Voice of Reason: Season Six: Combat




Combat Overall The idea behind this episode – Clark deals with his grief over the wedding by violently apprehending criminals – had some promise. None of us wanted the catalyst for heroism to be the loss of a woman, but if that was what it took for Clark to voluntarily battle the crime world, so be it. (Of course, Martha’s loss of her baby managed to send Clark into the crime world more effectively, but we’ve given up holding Smallville to the standards of the early seasons.) Unfortunately, this episode didn’t do the idea justice. Problem #1: This episode hinged on several unbelievable events. A phantom, freed from his prison and unleashed on planet Earth, decides – not to seek revenge and destroy Kal-El – but to make a living by fighting in cages. Chloe and Clark, knowing full well how desperate Lois is for a story, and how willing she is to intrude on others’ space, walk out leaving Chloe’s laptop and printed picture in plain sight. Lois gets several pictures of the fight site, and instead of promptly killing her, the bad guys take off her outer layer of leather and send her into the ring to fight. Problem #2: This episode was all exposition and only one real moment of action. Conveniently shapely Athena calmly gives the Titan’s brief background history to Slimy Blond Guy. (Even though she’s supposed to be tough and offended at his ogling.) Clark battles meteor-freaks by night. Only we never get to see it – we hear Martha reading aloud instead. “Clark, I know how difficult Lex and Lana’s wedding was for you. But, ever since that day, it’s like you’ve become another person.” This is in Clark’s first scene. We haven’t even had a chance to see him acting like another person, but Martha’s already spelling it out for us. “Didn’t Oliver and your superpals give you anything else?” “It was a short conversation, Chloe. I’ve been kind of busy lately. All he said was he thought the location was somewhere nearby.” A brief synopsis of a conversation we would have loved to see. If they couldn’t get Justin Hartley for the other end of the phone, they could have tried for one of the other three Leaguers. “Like I said before, I don’t think that flying off to some foreign country is good for the baby.” I would have liked to see her say it the first time. That would have been a very interesting conversation to see. Lana depressed, trying to disguise her depression, Lex’s eagerness being quietly and steadily crushed. Another potentially powerful scene, reduced to contrived explanatory dialogue. “Ever since the wedding, I feel like you’ve been pulling away from me.” Show it. Don’t tell – show. Problem #3: Much of the episode was unnecessary. Lois announces that she will lose her job as a reporter if she doesn’t come up with an article in 24 hours. (Although she was ready to go on vacation with Oliver without giving her job a second thought.) She gets a lead, goes there, gets caught, is sent in the ring to fight, is knocked out, and we never see again but hear that she’s writing an article. This could have been entirely removed without anybody noticing. It didn’t enhance the episode in the least. Athena snarls at Slimy Blond Guy, asks what the commotion’s about, runs, then earlier that day flirts and fights with Lois. This character could have been written out without anybody noticing, and it didn’t enhance the episode in the least. Problem #4: Like “Freak,” some of the elements had been used before in other shows, more powerfully. The soldier escaped from the Phantom Zone, a.k.a. Manticore…see Details F. The gun fired, the camera swivel to reveal an unharmed and very powerful person – “Heroes,” anyone? See Moments y. Yes, the Lana plot ended up being interesting, especially viewing it the second time around and picking up details I hadn’t noticed before. It looks like Lex is going to send her on a psychological journey a la “Shattered”. And Clark working through his issues, while far from deep, was at least better than his shallower anger in “Vengeance”. But overall, this episode was based on very weak foundations. Verdict: 4. Good/Bad Moments The opening sequence was a classic example of laborious verbal exposition and gratuitous shots of skin. I felt like I was laboring to get through the teaser. A much more effective opening would have shown Clark battling meteor-freaks by night. “Time to die, Kryptonian.” Titan knows that this is Kal-El, son of Jor-El. If he had to address him by a title while murdering him, using his name would have been more effective. However, I personally feel that the three- and four-word sentences wrestler-Zoners spout are some of the worst lines in Smallville. Either silence, or a very cutting “Time to join your father!” would have been more effective. “Thanks, Oliver. Yeah, I’ll call you if I find anything. Yeah.” Clark has been working with Oliver. This is another important step in his journey to maturity (at least, the maturity he had when he was fourteen), and I wish they could have had a Justice League guest star in this episode instead of “Athena”. Someone to feel his pain after Lana’s wedding, and not in Martha’s motherly way. Clark needed a guy to talk to: this episode would have been the perfect opportunity to provide someone to tip him off to the fights and to talk with him about Lana the manly way. “Numerous career criminals have been delivered to metro stations around the area, in most cases unconscious.” “Some of them were hurt pretty badly. That sounds like a little more than justice.” “They were meteor-infected. They put up a fight.” Clark is dismissive, matter-of-fact. I actually loved this moment. Clark is treating this like a job. He’s not exactly emotionally detached, but suddenly it is no longer a great adventure for him to fight people with powers. He’s stepping up and, strange as it sounds, it’s almost pride-inducing to hear that he, at times so emotionally and intellectually challenged, is capable of strategic violence in the fight for justice. Somehow the idea validates both his pain over Lana and his inner hero. “ Clark, I know you’re trying to help, but you can’t go about it this way. It’s – it’s not right.” “You know what’s not right, Mom? Is staying up here and doing nothing when I could be making a difference.” Clark isn’t deliberately maiming harmless meteor freaks: he’s capturing criminals. Moreover, he’s not taking justice into his own hands, he’s handing them over to the law. Clark is right – it would be wrong to allow the criminals to take advantage of people. So why does Martha call it wrong for him to stop them by going through all the right channels? “ Clark, I know how difficult Lex and Lana’s wedding was for you. But, ever since that day, it’s like you’ve become another person.” 1) This is the sort of thing that should never, ever be spelled out. We should see it in action. Then, after at least ten episodes, someone might point it out. Not before. 2) Clark has barely been onscreen. Give us a chance to see the change in him first. “I’m not human, Mom. It’s time I stopped pretending to be.” It’s interesting that these would be the feelings brought to the surface by the recent events. I didn’t really see the connection between the wedding and the return of Clark’s awkwardness with his heritage. But I would have loved to see a connection. This wasn’t necessarily out of place, but it definitely needed to be developed a lot more than it was. “Didn’t Oliver and your superpals give you anything else?” “It was a short conversation, Chloe. I’ve been kind of busy lately. All he said was he thought the location was somewhere nearby.” Another great opportunity for a guest star. All of this wordy exposition could have been dispensed with. “It’s not quite the same as celebrating on the beach of Boquete, but I guess it’ll have to do.” “Lex, I’m sorry. I know how much you wanted to go on this honeymoon, but like I said before, I – I don’t think that flying off to some foreign country is good for the baby.” As I said in “Overall” – showing the original conversation where Lana declined her honeymoon could have been wonderful. The dynamics of Lana’s depression and Lex’s eagerness fading into disappointment could have been played with and highlighted. Instead, we get this recap dialogue, which makes no sense. Lex expresses his disappointment by harping on the missing honeymoon a week after the wedding: Lana restates reasons that they have obviously already discussed. If they absolutely had to have this recap scene – and I don’t believe they did – she could at least have said, “Lex, I’m sorry. Don’t you agree that it’s better for the baby this way?” That way we would have understood that there was a previous conversation in which she found an excuse to stay home, and instead of repeating herself she would have been asking for reassurance. “Are you sure that’s the only reason you gave up a week in paradise? Ever since the wedding, I feel like you’ve been pulling away from me.” If they had shown the actual conversation after the wedding, we could have seen Lana pulling away from Lex, and Lex reacting with disappointment. We wouldn’t have needed this dialogue, which was uncharacteristic of Lex anyway. If Lex fears that he’s losing someone’s affection, he’s more likely brood over it, disappointed and angry and feeling rejected. Instead, he conveniently spells it out for all of us. Another uncharacteristic moment that could have been spared by showing it all happening. Lex leans forward to kiss Lana – she turns her head away so that he kisses her cheek instead. Nice, subtle touch. Freaky music plays as Lana sips her sparkling cider, Lex watching her drink it before he drinks. The music then continues into a shot of the cheerful Talon. The music should have reached its culmination with the end of the scene, not carried into a completely unrelated situation. “Clark, slow down!...” “What’d you find?” Clark doesn’t bother apologizing or cleaning up after himself. Nice, subtle indicator that all is not well. Chloe senses it and lets it pass, several times. We sense that things have been this way for a week. This is the way the previous scenes should have gone. (Note that Chloe doesn’t say, “You’ve been on edge for a week!” or “It’s like you’re a different person!” Instead she’s so sympathetic, he ends up apologizing on his own: “Sorry I snapped, Chloe.”) Clark hands Chloe a stack of papers. “It’s Titan’s victims. They were all found between crater outside of Omaha where I think he landed and Metropolis.” Granted, one of Chloe’s friends helped him dig up these records, but still – he’s putting together a hypothesis on his own. Not only is he fighting crime, but he’s using his brain. Go Clark. “If I don’t come up with an article in the next 24 hours, I can say adios to my weekly paycheck.” Since Lois has not come across as particularly dedicated to her job, we didn't feel the need to invest emotionally in this problem. Clark and Chloe quickly leave Lois alone. Then we see them walking into the Daily Planet, still talking about the case. Nice continuity, but the moment made me wonder how much they had to talk about to occupy them before they reached the Daily Planet. “FR-44. Fort Ryan, Hangar 44.” Nice touch. At last Lois demonstrates some believable skills. Lois looks seductively at Athena. Athena looks like she’s about to kiss Lois. Lois invites Athena to check out her stripping. Athena puts her hand on Lois’s when she takes the plastic antifreeze container. I thought the sexuality in this scene, the scene itself, and the very presence of Athena and Lois in this episode were all completely unnecessary. “Pretty nice moves, for a stripper.” “Oh, honey, I learned even better ones as an army brat.” Again, nice – believable skills. The army brat skills, that is. “If I were your daddy, I’d be proud of you too.” Evil Mustache Guy smiles, and the first thought that comes to everyone’s mind is, “Check out that mustache. Corny.” Maybe this was intentional, supposed to make a statement about his slimy character, but suddenly it made the episode look very amusing. Lex stares at the screen. The Green Arrow lifts his bow and shoots the camera. Everyone leans forward and tries to figure out if it’s Justin Hartley or a stand-in. A few minutes later, it hits me – would the Green Arrow really be so overt about attacking LuthorCorp? Standing in front of the camera for all security, and Lex, to see? Just recently, Bart got captured after appearing for a split-second on one camera. Dramatic moment, but perhaps unrealistic. At the very least, unwise. “Is the baby all right?” Lex looks at the doctor. “Could you give us a minute?” Heavenly, touching, inspirational music plays – music that says, “This is a magical moment!” Lex tells Lana that the baby is dead and she collapses into tears. There are times when the incongruity of heavenly music and painful moments makes a statement. I didn’t think this was one of those times. I felt lost. Clark slams Evil Mustache Guy against the car, several times. “If treatment’s not what you’re looking for, then I suggest you back off.” Clark tosses Evil Mustache Guy onto the hood of his car. Evil Mustache Guy groans in pain. I was unsure if this moment was supposed to represent Clark’s newfound dark side or not. We’ve seen him much more dangerous, much more explosive, as Kal. Also much more motivated, as he worked in “Shattered” to find out the truth about Lex’s condition, threatening to break Darius’s arm, starting to strangle the sniper. This time seemed much less personal, much more business-like. He has to show the guy that he’s the dangerous, fighting type they want on their show. My conclusion? This wasn’t Dark Clark. This scene would have played out the same way before Lana’s wedding. “You’re barking at the wrong dog, Jethro.” Evil Mustache Guy smiles. This was perhaps the most cartoonish he became. His oddness was played up too much. Evil Mustache Guy fires the gun, and his expression changes. The camera swivels to show Clark holding the bullet at an arm’s-length. Nice reveal, but “Heroes” used the same set-up about a month ago. Gun fires, expression changes, camera swivels to show person unharmed and with some special power. I don’t know when this episode was shot, but I couldn’t help but compare it – and it didn’t compare to the “Heroes” shot. Beautiful music as Clark, his expression now sweet and inoffensive, hands Evil Mustache Guy the bullet. Evil Mustache Guy is delighted. Huge cheesy grin. “Yeah!” He goes on to cater to Clark, huge grin never disappearing. This was overdone. “Now, I thought with your pretty face, you’d never gone a round in your life. But now I can see it in your eyes. Yeah, there it is. You’ve got some fight in you, don’t you?” This was a great moment. I didn’t like the way it was acted by Evil Mustache Guy, but the essence of the moment itself was good. When he said, “I thought you’d never gone a round in your life. But now I can see it in your eyes,” we all thought about the things that Clark has gone through, and realized that his experiences at twenty are very different from his experiences at fourteen when we first met him. Despite plenty of discouraging phases, including all of Season Four, we realize that he has managed to fend off heartache and trauma. This moment made us remember “Hidden,” made us remember Clark whispering, “If there was a way for you to save everyone you loved, wouldn’t you risk dying?” Made us remember the best and forget the worst, for a brief moment. Now if the writers could take this angle and run with it. “Hey, what do you think of the name – the Man of Steel?” “The Man of Steel?” “Yeah, I give all the fighters their monikers. Trust me, kid, it’s a name that no one’s ever gonna forget.” Nice moment. “The all-powerful, the all-American Man of Steel!” Another nice moment. Athena runs up and asks what’s going on. They tell her, she runs off, and we never see her again. What was the point of having this character? “You don’t belong here.” “You’re the one that doesn’t belong.” Another reference to Clark’s heritage, a continuation of Moments g. Again – a nice thought, but it was easily lost in the episode. They needed to expound on this. Clark sees that the Titan is going to charge him again…and Clark smiles. Great moment. He’s discovering his own power against a fellow alien. And he’s enjoying it. We can see that, with everything in his emotional life out of his control, Clark needs control of something, and exploring his own power – testing himself – is a way to stay sane. Which, frankly, works for me. The Titan stands up pretty spryly, then turns to reveal that he’s pierced his heart. Strangely conflicting messages made for an odd moment. “Good fight.” I puzzled over the significance of this line. Was it to indicate that the Titan respected Kal-El? That he respected a good fighter regardless of that fighter’s identity? Or was it not about the speaker, but about the listener…was this moment to indicate that Clark had learned to be a fighter? Intriguing moment, but it needed to be expounded on. Clark looks at the pictures of the craters, rather hopelessly. “I thought that Titan was the last prisoner I let escape from the Phantom Zone. But looking at all of these…” Somehow this seemed like an injudicious moment to include…it made me, as the viewer, feel hopeless. I started thinking, “Great, will he ever round them all up? He should have been in training by now. Gosh, it’s going to take until the finale. How predictable!” It’s like having a character say drearily, “I’m bored.” The audience slumps in their seats. “I don’t know how to return them to the Phantom Zone. The only way to get rid of them…is to kill them like I did Titan.” It was so strange to hear Clark Kent say this. But it worked. Clark’s usually improvising, going after Zoners half-expecting to die, without any idea of how to handle the situations. Now he’s forming a gameplan, if a general one: fight and kill. He’s expecting to come out on top. Nice, telling, subtle shift of mindset. “Those feelings are what make you human, no matter how much you deny it.” This was supposed to be closure for the three-line “ Clark’s heritage” issue. But this didn’t really work, because 1) the issue lasted for only three lines of dialogue, and 2) we still didn’t know why Clark was suddenly uncomfortable with his heritage. Perhaps this line was supposed to indicate that his anger and his ability to be violent had caused him to reconsider his humanity. But in that case, we definitely needed to see the anger and violence and inner struggle a lot more. Clark begins to stumble onto the truth: “I have to figure out what happened, I have to do something.” Martha immediately counsels him against it. And it’s wise counsel. It makes perfect sense…but considering what we know about Lionel’s blackmail, we’re all inwardly shrieking, “No! Clark, follow your instincts!” This was an ironic moment. Nice creepy music in the very blue-hued nursery, Lana sitting there without making eye contact with Lex. “That’s terrible. When?” “The day of our wedding.” Interesting that she put it that way. With all Lana’s previous suspicions, I would instantly assume that she was beginning to connect the dots…except she’s rocking herself and clutching a teddy bear. In her distressed state, she could be letting all the clues slide by her. “Sometimes you have to let go and leave it in the hands of a greater power.” Interesting parallel, Lex giving Lana the same counsel that Martha is giving Clark. And both of them happening to be wrong, given the circumstances. “I have to know for sure. I need to get my files from Dr. Langston’s office.” This was so blatantly injudicious that I began to wonder if Lana had some sort of plan behind it. But, again, in the emotional state she was in, it was impossible to judge. “Lana, how can I make – how can I help make the pain go away? What can I do?” Lana looks into the distance, and we anticipate the hitherto unspoken words. Something along the lines of, “I want a divorce.” But instead…silence. Lex looks down at her wedding ring. The scene ends. This was well done. We don’t know exactly what was going through their minds, how this scenario will play out, but our interest is piqued. This was a moment we can enjoy reading into for days. “Are you sure these are all of her files? Thank you for your help, Dr. Albright. And forget you ever heard of Lana Luthor.” Does this mean that they are going to pretend that Lana was never tended by Dr. Albright? Perhaps pretend that Lana is insane, along the lines of “Shattered”? After the sparkling cider and Lex anticipating her collapse, not to mention the noticeable shadows under Lana’s eyes in the nursery, her rocking and clutching the teddy bear…I could see this going in that direction. And assuming that he will pretend that Lana is insane…that makes sense of his directions to Dr. Albright, his regretful look at their wedding rings, and his tears as he burns the medical files… Lex burns the files, staring at the picture of the baby a moment before burning it. As the flame flickers before his troubled face, we glimpse the wetness of a tear on his face. Whoa. It wasn’t much of an episode, but it had such a great ending that some viewers might forget the worst moments. Details The front page of the Planet (“Captured!”) seemed to have a cartoon alien for the picture. “ Clark, can you believe this? A krypto fight club on the Internet? How come nobody else knows about this?” “According to Oliver, getting the link and the password costs more than most people make in a year.” I’m wondering who pays for this video. Why didn’t Clark and Chloe vote “Live”? The prison tattoo had the kryptonian letters TIT?R. Freaky music plays as Lana sips her sparkling cider, Lex watching her drink it before he drinks. The message sent is that there’s something wrong with the drink. Is there? “The tattoo on Titan’s arm. From what I could tell, it said he was a warrior, enhanced for combat. Ever since he’s been here, he’s been looking for a fight.” That was a bit of a Dark Angel ripoff, wasn’t it? People deliberately enhanced for combat, soldiers, with conspicuous physical markings placed on them to identify them, some of them escaping from their prison only to keep on playing soldier and fighting? I was half-expecting Jason Teague to walk in. “ Clark, these bouts are televised live. You can’t risk showing people your face.” “I don’t have a choice, Chloe.” Yes, you do. You can wear a mask. You can blast the cameras with heat vision before they have a chance to capture your face. “Keep me updated on your progress. You have full discretion, Bartlett. Make it happen.” Lex hangs out on his computer, checks his watch, then goes upstairs to find Lana collapsed. It seems like he’s expecting her to collapse. Would Lex really endanger Lana’s health for his own devious purposes? Does this have anything to do with the sparkling cider moment? It seems to me that the camera shot of Belle Reve with the “Keep Out” sign was similar, if not identical, to a shot in “Asylum” when Clark was trying to break Lex out. Previously when Clark has caught bullets, they’ve flattened against his hand. Lex has several of those bullets – or had – in his secret room. Two episodes ago, in “Freak,” the bullet that ricocheted off his chest was dented. This bullet is completely unharmed. Lois and Clark realize that they are going to fight each other. They’re in the ring together. Then, next thing we know, it’s at least several minutes later, they’re re-entering the ring, and they’re talking for the first time. What happened earlier, that they couldn’t talk then? Titan sees Clark from the back, and immediately growls, “Kal-El!” How did he know who Clark was? I can understand how Clark’s superstrength advantage could be cancelled out by the Titan’s superstrength…but what about his superspeed, heat vision, superbreath? I expected him to use them any minute, but he never did. Why does Clark bleed, and when does he heal? When Clark fought with Zod, he got hurt but was immediately healed. Fighting the Zoner, someone much less powerful than Zod, Clark bleeds and his wounds stay open during the fight. Then the next day, we see that he has healed. Is there some sort of significance to the healing process, or was this random? © Voice of Reason, 2007