A few weeks ago, Smallville featured a show that was basically a ripoff of Flatliners and I thought that perhaps the writers had given up on all originality knowing that their new network would probably want them anyway. Last week, I was surprised that the episode seemed fairly original and very creepy, despite Tom Welling having directed it. This week, I am back to thinking that the show has jumped the shark, as the episode is basically a one-hour network safe version of Saw. The episode was very painful to watch but since I want to get a few plot developments out of the way, i'll make the recap short and sweet.
Lionel Luthor is riding in his limo when it stops on the train tracks. He wonders if his driver has gone crazy, but the driver runs out of the car and away from the scene. Moments later, and random guy with a strange mask appears on his screen (sound familiar?) and says he is going to play a little game. If Lionel wins the game, he lives. If he loses, well, I am sure that you can take a guess.
The first game is hangman, and the strange guy says that it is a lesson that he learned from Lionel. The lesson? NO MERCY. Lionel solves the riddle and escapes his limo just before a freight train comes crashing through.
Obviously Lionel had a problem, so he had his office checked for bugs. After the technician left and said there was nothing wrong, the masked man came back, this time on Lionel's computer screen. Obviously this meant that the guys sweeping for bugs was this crazy killer. But why?
We didn't get the answer to that question, but an earlier question was answered, namely "What happened to Lionel's driver Alex?" Lionel woke up in a room with a charred body. His challenge, should he choose to accept it, was to balance two buckets of flammable liquid, and put it on a hook. If it was unbalanced, the flames coming up from the floor would set him aflame like it did for his poor limo driver Alex.
Clark noticed an imperfection on a statue of Lionel's and Lex, knowing his father would only deal with a flawless specimen, smashed it open to reveal a camera. Immediately, Chloe surmised that it was high res and had a wireless carrier. She started throwing around some techno jargon like piggy back transmission, hacking sequences and terminating points, but was able to narrow the location down to a house not far away.
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Comments (3)
I guess just you and me watch Smallville anymore, J-Unit. Since I tape every episode (yes, I said tape; unfortunately I have not completely stepped into the 21st century and purchased a tivo -- I just got a digital camera this past Christmas, what do you people want from me?!), I feel that it's my duty to make the first comment: this episode was totally ridiculous. When the show started with the creepy masked man a la Saw, I thought "no way will the WHOLE SHOW be a complete rip-off." Boy, was I wrong! What a lame-o horror flick that movie was, by the way. It had such potential, but the bit at the end when the Princess Bride guy was crawling away after allegedly sawing off his own foot -- and you could see the shape of his foot in his pantleg -- kind of ruined the movie for me. I know the movie was done on a small budget and all, but come on -- there must have been a better way to convey the missing appendage than to pull the actor's pantleg over his foot and pretend that the foot is gone!! Egads!
Anyway, back to Smallville. You knew the de-bugging guy was the villian from the start, and you knew Lionel would pass all the tests. The only good thing about this episode was the fact that we learn that Lionel knew about Clark from way back. I think you're right about Jor-el somehow controlling Lionel (or being a part of him) since that whole coma incident with the stone. And Lana and Lex are an interesting couple. Aren't they together (or weren't they together at one time) in the comic book?
1 of 3 | Posted by bluebell
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Posted on April 25, 2006 10:49 AM
I never thought about Jor-el possible controlling Lionel - thats interesting. I can't wait until they get back to the Dr. Fine storyline.
2 of 3 | Posted by OD-TV
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Posted on April 25, 2006 11:37 AM
You know -- I have a continuity question. As we all know, Clark is the man of steel and nothing can hurt him. This has been shown many times (e.g., needles break because they can't pierce his skin, bullets can't hurt him, he's not afraid of an attack by glass in the last epi, etc.) But in that "Flatliners" episode, he is injected with the death serum and the needle goes in and doesn't break. What's up with that? Shouldn't that needle have broken? That really bugged me. Any thoughts?
3 of 3 | Posted by bluebell
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Posted on April 25, 2006 4:32 PM