MERCY:
Wow... this episode was better than I was expecting from the trailer, like "one of the top episodes of the season" better.
Scribe Steven DeKnight delivered one of his best episodes to date. Despite my suspension of disbelief getting stretched to the breaking point on Chloe's extremely high level computer hacking skills, I don't think I had a single problem with the writing in this episode. However, even Chloe's computer-hacking superpower can perhaps be forgiven as a necessary (and time saving) contrivance.
The tease was fantastic and the pace throughout the show kept up the tension really well. I loved the scene between Lex and Lionel. It was funny that while Lionel thought Lex was talking in double entendres, Lex was really just talking about Chess.
I also loved the "games" that Lincoln Cole played with Lionel. The tasks that Lionel was given were highly character revealing. Lionel was stripped down, both literally and figuratively, and the Magnificent Bastard became extremely vulnerable for once. Lionel also explained a lot.
Lionel's contradictory and inexplicable actions since the season premiere now make sense, for the most part. He has helped Clark from afar over and over again yet also plotted a hostile takeover of Luthorcorp and tried to sabotage Lex's senatorial campaign. Lionel knowing Clark's secret, trying to protect him and being in love with Martha explains a lot but I don't think it explains everything. Why was he pressuring Jonathan with images of Clark's superhuman heroics? If he wanted to help Clark and cared for Martha, why hurt Jonathan that badly? Hopefully that part of it will be explained later...
I liked the more subtle than usual nods to Superman's future. Martha talking about "truth, justice and the American way" and Clark agreeing that they were "words to live by" was just too cute.
It's fascinating that Lionel has seemingly abandoned Lex in favor of Clark. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. Maybe the rift between the former "best friends" will come in part thanks to Lex's father loving Clark more than Lex.
John Glover was totally awesome in this episode. Lionel went from the height of Magnificent Bastard mode to adept bargainer trying to negotiate his way out of a bad situation to a hopeless wretch to a man totally astounded to have escaped the ordeal alive... What an amazing arc for Lionel to go through and John totally sold it. I'm not sure a lesser actor could have made the changes that Lionel went through believable, but John did.
It's such pleasure to watch him work with Annette O'Toole as well. They're both such charismatic actors. Annette said in a recent interview that she loves to work with John and it shows because their chemistry is amazing. However creepy it might be for Lionel to hook up with Martha, especially given what he's done in the past trying to learn Clark's secret, the way it's being played is fantastic. I can't wait to see where they're going with the storyline.
Speaking of creepy: Lex seemingly has an agenda, but will Lana find out just how bad he really is? I don't think she will discover the truth about Lex this season, after all where would the tension and drama be in that? However, I like what I'm seeing so far. Kristin and Michael have chemistry and their scenes sizzle. It's a more adult relationship for Lana and from how well Kristin is doing with this new storyline that she seems to enjoy playing it. Michael also seems to be having a great time with the new relationship for Lex.
Tom Welling's Clark was very Supermanly in this episode. This was a very Lionel- and Martha-centric episode, so Tom wasn't in it much. However, he made extremely good use of the screen time he did have. I especially loved the final scene where Clark confronted Lionel. Tom perfectly played Clark's growing fury at what he saw as Lionel's manipulation of his mother, culminating in Clark threatening the Magnificent Bastard. It was positively chilling. The way he physically intimidated Lionel and his voice dripped menace was amazing....
Guest star Ian Tracey was perfectly cast as Lincoln Cole. He had a seemingly innocuous appearance yet his voice was so rich... In a role that required the actor to act most of the show with a mask over his face, being able to convey his intent solely with his voice was vital. He did an excellent job.
The episode was beautifully photographed by Barry Donlevy and wonderfully designed by James Philpott. The rooms and elevator where Lincoln put Lionel through the games were all wonderfully creepy and industrial looking. Barry did a great job lighting the sets and locations so that feeling was reinforced. I also loved how Barry filmed the scenes in the monitor. His use of a wide angle lens somehow made the mask-wearing Lincoln seem much more menacing and creepy than he was already was.
I think the only problem I had technically with the show was where Clark broke through the wall before he rescued Martha and Lionel... The way the wall broke and one piece was knocked out perfectly seemed more like something that a cartoon Clark would do in Superman: The Animated Series rather than something Smallville's live action Clark would do. Smallville doesn't usually do cartoonish effects, so that totally broke my suspension of disbelief.
Aside from Chloe's unbelievably good hacking skills and the less than successful Clark-breaking-through-the-wall effect, this episode was close to perfect. It had a great character revealing story that was also exciting and seemed to help the series build up to what I hope will be a huge cliff-hanging season finale.
4.5 falling elevators out of a possible 5