Nemesis

DVD, Smallville S6 (Nemesis)

"A lot has happened" - an understatement, to say the least from Martha Kent, in an episode in which she doesn't have a lot of wisdom to impart. It was just that and the bit admitting she doesn't trust Lionel that made sense. That Clark would never give up on anyone was clearly not true as he's been at loggerheads with Lex for a good few episodes, and her belief that no one can change completely was rather a despairing point of view, unworthy of her. Interesting that the events of this episode force Clark to wonder if he's partly to blame for Lex' slide into the dark side, but you'd have to go through the entirety of the series and weigh up how often it was through his own choices and how many times Clark did something that affected him negatively. It isn't Clark's fault, it's Lionel's parenting and ultimately Lex makes his own decisions and is responsible for them. At a time when the characters seem to have become polarised it's really strange to have a story like this which throws doubt into Clark's mind.

Yes, it was a good moment when Lex returns to save his former friend's life, and yes, it was a good moment when Clark talks to Martha about seeing a glimpse of his old friend for a moment, but it's the same thing they did with the Clark and Lana storyline: over the years they kept having to bring it full circle to the 'beginning' again to sustain the story. It became repetitious, boring and fundamentally annoying. They couldn't do the same thing with the Clark and Lex friendship because it's been a steady decline over the seasons - Lex continues to perform more dastardly deeds and Clark got to the point of open hostility with him. Maybe if we were fooled into thinking Lex really wanted to change, the storyline might have mileage, but it's right back to his experiments at the end of the episode, and he refuses to tell Lana she was never pregnant. He once was a sympathetic character ripe for redemption, as portrayed in the first couple of seasons, but soon lost that compelling angle and became pretty two-dimensional as a character, and nothing would make us believe he truly regrets the choices he's made in recent seasons, he's gone too far. It didn't help that Lionel also lost a lot of mystery, and while he's regained some of that with the motive of apparently protecting Clark from Lex, neither of them ever recovered from being stripped down to basics.

It's not that this is a bad episode, the only reason it gets a low mark is because it's not enjoyable to watch. It's so full of machinations, good people making threats or taking bad positions and a general aura of negativity that the potentially fascinating developments can't render the episode a good watch. It did start out poorly with a completely unknown enemy of Lex kidnapping him and holding him hostage. I know Lex has many enemies but the number of times this has happened to him it's become a running joke rather than something to take seriously! She didn't have any depth or the believability factor - if she was such a psycho as to be kicked out of the army or bomb squad or whatever I doubt anyone would have married her. She seemed to be willing to die for no reason and yet had somehow got all the equipment together to rig up explosives throughout these tunnels that no one knew about. Maybe Lionel tipped her off about Project Ares, or the location of the tunnel, not realising the lengths she'd go to. He certainly didn't mind hanging around in them until Lex bumped into him. So Mrs. Keenan (I think that was her name) got no credibility from me, she was purely a device to get Lex and Clark trapped together.

It was a good time to clear the air, a bit like the Season 2 opener when Jonathan Kent was trapped with the reporter Roger Nixon and they came to a bit of an understanding - it ended the same way too, with Lex not holding back on his experiments despite seeming to mend some bridges a bit with Clark. They both saved each other's lives, and some things were cleared up. It was a shame something like the chisel or screwdriver that Lex attacked him with a few episodes ago was brought up and explained away so perfunctorily. Lex just mentions that he noticed the blade was concertinaed and Clark sort of brushes it off. They discuss his 'secret' in basic terms but there's no confiding his true nature (nor could I imagine there being), so it's difficult to tell how much Lex really knows, or thinks he knows, or would admit to thinking he knows! He knows about powers and Clark talks about his exploitation of those who have them, but he never asks Clark outright if he's gifted and they move on. I get that the implement was really for Lana's benefit, but the question of whether Lex knew or not could have been fulfilled much more strongly.

The other major reveal is Lionel's claim to Lana that he forced her to wed Lex, on pain of Clark's death, to protect Clark! It's a beautifully crafted get-out clause - before his position seemed to be that he was on Lex' side, after such a threat against Clark, yet they still didn't openly discuss Clark. Here we learn that he's still trying to protect Clark (and maybe the world), from his son in the most twisted way that only he would conjure up: threaten Lana so she'd marry Lex and thus stay close to him. So she's been a pawn yet again. If there's any manipulating to be done she's looking increasingly like the girl to do it, assuming the mantle of Luthorship wholeheartedly. She takes the briefcase from the police and they allow her to walk all over them on a little technicality; she considers killing Lionel until he gets his story out about being Clark's guardian angel; and she flashes her eyelashes on maximum angelic factor when ramming home the guilt at Lex, knowing full well she never had a baby (not to mention delaying passing on her info on the tunnels until she heard Clark was down there). She's quite scary in a way and it's sad to see such a nice person reduced to a cunning, almost evil persona, even for the right reasons.

That wasn't the only depressing thing, as Chloe also suggests she wouldn't mind if Lex died in the tunnels. This isn't a surprise considering he threatened her last episode and all that he did to her Mum, but it's a sign of how far things have come, so for Clark to even think he could ever be friends with Lex again is monumentally stupid. He and Chloe declared war on the guy last episode and now they're saving each other's lives. It was at least a positive sentiment that Clark can't choose who he saves, which has come up before. Okay, so there's not the happiest of endings, Lex seeing Lana go to Clark rather than come looking for him, plus he must work out that she uncovered the location of the tunnels and he only needs to talk to the officers to find out how long she was in possession of the details before she acted. There seemed to be real guilt on his face when she was going on about the baby and it's complications, but it's hard to believe he ever feels any guilt with all that he's done and it will turn out for the worse when he finds even Lana has betrayed him and has been playing him.

There were other niggles I noticed, such as why the bomb squad and all those authorities didn't just send Chloe away rather than standing around answering her questions so good-naturedly, or why Lana doesn't think about being seen by CCTV when shooting the briefcase's lock off at the mansion. Lex returning to crowbar the fallen rubble off of the trapped Clark (who once again inadvertently 'proves' he has no special powers because he couldn't escape - unless Lex realises his weakness is Kryptonite), was a surprise and I really thought he'd left him and that it would be down to Chloe and Lana to effect the rescue. Now you can never be sure if the intentions of Lex were honourable in a moment of regression to his former self, or whether he needs Clark alive and cynically did the best thing for himself? And that's what helps to make the episode uncomfortable to watch. I don't know why they went for the over-exposed visuals again like in 'Combat,' but perhaps it was to make the polystyrene rocks look real, which it did and certainly gave a different visual style to the underground scenes. I miss the warmth this series once had.

**