Turbulence

DVD, Smallville S8 (Turbulence)

What started as a bitty episode turned into something a little more interesting by the end, but it still wasn't the most complete episode to enjoy, dipping deeply into super-soap territory and predicating much of its heart on the notion that you care about Chloe and Jimmy being married, which I don't. I must admit, I didn't expect things to become quite as open and 'normal' for some of these characters after recent events, but that's always the way: although Tess Mercer could still be a villainess, she looked different, not just her attitude since decrying Lex recently. Could it all just be a plot of his that involves her and this is a way to get Clark to admit his secret identity to her? Then again, if she really were in with Lex (I'm assuming he's not dead, that's a pretty safe bet!), she wouldn't need Clark to tell her, since Lex knew his secrets. As soon as something went wrong in Oliver Queen's private jet (I was thinking as Clark said how nice it was of Oliver to let her borrow it, 'how nice of the prop department to let you use it'), I immediately suspected foul play on Mercer's part, because her new leaf may well be genuine, but it's far more likely she's still out for power for herself, and even good people have wanted to test their theory of Clark's abilities (see 'Superman II' for Lois Lane's attempt), something Superman has always had to put up with.

I'm never really clear on how he could leap out of a plane and land with another person still alive. Clark, yes, but surely Tess wouldn't survive the impact no matter how well Clark cushioned the fall! I get it, we have to use our imagination on that score, and it was a good moment, if overly obvious. Apart from nefarious motives I'm not sure why Mercer needs to know his secret and is willing to go to such crazy lengths to find out - it was confirmed it was all planned because we see her paying off the captain of the plane at the end, not that there was any doubt. Though the situation was phoney, was her story of a tough childhood in which her Father injured her many times, the truth? Or was that similarly fabricated to try and get Clark to spill the beans on his innermost secret? The charm offensive didn't entirely work, but it has put her in Clark's good books (to Chloe's dismay), which is probably what she wanted, a secondary objective achieved. Don't trust her, despite working closely with Queen…

Oliver didn't make an appearance this time, but after a long absence, Jimmy did, and it was quite an impact, going a bit crazy (and not in the medically induced way Davis was suggesting) - I almost wondered if he was going to take all the pills at the end and drive over some cliff or other, the way he was so full of rage. This was where the super-soap returned in full force, with Chloe feeling guilty over Jimmy's injuries from Doomsday at the wedding, and finding some comfort in Davis in full view of Jimmy's hospital room. Not a wise thing to do, whatever innocent motives she had, though of course Davis took full advantage. I was just waiting for the camera to show Jimmy watching from a window, and predictably, it did. It's annoying that Davis doesn't turn into Doomsday when Chloe's there, as that would bring her memory back, I expect, or at the least give her reason not to trust him. I think we're still supposed to feel a little sorry for Davis because it's a problem that he's having to deal with, not just his own personal motives. I suppose we should be grateful he didn't kill Jimmy, but that would have put Chloe forever out of reach, and alienated most of the viewers - it's all very much aimed at teenage girls over gaining sympathy for the blokes and arguing their motives, which only emphasises the soap aspects. It's also kind of strange how Chloe, Jimmy and Davis' storyline was so separate from Clark's.

Clark, apart from having to rescue Mercer, has quite a nice time of it, having fully accepted his dual identity as the Red-Blue Blur (even going so far as changing in the Daily Planet's phone boxes, and having a link to police channels so he can dash off - he's practically Superman now!), making sure he spreads hope and inspiration to the population by slowing down enough for speed cameras to register the blur. Meanwhile, and I suppose in opposition to the positive impact Clark makes on the city, Davis has become this creature of the night, taking out his lust for death and destruction by couching it in some kind of loose moral framework: he goes out to catch criminals or those that have done wrong, and offs them. It was a bit much of Jimmy to knock the man out with a metal bar and handcuff him to a fence, but I admire his forethought. It just didn't work out because Chloe zapped him with a taser, so it's no wonder Jimmy was sore at her! I liked the episode better than when I started watching it, but not really enough that I could say it worked. It sets up more angst and jealousy, which never works in this series, though they kept plugging away at it, even if the end montage was well done. The episode's incidental music stood out for me as threatening and interesting, but if you're concentrating on those kind of details maybe the story wasn't a strong one. No surprise that they couldn't successfully follow such a good one as previous episode.

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