Mortal

DVD, Smallville S5 (Mortal)

It's super deja vu time: Jonathan exists to be thrown against walls, Martha exists to look worried when Jonathan gets thrown against walls, Lana and Clark are best buddies, Chloe's probably still a bit jealous, but manages to curb it knowing she knows something Lana doesn't know, Lex does some dastardly plotting then goes all 'make up, make up, never, never break up' on Clark at the end, and some meteor freaks cause trouble. I liked that Clark is considered something of a legend by the inmates of Belle Reve with the plethora of rumours going around in there, but we didn't get to see any of the former foes. That would have made it even more obvious than it already was that they'd already done the storyline about inmates ganging up to get their own back on Clark, before. They'd also done the one where Lex tests Clark secretly and the one where Clark loses his powers and experiences normal life, and even the one where characters are caught up in a hostage situation. I'm beginning to wonder if the writers have the ability to come up with new ideas consistently.

Chloe gets to go on her first mission with Clark, ironically now he's no longer 'super', but even then there were niggling bits of dialogue, such as when Clark is shown the contents of her boot, full of gadgets and tools (off ebay!) and wonders why she didn't tell him about them. It's all a rather clunky way of pointing out the flash grenade that will later prove useful, but done in an unnatural way. Chloe claims everyone has their secrets, but a boot full of tools isn't much of a secret and why would Clark want to know such deep, dark 'mysteries' anyway? Amid the rubbish version of 'Mission: Impossible' there is some good interaction between them such as Chloe noting that she didn't realise super-whining was one of Clark's superpowers when he's finding the going tough! The best bit is when she learns in a throwaway line that Clark told Pete about his powers and that he got to see his spaceship! Brilliant stuff.

I'm a bit confused about Level 3. It used to be a place at the LuthorCorp plant that the 'Jitters' guy exposed, and it's at the plant this time, but last season Lex took Mxyzptlk to some high-rise in Metropolis accessed by a lift and I thought that had been designated Level 3. Maybe they're both Level 3, or perhaps the plant location was all part of the set-up to test Clark. I was surprised and gratified they didn't take an easy way out to get Clark's powers back - I had suspicions he'd fall into a vat of Kryptonite or something and it would magically restore him to his former glory, so at least they didn't take an easy route.

I will say that I loved the barn-raising opening, and it's those realistic scenes of small town life that got lost in the last few seasons. The town doesn't have any recurring faces any more, and has very little character itself because of that. About the only recurring face still in the series is Sheriff Adams. I was again pleasantly surprised by her as I thought she'd lost her sharpness and her nose for trouble (and what a sharp nose it is!) as she sped up to the Kent house then was happy to stop for a coffee before walking calmly out, but she proved me wrong - she'd clocked the unwanted visitors and my faith in her meddling ways was restored. I must say it did look suspicious just Mr. Kent and Lana alone in the house and looking so shifty...

Lionel's situational similarity to the late Dr. Walden is increased when we see him in the same cell as the Doc, his eyes still whited out. The only difference is he doesn't burble 'the day is coming' over and over. It transpires Lex' visit to his old Dad isn't the only reason he has for being there. His stumble against the electric freak which frees him and his bald, twin associates was too cheap for it to be true, but I didn't get that it was purposeful at the time, I just assumed it was the general lack of consistency I've come to accept in the series. And I would say that has continued with the first episode being pretty good, and this one being a return to (bad) form. I always hope for better.

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