Traveller

DVD, Smallville S7 (Traveller)

It says something about the characterisation of Lionel that even after all the evil acts he's committed over the course of the series and prior to it, the belief in his current state as Clark's most powerful ally made me doubt the apparent evil intentions that kidnapping Clark painted. Because he's been this person to stand by Clark's side, and I've never been able to understand it fully after who he used to be and with so many of the decisions he's taken for the good of Clark. For a long time I distrusted him, but I'd got to a point where I saw things his way, he was always plausible, even caught on the hop (as he was at the end of this episode). He must have kidnapped Clark to protect him, to prevent his 'enemies' from getting to him, whoever those enemies were. It didn't help his case that he hired Mr. Former 33.1 Security as his main man, but that actually made him look better in the light of the guy's hatred of all meteor freaks and that he relished torturing them and wanted them all dead, against Lionel's orders. But Lionel ends up killing him, as he tends to do with people that take part in his plans. They can't talk. And the 'enemy'? Turns out it was Patricia Swann, Dr. Virgil's daughter!

Not only do we get to meet the daughter of Christopher Reeve's great character (and she actually looks a little like him - same chin or something?), but it's also revealed that Swann was in cahoots with the Luthors when his daughter was a child! Not only that, but there was a group of four rich families, the Luthors, the Swanns, the Teagues (who ended up dead in Season 4), and the Queens. So Olly Queen has that connection in a way, and they all apparently knew of the impending arrival of a traveller from the stars. It isn't explained how all these people knew these things, or why Swann was happy to work with such people as the Luthors and Teagues (I can't believe they changed that much since then), and if it's all tied up with some kind of astrology or something, then it will have been a very weak retcon. Otherwise it's a brilliantly conceived backstory that does well in connecting many of the dots of characters we've known, or known about.

Patricia was a likeable character, she had an honest face as if she was like her Father, so Lionel's apparent attempt to 'save' Clark by getting all the paperwork on Veritas (the secret society formed to watch for the Traveller), looks shadier and shadier, especially as we can easily believe Patricia's assertion of the evidence of his implication in the murders of its members. But it's Lex that has her killed, all for the precious locket she wore, though whether that had any special significance beyond confirming who had had her murdered, I'm uncertain. I was looking forward to Clark getting to know her and having another ally, unlooked for. Or she may have proven to be another dangerous association that we'd never be one hundred percent certain he should trust, though there was never a hint of her being anything more than a good person hoping to continue her Father's work. But we never got that chance, and seeing her killed hurt the episode, for me. She was a character worth exploring.

I though they'd probably leave Clark's confronting of Lionel for another episode, but true to the energetic and no-punches-pulled style of the episode, they cut right to it near the end. It doesn't turn into anything spectacular, but it is a major change to have Clark no longer trusting in Lionel any more. As with Lex, they've had their ups and downs, but Lionel's always talked his way back into Clark's good graces or done something that proves his good nature. This time his panted out explanation fails to convince the last son of Krypton any more than it does us: he supposedly built the highly impregnable facility with its Kryptonite-barred cage in case any other of Clark's people came. He needed the Veritas information to prevent anyone else from using it against Clark (how can you be sure of that in these days of easily copyable documents and infinite digital storage space?). All Clark knows is that Lionel was revealed behind the broken screen of his prison, that he killed the one man who might have testified, and that the suspicion that he wanted Clark to himself rather than share him with anyone else has been the only thing giving Lionel reason to help. The same could be said for his plans against Lex - does he really care about his sons devastating potential for destruction, or about preserving things his way?

With the seeds of doubt fully grown thanks to Patricia's words how can Clark ever return to the safety of Lionel's broad wings? At least he can count on the friends he's always had: to save Clark, Chloe and Lana must first save Kara from Lex. They couldn't know how close it was to Lex trying out his procedure on her and probably finding out every Kent family secret worth knowing, but it was a tense and frantic moment when the Luthor mansion is infiltrated and they plead with Kara to leave with them. I wanted that mansion under siege to go on longer, as well as seeing the escape, but we can't have everything. There was something about the episode that helped it turn into one of the best episodes of the season - a confident and solidly active story where things don't stand still and revelations and questions flood your mind. It brings to mind the style of the Bourne films with that connection to the characters and their narrative (even features a hero who's lost her memory!), and beats along, the music, the camerawork, everything keeping the episode breathing fast.

It begins like that, with a good opening sequence in which Clark's barn becomes a brawling pit for special forces types in black, shooting their Kryptonite infused taser weapons which looked both visually stunning and also had the virtue of being a logical and alluring weapon that takes us to the next stage of weaponry against those with superior meteor-induced abilities. You're left bewildered as to who could be behind it - has Lex finally worked out what Clark is, could it be the government, or is some other evil force at work? It's surprising when we find out that Lionel's behind it, but as I said, I believed in his best intentions even then. Amidst such pulse-pounding danger and mounting intrigue, there were a few moments of beauty that kept the series true to its visual identity of bright colours and optimistic nature. When Kara receives her powers and memory back at the Fortress after Chloe's taken her there, she's lifted, glowing into the sky. And the Kent farm looks as bright and happy as ever (except in the teaser when the barn is inexplicably dark and sinister). There's even another hint towards the man the Traveller, Clark, will become, and this time he doesn't frown at the thought of it when Patricia tells him she hopes to see it one day. Sadly she'd never get the chance.

No Jimmy or Lois in the story doesn't hurt it in the least, there was far too much going on, and in the secret realm that those characters haven't been initiated into yet. There was more than enough to concentrate on without them having to be worked in somehow. I wonder if the Veritas sign is connected to the mystery in Lex' family crest or stained glass window? It seems certain that the organisation will become more important from now on, even considering they're all deceased. Can it be right that Lionel had a hand in the deaths of Oliver's parents? That would make this Green Arrow a part of the 'Smallville' world, distinct from his 'true' backstory since Lionel was a creation of this series. With next episode's title the actual name of the secret society I anticipate developments with interest. They finally gave Kara her character back, and I'm glad it happened in a story where that part of it was essential, but also wasn't the main part of the story. They really packed it in this time, as if it was a second launching point for the season. I just wish it was like this every week!

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