Vengeance

DVD, Smallville S5 (Vengeance)

A nice way to end Jonathan Kent's role in the series, waving to camera and saying goodbye in an old home video, even if it was obviously made in the recent snowy weather they'd shown in the episode in which he dies. It was a tribute to Mr. Kent that Clark manages to stop himself from going over the line, the old refrain "we always have a choice, son" ringing in my memory as his most common saying. Clark proves himself, and comes to accept his Father's death, while Martha too is struggling with a whirlwind of circumstances - she's been offered Jonathan's seat as Governor, she's been physically attacked by those ruffians and she's had to listen to the honeyed words of Lionel, quick to step in after Lex threatens to tell her that he had a meeting with her husband just before he died.

I suspect he would have waited a bit longer before coming to see her as we knew he would, if it hadn't been for Lex. Unfortunately Lex has used the information in his own favour rather than coming to Clark or Martha with it, but then Clark's refusing to see him, he claims, so perhaps if Clark had been willing to speak to him he'd have found out. Not that it would change much, but at least it would stop Martha from being charmed by the monster. So often throughout the series and before, Lionel and the Kent's had bad blood between them, but as Lionel intimates, it was between him and Jonathan, Martha's a different case entirely! Trouble is she's always been a bit soft when it comes to him, being easily touched by his plights (such as going blind) and secretly flattered by his attentions.

The Angel of Vengeance, as christened by Chloe, may have been an actual comic book character (I wouldn't call her a hero, as she's not much of a good gal), but as I don't know about comics she was new to me. There were a few good gags about Clark one day pretending to be a mild-mannered reporter while leading a double life as crime-fighter, and the way they dealt with Jonathan's absence was appreciated, as I wouldn't have liked them to gloss over it and get back to whatever else they were going to do. The action wasn't that impressive, mostly people being chucked into fences, and Clark doesn't seem too squeamish about who sees his powers at the moment - he dashes forward to save Lionel who may not have realised how far he was away, or he may already know about Clark's specials, we don't know, and he whips that goon's phone out of his hand. Neither does he hide his powers or weakness to the Angel - never wise to let someone you've just met in on how to defeat you! And Lana does a grand thing for Clark, scouring the pawn shops for his Dad's watch, what a nice effort. She's drawn back to Clark thanks to the tragedy, taking on the role of looking after him, so the death may have helped Clark in some ways.

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