Smallville Episode 100/101: Another Take

Jake is dead-on with his thoughts on these episodes, although he's not quite as hard on the big 100th episode as I am.

He's right though - Smallville writers are classic for wimping out at the last minute. They've had Lex discover Clark's secret countless times, but he's lost it through time reversal, elctro-shock therapy, memory manipulation and all sorts of other crazy plot devices. It's the kind of writing that would make the folks at "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" proud in its camp-comedy crapulance.

The big question I keep raising with Jake (and anyone else who will listen to a Smallville rant for more than 10 seconds, which is to say, not very many people) is quite simply this: how much longer do we have to wait for this show to stop teasing its fans?

Seriously now, I've watched every single episode for five seasons. Jake has bought the DVDs. We all know this is Smallville's last season. So let's cut the crap. Time to ditch the lazy-ass writing-style of the 100th episode and get into story arcs where things happen for real, and where memory-loss subplots and time reversal get tossed out the window in favour of wrapping this show up in style.

I've got to say, Episode 101 was right along those lines. Ma Kent gets robbed in Metropolis in the kind of dark dirty place that puts Bruce Wayne's Crime Alley to shame. She loses the watch, some vigilante woman appears with similar powers to Clark -- yadda yadda yadda, Clark gets the watch back and finally learns to grieve over his father's death. The last few minutes of this episode are powerful, emotional, ones.

Having the spotlight on Lionel's character is a good thing. Although I still get a chuckle when Lionel drops a multi-billion-dollar company takeover bid just so Martha Clark won't hate him. Right.

Jake has hit the rest of the key points for the review. I'll just end with a lament for the character of Jonathan Kent, who was superbly played by Jon Schneider and who will be truly missed on this show. I've said it countless times, but Schneider was perfect for the role. After seeing him add real dramatic weight and heart to his scenes, can you really imagine anyone else as Clark Kent's dad? No matter what they do for future movies, TV shows, or comic books - when I think Pa Kent I'll think Jon Schneider.