Crimson

DVD, Smallville S6 (Crimson)

An example of the worst excesses of the series that I had vainly hoped had been left in the past. We've had Halloween- and Christmas-themed episodes and this time it's a Valentine's-themed one. All kinds of things happen, some major revelations come out, but most of the time it doesn't matter that it feels like some weird alternate universe because most of the people that experience the events are either in the know about the cause or, helpfully, don't remember. At first it seemed like it could have promise even though I did groan internally at the template that had been used so many times before. This time it's Lois who comes under the influence of Kryptonite, it just happens to be the red variety, it just happens to be lipstick that makes her fall in love with the first man she sees, and it just happens that Clark strays into vision despite the place being full of other blokes (and that he had already stomped off as if leaving - so he comes back just to wander around a bit before he leaves properly? It doesn't make sense!).

So Lois wears girly clothes and acts all girly and infatuated with Clark and he doesn't immediately suspect something's up? There have been little moments played in recent episodes that suggest that the inevitable Lois and Clark attraction could happen, even on this series where the USP was that the Superman friendships/enmities were not as expected with Lex initially a good mate and Lois finding Clark an idiot while he finds her irritating in return. Once she stopped living on top of the Kent's they became more friendly, but even at this stage it's hard to envision the expected course of events and Clark's destiny to fall for Lois. So there's some fun in that idea, especially as it seemed to be that Clark was going to reveal his true self, which he did. The leap across from one building to another wasn't the best way of him showing off his powers, I felt, and didn't look as good as the first time he did it way back in Season 2. Also, I had no expectations that the writing would be brave enough for Lois to learn Clark's secret at this point and not forget everything in the usual get-out clause, and in a way I was glad the episode didn't go in that direction because it would have been a waste of what should eventually be a defining moment.

Someone who did get closer to discovering Clark's secret was Lana, surprisingly. She's already onto the fact that Chloe's protecting him in some way and he would never tell her, and they leave it hanging when she confronts Chloe about just giving her a confirmation that she's protecting a secret for Clark. So did Chloe answer the question? I thought she was going to say "we all have secrets, Lana" and leave it at that, but we never heard her answer. Lana must be pretty dim not to have put all the pieces together long ago, so the 'shocking' revelation that she's in the possession of the bent screwdriver that Lex tried to stab Clark with isn't the huge twist of anticipation it should be. Maybe if it had been done back in Season 3, but it's been so long that if she didn't suspect anything I worry about her. The more important question is whether Lex realises the screwdriver bent against Clark, though Mrs. Kent arrives, Green Kryptonite in hand in the nick of time to make Clark seem hurt. But it's another of those things that make no sense. Lex should be pressing charges, not pulling a gun, and why would he just leave the barn when Mrs. Kent asks him to? It's all ludicrous.

Red Kryptonite, when used in the right way can be a good source for a story, but too many times it's been Clark revealing his 'true feelings' about people, causing trouble and then trying to explain it all away and apologise. You can get away with doing that once or twice, but they went back to the Red K mine one to many times beyond the ability of anyone to satisfactorily explain his actions away. It's fortunate that most of the guests at Lex and Lana's engagement party were grey-haired old people that looked as if they'd come from hire-a-posh-guest.com - Clark even makes the point (after kidnapping Lana), that she didn't know most of the people there. She didn't seem too impressed with the garishly designed baby room presented by Lex, but it looked more extravagant in a disturbing way, than cute. That she's this prize between them is a bizarre turn of events and I really couldn't care less about who loves who by this time as it's all meaningless.

At least Jimmy's along for the ride, but even he goes uncharacteristically emotional at the end, accusing Chloe of always loving Clark more than him, a fine example of the scenes that permeated the episode with extreme soap sensibilities. It's bad enough that Lex and Lana's 'love' and wedding is dragging on for so long (I don't care by now if they do or don't get married so long as it doesn't take up so much time), but if all the characters are going to be whinging and crying it makes me wonder if the standard set this season is slipping again. I thought that Green Arrow's exit might start a decline and while it's too early to know, this was certainly the low point of the season so far. I suppose I should be grateful that Lionel wasn't around to smooth talk Mrs. Kent, but there was no mention made for why he didn't attend the engagement of his son. Since he's become almost a mentor to Clark this season it's strange he hasn't had scenes like that recently.

Just to remind us that this is a fantasy series and not a teen soap (and I really needed reminding), Lex has a disconcerting conversation with a doctor that checked Lana was okay after Clark's rough handling - it sounds like the pregnancy may be some kind of experiment the way they were talking, which adds a sinister layer to that storyline. Could it be a Kryptonite-infused baby Lex wants to use against the world/for himself? I didn't appreciate the addition of the weird girl who first started the trouble by giving Lois the lipstick. She never got any comeuppance and seemed removed from the story as if she was going to have more to do in the future. Somehow she knows about Clark and Lois' future together (as it should be in Superman lore), so unless she's an avid comic fan she's a bit of an enigma. Could she be from the Phantom Zone, just another freak-of-the-week or something else entirely? Only Jimmy actually meets her, when he gets the antidote to the lipstick. I hope she's not the shape of things to come.

This fell into the same category as the vampires and witches, it was just a crazy story where all this silly stuff happens. With the more intelligent stories of Green Arrow and Clark's missions together so fresh in the memory it's hard to go back to the kinds of story which don't make sense or have much basis in the reality of the series, stretching too far beyond what's credible. And I'm not talking about Red K lipstick or people leaping tall buildings in a single bound! It's the awful soap aspects that strangle the performances and narrow the breadth of story potential along with the lack of continuity with massive resets while continuing detail-heavy storylines. But that's often been the series' problem.

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