Trespass

DVD, Smallville (Trespass)

A traditional episode of the series in every sense with paranoid tension levels, a tug of war over Clark's secret and how much who knows what, all topped off with a man in a suit, blood trickling down his face, chasing Lana with a ceremonial axe! It always comes down to Lana being chased in fear of her life and it couldn't be more 'Smallville' than that. In what other ways could this be called traditional? Well, the main one would be that the villain turns out not to be a raving lunatic from outside Lana's world, but a raving lunatic from inside - they say most murders are committed by someone the victim knows so there's some reality in the situation, but whether the security guy (did he even get named?), was a normal person is up for debate as he seemed obsessed with Lana. This has happened many times before and as soon as the two guards were in it for more than one scene I guessed it was going to be one of them. Going by past performance it was always going to be the quiet one that didn't take the limelight and seemed overly professional; the innocent background character. The trouble is, we always know when this is going to happen because of the series' appalling lack of development for minor characters - if someone who's basically an extra gets more than a scene or two and grows in prominence through the course of the episode you can guarantee it's for a reason.

So I guessed the identity of the villain of the piece, but the enjoyment in one of these threatening drama stories is in how Clark will save Lana and the twists and turns of action. It's not that there was a whole lot of action, but the tension bubbles along nicely, the angle of Lana keeping what she thinks is Clark's secret (and is, though so far unconfirmed for her), adding another dimension that appears to put him at risk as much as her. It turns out that the spy didn't take a photo of her because she was holding the bent chisel which Lex stabbed Clark with, that was beside the point - he wanted to fulfil his fantasy of supposedly saving her from the photographer so she'd be undyingly grateful to him. Interestingly, he does speak some truth, Lana has become more like Lex and did used to be a much softer, nicer person. The way the teaser has Lex within a few metres of the door when she runs out of her room is another aspect that piques the interest, suggesting it may have been him watching her. When a disguised voice talks on the phone it always sounds like Lex, and it happens again in this episode. I wonder if they get Michael Rosenbaum to record the lines just to add confusion? In the end it wasn't anything to do with Lex who just happens to have to go away on business at Lana's time of need, leading her to head off to the Kents. This might have been a test from Lex, so no wonder he wasn't thrilled about her choice.

Does Lex know all about Clark's secret? If he doesn't, he's not using the usual cunning and tricks he's shown to use with everyone else, and in the scene at the end in which he comes to Clark's barn, seemingly to cause trouble, I half expected him to admit he knows all about Clark, and it wasn't going to make any difference to him and Lana, but there was no indication of that line of thinking. Seeing the two alone together has become an uncommon occurrence, almost recalling the early days, though now there's definite enmity between them. Despite this, for a few seconds I thought Lex was doing Clark a kindness when he reveals his true reason for coming was to deliver the wedding invitation, but that doesn't last long, and it was only for Lana's benefit he did so, as well as to have a crack at Clark, reminding him (and us, since this is such a different feel of episode compared to the previous one), that he'd kidnapped Lana and dragged her to the barn after threatening his life. The series can veer wildly between the uncharacteristic behaviour of certain people and some well-judged character work as seen in this one - as always, consistency has been the key missing ingredient. At least when there are poor episodes there's a chance they can be followed by better ones as happened with this following 'Crimson.'

The only real mystery of the episode is what happened to the incriminating chisel which is now missing from Lana's drawer. Did Lex take it? I still feel that he secretly knows and is just waiting for the right moment to let Clark know he knows. Who knows? Lionel has been a bit of a mute member of the triangle in recent episodes, but in a way it makes things easier without having to follow his shifting motives too. The negative result is that the 'adult' characters (technically they're all adult now) continue to get short shrift. Why Martha allowed Lana to stay in Clark's bedroom when there could be the possibility of her finding something that would expose Clark, is ridiculous, especially as Lois used to stay in the house so there must be a spare bedroom! It was a lovely moment when she discovers the old ex-Kryptonite-infused necklace of the early seasons, a nod to viewers who had watched from the beginning, without needing any explanation. If Lana eventually chooses Clark over Lex it will be for one reason only, I think: he has a much nicer computer! I ask you, what's the likelihood of a farm boy having a top of the range Mac in his bedroom, while multimillionaire Lex makes do with some rubbish little Dell or whatever laptop it is - maybe after all the damage his office has seen over the years he secretly keeps his favourite Mac in his bedroom and doesn't care so much about the PC downstairs…

The soapy aspects didn't conspire to cloud the issue, in fact creating some good moments, such as Jimmy threatening Clark if he hurts Chloe in any way. It's nice that Clark's recent erratic behaviour hasn't put Jimmy off him - as he says, he thinks Clark's a decent sort (he must have forgotten when he gatecrashed Lex' last episode), and the make up with Chloe didn't last long. I don't now why they bothered with the break up in the first place! The episode retains the good looks of the series, this time with a lot of dark, moody and snowy scenes, which I didn't understand at first, until it became apparent the security guy used the threat of the snowstorm to send the mansion staff home so he could be alone with Lana. Poor Kristin Kreuk was definitely looking older and sounded quite ill in parts of the episode, so maybe being chased around by a madman wasn't her worst trial of the episode.

As always in these scary situations when the prudent thing would be to lock yourself in and phone or call for help, Lana goes off with a knife into dark corners. I felt it would have been more effective if she'd been shipped over to the abandoned wing of the Medical Centre without us seeing the dialogue between security guy and the doc, as then it would have been more frightening. The one moment in the episode that came close to making me jump was when she's in that dark, empty wing, turns and is suddenly caught in the flash of a camera. It was directed really well, pictures cutting with the live action as she flees in panic, the scary, hairy photographer continually capturing her image - it's unnerving because it's unnatural for someone to chase after apparently threatening to kill, but madly just keeps taking photos.

Clark is there to save Lana when she needs him (even finding time to do his chores at regular speed in the episode in case he's caught on camera, something he hasn't had to worry about for a long time), not once, but twice. The room full of medical stands, like a forest of metal in which to catch Lana, was perfect, and this is where Clark comes in, throwing the photographer against a wall with one hand. Okay, assuming Lana can accept that (he's a big lad after all), can she accept that he caught her falling from a roof? When she and security guy fall through the glass I thought it a shame Clark wasn't there to break her fall, but then we see his boots and trousers, an effective reveal that he's caught her. I hoped early in the episode that her finding out of Clark's eternal secret shouldn't be wasted on the balance of a dented chisel, but it's still open for a big revelation which I hope lives up to the importance and gravity of such a long-awaited moment.

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