Recruit

DVD, Smallville S4 (Recruit)

Lois' flamboyant character, willing to enage in things that Clark would consider a little out of the realms of correct behaviour (say, drinking some football lads under the table), is well known, but the drinking scenes still sat uncomfortably in a series aimed at teenagers - as usual the scenes are full of bravado and contemporary music, but although it does make the participants out to be foolish, the 'accident' on Cooper has nothing to do with alcohol and any message of the negative impact of drinking irresponsibly is lost in the ensuing plot. Just an observation.

The story played out quite conventionally and I guessed early on that the friendly guy that everyone thought was great was going to be the bad guy. The infrastructure pointed to Clark seeing underneath the sheen of wealth and adoration and discovering the evils of winning at all costs (something that was covered more effectively in Season One's 'Heat') and though I didn't see him giving up football entirely, I sensed he was going to uncover underhanded tactics and the 'reality' of such a commercial sport - fast cars, lots of girls and parties and stuff (if the creepy welcome was anything to go by - that was more like some kind of weird nightmare!), but at the expense of being true to himself.

So no surprises, but the other storylines moved along a bit too, Chloe finding it hard not to let on she knows about Clark's powers, but not being able to stop herself from letting slip the occasional odd comment! At least she now has the advantage of knowing who to turn to or where Clark might be in a given situation, and that must give her a great deal of satisfaction; being the one in the know, even if she can't share it with Clark. It seems like it will only be a matter of time before she lets slip something that will give it away to him. There are downsides to this knowledge because she may need something done or see something that happens that Clark didn't stop or won't get involved in for whatever reason, and I can see her getting upset with him for not being there. She sees him in his true light, but he doesn't know that so he'd become confused if she were dissatisfied with his conduct, while on the other hand she can't explain why she's so proud of him (as she was when he gave up the football scholarship), so she's in an unfortunate position that isn't going to be a bed of roses, I feel.

The other storyline of Lex' involvement in the affairs of Lana and Jason is incongruous with the rest of the episode, like a separate one or even one of another series! Can we trust Lex now? Photos can be doctored and it isn't clear whether he's doing all this to help Mrs. Teague or, as he claims, for Lana's protection, or (most likely) his own interests somewhere along the line. Another worrying uncertainty is that we haven't heard from Lionel for a few episodes now.

Halfway through the series and things have built up to something, but it's a hazy destination and I'm not sure where Chloe's knowledge will take her, what will happen to Jason (and if he is Doomsday or that's just my imagination), and what all this silly witch stuff is leading to. I have to say that the season so far has been significantly better than Season Three, but hasn't been consistent and still hasn't managed to hit the heights of One and Two. But I like the change of direction Clark's taken, being big enough to give up football and leaving himself open to take a more important role that others believe is his destiny.

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