Smallville – Episode 9-9 Review

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I want to take this opportunity to once again thank everybody who has read and contributed their comments to my reviews. I’ve really enjoyed the interactions, and it actually makes me even more eager for this upcoming season of Lost. If the amount of feedback I’ve received from Smallville and Heroes is any indication, my Lost: Revisited columns are sure to get a lot of reader participation.

Anyway, as I indicated in my response to Mary’s comments regarding last week’s review, I deliberately glossed over the references to Lois’ visions of the future because, while undeniably important, I knew that this week’s episode would focus almost entirely on them. As such, I decided to take a “let’s sit back and see how this plays out” approach. And I’m glad I did, as it turned out to be a tremendous episode. Just a couple of weeks ago I proposed that “Kandor” could end up being the strongest episode of the season – the one that fans constantly refer to as the measuring stick throughout the rest of the season, and indeed seasons to come. Now I’m torn. In a lot of ways, I think “Pandora” may fit the bill.

“Kandor” was an undeniably significant episode, don’t get me wrong. It marked the first REAL sight of Krypton. It finally revealed the “why” and “how” regarding Zod and his army being on earth. It gave us the first physical interaction between Clark and his birth father. It was undoubtedly the episode that set the course for the rest of the season.

That being said, I can’t help but feel like “Pandora” was so emotionally charged that it brought the episode to a whole new level. Between the dire situation to the reunion between Clark and Lois to their sex scene to the tension between Clark and his former friends to the deaths, it was just an incredible episode.

It was also great seeing the two different ways that Clark and Lois came together. In the “altered” timeline – which we have been seeing all season, with Lois returning to the present-day – they slowly come to realize their feelings for each other and finally decide to act upon it. And even then, there are some small bumps along the way. In the future – the culmination of a timeline in which Lois vanished for over a year – their emotional reunion put their romance in overdrive. In that instant, Clark confessed what her disappearance had done to him. Without her, he never mended fences with Chloe and Oliver (which we saw earlier this season), and he basically detached himself from his own humanity. And perhaps even more touching and significant was the fact that Lois, who for all intents and purposes was still her season 8 finale self, felt so strongly for Clark. This episode did a wonderful job of really showing viewers that they belong together – and I’m not just saying that because of the mythos that had been ingrained in us.

Additionally, their final scene together, where Clark realized how truly important she is to him, was wonderful. The sight of them nervously holding hands in the elevator was nice as well. I enjoyed the reminder that, despite the way they constantly act, these are still two relatively young people coming to terms with their feelings. The rare instance of legitimate young innocence was nice.

Of course, this episode certainly warrants a look at the future which Clark hopes to avoid. As I alluded to earlier, because Lois was gone, Clark never recovered from his darkest hour and continued to distant himself from Chloe and the rest of his friends. As a result, Clark didn’t have the resources necessary to stop Zod, and Chloe and Oliver consequently went down a dark path of their own.

Chloe’s turn was especially telling, as I think it gave us a real glimpse of where her current behavior may be leading her. Consider that when Lois went missing, Chloe was the first person both Clark and Oliver assumed had taken her (I also got a kick out of the fact that nobody can ever tell Clark who THEY think is responsible for something. They always have to lead him into dramatically saying the name himself). Nonetheless, do you think that ever would have happened a couple of seasons ago? Her descent was quite striking, accentuated by the fact that she was willing to take Tess’ life. And Clark’s heat vision has got nothing against those cold glares Chloe was giving whenever they shared a scene together.

Tess, for what it’s worth, did seem to genuinely feel she was doing the lesser of two evils with the decisions that she’s made. I didn’t quite buy it. I would have liked to have seen more regarding her motivations and justifications.

For me, the coolest part of the episode had to be Green Arrow facing down the Kryptonians with his single arrow. The sky turning black due to the immensity of dark-clothed Krytponians storming towards him was an awesome visual. Justin Hartley REALLY nailed that scene with his defeated, but “won’t go down without a fight” facial expression.

One thing that did irk me a bit, though: When Lois first arrives in the future and is confronted by one of the Kryptonians, she threatens that the Red/Blue Blur will rescue her. The Kryptonian indicates that he’s out of the picture, and brings her attention to the tattered Blur t-shirt. Lois is understandably shaken. While I thought it was a nice touch having Lois include the “Red/Blue” part, since that’s what Clark was known as at the time, why was she so taken aback by the sight of the Blur’s shirt? At that time, Clark didn’t wear that costume. And to my knowledge, she knew nothing of his symbol either.

Anyway, that’s it for this week. And did I hear right, or are new episodes not airing until January or February? What the crap is that about?

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, 24, Heroes, and Smallville. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.

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.