NEXT ON SMALLVILLE 8x01 Odyssey- Sep 19, 2008 8/7c THE JUSTICE LEAGUE RETURNS TO FIND CLARK AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE FORTRESS; THE NEW CEO OF LUTHORCORP COMES TO TOWN — The Justice League, lead by the Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), hits the Artic in search of Clark (Tom Welling), who disappeared after the fortress collapsed. The team immediately has a confrontation with the new CEO of Luthorcorp, Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman). Meanwhile, Chloe (Allison Mack) is being held prisoner by a suspicious group who has discovered she has a new power, and Clark has been stripped of his powers by Jor-El. Erica Durance and Aaron Ashmore also star. Kevin Fair directed the episode with the story by Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders and teleplay by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer QUICK LINKS DI on MySpace: / ZodCast on MySpace: / Fans Around the World / Lois Lane's Daily Journal / Redboots / The Clois Fanfic Archive / Christopher Reeve Foundation / Guestbook FEATURED CLIP TOP AFFILIATES { All Affiliates } BANTER LOG Lois: You've just been hit by lightning, you're stark naked, and, uh, you don't even remember your own name. You have a fairly loose definition of "fine." { All Quotes } SEARCH FOR SMALLVILLE @ Amazon.com @ eBay.com @ AllPosters.com SITE STATS Clois fans online You are visitor # Since 11/27/04 CONTACT US For any news and information or to contact HappyEnding.Org Staff, you can e-mail one of the following: Webmaster: Jerilee Co-Webmasters Nautica7mk, ZodCast and Arwen DISCLAIMER We are in no way affiliated with Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Smallville or The WB. This site is strictly a fansite and nothing monetary is gained. SUPERMAN and all related elements are the property of DC Comics.

Reviews

4:01 Crusade Review

By Zoomway

I feel conflicted. I haven't liked an entire episode of Smallville since Hourglass first season. Even then I wasn't interested in the mutant plot line. As time passed, though, it was harder and harder to find even little things to like and last season was downright excruciating. It started horribly with Clark being a punk thug in Metropolis and rapidly slid downhill from there.

This season's debut puts me in an awkward position because I liked most of it. There's some exceptions I'll point out, but I'm not even sure if I'm being objective. I like Lois Lane as a character and so that could certainly color my judgment.

The episode opened with Chloe's "help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi" plea recorded onto her computer. The message was meant for Clark. It was as if she knew no matter what happened to her, or any other potential witness against Lionel, Clark would still be there. Does she have suspicions that Clark is more than a hay barber? Chloe also told Clark that she cares about him more than he'll ever know, which is probably true because the molecular density around his skull is particularly thick.

However, Clark was sucked into a cave wall last year and so Lois decided to look into her cousin's death and came across the message

Armed with the name Clark Kent, Lois began a quest to find him, but she quickly discovered what I've known most of my life. Finding a place in a rural location is really hard, especially at night. Just ask Federal Express when they have a package for me.

A cell phone tucked under her ear and drinking a cup of coffee, Lois argued with someone about the poor directions she had been given by a "super genius" who stranded her on a road with no markers except "about a billion stalks of corn." At that moment there was a severe lightning strike and her cell phone conked out. The "can you hear me now?" guy is probably fried by the side of the road somewhere. We can at least hope.

"That's just great," Lois said and pulled down her visor mirror to chide herself as she grabbed a cigarette. "If you smoke this, you're going to end up hating yourself the rest of the night."

Calmed by her pep talk, she put the cigarette back into her purse, but then a fortuitous, or fateful lightning strike caused her to swerve off the road and into several of those 'billion stalks of corn.' Barely recovered from the agricultural carwash, three bolts of lightning joined together and sent a ball of bright destruction in her direction.

The fire ball stopped short of her vehicle and little arcing fires formed an "S" in the burned area. Lois exited her car and saw a naked man lying on the ground. She approached cautiously as he pushed himself into a standing position facing away from her.

"Are you okay? What's your name?"

"I don't know."

"I need to get you to a hospital."

"I am fine" (notice that robots and logical aliens never use the contraction "I'm"?)

"You've just been hit by lighting. You're stark naked and you don't even remember your own name. You have a fairly loose definition of 'fine.'"

Clark finally decided to turn around and face her. Lois averted her gaze momentarily. "Look at his face," she told herself, but didn't take her advice. After a long moment she finally said, "I have a blanket in the trunk, don't move." (three guesses what color the blanket is)

"Wait," Clark said. "Who are you?"

"Lois. Lois Lane."

So ends the historic, yet out of traditional continuity first meeting of the legendary couple. I thought it was done well, but this is the second premiere in a row where Clark isn't himself.

This episode had the construction of a comic book to me. I know that sounds ironic considering the source material, but most episodes of this show don't have that look and feel. This first scene with Lex is a perfect example. He's in a temple in Egypt somewhere being handed a recovered artifact with Kryptonian writing on the back. It is like a self-explanatory comic book panel. The use of yellow and orange wash is also typical of comic books for this type of scene.

The story then cut back to Lois trying to admit Clark into the Smallville medical center, which has seen more action than any MASH unit. I was surprised the guy at the admissions desk didn't recognize Clark since he's been there so often. Anyway, the admissions clerk wanted Lois to fill out the admission form and show proof of insurance. Lois explained there was a slight problem since she didn't know who Clark was and Clark didn't either. "So, I'm turning him over to you."

"Whoa, does this look like an animal shelter? You have to stay with him till we can find someone who can I.D. him. It's hospital policy."

"Look," Lois argued. "I did the good Samaritan thing, but I can't be responsible for this guy."

"You already are."

I don't know if that line was foreshadowing, or not, but it does have that tinge to it. Clark dropping the blanket and becoming nude again, however, is more like typical Smallville. Though I can't help wondering how different it would play out with Lana. She'd make that slightly appalled face with her eyes darting around, but definitely not smile approvingly as Lois did.

Speaking of Lana (do we have to?) ...

As soon as dumb music that sounded like a guitar and calliope combo started, I knew Lana was going to show up and by gosh she did. We soon meet her newest boyfriend, Jason Teague. At this point clever exposition dialog (who'd have thunk it?) was used to bring viewers up to speed on their relationship.

Jason, pretending to meet Lana for the first time, rambled on and on about meeting his girlfriend two months ago at the very spot where he and Lana were standing. He said he had clipped her with his Vespa and she mistook him for a purse snatcher and knocked him off his bike aggravating an old football injury. "She spent five hours with me at the hospital and we just clicked (that's where she first 'clicked' with magnet mutant boy)." Then Lana said, "Sounds like love at first crash." Oy.

"It was for me," Jason said. "But I'm an impulsive kind of guy."

"How does she feel about it?"

"I don't know, she doesn't want to talk about it. I think she was hurt by some guy, but maybe she needs to talk about it," he said, and looked at her expectantly.

Lana changed the subject. Tsk tsk. Lana, who hounded Clark about keeping secrets and that a relationship has to be honest, was holding out on Jason, but it didn't stop her from making out with him right there in public or accepting his invitation for a weekend in Nice.

Now we get to the actual star of the episode, the long-suffering Martha Kent. Apparently Jonathan has been in a coma for three months. She was reading to him from Huckleberry Finn saying it was his favorite book. I'm not sure if there's some underlying significance to that book. I know Huck had an abusive father who ends up dead, the dead man Jim didn't want to talk about in the passage Martha was reading. Beyond that ... shrug.

She was interrupted by a doctor who informed her that their insurance was capped out and that Jonathan was brain dead. Boy, there's a loaded line. It's almost like Jonathan was a metaphor for last season's Smallville and Martha, refusing to pull the plug, was The WB.

Meanwhile, in another part of the hospital ...

Lois was stuck baby-sitting the stoic Mr. Kent. "I came to Smallville to investigate the death of my cousin Chloe Sullivan. Heard of her?" she asked, but noting his blank expression, added, "Of course you haven't."

Then Clark noticed her pulling something out of her purse. "Nicorette," she explained. "I've given up smoking. These are the only things that get me through the day. I started smoking when I was 15. It's my father's fault. He told me if he ever caught me smoking he'd kill me, so in an act of teenage rebellion I started and couldn't stop and now I have a gum addiction."

"You talk a lot," Clark finally said.

"Well, I'm not really comfortable with uncomfortable silence and you're not exactly keeping up with your end of the conversation."

Clark rose from the table and headed for the door, but Lois blocked it. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

Lois folded her arms. "Well, you'll have to get through me first."

Clark considered what she said for a moment and then lifted her up and out of the way.

Lois chased him down the corridor, which got Martha's attention. "Clark!" She was overcome with joy to see her son again after three months, but he said, "Who are you?"

"It's me, Mom."

Lois stepped in and introduced herself to Martha and explained that she'd found him on Route 31. Martha thanked her, but wanted to get Clark home. Lois suggested that Martha have a doctor look him over, "I think the lightning fried his brain."

"Lois, I'm so grateful, but this is a family matter."

Lois nodded. "Here's me backing away," she said and exited.

Lois ran into the admissions clerk and told him she had handed "amnesia boy" over to his mother. He told Lois that was Martha Kent. "Kent? As in Clark Kent?" Lois ran for the elevator, but was too late. Martha feared Lois, or at least feared what she might find out about Clark

The comic book panel look returned right down to a private jet parked in the middle of nowhere in the desert. Lex gave the man in the front seat an envelope of money and said he didn't want any record that he was there. "Bury everything."

"We will be like footprints in the sand." I could almost see the bespectacled man's dialog balloon.

Once on the jet, Lex was scolded by his attractive doctor who told him he was late. Via more dialog exposition, we learn that Lex ingested a toxin that would have killed 99.9% of normal people (the poisoned brandy from last year's cliffhanger). Lex told her to spare him the lecture. We also learn his blood has to be purified every 72 hours or his organs will begin to shut down. "You're living on borrowed time, Lex. Quit trying to borrow more."

Martha tried to jog Clark's memory, but nothing, including photographs of his friends, rang a bell. "Do you remember anything about where you were before you showed up in that field?"

"I was in a place that felt like home."

"No, Clark, this is your home," Martha said, having to force Clark to face her.

His eyes quickly drifted to a photo of Jonathan. "I recognize this man."

"Good," Martha said, momentarily relieved. "That's your dad. You're starting to remember."

"He is not my father. He tried to prevent me from being reborn."

"No, he loves you. He tried to save you from Jor-El."

"Either way he's dead," Robot Clark replied. He dropped the picture and left the barn.

At that moment Clark crumpled in pain. The instant the high pitched whine stopped (no, Lana is still in Paris), Clark turned his head abruptly. This is where the director started using visual "power" shots. The director started with an overhead shot, but then dropped it very low to give Clark a looming look of menace.

That must have been the "sign" he was waiting for. He said, "I am Kal-El of Krypton. It is time for me to fulfill my destiny."

The only thing that made that stilted line work was Martha's reaction. She was through being patient. She became angry. "Destiny? That's Jor-El talking. He did this to you," she said and began pounding on his chest. "I want my son back! Give me my son back!'

"Clark Kent is dead," he said and swept Martha aside and did a Matrix-like takeoff and began flying. I'll admit to some disappointment in the flying because I always prefer Superman flying with his arms stretched out in front instead of at his sides.

Since it's time to slow things down a bit, we switch back to Lana. She and her boyfriend are inside of an old church. Jason kisses her and she goes moral-majority on him (I had to do that in Chloe's absence). She reminds him they're in a church. He said that when she asked him to meet her in an old crypt for some brass rubbing, he thought it was code for something else. "Mr. Teague, you have a dirty mind." Ms. Lang, you're puritanical.

Jason shows her a brass relief of a woman who had been a "warrior princess" (no, please no) who "kicked a lot of ass and broke a lot of hearts." Jason then leaves saying that tomorrow is Lana's birthday and they'll start the celebration in a cafe at 10:00 AM. I guess that means Lana has now turned 18.

She begins the brass rubbing and ==gasp=== the warrior princess bears a creepy resemblance to Lana. It even looks as though she has on the kryptonite necklace (I'm begging, don't go there).

Then she rubs one spot (it does sound dirty) that reveals some symbol. It begins to glow and Lana touches it. She's then blasted backward by a shower of light. Han Solo tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Lois showed up at the Kent farm looking for Clark. Martha, however, was in no mood for company, especially someone who asks too many questions. I think Lois was depicted as too pushy and frantic in this scene. I know Lois on L&C had a habit of barging into Clark's apartment, but she knew him a while before she got into that particular habit.

The conversation took an odd turn when Lois asked Martha if Clark and Chloe were ever an item.

"I think for a minute."

"It's funny," Lois said, already on her second cup of coffee. "I never took her for the farm boy type."

"It can happen to the best of us," Martha said.

"Not me. Give me a nerd with glasses any day."

A nerd with glasses?

Lois finally put her cards on the table about Clark. "He is my only hope for getting justice for Chloe. The FBI inquest has ruled the explosion an accident. I mean how many safe houses do you know that have gas leaks? And in two weeks, Lionel Luthor will walk free," she said, her voicing breaking a little. "And Chloe's death will have been for nothing."

Martha finally relented and said she'd have Clark give her a call if he remembered anything. Then Lois brought up Chloe's notes that said Martha had worked for Lionel. "How did you escape his web?"

"I didn't," she replied and took the cup from Lois' hands. "Good-bye, Lois." Here's your hat, what's your hurry.

I had mixed feelings about this scene with Margot Kidder. She's been through a lot in her life, so it's nice to know she has recovered, but her presence on the show seemed out of place. Actually she's there because Reeve was unavailable for the premiere. Who better to stand in as his emissary?

It bothers me that 25 years later she has the same hairdo and it's clear that's what they were trying to evoke with Erica Durance's hairdo. It's hinted that Kidder's character had a thing for Dr. Swann "in another lifetime," but this was kind of falling flat for me. Nostalgia only goes so far. Then we get to the Richard Lewis moment.

Richard Lewis is a comedian who said he studied for the SATs, but he was stumped by the first question. It was a math problem about how many acres a farmer would need to plant x amount of corn. Lewis said he didn't understand the question, so for the first time in history, he added a box to the SATs and invented his own answer. That's exactly how I felt when Kidder opened a box and said the black kryptonite inside would bring Clark back to her.

Not only is there no such thing as black kryptonite, even people who know nothing of the different flavors of kryptonite wouldn't buy that one exists solely to bring Clark Kent back from being possessed by Kal-El. Oh well, we're stuck with it.

We then switch to the expected Lex/Lionel confrontation. Lex actually seemed to believe that Lionel was able to get that crystal off the jet and Lionel looked at him like he was a nut. This was another exposition scene where Lex explained about the three crystals of power. "When united, the three crystals lead to a treasury of knowledge that puts the library at Alexandria to shame." It's starting to sound like the South Park episode where the triangles lead to the creation of Mega Streisand.

Lana wakes up like she just crawled out of a well and peers through her door at Jason. He asked what happened to her. She was supposed to meet him at 10 but that it was now noon. Lana obviously has no idea what happened to her. She said she must have passed out and doesn't even know how she got there. She tells Jason she'll meet him downstairs.

There's a shower scene where a body-double is used for the silhouette on the shower curtain. Not only is the body-double more stacked, she's taller than Lana. Must be one of those days the producers show up on the set to drool. And how did Lana afford such a huge apartment in Paris? Jason must give her more than motorcycle helmets for impromptu gifts.

The main point was to show that Lana had been branded with a tattoo that matched the one on the brass rubbing. Yes, we now have Lana Warrior Princess. What comes of it is anybody's guess, but I'm already cringing in anticipation.

Martha lays the smack down with the black kryptonite. I admit when Clark and Kal-El were splitting apart and Kal-El grabbed Clark by the throat, I thought he said, "Mayonnaise has made you weak!" Apparently he said 'humanity' but I guess to Kryptonians we're the mayonnaise of the universe anyway.

Clark got the upper hand and Kal-El, for now, was deposed. Though there has to come a point where Clark has to be both. He's never just Clark Kent and never just Superman (Kal-El). That's why Lois is important, she loves him for all that he is. However, Clark coming out the victor did snap Jonathan out of his coma.

The Kents were reunited and Clark gave credit where credit was due, he said Martha was the hero and she truly was in this episode. I'm actually tempted to say this episode should have been called "Girl Power" because the women were the dominant gender and moving force in the episode. Particularly in the next scene.

Lois, using the name Martha Kent, got in to see Lionel Luthor. This was another scene where 'power' was used in a visual sense. Lionel was preening in the mirror anticipating Martha's arrival, but became angry when Lois showed up instead.

He approached the wire and Lois, who had been several paces away from it, moved forward to meet him rather than stay where she was, or retreat further, even putting her hands up on the wire. It almost had a toxic intimacy to it. She didn't even pull away when he touched her finger saying, "You bite your nails. Bad girl." Lois was very "in your face" in this scene with seemingly no fear of the boogie man Lionel Luthor.

Lois proposed a theory. She said that she knew Chloe's death was no accident, but that she didn't think Lionel was behind the explosion. She felt it was too thug-like and desperate. It lacked Lionel's finesse. He was intrigued and his ego was no doubt flattered. However, Lois said that whoever was behind the bombing was more or less giving him a 'get out of jail free' card, but he didn't know from whom. Then she said, "Or are you being set up?" and then departed.

There's various theories as to what she meant by that. Some thinking it put Chloe in danger since we all know she's alive. Did Lois mean that the explosion was rigged for Lionel's benefit to lull him into a false sense of security? Was she trying to force his hand like on Columbo (thanks for the good example, Georgia) where the criminal, no matter how smart, has doubt planted in his mind and makes a false move? Is there someone out there who wants Lionel dead and that's why they want him to be out of prison to have easier access to him?

I mean we're led to believe Morgan Edge is dead, but is he? Who would want the same people dead and unable to testify besides Lionel? I'd guess his old accomplice in the crime. With Chloe and Lex out of the way, that would only leave Lionel to implicate Morgan.

I guess we'll find out, but it's clear that Lois was not deliberately endangering Chloe since she truly believes her cousin is dead. She wants answers to a murder, not to find a missing person.

Lastly, we have Lois at Chloe's grave apologizing for not attending her funeral. She said she hates funerals and started to break down. "I hate myself for being weak. I just knew the moment I came here it would make it real." She then promised Chloe she'd find out who was responsible, "Even if I have to do it alone."

"You're not alone."

Lois was obviously embarrassed to discover that Clark had witnessed her "weak" moment. In typical Lois fashion she had to shift the conversation away from the sorrow and pretend to be unaffected by it. She said she was glad she and Clark had gone past the "clothing optional" phase of their relationship. I'm surprised you even remember who I am."

Clark stepped forward and told her that he knew she was Chloe's cousin, was addicted to Nicorette gum and hated uncomfortable silences. It's interesting that Clark only remembers flying and Lois Lane from his Kal-El period. Some saw their behavior as flirtatious, but to me it was like they were reaching a mutual understanding, at least as far as investigating what happened to Chloe was concerned. I was just grateful he was having a conversation with a female in a graveyard that wasn't mopey and filled with fog.

Clark invited Lois to stay at his home while she was in town, which I don't know whether he cleared with Martha or not. Lois likes Martha, but how Martha feels about Lois is another matter.

Clark stepped up to Chloe's grave and then x-rayed the contents of the coffin and found it empty. He called out to Lois. "Chloe's still alive."

An empty coffin really isn't compelling proof when the victim was blown to bits. Usually the coffin is only ceremonial in that case. However, the episode ended telling most people what they already knew, that Chloe is still alive.

A couple of odd notes on the episode, there was a lot of use of mirrors in various scenes. Lois pulled down her visor mirror, Clark looked at his reflection in the hospital, Lionel was preening in a mirror, Lana looked in a mirror and saw her tattoo and Lex told Lionel, "look in the mirror."

No one died in this episode. I feel compelled to note such a rare occurrence.

As for Lois, I think Erica Durance is good, but needed work in a couple of scenes and she needs to be toned down a bit. She could easily become annoying if overdone.

I'm sure Lana returns to Smallville next week, so the show may fall back into its old rut of longing looks and sighs. Jason seems like a nice guy, but I'm sure Lana will put a stop to that.

Sorry this review was so long, but the episode introduced new characters and new kryptonite and tied up the cliffhanger ending, so I had to pull double duty.

Zoom (next week, I don't know, they didn't show a specific promo, just clips coming up from various episodes)

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