Voice of Reason: Season Five: Splinter

Splinter

Overall

The road to Superman/Lex Luthor has been treated in two ways this season: as a journey, and as a lightswitch. When it came to Superman, this episode was all about the journey.

Silver kryptonite. Paranoid delusions. There was a great danger in this premise, that the writers – whose sense of balance has been somewhat precarious lately – would lean too heavily on those open-ended questions of last season, like "Did such-and-such really happen?" and "Will so-and-so remember?" and, vaguest of all, "How much does so-and-so know?" But they didn't. Not in this episode, at least. Although disentangling truth from delusion played enough part to keep the viewer's mind gripped, they did not overload us with information that may or may not mean anything – give us any "She is the Chosen One!" lines open to so many interpretations that they mean nothing. The writers had so much focus – such a clear idea of what they wanted to portray – and such a perfect sense of balance – that they didn't even resort to the "Is this the real, uninhibited ______?" question. We weren't led along vague, winding trails that suggested that these delusions might come true in the future or that these delusions of Jonathan selling Clark to Lionel were Clark's repressed fears. It was straightforward. The silver kryptonite didn't remove inhibitions or draw out very distinct repressed emotions or any other emotional gimmicks – it made Clark believe he was in a living nightmare.

Such a recipe for horror offered ample opportunities to have vivid, Season-Three-reminiscent fears. Although this episode was not as shocking as Season Three, because in Season Three the things actually happened, it still carried much more impact than "Scare" – far much more. In "Scare" the whole "repressed fears" concept reduced each character's psyche to a thirty-second montage – in "Splinter" we spent almost as much, possibly more time inside Clark's head than out of it. This was "Shattered" from the other point of view.

The rocking cradle, the fleeting glimpse of the laughing child…there was a sickening impact in them. Clark's delusions weren't vague and dreamy paths to dead ends, but scathing reminders of everything he's gone through. In many ways he's lived through these nightmares, and the silver kryptonite made him relive them, the worst moments of his life. And that's how the worst nightmares are…grounded in truth, and so reaching into the depths of the person's psyche and wrenching the old emotions. Sometimes the worst pain comes not when a fresh wound is inflicted but when the scar is ripped open.

Milton Fine revealed. Another dangerous move. The transition from slow-talking, dry, somewhat distant history professor to Kryptonian was a perilous one, with many possible pitfalls; but they managed to create a Kryptonian persona as intriguing as the professor persona, and in a way that recalled the emotional scope of Season Two.

There were some small problems. The scenes between Lana and Lex, discussing the spaceship, Clark, etc., were flabby and lifeless, mostly because it was unclear how they got to this point - why they are the way they are - and consequently there was nobody to identify with. In the end, Lionel became our personal narrator, generously spelling out for us Lex's subtle emotions, which were so subtle that we couldn't see them at all, and our reaction was, "Yeah right."

But for the most part, this episode was a success. This episode, the writers wanted to create a living nightmare. They succeeded. They wanted to lift the veil between Milton Fine and Clark, as powerfully and compellingly as possible. They succeeded. In the end, the question for every episode is, "What did this episode accomplish for a) the arc, and b) the characters?" The past three weeks, we've been tried hard to come up with answers other than "Absolutely nothing." This episode breaks the streak. This week's answer is – "Everything." Once again, Steven S. DeKnight has worked with a dangerous premise and managed it brilliantly. As my brother said, "The guy's on a role."

Dr. Milton Fine

The writers were wise in their arc-plotting. They didn't let Milton stay in the same relationship and behave the same way for too long a time, the way they did Jason – they brought in changes in action and relationships, and I can't thank them enough.

As I said above, there was a danger in the transformation from Professor to Kryptonian. Naturally the Professor and the Kryptonian could not be exactly the same. But neither of them represented the true, unmasked Milton, or so we are led to believe; and exchanging one mask for another equally vague would have been a let-down – activity, not action. The Professor to the Kryptonian had to be a change from something vague to something more specific - the mist clearing away and revealing a little more. The route the writers chose was to present two pictures of Milton: Milton the Kinsman, and in the end, Milton the Danger.

From Milton the Mentor to Milton the Kinsman. Everything about Milton made him seem the perfect friend. If he was trying to win Clark's trust, he did everything right. In many ways it was Lex revisited, the immediate bond between the two of them, and the freedom to talk to each other that they felt, or Clark felt. It began when Clark approached him, feverish, and explained with much wringing of hands what was happening. Even though Milton didn't know what was going on (from Clark's POV, at least), and even though Clark was acting psychotic, he supported Clark, understood the urgency, and told him he'd be there for him. ("Shattered," anyone?) It continued in their next encounter, when Milton came to stop Clark in Lex's mansion. "Clark! You don't want to do that. Trust me." He acts as a voice of reason to Clark's reasonless mind. Clark dashes at him, and instead of letting it become a fight by parrying or fighting back, he merely avoids the blow and waits for Clark to do what he's going to do. Clark asks if he's one of Lex's experiments, and he replies, "No. I'm your friend. If you hurt Lana, it will destroy you." Not acting as Clark's mentor or even Clark's protector, but appealing to Clark to protect himself. Clark punches Milton through the wall, and Milton stands up and uses fire vision to knock Clark over. He could have dashed over and knocked him over with a blow, but his choice is less confrontational, and engages Clark with the discovery that they share another power. He dashes over to Clark, who is on his back, still breathless and vulnerable from the fire vision hit, and stands over him, calling to mind images of a doctor standing over his patient on a table. The person with the power to help, if the patient can grit his teeth and take the pain. "What the h--- are you?" "I'm a Kryptonian. Just like you. And I'm sorry. But this is really going to hurt." He apologizes beforehand for the pain he is going to inflict, treating Clark as if he is rational, and speaking in that deep, slightly melancholy voice – a sagacious intonation reminiscent of Jor-El. Milton slams the device onto Clark's shoulder and the device sucks the silver out of Clark. He pulls the device up and backs away so that Clark can get up, looking at the sliver, letting it hold his attention instead of hovering protectively over Clark. The body language is perfect. "You'll be all right now, Kal-El." It is the first time he has used Clark's real name. He says it with a certain fondness and sadness, sounding, again, a little like Jor-El but more authentic and frank than Jor-El has been. Lex is heard and he bids Clark good-bye and dashes away. The next scene comes when he waits for Clark in the loft, knowing that Clark will be coming. "Professor Fine?" "How you feeling, Kal-El?" He has all the affection and respect of Jonathan, with the unearthly knowledge of Jor-El – the best of both fathers combining for a friend, apparently. "So I didn't imagine that part." "No, you didn't." "I thought I was the last son of Krypton, but you people keep popping up." Clark is a bit resentful, holding himself aloof. Milton smiles and answers lightly. "Well, a superior civilization is difficult to eradicate." He is calm, friendly, smiling as he strolls a few steps toward Clark, stopping when he's come halfway so that it's up to Clark to come to him. Clark comes, meeting him in the middle. "Why are you here?" "To stop what's coming, and to help you walk the path of a true Kryptonian." "So I can be superior? No thanks." Clark is taking his own stance. Milton turns and walks to the window, leaving it up to Clark to follow. Clark automatically follows him. "Why do you continue to trust humans more than your own people?" "Just going off what I've seen." "Maybe you need to look closer." He doesn't try to persuade Clark of anything, but suggests that Clark look for himself and see what Milton sees. "Why didn't you tell me who you really were, instead of posing as my professor this whole time?" "Why do you keep your identity a secret, even from the woman you love?" Putting it in terms of Lana makes it seem like they understand each other better than Clark thought. "You've been on this planet for many years, Kal-El. I had to observe you before revealing myself to determine just how much you've been influenced by these…humans." "You say 'human' like it's a bad thing." He makes a helpless sound, a barely perceptible shrug: "Just going off what I've seen." The body language suggests that he's tried, he's wanted to see good in them, but he's been disproven again and again. "This race, it shows promise. But at this point in history, they're still duplicitous by their very nature. Even the ones you think you love can't be trusted." His use of "this race," etc., subtlely makes it "Us" discussing "Them", and to conclude his wording quietly questions Clark's true loyalties. Clark is not disarmed, moved by the support of his family to defend them. "You don't know anything about this race. Yeah, they can be petty, and dishonest and betray each other over nothing. But they can also be honest, and loyal, and they would give up everything to protect someone they love…even if they're from another planet." "Kal-El…" Milton reproaches him for wishful thinking, saying behind the word, "Surely you know better." His use of Clark's real name makes it natural – he doesn't speak it with the formality of Jor-El or with the unaccustomed, tasting-it-in-his-mouth Jonathan manner. He speaks it as he would any other name, like he's known Clark for years by it, with familiarity. Clark senses it and pushes back. "My name is Clark. And I'll always believe in my friends and my family." Milton speaks sadly, as if there's a faint glimmer of possibility but he's afraid he knows too much about it to be able to reasonably believe it. "I sincerely hope your trust hasn't been misplaced." He walks away from Clark and the window, pausing to add, "You know where to find me, when you're ready to accept the truth." Again, leaving it so that Clark must come to him. He leaves on that note.
None of the above would seem too planned, too deliberate, if not for what followed. From Milton the Kinsman to Milton the Danger. Milton absorbs the silver kryptonite, suggesting that it was he who produced it in the first place. The CGI effect as he soaks it in prompts the remembrance of his "birth" in "Arrival" when he grew as a "dark tower", which Jor-El warned Clark about. Milton arrived with the others. That can't be a good thing. Leaving you on that note, you look back on the events and see the evidence of a plot on his part. Without this scene, the episode would have been incomplete.

They gave us both pictures of him, the subtle friend and the hidden danger, and we pieced the puzzle together ourselves. Now that's writing.

Good/Bad Moments

"Has my deodorant gone south? Why is he in such a hurry to bail?" I thought that joke was a bit contrived, coming from Chloe. Granted, they've used up quite a few lines about Clark leaving quickly without explanation, but this was stretching it, especially since he made his hasty exit before he even saw Chloe. Chloe needs to have real humor, genuine wit, not just lighthearted jests.
"I have no idea. I guess Clark's just not into geology." That was a weird line and a weird delivery. Was it supposed to be serious or was it supposed to be funny? It came out…neither. "Why is he leaving?" "I guess he's not into geology." That isn't funny. It isn't as if anyone would take it seriously, either. So what exactly was the point of that line, and why did Lana say it so sluggishly?
"Brutus and Caesar. Jesus and Judas. They all started out best friends…even the most powerful men can be betrayed…" Since we later learn that Clark wasn't in that class, this topic, meaningful as it was, was his delusion. Which is good, because too much classroom testing from Milton Fine would seem like overkill - but the powerful parallels were too good to leave out.
"I know how to kill you" appears on the screen. Good music. This episode had a lot of good music, not relying too much on current radio music but going back to Season Three's fantastic strings, tweaked Superman music, and musical messages like this, that conveyed more than words.
"You look really stressed out." "I never thought he'd take it this far." "Do you know anyone who could find out who it's registered to?" "Whatever happens, we're in this together. Remember that, okay?" Everything Milton said in this scene was just a little off – spoken a little too naively – phrased a little too uncharacteristically. When it took place, his part suggested to you that it could be a delusion, but it wasn't obvious or conclusive. Well done.
"…including moral pygmies like Lionel Luthor." Now that was a Chloe line.
"I'm paying you for results, Gr., not excuses. Get it done." Way to belt it out. Lex the big bad machine is back. Maybe I'm hopeless, but this new lightswitch Lex makes me writhe to rewrite him. The character they built up for three years was completely wasted. He was dropped into the trash and replaced with this stereotype. "For you? Never." I thought we'd left behind simplistic, unbelievable stereotypes when Genevieve Teague died.
"Just like you don't know anything about the spaceship that came down in the last meteor shower." "That's different." "Why?" "Because there are some doors that can't be closed once they're opened." "Thanks. Did you get that from a fortune cookie?" Lana went very quickly from the grateful girl to the narrow-eyed drama queen. And it wasn't in the line – the line was good. It was a good exchange. The problem was in the snippy way she was told to play it.
"…Everything I've done has been to protect you." Wasn't it under a year ago when Lex remarked calmly to Jason that Lana seemed to find a lot of self-appointed protectors? The implication was that it was all unnecessary – there was a bit of amusement for the lovesick fellows who were determined to protect her, inflating molehills into mountains so they could protect her even more. In Season Two he taught her how to protect herself. Now he's blindly making the same mistake he laughed at last year. Becoming a stereotypical villain lover.
"It's real." Lana almost panting, wide-eyed, staring intensely… Writers, this is exactly why Lana was a flop last season. Drama queen attitude, unclear and unstable motivation, and out-of-the-blue wide-eyed weird moments like this.
"Yes, it is. And I want you to help me get inside and find out exactly what we're dealing with." Interesting that that's the first thing he says after showing her. He made up his mind on the surface so quickly that it seemed that he must have been considering it for a while. Also, Alexander is all about using Lana. How does Lex feel?
"…how he'll be treated when we run the tests. He can either be our honored guest or he can be strapped down like a lab rat." Clark plaintive, child-like as he watches – or thinks he watches – Lionel discuss him as a medical curiosity and his father betray him. It was a heartrending moment.
"So smooth…" Wide-eyed, dreamy, as if in a trance, running her fingers across it like…I don't know what like, but weirdly. "Almost like liquid…" Hello? This bizarre moment jerked me out of the experience to raise my eyebrows and groan at the television.
"You keep saying that, Lex. What do you think you're protecting me from?" Another "so there!" drama queen delivery. In the first season if Lana had seen somebody acting like this, she'd be cracking up.
"Is that the real reason, or is it because you and your scientists are stumped? Because I'm the only person on earth who's seen this thing open up." And another "so there!" drama queen delivery. Let me guess - later in the season, Lana's going to run to some male, any male, and explain dramatically how Clark victimized her. When Clark tells her he's confused by her behavior, she'll say (wide-eyed and very seriously), "It's not about (blank). It's about (blank)." Clark will then say, "Lana, I feel like I don't know you any more." And Lana will then tell him that it's his fault, she feels the same way about him, because of all his secrets. "If two people can't trust each other..." And we'll be right back in Season Four.
"Where is it?" "It's by the barn. Who-ho-ho, hey!" I liked it that Jonathan didn't anticipate any aggression from Clark's violence, at first interpreted it as roughhousing. When you live with someone, see them every day, it's natural that your expectations are set differently. Jonathan and Martha and Clark were a family in this episode, and that's something I've missed for a long time.
"Clark. Stop it." Hits Martha. Again, expectations set to a certain level. Even I was surprised when he hit Martha.
"No more lies. Tell me the truth. Tell me!" The first two sentences, he seemed relieved, as in "Exile" – feeling as if he's seeing things clearly at last. By the last sentence the anger and insistence had crept into him, and it burst out of him compellingly. Wonderful Clark performance this episode, from start to finish.
"Sweetheart, this is – I don't think it's – it's different, somehow." I liked the idea that Martha's first thought would be red kryptonite – it's natural that it would come up. I also liked it that Jonathan, who had the most direct interaction with Clark, would sense the difference. A family again.
Lana enters her room, and Clark clings to her. His vulnerability reinforced. Very compelling.
"She's coming, she's coming. Chloe's coming." Even in the agitated Clark, I liked the mystery of knowledge he shouldn't have.
"He's been here, hasn't he?" Chloe looks around, then looks back at Lana, and the camera swivels to show Lana slowly, carefully turning back, not making eye contact. Beautiful cinematography in this episode.
"He told me not to trust you." I loved it that Lana believed Clark and trusted him, and was wary, yet knew she didn't have enough information to make that decision just yet. It was the perfect balance – holding out until she was sure.
"Clark, I haven't seen you in over a week." "No, no, we talked this morning…" Brilliant acting. Hearkened back to "Shattered", the agitated talk, the jerky gestures, the purple circles under his eyes…
"Clark, whatever's happening, we're in this together." I was unsure what the symbolism of the repeated line was. The first time it was spoken was in Clark's delusion – Milton Fine wasn't even present. Now we know that Clark really is in a conversation with Milton Fine, but it was unclear whether this was a symbolic moment saying, "Clark's entering a delusion again," or "Milton Fine is backing Clark for real this time."
Spaceship behind pane, singing, whispering, laughter – that nerve-racking, creepy feeling from Season Three was back, and I'm glad. It would have been too much to make the whole season like that, or even an episode of reality like that – but this mixture of reality and delusion was the perfect setting for the creeps, and we needed some good creepiness after the bad attempts last season.
"I'm the one that's going to kill you, Clark." Again, symbolism unclear. Was this supposed to be a foreshadowing of the future? (I know at one point in the comics, Superman died and rose again. But Clark's already done that.)
"I should have known you'd do something like this. You can't stand to see us together, can you?" What a witch. No pun intended.
"I think this is the part where I usually say, 'Lana, what are you talking about?'" Lex has been forced to respond so many times to false accusations from people storming into his study that the writers are running out of answers.
"You're my partner now. It's the least I can do." Good line, if a bit obvious. Lex always finds a way to make Lana his "partner", and lines like this, claiming something about the person before the ink's dry, before any kind of relationship has had a chance to settle (like Alicia in "Obsession"), reinforce that…very strongly and very quickly. So strongly and so quickly that I feel a little like the rug's been yanked out from under me.
"They won't hurt him, will they?" "If that happens, somebody's getting transferred to Siberia." Okay, that was more like Lex. At least, if you count it as his own, not something said to posture for Lana.
Lights flicker. "Stay here." Hands her the silver kryptonite. "I'll see what's going on." I thought it was interesting that Lex, who didn't want to let the stones out of his sight, gave her the silver kryptonite to hold while he went out to Clark. Perhaps, of course, he knew what was good for him – didn't want to increase Clark's delusions with his appearance.
Walking through darkened hallways, man lying there unconscious/dead, ripped-up wall…very Season Three-ish.
"A lot of people are looking for you, Clark." "I know they are." "I want you to listen to me very carefully…we should get you to the lab." "We should get to the lab. We should get to the lab so you can experiment on me." The interaction here was great. Lex is perfect, paying no attention to the gun in his hand but ready to use it if necessary, focusing instead on Clark, speaking normally as if there's no danger, not getting too close but giving him room. Clark's worked out his concept of reality now, and because it's settled in his mind he's not the agitated, frantic Clark that spoke to Milton, but is logic-deprived and confident and crazy. Just like Lex in "Shattered" and "Asylum": panicking when uncertain, but grinning and unstoppable when sure. Very good.
"And all those things you do to me, all the tests, all the lies, is…" Good line, portraying Clark's "walls-caving-in" state.
"I don't want to hurt you." Clark smiles, then grabs Lex. Lana hears Lex's yell. "I don't want to hurt you." He flings Lex down the hallway. This was genuine S3 drama – the "I can't believe it's happening" type of drama. Maybe a little anticlimactic because of the law of diminishing returns and because you know when the silver kryptonite gets out of his system it can all be cleared up, but still far better than their previous attempts at shocking drama.
Lana leaves and Clark enters at almost the same time. That gave a good sense of the chase to it. Clark roaring. "Lana!" Since he then found her and told her he had rescued her, it was unclear why he was yelling her name like that, though it certainly increased the intensity level. Maybe it wasn't rage, as it first appeared: children who want something sometimes plant themselves in the middle of the room and yell, "MOM?"
It's been a long time since Clark used x-ray vision on human beings, and the CGI has become much better. The transition from Lana's skeleton to Lana's face was stunningly good.
It was heartrending when Clark stood there, smiling broadly. The silver kryptonite had reduced him to a child-like level of logic, and moments like this did what they did not do for red kryptonite – made Clark a sympathetic victim.
"What did you do, did you hurt him?" Smile fades. "Why do you care about him so much?" That was good, very believable reactions on both sides.
"Clark!" Camera swivels and reveals Milton standing there. "You don't want to do that. Trust me." That moment got me excited. It was one of those, "Is it – is it – is it…?" moments where you didn't dare to hope…
Clark dashes at Milton, Milton dashes back. The "Yes!" moment.
"You one of Lex's experiments?" Again – a realistic level of expectation. Thank goodness they didn't have him just stand there and gape.
"No. I'm your friend. If you hurt Lana, it will destroy you." This sentence had numerous potential meanings. Clark had already hurt Lana, so either it was just a more dramatic way of saying "Don't do this - you know it'll just make things worse," or it was one of the writers' little vague foreshadowings. Personally I hope it's the first. Whatever the significance, it was a good moment. Milton was not Clark's mentor or Clark's protector – he was appealing to Clark. It was the same change that Clark went through with Lex, from lecturing Lex to appealing to him. The change puts them on the same level, forms a bond.
Clark punches Milton through the wall. Milton stands up, the air around him rippling as he turns. His eyes glow and he flings Clark back with his heat vision, which is now more fire vision, and dashes over to him. I was glad that they didn't have any unfamiliar, all-too-convenient powers like they did in "Arrival" – they just showed him use the powers that Clark used. It was more believable, and the shared powers contributed to the "we are kinsmen" bond between them. Extra powers would have made Milton look too imposing, when that was the last thing he wanted.
"What the h--- are you?" "I'm a Kryptonian. Just like you. And I'm sorry. But this is really going to hurt." Milton slams device onto Clark's shoulder and the device sucks the sliver out. Milton pulls the device up and backs away. "You'll be all right now, Kal-El." This moment was the epitome of the episode. And, for once, the one reason why the episode was made was supported by the rest of the episode.
Lex's voice: "Lana?" Clark: "Lana." They needed that. In "Shattered" and "Asylum" the greatest problem was that with so much anguish and so much drama going on, Clark's misplaced priorities placed him by Lana's bedside and at Lana's parties at inappropriate moments. This episode avoided that problem by having Lex's voice shouting for Lana, fearing for her life, acting as a channel back to that thought. It became more natural for Clark to run to find her.
Clark standing with Lana in his arms. Beautiful shot. It would have been a beautiful moment, if only he and Lana had a real relationship now and if only Lana was really Lana now. As it was, it was just a nice camera shot.
"Clark. What have you done." Because Lex's voice was so belligerent, my thought was, "Oh, go away." It would have been moving if he had been hurt, in anguish; but he's so insensitive right now that any fixed-up emotions he manages are easy to shrug off.
"Hi." "Um, you know, the caffeine in my system is getting to a dangerously normal level. I'm going to go get a cup." Looks at Clark meaningfully. The difference between Pete knowing and Chloe knowing. This was a pure Chloe moment. Thank goodness she's back after her bland "Exposed" role.
"It's okay. Chloe told me everything." "She did?" "Yeah. How the meteor infected you, how it made you think everyone was out to get you, and that it gave you some sort of temporary powers?" That was perfect. I could feel myself exhale and grin with relief. Of course Chloe would pull through. But they built up the nervous question of whether she did well.
"Of course I know that." "Clark, whatever you think you saw…There could never be anything between me and Lex." Lana was very understanding. I was pleasantly surprised that the writers were so reasonable about it. Incidentally, she looked a lot better and more normal without the overdone makeup, just brushed with makeup and looking natural, with the warm light of the lamp on her face.
"Chloe turning against me, my dad making a deal with Lionel, you and Lex talking about a spaceship." Lana smiles, uneasy. "Yeah…I'm just glad you're all right, Clark." With her makeup so much better, like the old Lana instead of Isobel, this moment didn't annoy me as much as it would have with her witch makeup. Yes, it was a bit contrived, but maybe having her normal-looking made me let down my guard.
Clark steps outside and Chloe is waiting outside the door. Another nice moment – showing that caffeine was not her reason for leaving, and connecting Clark and Chloe again. I always hated it when after estranging people while under some influence, the restored culprit/victim failed to follow up with each person and set things straight again. This episode, Clark took advantage of Jonathan, Martha, Chloe, Lana…and Lex. There was only one of those who didn't get the follow-up talk.
"For once in my life, I was actually glad I wasn't the object of your desire." Cute, but vocalizing sensitive things like that makes it hard to believe. It's like if Clark had voiced his paranoia by saying, "I feel as if the walls are caving in, as if everyone is turning against me, and as if I simply must escape from it all." When something's that deep, people don't talk about it – especially to the object of their emotions.
"Speaking of the evil dynasty, I need to come clean about something." Two years ago Lex was her protector. Now he's part of the big bad "evil dynasty". They are trying to move this way too quickly.
"I'd die before I'd ever betray you." Oh, gosh, that scared me. What if they're going to…
The scene between Lex and Lionel was the worst scene of the episode. It made the same mistake that Chloe made in (bc), except worse.
1. First, Lionel comes in to a glaring Lex. You think that Lex has found out about Lionel's dealings with Jonathan and Chloe, but he doesn't fling his accusations, just acts villain-ish. "I wasn't planning on it, not that it's any of your business." They basically establish that Lex now has the emotions of a stone.
2. From there they suddenly launch into the most uncompelling Lionel speech ever made, Season Four dialogue included. Not only is it uncharacteristic, but it contradicts what was just established in (bf-1). "Last time I checked, Lana Lang had a boyfriend." Lionel, despite all his keen insight, has always been blundering and blind when it came to Lex's deeper emotions. In "Crush" he inadvertently betrayed a great deal about this blind spot to his son's inner workings. So why does he now have this intricate understanding of Lex – even as overdone as the clues to Lex's affections are?
3. The mistake continues. "This isn't about the greater good, or even about power: it's about you changing the way people perceive you, isn't it?" We’ve never seen this complexity in Lex. In fact, we haven't seen any recognizable emotion in Lex whatsoever. If Lex were the vulnerable, complicated, angry kid he used to be, this would have been such a compelling storyline – "the evolution of Lex", as of S3 old – that a) Lionel wouldn't need to be spelling it out for us so simplistically, and b) this situation might have been remotely believable. However – as they just finished establishing – Lex isn't that person. He's Alexander. I can't blame this on the writing, either: someone told Michael Rosenbaum to be the machine. He could have played this with brooding, thoughtful silence, the silence you can hear, and his eyes could have held mysteries as he looked into the fire. Someone told him to play Lex with a wall around him.
As long as he's being played this way, I guess we'll need these hard-to-swallow Lionel moments to supply the missing ounce of personality. But honestly, I think "Smallville" doesn't need to use Lionel as their narrator. Give Michael Rosenbaum the rein to play Lex the way he's supposed to be played – as someone pantingly, compulsively desperate for love and for his own identity.
"Those Kents, they pack quite a punch, don't they, son?" I don't know what made me like this line, but every time I try to figure it out I just end up laughing and thinking that I like it. I'm stumped.
"…because the people who are close to you will always know what's in your heart. That's why Lana Lang will never love you, son." I think they couldn't figure out how to end the scene, so they put this in.
"Thing is, I don't know what was real and what wasn't." This was an interesting angle. It put you in a position where you knew more than Clark did, because you, unlike Clark, were able to separate fact from fiction. There were often times in Season Four where you knew more than Clark – most of the season, actually – but that was unfulfilling because what you knew didn't make any sense, was disconnected and vague and didn't lead to anything. This knowing-more-than-Clark worked much better, because a) what we know is pretty solid and relevant, and b) the reason Clark doesn't know is because he's a victim, not because he's just passive and disconnected. It's the difference between Lex's memory being erased and Lex failing to call his father on his misdeeds in the first place.
"I'm just glad the infection burned itself out when it did." "Yeah, me too." At that point, Clark was unsure whether or not he had imagined Milton Fine. But he told his parents what he had imagined about Lana and Chloe…why is he leaving this out? I could understand "Hidden," in which Clark's searing secret would have been wretchedly hard to share; but this I could not understand. There are two kinds of secrets, the kind that could hurt and/or increase already-existing pain without solving anything, and the kind that is important. The second kind should either be kept a definite secret, or definitely be told discreetly. I think Milton Fine's rescue falls into the last category of secrets. Clark once kept Jor-El's tormenting spaceship-message a secret because he was protecting his parents and the ones he loved. But who is he protecting by keeping Milton Fine a secret? The only person who's being protected is Milton Fine. Maybe this was supposed to show that Clark would feel guilty betraying the secret of the one person who saved him…but the way this moment paralleled Lana's "uh…yeah!" moment just made it irksome.
"If anything happens, we'll deal with it the way we always have, as a family." It's good to see them as a family again, dealing with things the way a family does. Incidentally, something had better happen – there's no use in showing us the pitfalls beforehand if someone isn't going to fall in or have a narrow escape due to someone's unexpected intervention.
Clark goes up to the loft. The golden light is back, and the old camera shots are back. The old comfortable piano music is playing. Before they even showed that the loft was occupied, I was thinking yearningly, "Season Two," and when Milton Fine turned around and said, "How you feeling, Kal-El?" – wow. Bliss. Intimate personal talks in the loft again. I've been waiting for a long time.
"I thought I was the last son of Krypton, but you people keep popping up." It was interesting that Clark phrased it that way – "son of Krypton," "you people." It sent two messages. The first was the message from "Hidden" when he asked, "How do you know to call me that?" He recognizes his Kryptonian identity. The second was the message he's given for a long time, that he's not part of that world any more. The two don't contradict, but work with each other to make him who he is.
See "Milton Fine" for the subtleties of their communication.
"Why do you keep your identity a secret, even from the woman you love?" The good music of old played in the background. Gosh, I've missed that kind of music. The kind that made it a mini-movie, not a TV show – it gave that epic feel.
"You know where to find me, when you're ready to accept the truth." As Milton walks away and Clark looks at the stars, the music plays with Superman melody, giving a few notes and the same minor chords, but not the full-blown sequence. They mix in harp chords – the same chords they always use when Milton goes to the spaceship, the same harp they use as Milton stands there ten seconds later. Mixing the dark with the destiny.

Details

Lana studies the meteor shower. A follow-up on the "astronomy major" from "Thirst" was good, though the whole astronomy idea came a little out of the blue – from wanting to take classes on it to majoring in it. And it was unclear why she closed the laptop when Clark came in, not wanting him to see it, then lying to him that it was equations, etc. Given her two angry confrontations with Lex (apparently angry confrontations with Lex are part of each week's formula), it seems safe to say that she wasn't studying the meteor shower for Lex but for herself. Later Lex's remarks about the "questions she's been asking since the death of her parents" seem to confirm the view that Lana is searching for answers in the meteor shower. But why would she so carefully conceal her search from Clark?
The delusion of the truck trying to run Clark off the road was an excellent way to plunge you into his new double-life of delusions and reality. While silver kryptonite, like green kryptonite, took effect immediately, the plot still had to come to a climax. Either Clark's mind had to be worked open to the possibility that his parents were betraying him, or the toxicity had to spread through his bloodstream, or both; but the truck event showed that effects were immediate and just as convincing the first time as the last. "I know who you are."
"Superman on an aeroplane, Superman sitting next to Lois Lane…" Nice music choice, though I'm not sure what it had to do with what was going on.
"I know Senator Jennings asked you to…" He asked? As I recall, he suggested in an "old friend" kind of way, he didn't make a personal request.
"…digging into our lives…what if somebody finds out about Clark's secret?" Excellent point. Jonathan's life will have to be open to the public; people are going to be swarming to find out his deepest, darkest secrets, looking into the facts about Clark's adoption, and everything else. If Jason Teague knew that there was no record of Clark's birth on the earth, others can find out too. After all their protectiveness of Clark's secret, Jonathan and Martha are going to step into the spotlight and risk exposing themselves and Clark?
Here are the e-mails on Chloe's screen:
Lionel Luthor – No Subject
Lionel Luthor – Re: Your question
Lionel Luthor – Re: Your question
Lana Lang – You coming out?
Lionel Luthor – Re: Your question
Daily Planet – staff meeting Thursday
Clark Kent – Hey Chloe!
Lionel Luthor – No Subject
Lionel Luthor – Hello Chloe…
Daily Planet – Editor's notes revised
Daily Planet – Editor's notes
Lana Lang – Thanks
Apparently Lionel writes exactly the way he talks, with an ominous "…" at the end.
Clark gives Chloe a piece of paper with a license plate number. But we find out later that he never spoke to Milton Fine (or so Milton claims). Where did he get the paper with the license plate number? Also, all his other delusions took place in a definite place with the people involved definitely there. If he never sat in that classroom, where was he while he imagined that he was in the classroom? If he never spoke to Milton Fine, was he on campus speaking to thin air (without anyone noticing, and with a piece of paper with numbers appearing out of nowhere for him), or was he somewhere else completely? While he might have gone and sat in an empty classroom, imagining the presence of other people, he couldn't have walked in that crowded campus babbling to no one and receiving a piece of paper, could he? Of course, since he imagined his sickness with the kryptonite in his backpack, he might have simply imagined his part of the conversation and not actually said anything, then picked up a piece of paper with someone's phone number in the belief that Milton was handing it to him. But all his other delusions were definitely nightmarish, and this delusion wasn't. It was actually more comforting than otherwise. This whole delusion didn't follow the nightmare pattern or the person-really-there pattern. Could it have been an attempt of Milton's to fan the crazed flame? Very reminiscent of "Shattered" if it was.
Clark's role early on was rather plaintive, and in an attempt to make him look younger they had his bangs down on his forehead, softening the angles of his face. It was particularly noticeable in the barn scene.
In the first Lana-Lex-spaceship scene, Lana had truly horrific eyeliner. If the bad makeup is supposed to contribute to her callous image, it's succeeding in a very obvious way…something like if they'd had Lex grow two horns out of his head.
Lionel was finally back, and apparently nothing's been happening to him since he appeared skippily in the end of "Hidden". I view this the same way I view Milton Fine, a.k.a. "Arrival" Guy – if after his return from a long absence he's given a part, great. If he's gone for a long time and just returns to make meaningless token appearances – like Lex last season – then it's not good.
There was excellent camerawork in this episode. The use of windowpanes was subtle and perfect – Clark watching through windowpanes indicated warped reality.
Two years ago, Lionel had Clark strapped down and experimented on in Summerholt. What father would accept so much as a balance sheet from him?
Incidentally, Lionel's mane of hair was the same length when he came to Jonathan in 1989, in the same barn, and told him that Clark's adoption was taken care of, and coerced him into talking to Pete Ross's father.
"…answers to questions…since your parents died. The meteors, the ship…" How does Lex know about these private questions? It's not as if he's displaying any of his subtle sensitivity to behavior and character right now. Also, what does this question imply in regard to the future? I know this is jumping way ahead, but are they setting Clark and Lana up for Clark's worst fear – Lana rejecting him when she discovers that his arrival was her parents' death?
At first when Jonathan tried to stop Clark from heading over to Martha, I thought, "Why doesn't he just get some kryptonite?" But then I realized that he had a more realistic assessment than I did. What would he do, say, "I'll be right back," run out to the barn, get the kryptonite, and run back before Clark had reached Martha? Even if he had slipped out as quietly as possible, Clark's got good hearing and sensitivity to slight movement: he probably would have raced outside and stopped him before he took more than a few steps, and then who knew what would happen? It was hopeless either way, so better for Martha and Jonathan to work together and try to talk to him than to bring it to a physical level, in which case they knew Clark would win.
Chloe holds the kryptonite up to Clark, and Clark is weakened…but manages to superspeed out. Yes, his speed was slowed down a little, because you could see the blur of him moving, faintly distinguish the colors he was wearing, and normally he just disappears; but it was still superspeed under kryptonite. At first I thought this meant that he was like the "Arrival" Kryptonians – with a higher level of resistance to kryptonite. Something that happened in the Fortress of Solitude as his father taught him, perhaps? Then I remembered that it was just two episodes ago in "Thirst" when kryptonite had him on the floor. Perhaps (as if) the silver kryptonite did give him some temporary power, but if that were truly supposed to be part of the plot, I think the characters would have at least mentioned the subject. As it was, they seemed to pretend that his unusual resistance to the kryptonite was nothing new. This resistance is an interesting enigma, as it considerably narrows down ways for villains to stop him if it's going to be a consistent thing…though given Smallville's history of kryptonite consistency they'll probably have him on the floor the next time he's exposed. We'll see.
"Clark, please, I don't want to do this. Just calm down." Clark dashes out, despite kryptonite. Jonathan helps Martha up, and the first thing Martha says is, "Chloe, how long have you known about Clark?" Chloe explains. "That's how I knew about the kryptonite hidden in the barn." That whole segment tested my credibility. First, why wouldn't they know that Chloe knew? Clark told his parents right away when Pete found out. Pete became one of the family, talking about it openly with them. I thought in "Hidden" when Chloe came to the house to tell them about the imminent danger, they were on those terms. I wished they'd had more of it. In "Mortal" Chloe and Clark worked a lot together. Aren't we supposed to assume that Clark tells his parents what he did at LuthorCorp while they were captives off-screen? Or do they have that very modern "he's a teenager, just don't ask, it annoys him" policy? I seriously doubt that. Second, assuming all this had gone on and they still didn't know, for whatever reason – just because Chloe knew Clark was vulnerable to kryptonite didn't mean that she "knew about Clark". Chloe covered for Clark when people witnessed his powers, the Kents could have covered for Clark when Chloe witnessed his powers. Finally, I think the question would be, "How did you know?" not "How long have you known?" The whole thing seemed abrupt, as if they'd stuck those few extra lines in – not the kind of climax we want when Clark's powers are known to someone. That's a big thing: the writers should have milked it for all it was worth, instead of this anticlimactic afterthought.
"Red kryptonite?" Chloe looks as if she's never heard of it…but she was the one who wrote the article about the school rings made of red meteor rock in "Red". For someone obsessed (at least, formerly obsessed) with the meteor rocks and their effects, you wouldn't think she'd forget about them.
Why would Clark wait until Lana arrived to start packing her things? He was in such a panic already – would he just stand there waiting for her to come in, or would she come in to find her bags already packed and the place in a shambles?
Clark wrenched the office door off and ran out, or so it seemed; but if he had really wrenched the door off, wouldn't there be some serious problems explaining himself later? Unless he wrenched the office door off and Milton Fine fixed it.
Clark was set up by someone to be exposed to the silver kryptonite. ("I got your text message…" "I don't remember text messaging you." Package at the door, with a note from Lex, who claims to know nothing about it.) There are two cases for who could have done it. Personally I go with the second.
1. Lex. In "Thirst" he finally noticed that Clark was sickened by the green kryptonite. His curiosity aroused, his new "let's test Clark" mode kicking in, he could easily have an expert reroute a text message so that it looked like it was coming from Lana, and he could easily have an anonymous deliverer make sure Clark was the one who brought the package in. With his international quest for the stones last season, if anyone found silver kryptonite he would manage to get it. In the end he told Lana that the silver kryptonite mysteriously disappeared. It was left unclear whether he retrieved it and Milton Fine stole it from him later, or whether he was telling the truth.
2. Milton Fine. He's a genius, he can figure out the text messaging, and he can move as quickly as Clark, he can plant the package seconds before Clark gets there. He could have brought the silver kryptonite with him in the spaceship or known where to find it or created it himself – after all, he reabsorbed or at least absorbed it in the end. He could have retrieved the silver kryptonite on his way out of the Luthor mansion. That's the How, here's the Why – He's seen enough, and it's time for him to win Clark's trust. He sets Clark up so that he can play the hero, thus revealing himself believably, winning Clark's confidence, and creating a situation where he could show up and have a heart-to-heart talk with Clark in the loft. The question is the purpose – what he's trying to win Clark for?
Milton Fine goes to the spaceship and reabsorbs/absorbs the powerful element of the silver kryptonite, leaving only a dead rock. Meaning…what? Does he have the power to instill paranoia, and the silver kryptonite was an introductory tool before he went to work – or was it just a way to explain that he was responsible and show him at a mysterious, dark angle?
Why did Milton have to return to the spaceship? The first time he returned to it was in "Thirst" when he killed the security guy. Was he going there to get the silver kryptonite in "Thirst"? Whatever happened with that slain security guy, anyway? Wouldn't Lex suspect something when the person he hired to follow Milton was found stabbed next to the spaceship?
"Why are you here?" "To stop what's coming…" Was this a reference to what's coming next week, or something greater? (My guess - something greater.)




Splinter Overall The road to Superman/Lex Luthor has been treated in two ways this season: as a journey, and as a lightswitch. When it came to Superman, this episode was all about the journey. Silver kryptonite. Paranoid delusions. There was a great danger in this premise, that the writers – whose sense of balance has been somewhat precarious lately – would lean too heavily on those open-ended questions of last season, like "Did such-and-such really happen?" and "Will so-and-so remember?" and, vaguest of all, "How much does so-and-so know?" But they didn't. Not in this episode, at least. Although disentangling truth from delusion played enough part to keep the viewer's mind gripped, they did not overload us with information that may or may not mean anything – give us any "She is the Chosen One!" lines open to so many interpretations that they mean nothing. The writers had so much focus – such a clear idea of what they wanted to portray – and such a perfect sense of balance – that they didn't even resort to the "Is this the real, uninhibited ______?" question. We weren't led along vague, winding trails that suggested that these delusions might come true in the future or that these delusions of Jonathan selling Clark to Lionel were Clark's repressed fears. It was straightforward. The silver kryptonite didn't remove inhibitions or draw out very distinct repressed emotions or any other emotional gimmicks – it made Clark believe he was in a living nightmare. Such a recipe for horror offered ample opportunities to have vivid, Season-Three-reminiscent fears. Although this episode was not as shocking as Season Three, because in Season Three the things actually happened, it still carried much more impact than "Scare" – far much more. In "Scare" the whole "repressed fears" concept reduced each character's psyche to a thirty-second montage – in "Splinter" we spent almost as much, possibly more time inside Clark's head than out of it. This was "Shattered" from the other point of view. The rocking cradle, the fleeting glimpse of the laughing child…there was a sickening impact in them. Clark's delusions weren't vague and dreamy paths to dead ends, but scathing reminders of everything he's gone through. In many ways he's lived through these nightmares, and the silver kryptonite made him relive them, the worst moments of his life. And that's how the worst nightmares are…grounded in truth, and so reaching into the depths of the person's psyche and wrenching the old emotions. Sometimes the worst pain comes not when a fresh wound is inflicted but when the scar is ripped open. Milton Fine revealed. Another dangerous move. The transition from slow-talking, dry, somewhat distant history professor to Kryptonian was a perilous one, with many possible pitfalls; but they managed to create a Kryptonian persona as intriguing as the professor persona, and in a way that recalled the emotional scope of Season Two. There were some small problems. The scenes between Lana and Lex, discussing the spaceship, Clark, etc., were flabby and lifeless, mostly because it was unclear how they got to this point - why they are the way they are - and consequently there was nobody to identify with. In the end, Lionel became our personal narrator, generously spelling out for us Lex's subtle emotions, which were so subtle that we couldn't see them at all, and our reaction was, "Yeah right." But for the most part, this episode was a success. This episode, the writers wanted to create a living nightmare. They succeeded. They wanted to lift the veil between Milton Fine and Clark, as powerfully and compellingly as possible. They succeeded. In the end, the question for every episode is, "What did this episode accomplish for a) the arc, and b) the characters?" The past three weeks, we've been tried hard to come up with answers other than "Absolutely nothing." This episode breaks the streak. This week's answer is – "Everything." Once again, Steven S. DeKnight has worked with a dangerous premise and managed it brilliantly. As my brother said, "The guy's on a role." Dr. Milton Fine The writers were wise in their arc-plotting. They didn't let Milton stay in the same relationship and behave the same way for too long a time, the way they did Jason – they brought in changes in action and relationships, and I can't thank them enough. As I said above, there was a danger in the transformation from Professor to Kryptonian. Naturally the Professor and the Kryptonian could not be exactly the same. But neither of them represented the true, unmasked Milton, or so we are led to believe; and exchanging one mask for another equally vague would have been a let-down – activity, not action. The Professor to the Kryptonian had to be a change from something vague to something more specific - the mist clearing away and revealing a little more. The route the writers chose was to present two pictures of Milton: Milton the Kinsman, and in the end, Milton the Danger. From Milton the Mentor to Milton the Kinsman. Everything about Milton made him seem the perfect friend. If he was trying to win Clark's trust, he did everything right. In many ways it was Lex revisited, the immediate bond between the two of them, and the freedom to talk to each other that they felt, or Clark felt. It began when Clark approached him, feverish, and explained with much wringing of hands what was happening. Even though Milton didn't know what was going on (from Clark's POV, at least), and even though Clark was acting psychotic, he supported Clark, understood the urgency, and told him he'd be there for him. ("Shattered," anyone?) It continued in their next encounter, when Milton came to stop Clark in Lex's mansion. "Clark! You don't want to do that. Trust me." He acts as a voice of reason to Clark's reasonless mind. Clark dashes at him, and instead of letting it become a fight by parrying or fighting back, he merely avoids the blow and waits for Clark to do what he's going to do. Clark asks if he's one of Lex's experiments, and he replies, "No. I'm your friend. If you hurt Lana, it will destroy you." Not acting as Clark's mentor or even Clark's protector, but appealing to Clark to protect himself. Clark punches Milton through the wall, and Milton stands up and uses fire vision to knock Clark over. He could have dashed over and knocked him over with a blow, but his choice is less confrontational, and engages Clark with the discovery that they share another power. He dashes over to Clark, who is on his back, still breathless and vulnerable from the fire vision hit, and stands over him, calling to mind images of a doctor standing over his patient on a table. The person with the power to help, if the patient can grit his teeth and take the pain. "What the h--- are you?" "I'm a Kryptonian. Just like you. And I'm sorry. But this is really going to hurt." He apologizes beforehand for the pain he is going to inflict, treating Clark as if he is rational, and speaking in that deep, slightly melancholy voice – a sagacious intonation reminiscent of Jor-El. Milton slams the device onto Clark's shoulder and the device sucks the silver out of Clark. He pulls the device up and backs away so that Clark can get up, looking at the sliver, letting it hold his attention instead of hovering protectively over Clark. The body language is perfect. "You'll be all right now, Kal-El." It is the first time he has used Clark's real name. He says it with a certain fondness and sadness, sounding, again, a little like Jor-El but more authentic and frank than Jor-El has been. Lex is heard and he bids Clark good-bye and dashes away. The next scene comes when he waits for Clark in the loft, knowing that Clark will be coming. "Professor Fine?" "How you feeling, Kal-El?" He has all the affection and respect of Jonathan, with the unearthly knowledge of Jor-El – the best of both fathers combining for a friend, apparently. "So I didn't imagine that part." "No, you didn't." "I thought I was the last son of Krypton, but you people keep popping up." Clark is a bit resentful, holding himself aloof. Milton smiles and answers lightly. "Well, a superior civilization is difficult to eradicate." He is calm, friendly, smiling as he strolls a few steps toward Clark, stopping when he's come halfway so that it's up to Clark to come to him. Clark comes, meeting him in the middle. "Why are you here?" "To stop what's coming, and to help you walk the path of a true Kryptonian." "So I can be superior? No thanks." Clark is taking his own stance. Milton turns and walks to the window, leaving it up to Clark to follow. Clark automatically follows him. "Why do you continue to trust humans more than your own people?" "Just going off what I've seen." "Maybe you need to look closer." He doesn't try to persuade Clark of anything, but suggests that Clark look for himself and see what Milton sees. "Why didn't you tell me who you really were, instead of posing as my professor this whole time?" "Why do you keep your identity a secret, even from the woman you love?" Putting it in terms of Lana makes it seem like they understand each other better than Clark thought. "You've been on this planet for many years, Kal-El. I had to observe you before revealing myself to determine just how much you've been influenced by these…humans." "You say 'human' like it's a bad thing." He makes a helpless sound, a barely perceptible shrug: "Just going off what I've seen." The body language suggests that he's tried, he's wanted to see good in them, but he's been disproven again and again. "This race, it shows promise. But at this point in history, they're still duplicitous by their very nature. Even the ones you think you love can't be trusted." His use of "this race," etc., subtlely makes it "Us" discussing "Them", and to conclude his wording quietly questions Clark's true loyalties. Clark is not disarmed, moved by the support of his family to defend them. "You don't know anything about this race. Yeah, they can be petty, and dishonest and betray each other over nothing. But they can also be honest, and loyal, and they would give up everything to protect someone they love…even if they're from another planet." "Kal-El…" Milton reproaches him for wishful thinking, saying behind the word, "Surely you know better." His use of Clark's real name makes it natural – he doesn't speak it with the formality of Jor-El or with the unaccustomed, tasting-it-in-his-mouth Jonathan manner. He speaks it as he would any other name, like he's known Clark for years by it, with familiarity. Clark senses it and pushes back. "My name is Clark. And I'll always believe in my friends and my family." Milton speaks sadly, as if there's a faint glimmer of possibility but he's afraid he knows too much about it to be able to reasonably believe it. "I sincerely hope your trust hasn't been misplaced." He walks away from Clark and the window, pausing to add, "You know where to find me, when you're ready to accept the truth." Again, leaving it so that Clark must come to him. He leaves on that note. None of the above would seem too planned, too deliberate, if not for what followed. From Milton the Kinsman to Milton the Danger. Milton absorbs the silver kryptonite, suggesting that it was he who produced it in the first place. The CGI effect as he soaks it in prompts the remembrance of his "birth" in "Arrival" when he grew as a "dark tower", which Jor-El warned Clark about. Milton arrived with the others. That can't be a good thing. Leaving you on that note, you look back on the events and see the evidence of a plot on his part. Without this scene, the episode would have been incomplete. They gave us both pictures of him, the subtle friend and the hidden danger, and we pieced the puzzle together ourselves. Now that's writing. Good/Bad Moments "Has my deodorant gone south? Why is he in such a hurry to bail?" I thought that joke was a bit contrived, coming from Chloe. Granted, they've used up quite a few lines about Clark leaving quickly without explanation, but this was stretching it, especially since he made his hasty exit before he even saw Chloe. Chloe needs to have real humor, genuine wit, not just lighthearted jests. "I have no idea. I guess Clark's just not into geology." That was a weird line and a weird delivery. Was it supposed to be serious or was it supposed to be funny? It came out…neither. "Why is he leaving?" "I guess he's not into geology." That isn't funny. It isn't as if anyone would take it seriously, either. So what exactly was the point of that line, and why did Lana say it so sluggishly? "Brutus and Caesar. Jesus and Judas. They all started out best friends…even the most powerful men can be betrayed…" Since we later learn that Clark wasn't in that class, this topic, meaningful as it was, was his delusion. Which is good, because too much classroom testing from Milton Fine would seem like overkill - but the powerful parallels were too good to leave out. "I know how to kill you" appears on the screen. Good music. This episode had a lot of good music, not relying too much on current radio music but going back to Season Three's fantastic strings, tweaked Superman music, and musical messages like this, that conveyed more than words. "You look really stressed out." "I never thought he'd take it this far." "Do you know anyone who could find out who it's registered to?" "Whatever happens, we're in this together. Remember that, okay?" Everything Milton said in this scene was just a little off – spoken a little too naively – phrased a little too uncharacteristically. When it took place, his part suggested to you that it could be a delusion, but it wasn't obvious or conclusive. Well done. "…including moral pygmies like Lionel Luthor." Now that was a Chloe line. "I'm paying you for results, Gr., not excuses. Get it done." Way to belt it out. Lex the big bad machine is back. Maybe I'm hopeless, but this new lightswitch Lex makes me writhe to rewrite him. The character they built up for three years was completely wasted. He was dropped into the trash and replaced with this stereotype. "For you? Never." I thought we'd left behind simplistic, unbelievable stereotypes when Genevieve Teague died. "Just like you don't know anything about the spaceship that came down in the last meteor shower." "That's different." "Why?" "Because there are some doors that can't be closed once they're opened." "Thanks. Did you get that from a fortune cookie?" Lana went very quickly from the grateful girl to the narrow-eyed drama queen. And it wasn't in the line – the line was good. It was a good exchange. The problem was in the snippy way she was told to play it. "…Everything I've done has been to protect you." Wasn't it under a year ago when Lex remarked calmly to Jason that Lana seemed to find a lot of self-appointed protectors? The implication was that it was all unnecessary – there was a bit of amusement for the lovesick fellows who were determined to protect her, inflating molehills into mountains so they could protect her even more. In Season Two he taught her how to protect herself. Now he's blindly making the same mistake he laughed at last year. Becoming a stereotypical villain lover. "It's real." Lana almost panting, wide-eyed, staring intensely… Writers, this is exactly why Lana was a flop last season. Drama queen attitude, unclear and unstable motivation, and out-of-the-blue wide-eyed weird moments like this. "Yes, it is. And I want you to help me get inside and find out exactly what we're dealing with." Interesting that that's the first thing he says after showing her. He made up his mind on the surface so quickly that it seemed that he must have been considering it for a while. Also, Alexander is all about using Lana. How does Lex feel? "…how he'll be treated when we run the tests. He can either be our honored guest or he can be strapped down like a lab rat." Clark plaintive, child-like as he watches – or thinks he watches – Lionel discuss him as a medical curiosity and his father betray him. It was a heartrending moment. "So smooth…" Wide-eyed, dreamy, as if in a trance, running her fingers across it like…I don't know what like, but weirdly. "Almost like liquid…" Hello? This bizarre moment jerked me out of the experience to raise my eyebrows and groan at the television. "You keep saying that, Lex. What do you think you're protecting me from?" Another "so there!" drama queen delivery. In the first season if Lana had seen somebody acting like this, she'd be cracking up. "Is that the real reason, or is it because you and your scientists are stumped? Because I'm the only person on earth who's seen this thing open up." And another "so there!" drama queen delivery. Let me guess - later in the season, Lana's going to run to some male, any male, and explain dramatically how Clark victimized her. When Clark tells her he's confused by her behavior, she'll say (wide-eyed and very seriously), "It's not about (blank). It's about (blank)." Clark will then say, "Lana, I feel like I don't know you any more." And Lana will then tell him that it's his fault, she feels the same way about him, because of all his secrets. "If two people can't trust each other..." And we'll be right back in Season Four. "Where is it?" "It's by the barn. Who-ho-ho, hey!" I liked it that Jonathan didn't anticipate any aggression from Clark's violence, at first interpreted it as roughhousing. When you live with someone, see them every day, it's natural that your expectations are set differently. Jonathan and Martha and Clark were a family in this episode, and that's something I've missed for a long time. "Clark. Stop it." Hits Martha. Again, expectations set to a certain level. Even I was surprised when he hit Martha. "No more lies. Tell me the truth. Tell me!" The first two sentences, he seemed relieved, as in "Exile" – feeling as if he's seeing things clearly at last. By the last sentence the anger and insistence had crept into him, and it burst out of him compellingly. Wonderful Clark performance this episode, from start to finish. "Sweetheart, this is – I don't think it's – it's different, somehow." I liked the idea that Martha's first thought would be red kryptonite – it's natural that it would come up. I also liked it that Jonathan, who had the most direct interaction with Clark, would sense the difference. A family again. Lana enters her room, and Clark clings to her. His vulnerability reinforced. Very compelling. "She's coming, she's coming. Chloe's coming." Even in the agitated Clark, I liked the mystery of knowledge he shouldn't have. "He's been here, hasn't he?" Chloe looks around, then looks back at Lana, and the camera swivels to show Lana slowly, carefully turning back, not making eye contact. Beautiful cinematography in this episode. "He told me not to trust you." I loved it that Lana believed Clark and trusted him, and was wary, yet knew she didn't have enough information to make that decision just yet. It was the perfect balance – holding out until she was sure. "Clark, I haven't seen you in over a week." "No, no, we talked this morning…" Brilliant acting. Hearkened back to "Shattered", the agitated talk, the jerky gestures, the purple circles under his eyes… "Clark, whatever's happening, we're in this together." I was unsure what the symbolism of the repeated line was. The first time it was spoken was in Clark's delusion – Milton Fine wasn't even present. Now we know that Clark really is in a conversation with Milton Fine, but it was unclear whether this was a symbolic moment saying, "Clark's entering a delusion again," or "Milton Fine is backing Clark for real this time." Spaceship behind pane, singing, whispering, laughter – that nerve-racking, creepy feeling from Season Three was back, and I'm glad. It would have been too much to make the whole season like that, or even an episode of reality like that – but this mixture of reality and delusion was the perfect setting for the creeps, and we needed some good creepiness after the bad attempts last season. "I'm the one that's going to kill you, Clark." Again, symbolism unclear. Was this supposed to be a foreshadowing of the future? (I know at one point in the comics, Superman died and rose again. But Clark's already done that.) "I should have known you'd do something like this. You can't stand to see us together, can you?" What a witch. No pun intended. "I think this is the part where I usually say, 'Lana, what are you talking about?'" Lex has been forced to respond so many times to false accusations from people storming into his study that the writers are running out of answers. "You're my partner now. It's the least I can do." Good line, if a bit obvious. Lex always finds a way to make Lana his "partner", and lines like this, claiming something about the person before the ink's dry, before any kind of relationship has had a chance to settle (like Alicia in "Obsession"), reinforce that…very strongly and very quickly. So strongly and so quickly that I feel a little like the rug's been yanked out from under me. "They won't hurt him, will they?" "If that happens, somebody's getting transferred to Siberia." Okay, that was more like Lex. At least, if you count it as his own, not something said to posture for Lana. Lights flicker. "Stay here." Hands her the silver kryptonite. "I'll see what's going on." I thought it was interesting that Lex, who didn't want to let the stones out of his sight, gave her the silver kryptonite to hold while he went out to Clark. Perhaps, of course, he knew what was good for him – didn't want to increase Clark's delusions with his appearance. Walking through darkened hallways, man lying there unconscious/dead, ripped-up wall…very Season Three-ish. "A lot of people are looking for you, Clark." "I know they are." "I want you to listen to me very carefully…we should get you to the lab." "We should get to the lab. We should get to the lab so you can experiment on me." The interaction here was great. Lex is perfect, paying no attention to the gun in his hand but ready to use it if necessary, focusing instead on Clark, speaking normally as if there's no danger, not getting too close but giving him room. Clark's worked out his concept of reality now, and because it's settled in his mind he's not the agitated, frantic Clark that spoke to Milton, but is logic-deprived and confident and crazy. Just like Lex in "Shattered" and "Asylum": panicking when uncertain, but grinning and unstoppable when sure. Very good. "And all those things you do to me, all the tests, all the lies, is…" Good line, portraying Clark's "walls-caving-in" state. "I don't want to hurt you." Clark smiles, then grabs Lex. Lana hears Lex's yell. "I don't want to hurt you." He flings Lex down the hallway. This was genuine S3 drama – the "I can't believe it's happening" type of drama. Maybe a little anticlimactic because of the law of diminishing returns and because you know when the silver kryptonite gets out of his system it can all be cleared up, but still far better than their previous attempts at shocking drama. Lana leaves and Clark enters at almost the same time. That gave a good sense of the chase to it. Clark roaring. "Lana!" Since he then found her and told her he had rescued her, it was unclear why he was yelling her name like that, though it certainly increased the intensity level. Maybe it wasn't rage, as it first appeared: children who want something sometimes plant themselves in the middle of the room and yell, "MOM?" It's been a long time since Clark used x-ray vision on human beings, and the CGI has become much better. The transition from Lana's skeleton to Lana's face was stunningly good. It was heartrending when Clark stood there, smiling broadly. The silver kryptonite had reduced him to a child-like level of logic, and moments like this did what they did not do for red kryptonite – made Clark a sympathetic victim. "What did you do, did you hurt him?" Smile fades. "Why do you care about him so much?" That was good, very believable reactions on both sides. "Clark!" Camera swivels and reveals Milton standing there. "You don't want to do that. Trust me." That moment got me excited. It was one of those, "Is it – is it – is it…?" moments where you didn't dare to hope… Clark dashes at Milton, Milton dashes back. The "Yes!" moment. "You one of Lex's experiments?" Again – a realistic level of expectation. Thank goodness they didn't have him just stand there and gape. "No. I'm your friend. If you hurt Lana, it will destroy you." This sentence had numerous potential meanings. Clark had already hurt Lana, so either it was just a more dramatic way of saying "Don't do this - you know it'll just make things worse," or it was one of the writers' little vague foreshadowings. Personally I hope it's the first. Whatever the significance, it was a good moment. Milton was not Clark's mentor or Clark's protector – he was appealing to Clark. It was the same change that Clark went through with Lex, from lecturing Lex to appealing to him. The change puts them on the same level, forms a bond. Clark punches Milton through the wall. Milton stands up, the air around him rippling as he turns. His eyes glow and he flings Clark back with his heat vision, which is now more fire vision, and dashes over to him. I was glad that they didn't have any unfamiliar, all-too-convenient powers like they did in "Arrival" – they just showed him use the powers that Clark used. It was more believable, and the shared powers contributed to the "we are kinsmen" bond between them. Extra powers would have made Milton look too imposing, when that was the last thing he wanted. "What the h--- are you?" "I'm a Kryptonian. Just like you. And I'm sorry. But this is really going to hurt." Milton slams device onto Clark's shoulder and the device sucks the sliver out. Milton pulls the device up and backs away. "You'll be all right now, Kal-El." This moment was the epitome of the episode. And, for once, the one reason why the episode was made was supported by the rest of the episode. Lex's voice: "Lana?" Clark: "Lana." They needed that. In "Shattered" and "Asylum" the greatest problem was that with so much anguish and so much drama going on, Clark's misplaced priorities placed him by Lana's bedside and at Lana's parties at inappropriate moments. This episode avoided that problem by having Lex's voice shouting for Lana, fearing for her life, acting as a channel back to that thought. It became more natural for Clark to run to find her. Clark standing with Lana in his arms. Beautiful shot. It would have been a beautiful moment, if only he and Lana had a real relationship now and if only Lana was really Lana now. As it was, it was just a nice camera shot. "Clark. What have you done." Because Lex's voice was so belligerent, my thought was, "Oh, go away." It would have been moving if he had been hurt, in anguish; but he's so insensitive right now that any fixed-up emotions he manages are easy to shrug off. "Hi." "Um, you know, the caffeine in my system is getting to a dangerously normal level. I'm going to go get a cup." Looks at Clark meaningfully. The difference between Pete knowing and Chloe knowing. This was a pure Chloe moment. Thank goodness she's back after her bland "Exposed" role. "It's okay. Chloe told me everything." "She did?" "Yeah. How the meteor infected you, how it made you think everyone was out to get you, and that it gave you some sort of temporary powers?" That was perfect. I could feel myself exhale and grin with relief. Of course Chloe would pull through. But they built up the nervous question of whether she did well. "Of course I know that." "Clark, whatever you think you saw…There could never be anything between me and Lex." Lana was very understanding. I was pleasantly surprised that the writers were so reasonable about it. Incidentally, she looked a lot better and more normal without the overdone makeup, just brushed with makeup and looking natural, with the warm light of the lamp on her face. "Chloe turning against me, my dad making a deal with Lionel, you and Lex talking about a spaceship." Lana smiles, uneasy. "Yeah…I'm just glad you're all right, Clark." With her makeup so much better, like the old Lana instead of Isobel, this moment didn't annoy me as much as it would have with her witch makeup. Yes, it was a bit contrived, but maybe having her normal-looking made me let down my guard. Clark steps outside and Chloe is waiting outside the door. Another nice moment – showing that caffeine was not her reason for leaving, and connecting Clark and Chloe again. I always hated it when after estranging people while under some influence, the restored culprit/victim failed to follow up with each person and set things straight again. This episode, Clark took advantage of Jonathan, Martha, Chloe, Lana…and Lex. There was only one of those who didn't get the follow-up talk. "For once in my life, I was actually glad I wasn't the object of your desire." Cute, but vocalizing sensitive things like that makes it hard to believe. It's like if Clark had voiced his paranoia by saying, "I feel as if the walls are caving in, as if everyone is turning against me, and as if I simply must escape from it all." When something's that deep, people don't talk about it – especially to the object of their emotions. "Speaking of the evil dynasty, I need to come clean about something." Two years ago Lex was her protector. Now he's part of the big bad "evil dynasty". They are trying to move this way too quickly. "I'd die before I'd ever betray you." Oh, gosh, that scared me. What if they're going to… The scene between Lex and Lionel was the worst scene of the episode. It made the same mistake that Chloe made in (bc), except worse. First, Lionel comes in to a glaring Lex. You think that Lex has found out about Lionel's dealings with Jonathan and Chloe, but he doesn't fling his accusations, just acts villain-ish. "I wasn't planning on it, not that it's any of your business." They basically establish that Lex now has the emotions of a stone. From there they suddenly launch into the most uncompelling Lionel speech ever made, Season Four dialogue included. Not only is it uncharacteristic, but it contradicts what was just established in (bf-1). "Last time I checked, Lana Lang had a boyfriend." Lionel, despite all his keen insight, has always been blundering and blind when it came to Lex's deeper emotions. In "Crush" he inadvertently betrayed a great deal about this blind spot to his son's inner workings. So why does he now have this intricate understanding of Lex – even as overdone as the clues to Lex's affections are? The mistake continues. "This isn't about the greater good, or even about power: it's about you changing the way people perceive you, isn't it?" We’ve never seen this complexity in Lex. In fact, we haven't seen any recognizable emotion in Lex whatsoever. If Lex were the vulnerable, complicated, angry kid he used to be, this would have been such a compelling storyline – "the evolution of Lex", as of S3 old – that a) Lionel wouldn't need to be spelling it out for us so simplistically, and b) this situation might have been remotely believable. However – as they just finished establishing – Lex isn't that person. He's Alexander. I can't blame this on the writing, either: someone told Michael Rosenbaum to be the machine. He could have played this with brooding, thoughtful silence, the silence you can hear, and his eyes could have held mysteries as he looked into the fire. Someone told him to play Lex with a wall around him. As long as he's being played this way, I guess we'll need these hard-to-swallow Lionel moments to supply the missing ounce of personality. But honestly, I think "Smallville" doesn't need to use Lionel as their narrator. Give Michael Rosenbaum the rein to play Lex the way he's supposed to be played – as someone pantingly, compulsively desperate for love and for his own identity. "Those Kents, they pack quite a punch, don't they, son?" I don't know what made me like this line, but every time I try to figure it out I just end up laughing and thinking that I like it. I'm stumped. "…because the people who are close to you will always know what's in your heart. That's why Lana Lang will never love you, son." I think they couldn't figure out how to end the scene, so they put this in. "Thing is, I don't know what was real and what wasn't." This was an interesting angle. It put you in a position where you knew more than Clark did, because you, unlike Clark, were able to separate fact from fiction. There were often times in Season Four where you knew more than Clark – most of the season, actually – but that was unfulfilling because what you knew didn't make any sense, was disconnected and vague and didn't lead to anything. This knowing-more-than-Clark worked much better, because a) what we know is pretty solid and relevant, and b) the reason Clark doesn't know is because he's a victim, not because he's just passive and disconnected. It's the difference between Lex's memory being erased and Lex failing to call his father on his misdeeds in the first place. "I'm just glad the infection burned itself out when it did." "Yeah, me too." At that point, Clark was unsure whether or not he had imagined Milton Fine. But he told his parents what he had imagined about Lana and Chloe…why is he leaving this out? I could understand "Hidden," in which Clark's searing secret would have been wretchedly hard to share; but this I could not understand. There are two kinds of secrets, the kind that could hurt and/or increase already-existing pain without solving anything, and the kind that is important. The second kind should either be kept a definite secret, or definitely be told discreetly. I think Milton Fine's rescue falls into the last category of secrets. Clark once kept Jor-El's tormenting spaceship-message a secret because he was protecting his parents and the ones he loved. But who is he protecting by keeping Milton Fine a secret? The only person who's being protected is Milton Fine. Maybe this was supposed to show that Clark would feel guilty betraying the secret of the one person who saved him…but the way this moment paralleled Lana's "uh…yeah!" moment just made it irksome. "If anything happens, we'll deal with it the way we always have, as a family." It's good to see them as a family again, dealing with things the way a family does. Incidentally, something had better happen – there's no use in showing us the pitfalls beforehand if someone isn't going to fall in or have a narrow escape due to someone's unexpected intervention. Clark goes up to the loft. The golden light is back, and the old camera shots are back. The old comfortable piano music is playing. Before they even showed that the loft was occupied, I was thinking yearningly, "Season Two," and when Milton Fine turned around and said, "How you feeling, Kal-El?" – wow. Bliss. Intimate personal talks in the loft again. I've been waiting for a long time. "I thought I was the last son of Krypton, but you people keep popping up." It was interesting that Clark phrased it that way – "son of Krypton," "you people." It sent two messages. The first was the message from "Hidden" when he asked, "How do you know to call me that?" He recognizes his Kryptonian identity. The second was the message he's given for a long time, that he's not part of that world any more. The two don't contradict, but work with each other to make him who he is. See "Milton Fine" for the subtleties of their communication. "Why do you keep your identity a secret, even from the woman you love?" The good music of old played in the background. Gosh, I've missed that kind of music. The kind that made it a mini-movie, not a TV show – it gave that epic feel. "You know where to find me, when you're ready to accept the truth." As Milton walks away and Clark looks at the stars, the music plays with Superman melody, giving a few notes and the same minor chords, but not the full-blown sequence. They mix in harp chords – the same chords they always use when Milton goes to the spaceship, the same harp they use as Milton stands there ten seconds later. Mixing the dark with the destiny. Details Lana studies the meteor shower. A follow-up on the "astronomy major" from "Thirst" was good, though the whole astronomy idea came a little out of the blue – from wanting to take classes on it to majoring in it. And it was unclear why she closed the laptop when Clark came in, not wanting him to see it, then lying to him that it was equations, etc. Given her two angry confrontations with Lex (apparently angry confrontations with Lex are part of each week's formula), it seems safe to say that she wasn't studying the meteor shower for Lex but for herself. Later Lex's remarks about the "questions she's been asking since the death of her parents" seem to confirm the view that Lana is searching for answers in the meteor shower. But why would she so carefully conceal her search from Clark? The delusion of the truck trying to run Clark off the road was an excellent way to plunge you into his new double-life of delusions and reality. While silver kryptonite, like green kryptonite, took effect immediately, the plot still had to come to a climax. Either Clark's mind had to be worked open to the possibility that his parents were betraying him, or the toxicity had to spread through his bloodstream, or both; but the truck event showed that effects were immediate and just as convincing the first time as the last. "I know who you are." "Superman on an aeroplane, Superman sitting next to Lois Lane…" Nice music choice, though I'm not sure what it had to do with what was going on. "I know Senator Jennings asked you to…" He asked? As I recall, he suggested in an "old friend" kind of way, he didn't make a personal request. "…digging into our lives…what if somebody finds out about Clark's secret?" Excellent point. Jonathan's life will have to be open to the public; people are going to be swarming to find out his deepest, darkest secrets, looking into the facts about Clark's adoption, and everything else. If Jason Teague knew that there was no record of Clark's birth on the earth, others can find out too. After all their protectiveness of Clark's secret, Jonathan and Martha are going to step into the spotlight and risk exposing themselves and Clark? Here are the e-mails on Chloe's screen: Lionel Luthor – No Subject Lionel Luthor – Re: Your question Lionel Luthor – Re: Your question Lana Lang – You coming out? Lionel Luthor – Re: Your question Daily Planet – staff meeting Thursday Clark Kent – Hey Chloe! Lionel Luthor – No Subject Lionel Luthor – Hello Chloe… Daily Planet – Editor's notes revised Daily Planet – Editor's notes Lana Lang – Thanks Apparently Lionel writes exactly the way he talks, with an ominous "…" at the end. Clark gives Chloe a piece of paper with a license plate number. But we find out later that he never spoke to Milton Fine (or so Milton claims). Where did he get the paper with the license plate number? Also, all his other delusions took place in a definite place with the people involved definitely there. If he never sat in that classroom, where was he while he imagined that he was in the classroom? If he never spoke to Milton Fine, was he on campus speaking to thin air (without anyone noticing, and with a piece of paper with numbers appearing out of nowhere for him), or was he somewhere else completely? While he might have gone and sat in an empty classroom, imagining the presence of other people, he couldn't have walked in that crowded campus babbling to no one and receiving a piece of paper, could he? Of course, since he imagined his sickness with the kryptonite in his backpack, he might have simply imagined his part of the conversation and not actually said anything, then picked up a piece of paper with someone's phone number in the belief that Milton was handing it to him. But all his other delusions were definitely nightmarish, and this delusion wasn't. It was actually more comforting than otherwise. This whole delusion didn't follow the nightmare pattern or the person-really-there pattern. Could it have been an attempt of Milton's to fan the crazed flame? Very reminiscent of "Shattered" if it was. Clark's role early on was rather plaintive, and in an attempt to make him look younger they had his bangs down on his forehead, softening the angles of his face. It was particularly noticeable in the barn scene. In the first Lana-Lex-spaceship scene, Lana had truly horrific eyeliner. If the bad makeup is supposed to contribute to her callous image, it's succeeding in a very obvious way…something like if they'd had Lex grow two horns out of his head. Lionel was finally back, and apparently nothing's been happening to him since he appeared skippily in the end of "Hidden". I view this the same way I view Milton Fine, a.k.a. "Arrival" Guy – if after his return from a long absence he's given a part, great. If he's gone for a long time and just returns to make meaningless token appearances – like Lex last season – then it's not good. There was excellent camerawork in this episode. The use of windowpanes was subtle and perfect – Clark watching through windowpanes indicated warped reality. Two years ago, Lionel had Clark strapped down and experimented on in Summerholt. What father would accept so much as a balance sheet from him? Incidentally, Lionel's mane of hair was the same length when he came to Jonathan in 1989, in the same barn, and told him that Clark's adoption was taken care of, and coerced him into talking to Pete Ross's father. "…answers to questions…since your parents died. The meteors, the ship…" How does Lex know about these private questions? It's not as if he's displaying any of his subtle sensitivity to behavior and character right now. Also, what does this question imply in regard to the future? I know this is jumping way ahead, but are they setting Clark and Lana up for Clark's worst fear – Lana rejecting him when she discovers that his arrival was her parents' death? At first when Jonathan tried to stop Clark from heading over to Martha, I thought, "Why doesn't he just get some kryptonite?" But then I realized that he had a more realistic assessment than I did. What would he do, say, "I'll be right back," run out to the barn, get the kryptonite, and run back before Clark had reached Martha? Even if he had slipped out as quietly as possible, Clark's got good hearing and sensitivity to slight movement: he probably would have raced outside and stopped him before he took more than a few steps, and then who knew what would happen? It was hopeless either way, so better for Martha and Jonathan to work together and try to talk to him than to bring it to a physical level, in which case they knew Clark would win. Chloe holds the kryptonite up to Clark, and Clark is weakened…but manages to superspeed out. Yes, his speed was slowed down a little, because you could see the blur of him moving, faintly distinguish the colors he was wearing, and normally he just disappears; but it was still superspeed under kryptonite. At first I thought this meant that he was like the "Arrival" Kryptonians – with a higher level of resistance to kryptonite. Something that happened in the Fortress of Solitude as his father taught him, perhaps? Then I remembered that it was just two episodes ago in "Thirst" when kryptonite had him on the floor. Perhaps (as if) the silver kryptonite did give him some temporary power, but if that were truly supposed to be part of the plot, I think the characters would have at least mentioned the subject. As it was, they seemed to pretend that his unusual resistance to the kryptonite was nothing new. This resistance is an interesting enigma, as it considerably narrows down ways for villains to stop him if it's going to be a consistent thing…though given Smallville's history of kryptonite consistency they'll probably have him on the floor the next time he's exposed. We'll see. "Clark, please, I don't want to do this. Just calm down." Clark dashes out, despite kryptonite. Jonathan helps Martha up, and the first thing Martha says is, "Chloe, how long have you known about Clark?" Chloe explains. "That's how I knew about the kryptonite hidden in the barn." That whole segment tested my credibility. First, why wouldn't they know that Chloe knew? Clark told his parents right away when Pete found out. Pete became one of the family, talking about it openly with them. I thought in "Hidden" when Chloe came to the house to tell them about the imminent danger, they were on those terms. I wished they'd had more of it. In "Mortal" Chloe and Clark worked a lot together. Aren't we supposed to assume that Clark tells his parents what he did at LuthorCorp while they were captives off-screen? Or do they have that very modern "he's a teenager, just don't ask, it annoys him" policy? I seriously doubt that. Second, assuming all this had gone on and they still didn't know, for whatever reason – just because Chloe knew Clark was vulnerable to kryptonite didn't mean that she "knew about Clark". Chloe covered for Clark when people witnessed his powers, the Kents could have covered for Clark when Chloe witnessed his powers. Finally, I think the question would be, "How did you know?" not "How long have you known?" The whole thing seemed abrupt, as if they'd stuck those few extra lines in – not the kind of climax we want when Clark's powers are known to someone. That's a big thing: the writers should have milked it for all it was worth, instead of this anticlimactic afterthought. "Red kryptonite?" Chloe looks as if she's never heard of it…but she was the one who wrote the article about the school rings made of red meteor rock in "Red". For someone obsessed (at least, formerly obsessed) with the meteor rocks and their effects, you wouldn't think she'd forget about them. Why would Clark wait until Lana arrived to start packing her things? He was in such a panic already – would he just stand there waiting for her to come in, or would she come in to find her bags already packed and the place in a shambles? Clark wrenched the office door off and ran out, or so it seemed; but if he had really wrenched the door off, wouldn't there be some serious problems explaining himself later? Unless he wrenched the office door off and Milton Fine fixed it. Clark was set up by someone to be exposed to the silver kryptonite. ("I got your text message…" "I don't remember text messaging you." Package at the door, with a note from Lex, who claims to know nothing about it.) There are two cases for who could have done it. Personally I go with the second. Lex. In "Thirst" he finally noticed that Clark was sickened by the green kryptonite. His curiosity aroused, his new "let's test Clark" mode kicking in, he could easily have an expert reroute a text message so that it looked like it was coming from Lana, and he could easily have an anonymous deliverer make sure Clark was the one who brought the package in. With his international quest for the stones last season, if anyone found silver kryptonite he would manage to get it. In the end he told Lana that the silver kryptonite mysteriously disappeared. It was left unclear whether he retrieved it and Milton Fine stole it from him later, or whether he was telling the truth. Milton Fine. He's a genius, he can figure out the text messaging, and he can move as quickly as Clark, he can plant the package seconds before Clark gets there. He could have brought the silver kryptonite with him in the spaceship or known where to find it or created it himself – after all, he reabsorbed or at least absorbed it in the end. He could have retrieved the silver kryptonite on his way out of the Luthor mansion. That's the How, here's the Why – He's seen enough, and it's time for him to win Clark's trust. He sets Clark up so that he can play the hero, thus revealing himself believably, winning Clark's confidence, and creating a situation where he could show up and have a heart-to-heart talk with Clark in the loft. The question is the purpose – what he's trying to win Clark for? Milton Fine goes to the spaceship and reabsorbs/absorbs the powerful element of the silver kryptonite, leaving only a dead rock. Meaning…what? Does he have the power to instill paranoia, and the silver kryptonite was an introductory tool before he went to work – or was it just a way to explain that he was responsible and show him at a mysterious, dark angle? Why did Milton have to return to the spaceship? The first time he returned to it was in "Thirst" when he killed the security guy. Was he going there to get the silver kryptonite in "Thirst"? Whatever happened with that slain security guy, anyway? Wouldn't Lex suspect something when the person he hired to follow Milton was found stabbed next to the spaceship? "Why are you here?" "To stop what's coming…" Was this a reference to what's coming next week, or something greater? (My guess - something greater.) © Voice of Reason, 2007