Voice of Reason: Season Five: Mortal




Mortal Overall The ending of "Arrival" could be classified as a cliffhanger, leaving off with multiple unresolved plot points and plenty of questions (not the least of which were, "Um, where's Jason?" "Who's the guy from the spaceship?" and "Has Clark lost his mind?"). Unfortunately, "Mortal" failed to provide any answers, except perhaps to the last question. The Beginning: We left "Arrival" expecting much more than this. "Arrival" ended with a virtual "don't miss a minute!" message. "Mortal" began with, "You've not only missed a minute, you've missed three weeks – and nothing's happened!" You're reluctant to believe it. Really? What about the spaceship in Lex's mansion, and the guy that trickled out of it, and Jason's body? At least the first scene, hearkening back to "Shattered" and "Asylum", promised excitement and interest and better quality, though comparing the random "mean boy" Lex of today with the complex, twisted, broken Lex of "Shattered" and "Asylum" was perhaps unwise. But that first scene was the best scene, because it moved on. The others either spent time on, "Here's how everyone's been for three weeks," or revisted scenes we've already seen in past seasons. The sole purpose of "Mortal" was to have one scene, the Clark-Lex breakup. As a rule I'm not a fan of episodes made for the purpose of one scene, and considering how random both of their behavior was, and how often recently they've had their nasty little "I'm not speaking to you" spells, even this one scene did not carry much weight. This episode, given that climactic Lex-Clark scene, should have been heartpounding and heavily emotional, at least like "Leech" if not like "Shattered". It should have been so bittersweet that it put a weight on your chest and made your throat throb. And it wasn't. Nowhere close. The most optimistic outlook is that it wasn't truly the breakup – but if this wasn't really the breakup, then it is irritating that the writers are leading us around in circles again. We've been through this before, and leading us on again is only going to deaden the effect when it actually does happen. Robert McKee called this the Law of Diminishing Returns: "The more often we experience something, the less effect it has." So A) the way they chose to break the event of the season on us was a long wild goose chase, or B) "Guess what? We were just kidding!" By the time they really do break up, we'll all be wondering, "Is this a trick?" However, there are some plusses, and they are major ones. First, Chloe's getting her personality back. (See "Moments".) Second, Lana's getting her personality back. (See "Moments".) In fact, overall, this episode was personality-driven and choice-driven, bringing it miles above virtually any episode in the Fourth Season. Third, even though the whole plot was a wild goose chase, the action was fast-paced and interesting and back to normal, not creepy photographers or possessive ancestors, just the good ol' bad guys again. And hostage situation with difficult choices are always interesting and character-building. This episode was a step in the right direction. Verdict: 7.5 out of 10. Missed Opportunities Smallville passed up a lot of opportunities in this episode for good old-fashioned Smallville Messages. The purpose of Smallville, once upon a time, was to show how Clark Kent, the boy, grew into Superman, the legend. He had both the makings of a hero and the struggles of a mortal. We watched throughout the first season as he learned to live with abilities that were both a blessing and a curse, trying to find his place and his purpose in a world constantly demanding the best of his physical and moral strength. Clark began to assume the attributes that would later characterize Superman – responsibility, compassion, and integrity. Notably in the fourth season, and carrying on in this episode, the writers lost sight of that vision. Clark's joy in being normal amounts almost to plain irresponsibility. He lives for pleasure, the pleasure of being with Lana, the pleasure of irresponsibility, the pleasure of the thought that, whatever happens, it won't be his fault. If Clark had reacted to the loss of his powers with a growing sense of powerlessness, if they had shown him being brought back to reality, we could have had a Smallville Message. Instead his irresponsibility is hailed as natural, his immaturity is seen as his reward for years of sacrifice. The truth is that the parable of the talents holds fast: He who is faithful in little will be faithful in much - or, as C.S. Lewis put it in the Chronicles of Narnia, "...if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one." This episode either denied or postponed showing or ignored that fact, and the result was the sort of fluffy non-conclusion that we received in Season Four. Morever, has anybody noticed that whenever a character states that he/she is "not ready" for a new level of relationship, or puts it off for some moral reason, by the end of the scene/act/episode the character who wasn't ready has inevitably become ready with very little persuasion? Clark did an admirable job of keeping it clean and honorable when he told Lana that he wanted their "first time" to be as precious as she was. But the writers again turned down a message of Superman integrity and responsibility when, by the end, he easily nullified everything he had said about it. This isn't a show about a Nobody, someone who can make mistakes without paying, someone who can make bad choices at a time when his choices are forming who he is. But, for this episode at least, the writers forgot that. Good/Bad Moments Chloe and Clark quietly talk about his condition. Of course they've had three weeks to talk about it, so the only reason they're talking about it now is to let the viewers know that a) Chloe had no problem with being left in the Arctic, b) Clark has no problem talking to Chloe about any of it, and c) they've talked about his being Kal-El, and what happened with the two Kryptonians. I guess Season Four had enough awkward relationships and they wanted to bypass that process, but it was a little difficult for me to believe that Clark, the living breathing secret, so easily adjusted to being open with Chloe. Last they spoke in "Arrival", they were both having a hard time with it, Chloe adjusting to his being an alien, Clark adjusting to the fact that Chloe knew. It was like they had to rediscover each other. I would have liked to see more of that, to make it more natural. He and Pete had a time of it, and I believed that better. The coldness with Lana, Clark, and Lex was baffling. One minute Lana and Clark are looking fondly at Lex, saying, "And it's all thanks to Lex the hero," but once he comes up and speaks to them, they shrink back, repulsed. Why? What did he do? Granted, in the last episode, he was on a wild rampage with Chloe and Lana, but he still carried Lana into his mansion, bandaged her leg, and cleared her of murder. I understand that after his expression of love there might be some awkwardness, but to have yet another "I'm not her favorite person right now" moment was repetitive, if they weren't going to go into why and how - weren't going to show the adjustment in everyone's interaction. It also contributed to the "selfish, hypersensitive Lana" image, which they should be trying to shake off right now. And then Clark followed up with, "She doesn't trust you? You should be used to that by now." I believe that he meant, "Gee, you don't feel trusted? You poor guy," in an ironic reference to their last meeting, when Lex was wild-eyed and suspicious of him. But the way it came across was, "Don't be ridiculous. Nobody trusts you. When are you going to get that?" Finally, the conversation ended with yet another serious discussion of how their friendship needs to be rebuilt after what happened between them. What happened between them: They were in the barn and Clark was telling Lex that he had no idea what Lex was talking about. They've had that conversation practically every episode since the fourth season started (although possibly you've never hated them both so much for it), so why are they having yet another serious discussion about how things are wrong between them? It was interesting to see Clark and Lana together again. We haven't seen them like this since the end of the second season, and then it lasted for about an episode and a half. Because she was back to wearing normal clothes and normal makeup, and was talking about forgetting the past, I found myself remembering Season Two and wanting them to be together again. It worked, up to a point. However, in Season Two, their relationship was more about chemistry and emotion and mutual support, and this episode made it more flirty and sensual. In fact, Lana acted exactly like this last season…with Jason. I'm glad that somehow Lana's gone from her tense, suspicious self to something like her old self, and it's a relief to see her free, but somehow she's still retained a sort of worldly callousness and seductiveness from the fourth season that needs to go. Overall, I have mixed feelings about Clark and Lana's current relationship. It was positive to see Clark and Lana happy together, since that's what they've both wanted for so long (despite the fourth season), but since you've seen Lana acting like this with Whitney, Adam, and Jason it's not particularly special any more. I liked the interaction between Chloe and Lex. It's strange, but it works, that while Chloe has ten times more reason than Lana to hate Lex, as she was the one getting manhandled and dragged around and yelled at, she maintains a comfortable level of poise and familiarity. During Season Three she and Lex went through a lot together, became closer and understood each other better than, say, Lana and Lex (or Clark and Lex, currently). It's surprisingly natural that her reaction is cool and fearless, without predictable wide-eyed aloofness or narrow-eyed hostility – that she maintains that attitude of "I know you better than you know yourself, Lex. I can send as good as I get." It was a gift that she retained that individuality. Hopefully the writers have begun trying to get the individuals back, in allowing her to deal with things in her way, and Lana to deal with things in hers. For a while in Season Four Chloe merely assumed Lana's former nice-girl personality, and went with the flow of predictable emotions. Now she's getting back her own. They should have shown where the kryptonite rock went after Clark threw it, instead of cutting it off. It would have made a nice camera shot, tracking the rock, and would have been less awkward. As it is, the first thing you think is, "I bet it didn't go very far." I don't know why that's the first thing you think, but the human mind is perverse. "Happiness is such an elusive creature, isn't it?" That was a lot more like the old Lex, mouthing proverbs but delivering messages under the surface. "Yeah, I've heard playing the third wheel is very time-consuming." Really, would Lex be that cruel? That's the kind of line he fires at Lionel, and people associated with his past. Not Chloe, who has never done him any harm. I thought it was weird that Clark's way of trying to get rid of his parents was to pull that obvious "get off my back" stunt. That kind of line is begging for a confrontation, especially in a family where that conversation is rare or nonexistent. Of course, Clark's not the brightest candle on the cake. "And if the stories they tell about you and Belle Reve are true, you should have no problem." The goodness of that moment was enough to make you shiver. There's always something particularly appealing about Clark in a legendary light. In "Exile" it was in his cocky, self-assured "Stick to balloon animals," and his drawling talks with Morgan Edge. "They know him. They know what he does. He's surrounded by a haze, mythical, masked, and they know it." So…stories circulate about him and Belle Reve. What kind of stories? I'd rather never know…just know that there are stories. Leave it at that. I liked it that Sheriff Adams understood what was going on. She understands Smallville and she understands the Kents now. Though I'm not sure when her change from witch to fairy godmother occurred. Chloe, shocked: "Pete?" (Clark jerks his head up, hitting it on the air vent.) "You told Pete your secret?" "Well, I kinda had to. He saw my ship." "Pete got to see your spaceship?" I liked that moment. That's the kind of thing fans want to see. It tied in memories of better years, let Chloe have the indignant, shocked, lovably Chloe-ish reaction that we knew she would have, and did it with subtle comedy (not "Spell" comedy). Cute. Good. I liked it when Clark opened the door and Chloe walked through. Startling at first. In the first season, Clark and Lex were my favorite part of the show. Even when they were lying, and even when they distrusted each other, it was meaningful because they really were friends, they knew each other better than anyone else, and it hurt them to think that there was something between them. It was poignant, it was good. Now every scene between them is shallow and hostile, not allowing any depth for deeper emotions to root. It's not that they're hurt by each other, it's just that they're mad at each other. That was the problem with the confrontation. It wasn't a friendship pushed to the breaking point, friends fighting and getting hurt by the experience. It was people who didn't like each other finally coming out and saying it. The whole confrontation should have shaken us so much harder - but really the friendship disappeared a year ago at the end of Season Three: it didn't actually return when they "made up". I was divided between two reactions. One was, "What else is new?" Tomorrow they'll get up on the other side of the bed and make up again. The other was, "Not bad." I was so sick of hearing them lying to each other that it was a relief when it came to blows, and on equal terms. So seeing Clark throwing Lex around made me think, "That's right. Don't hide it, pretending to be his friend – just get it out there." And seeing Lex punch Clark back made me think, "Yes! Finally! He did it!" I've wanted to see Clark get punched for a long time now, and after all the times he's barged in yelling at Lex, it's about time that Lex punched him. It's like the time Lex warned him to be careful, or the time Lex told him to "get out, now". Go Lex. The End: I believe the end was supposed to be bittersweet. Clark and Lana together at last, but you know it won't last, that Clark can't remain human, and they reinforce that by panning from the vulnerable set in the Talon to the epic set of the sky. I think that was supposed to be symbolic and poignant. However, the thought in my mind was, "Guys. Show some dignity." And, when they panned to the stars, my thought was, "Thank you." Details The whole premise was – well, iffy. One of two things happened. a) Over a process of months, Lex experimented on these wackos. (In other words, during "Scare" while he was heroically injecting himself with the antidote, he was also experimenting on these guys and setting them up to expose Clark.) He was certain that with injections in the neck, these guys would develop superpowers and would become addicted to the injections. (So in "Duplicity" when Dr. Hamilton told Pete that an injection in the neck would give him jitters and ultimately kill him, this kryptonite expert dying of jitters didn't know what he was talking about.) He then sent them to Belle Reve to experience withdrawal and become desperate enough to break out. While they were there he probably fed them with stories about "what they say about [Clark] and Belle Reve", although with his memory wiped all he knew was that Clark sneaked in and tried unsuccessfully to save him. When they got out he was certain that, desperate as they were, and fresh from the victory of breaking out, they would still keep cool heads and not try to break into LuthorCorp by themselves. He also knew that Clark would agree to break into LuthorCorp, although if these guys had found Clark alone and fully Super he could merely have knocked them all out before they knew what was happening, called the sheriff, and invented a story, in which case the whole thing would have been in vain. And all so that Clark would walk into a bunch of lasers. Would Lex Luthor the tycoon, the business genius, really go for something so circuitous and uncertain and time-consuming? Wouldn't it have been easier just to hire someone to shoot at him? b) Lex didn't bother feeding the freaks stories about Clark, and didn't take the chance that they would break into Luthorcorp themselves, but told them that if they insisted that Clark break in, he would provide them a life of happiness and serum. This, Clark indicates, is what happened. So he took the chance that these drug-addicted, desperate freaks with power to kill anyone would discreetly play-act through the whole thing and not drop a hint that he was behind it all, even when they were arrested. What gentlemen. And – again – all so that Clark would walk into a bunch of lasers. How anticlimactic. Shattering the sword against his arm in Clark's dream was better than this. And here's the part I really find hard to believe. The only way they even reached the lasers was because they had Lex's thumbprint. So Lex deliberately followed Chloe around so she would drop her flashlight and he could hand it to her, knowing that she would be using it to break into LuthorCorp? Okay, maybe he thought Clark would simply rip the door off – probably would leave a trail of ripped doors and broken locks and fingerprints. Which, knowing Clark's IQ, might have happened, under different circumstances. © Voice of Reason, 2007