Smallville Season 5 Episode 13 Review

As the action winds down in the latest Smallville episode, Lana uses a quiet moment in the barn to chide Clark: "We should have come together Clark. That's what couples do when these things happen." Given a speech like that, you might think the two had a good old fashioned falling out or fight. Maybe Clark continues to refuse to 'put out' .

But things are not that simple in Smallville. "These things" that so divide, as Lana refers to in this episode, are: an undead ghost girl assaulting Chloe, a trip to the psych ward, a girl slashing her wrists, a body in the wall of the coffee shop, a creepy homicidal hospital worker, and a magic bracelet that transfers ghost spirits to living bodies.

Err... what?

Yep. Hot on the heels of two solid episodes dealing with the death of Jonathan Kent, we get a freak-of-the-week episode that rivals the one where Lana became a vampire. It looks like Chloe has gone crazy after she sees a ghost and slashes her wrists. Apparently, the doctors think she's crazy because her mother is in an insane asylum. Now... I can't remember ever having heard this plot revelation before, but I might have missed it. Jake will tell for sure if writers pulled this out of their ass, or it's an old bit of Smallville lore.

Regardless, Clark and Chole try to find out about the ghost while Lana and Lex are convinced Chloe has gone off her rocker and needs to be strapped to a gurney in an insane asylum. Why Lana cuddles up to Lex so quickly is not explained, but you can really feel the tension between the future Superman and his arch-enemy now. In one scene, Lex and Clark just scowl at each other.

Eventually the stupid ghost plot is sorted out. But not before some less-than-inventive horror cliches creep in. You know, the old "bathroom mirror shot" where you see a safe bathroom in the medicine cabinet mirror, then the character opens the cabinet door, and when the mirror re-appears there's a dirty screaming monster and big orchestra crash. Hmm.... I could swear I've seen that before... somewhere...

The Clark-Lana and Ma Kent-Senator subplots are tacked on to the end in a rather subpar way. Both are quite interesting. It looks like Martha is going to run for senate, and Lionel keeps "stopping by" the Kent kitchen to dole out 30-second snippits of advice to Martha. At least he's working for the lay. Good on him.

If there's one positive in this forgettable episode, it would be Allison Mack's chance to show her acting chops. She's got them in spades here. Lots of tears, lots of emotion. Along with John Glover, she is a key lynchpin for this show now that Jon Schneider/Pa Kent was sent out to pasture.

Still, it's not enough to save Ep#13. An unusually bad freak-of-the-week with a frankly bizarre ending that makes little to no sense and - to be honest - kills the momentum this show had after its 100 and 101 episodes. I don't get it. Jake? What do you think?