as a crutch for far too long.

With all of that said, I could have done without Bizarro falling in love with Lana also. The writers really need to tone it down with the constant Lana-infatuation.

As always, any and all Luthor interaction was brilliant. The show has done a wonderful job of reversing the roles of Lionel and Lex throughout the past couple of years, and in such a gradual, believable way. It’s also no surprise that Lex became “bad” by disassociating himself with Clark, and Lionel became “good” by forming a close bond with him.

It’s easy to accuse Lionel of only committing good deeds in order to accommodate his own visions of grandeur, as aiding the most powerful entity on earth could build one’s ego quite a bit, but in this episode he seemed to genuinely care for the Julian clone and truly seemed to want to forge a relationship with him.

Lex has really gone from dipping his toe into the evil waters to diving into the deep end head first, hasn’t he? If nothing else, this episode (and really, the season as a whole) has done a wonderful job of displaying Lex’s insecurities and abandonment issues. I mean, he had somebody who was essentially his own brother brutally murdered for those reasons alone.

And, finally, it’s always great to see James Marsters on TV again.

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into various popular television shows. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.