Season 1, Episode 5: "The Best of Smallville" (SPOILERS)

[Gaultheria]

That was unusual, seems that whatever technology Edge is using to resurrect people is unstable and definitely dangerous.

I'm guessing that was Kandor that they recovered in Saskatchewan in a previous episode, except that in the S&L universe the city is not miniaturized but stored digitally, and "resurrection" refers to uploading the minds of dead Kryptonians into human host bodies.

 

[kvz5]

I love how Jonathan lashed out at Clark but was still like “Let’s go, Jordan!” after his outburst. I really love their relationship.

Wow I remember someone guessing the Luthor/Lois connection (maybe at the other forum I go to if it’s not here) and they were right!

No wine night for our duo tonight.

ETA: I forgot to mention that Luthor driving an old ass camper is the most hilarious thing ever.

 

[Gaultheria]

Also, before this episode I really thought Luthor would be working with Edge, but now I don't think that's the case.

Not now, but likely soon. Luthor will want Edge's Kryptonite-X treatment, to fight Superman. I wonder if Luthor will try to make a deal for it or if he'll just take it. I expect that Luthor will eventually realize that Edge is the real monster on this Earth, and Luthor and Superman will team up to fight Edge's minions.

 

[flickchick85]

Yes I too suspect a Luthor/Superman team-up to defeat Edge's Krypto-minions.

 

[Gaultheria]

Yes I too suspect a Luthor/Superman team-up to defeat Edge's Krypto-minions.

If this goes the way of A Tale of Two Cities -- A Tale of Two Earths? -- or Kingdom Come, then in the final battle against Edge's minions Luthor will do a far, far better thing than he has ever done, taking Superman's place in a heroic self-sacrifice to protect Lois and let her keep the man she loves.

 

[Frodo]

I love how Jonathan lashed out at Clark but was still like “Let’s go, Jordan!” after his outburst. I really love their relationship.

Wow I remember someone guessing the Luthor/Lois connection (maybe at the other forum I go to if it’s not here) and they were right!

I really dug both elements as well.

I liked how Jonathan could no longer keep up the façade he puts up and he let his emotions out. I find him pretty interesting as a character since he's the one without the powers, without the football position, and without the girl. Before he was the big man on campus and now he's no longer the center of attention.

I actually find that journey interesting.

I'm also all in on the Lois and Lex connection. There hasn't been a Lois and Lex love connection since Lois and Clark when they were almost married. So I really dug that twist and it provides even more motivation for this Lex to hate Superman.

It makes the dynamics between Lex, Lois , and Clark that much more interesting.

It's too bad the show isn't coming back until May.

 

[flickchick85]

Ok so when watching the broadcast live, my feed was on the fritz at the beginning and I missed the first few minutes. I just watched my Amazon copy though, and it turns out I missed not only the Kents doing actual farming but also Clark totally geeking out over the Harvest Festival? That alone raises the episode like 2 whole grades in my eyes, lol. No seriously, I kinda loved this episode on re-watch. More than the previous one for sure.

And yes, Morgan Edge is totally resurrecting Kryptonians in the bodies of humans, imo. But given that they've all been...morally dubious and perfectly willing to try to kill Jor-El's son so far, I have to wonder if these aren't Kryptonians from the Phantom Zone or something.

ETA: I forgot to mention that Luthor driving an old ass camper is the most hilarious thing ever.

An old ass camper with "auto-drive" and a high-tech weapons vault, which just makes it even better. I wonder what it was that he shot the Kryptonians with, since we know he doesn't have any more Kryptonite. Some sort of red solar missile? He was approaching them with a special-looking gun too. Dunno if he actually thought he could kill them or what.

Given his inquiry about Lois still covering Superman even though she's moved to Smallville and his expression of disbelief at "Kal-El is here (in Smallville)?!?!" I think he'll be figuring out who Clark is any day now.

 

[herolee10]

I liked getting Martha/Clark flashbacks, but I'm gonna have to get used to that kid playing young Clark if we're gonna get more of those. He just feels really miscast to me.

To be honest, I find it easier to see him as the younger version of Brandon Routh's Clark than Tyler's.

 

[flickchick85]

To be honest, I find it easier to see him as the younger version of Brandon Routh's Clark than Tyler's.

Spot on.

 

[SupermanFan]

Beat episode since the 2nd for me, absolutely loved it.

 

[Gaultheria]

And yes, Morgan Edge is totally resurrecting Kryptonians in the bodies of humans, imo. But given that they've all been...morally dubious and perfectly willing to try to kill Jor-El's son so far, I have to wonder if these aren't Kryptonians from the Phantom Zone or something.

Criminal actions in support of a cause, perhaps? I get an impression of desperate from them, rather than strictly criminal. The man who said "Protect the asset!" before leading Superman away from the machine and who committed suicide to avoid capture and interrogation acted like an idealistic fanatic.

Other thoughts:

In the comics, Superman’s S-glyph stands for "hope" when right-side-up, but it means "resurrection" when upside-down. Luthor’s S-shaped 7734 tag, when inverted, also suggests life after death, although not in a nice way.

There seems to be a theme in this show along the lines of "You can’t go home again". Young Clark couldn’t stay in Smallville, and now that he’s back he’s having trouble balancing home life with his volunteer job. Jonathan wants to go home to Metropolis, but his connections there are already crumbling, and his parents aren’t in favour of letting him go. Lois burned her bridges with the Planet after it betrayed her. Luthor is falling to pieces emotionally over a home and wife he lost. Jor-El wants to restore Krypton’s biology and culture, and now there’s an unstable form of Kryptonian resurrection.

 

[Gaultheria]

I like how characters are using the name "Kal-El". From Luthor’s point of view, Kal-El doesn’t deserve to be called "Superman", while as far as the Resurrected are concerned human names are unworthy or at least silly-sounding.

 

[The Caped Knight]

So Clark left Smallville as a young Teenager. Martha looked sad in the flashback.

 

[Boy Scout]

THOUGHTS

• I love that Clark is so enthusiastic about the Harvest Festival that he put in OT as Superman so he wouldn't miss it.
• Chrissy is adorable and I'm gonna be really mad if they pull a Felicity and ruin her. Though if they keep writing dialogue for her that includes gems like, "Big Reporter Energy" and "WWLLOD," it may be inevitable.
• It was cool to see Clark getting his Superboy on (as reckless as it was for him to speed away in the middle of a public place) but the actor who played him was awful.
• Clark the Adult: "You need to be careful about exposing our family Jordan!" Clark the Adult: "I should use my super speed in front of several potential witnesses at least twice without bothering to change into my Superman uniform because reasons."
• The super breath effect used to put out the fire was a travesty but the X-Ray Vision looked pretty decent.
• Way to make Lana look completely unsympathetic toward her husband and the fact that his best friend might have sustained permanent lung damage, writers.
• Of course Leslie and Derek are in a relationship. Speaking of the latter: Luthor blew him and Superman out of the sky and neither of them gave a **** or wondered who did it?
• Jonathan is still the best kid. I don't necessarily approve of his actions, but I understand where he's coming from and why he lashed out a bit. That doesn't mean that he shouldn't have faced some consequences, though, and the fact that Clark decided not to punish him without consulting Lois bothered me.
• The Martha Kent tribute? It brought a tear or two to my eye.
• Of course Luthor was married to Lois in his reality.

This was definitely the weakest episode of the season so far, but there was still a lot to like. Can't wait till it comes back from hiatus.

 

[Sithborg]

I do love the Kandor theory. It makes sense. I do wonder if Edge is actually currently Edge, though. If he accidently was taken over by what he found in Sasketchewan. As long as the refrain from bringing in the big Z, should be a fun story. Exception to the big Z is if they bring in Colin Salmon, which I will allow.

Still love the family dynamics. Good to see Jon finally let everything out. Both Hoechlin and Tulloch are able to do angry parents very well. I loved that bit when they found Jon drunk.

 

[LifesEnd]

it seems edge is resurrecting khryptonians somehow. the Derek guy call superman kal el didnt he?

I assumed the crash landing 6 years ago had kryptonian genetic codexes or something but I like the kandor idea.

lot of interesting plotlines though much more than I would have assumed the show would delve into so soon.

also people seem to criticise Lana for going overboard...but it seemed to me there was something more to that..? like I assume Kyle is an alcoholic or has issues with alcohol perhaps. Sarah was pretty intense in her reaction to Jon

 

[SupermanFan]

 

[ChrisLyne]

I love geek Clark and just how much he was nerding out over harvest festival.

Overall I'd say this episode was better than last week but not as good as the first three. I do like that Tag, who appeared to be a Smallville style "freak of the week" last episode was brought back and looks to have a bigger role next episode (and man the wait is gonna kill me). Same for Derek here, he was the villain for the week but his story had already been started back in episode 3 so and is linked to Edge's ongoing plans so it feels more consequential than it did back in the early Smallville days.

Got to agree with Boy Scout though, why didn't Clark suit up and put out the fire? And I know Kyle has issues with drink, but Lana did seem too harsh here given someone we assume is his best friend (they said he was best man at their wedding) is in hospital and might not recover.

It was good to see Jonathan crack for a moment as well. He's been bottling it up for weeks now so it makes sense. And he didn't go totally off the rails and stayed the good kid we know he is at heart.

And I'm with everyone else - totally getting Earth-3 vibes from Captain Luthor. Married to his Lois, his Superman was evil. They're probably going with evil Superman rather than full on Ultraman and Crime Syndicate but it definitely fits. I'm sure he'll ultimately end up working with our Superman to stop Edge's X-Kryptonians before the end of the season. Which is good with me, we still have Cryer if they want to bring in evil Lex in the future (and I really hope we do get that at some point, just not this season).

 

[Dr.]

Got to agree with Boy Scout though, why didn't Clark suit up and put out the fire?

I can’t say for sure… but I think it’s an attempt to rationalize the “plausibility” of the secret identity. I.e., wouldn’t it be very suspicious if Superman was suddenly more present in Smallville starting when Clark Kent moved back home? Thus, given a choice, Clark would do many of his super rescues on the sly. After all, a local citizen showing up at a local emergency would be pretty normal.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I finally caught up on this show and all episodes since the Pilot, and I'm loving it. This episode and the flashbacks were great, but the real fun for me is the Kent family dynamics. Jonathan finally unloading on Clark was a great scene. My only gripe is that Lana's family and her daughter are just buzzkills. That's the only thing that feels very CW-ish about this show.

Loved Lois telling the boys to move faster when she caught Jonathan drunk at the festival. LOL.

 

[ChrisLyne]

I can’t say for sure… but I think it’s an attempt to rationalize the “plausibility” of the secret identity. I.e., wouldn’t it be very suspicious if Superman was suddenly more present in Smallville starting when Clark Kent moved back home? Thus, given a choice, Clark would do many of his super rescues on the sly. After all, a local citizen showing up at a local emergency would be pretty normal.

I can definitely see that angle, but they open the episode saying there's been an increase in Superman activity around the world. I guess for me Superman showing up and putting out the fire would raise less questions than it mysteriously going out. Smaller saves, yeah I can totally see him doing them more on the sly when they wouldn't raise any questions.

 

[Boy Scout]

I can’t say for sure… but I think it’s an attempt to rationalize the “plausibility” of the secret identity. I.e., wouldn’t it be very suspicious if Superman was suddenly more present in Smallville starting when Clark Kent moved back home? Thus, given a choice, Clark would do many of his super rescues on the sly. After all, a local citizen showing up at a local emergency would be pretty normal.

I agree. My problem with Clark not suiting up is that he came to a stop and then sped off again in front of a crowd of witnesses. If he needed time to assess the situation, he should’ve either worn his uniform, flown and hovered far above the building, or went around the back or something.

 

[herolee10]

Spot on.

Honestly, I think they should have cast this guy as the younger version of Tyler's Clark.

They look very alike.

 

[LL2K2]

Or they could have gone with this young fella:

 

[Dark Raven]

Honestly, I think they should have cast this guy as the younger version of Tyler's Clark.

They look very alike.

They look nothing alike.

Are they going to explain how the young Clark they cast had his ears pinned back later? They seem to be sticking out quite a bit.