Kent

DVD, Smallville S10 (Kent)

Oh my, another good one, and what a relief! From the opening salvo of mirror box memories of the dark side, I thought this was going to be a stinker, but they pulled another success out of the bag despite the potentially dull idea of Clark and his alternate universe double, Clark Luthor (or Ultraman as he became known to the unhappy denizens of his benighted world), swapping universes. But instead of being about a race to save Clark or to send his doppelganger back to where he belongs, with the inevitable punching match, the story takes a different route to remind us who put the Kent in Clark Kent. Of course it was Jonathan, the biggest single influence on Clark's life, and with the sight of John Schneider's name as Special Guest Star billing my initial scepticism of bad Clark's inclusion in the story, while not evaporating, sent a flutter of joy and hope into the episode's potential. It's not like we haven't seen old Pa Kent since he died a few seasons ago, but his cameos have tended to be short, sweet and to the point, as befits a death that has so much meaning for the main character - if he could come back every week then it would retroactively show that his loss was no real loss at all. Instead, with sparing use of flashbacks, visions or memories, who knows what else, his presence hasn't been lost, but neither has it been strong enough to prevent Clark from moving on into his manhood as an individual (though they seemed to be setting up his nemesis' plan by mentioning Gold Kryptonite can strip his powers forever, something Lionel must know). Now he gets to do something of the same thing for another Jonathan Kent in the alternate world (I just had a thought: if they brought Lionel over to our world, would they dare do the same for Jonathan before the end or would that be a step too far?).

The symmetry is lovely, the themes presented and accomplished well, and there is threat from bad Clark that feels threatening, instead of a mad plan to rule the world or go round killing and stealing with abandon as he apparently did in the Ultraman world, his new tactic is to be more subtle and keep a low profile (except for talking in an archaic way with a sinister expression on his face - so much so that Tess notices and asks if he's been watching too much BBC! I don't know if BBC America's output is especially olde worlde, or whether Americans have a stereotyped view of it, but as much fun as it is to hear my country's main TV channel mentioned, it's also strange to hear it considered so as I don't remember much precise language and received pronunciation in recent years, if that's the idea!). He only had to cause the problems of an entire other world to come to this conclusion, but the fact that the entire human race of that planet are armed with pitchforks against his Frankenstein's monster (read: ready with sticks of Kryptonite to flare in his face at a moment's notice), must have given him at least a little pause for thought. He mistakenly believes Tess is as broken and weak as his version was, and will do what he says, but although the desire to remove his Lionel from our world is extremely tempting, she won't back Clark Luthor's murder play, even acting against him to protect her 'Father,' despite despising him and knowing he isn't her Lionel, so she had ample excuses to back up the action if she hadn't changed from the Tess we used to know. So much so that Dr. Emil, on the scene to reconstruct the mirror box from our world that Clark thought destroyed, is impressed with her choice, as he notes at the end.

I was thinking the point of sending Clark to the mirror world was purely to remove him from being able to take on his evil self, and who knows if he'd be trapped there for episodes while the double inveigled his way into the life he left behind until finally being discovered. But as it turned out that didn't take very long at all, just a bit of wanton, casual, if minor, lack of care for a telescope and Lois saw things weren't right. More importantly, Clark has something worthwhile to do in this parallel world which is colourless except, neatly, for the garishly glowing green meteor rock. Parallels abound, slightly altered or twisted: the Luthor Mansion, ravaged by fire in our world, is reflected in the hollow, all but abandoned shell of the Kent Farm. Jonathan is embittered and alone, trapped in a past in which he became a failure without Clark there to give him something to help him and keep him going, a son to raise with the right values. While in our world mirror son Clark hunts for mirror Dad Lionel in order to kill him. It's striking, as is Schneider's effortless ability to slip right back into the character he played for several years, yet not that man, another. Clark gets through to him and gives him a goal once more, and he changes, even in the space of this episode, from the raging man that disrupts Oliver Queen's funeral, to one that turns up at Martha's door to try and mend the past and create a future (Clark Luthor had killed Queen, who was the cause of Jonathan's misery, buying up all his land, so you'd think he'd automatically be on evil Clark's side thanks to this, but perhaps it was a case of him being unable to exact his own revenge, and he wasn't so different from our Jonathan who had a temper himself).

A way the episode could have been improved, and a sign of its limitations, was Martha's non-appearance. She'd already played a prominent role in a previous story this season, and Jonathan got to be the returning character, keeping up the season's excellent tradition of bringing back someone old for almost every new episode. Yet there was a hole there without her, for two reasons: I needed to see her welcome mirror Jonathan when he rings her bell, although it was fine as they left it, but the key thing was in the handling of the Kent Farm. As an early wedding present she sends it to Clark and Lois, the first evidence the episode presents that it's going to be a heartfelt and meaningful episode. For such a major turning point I felt it was necessary for Martha to be there and give her son the deed in person as it was a little detached without her. It was still a big deal, however, as the farm has been there through thick and thin, bad stories and good, and rarely has it been anything but a beautiful locale, a root, an anchor to return to, full of memories. That Clark would even consider selling it is a big step for both the series and character, because it is his identity (I'm sure I've seen the actress that played Marge Manners, the realtor, before). These things had special resonance for me: the attachment to the family home, his need to move on from it to accept a new life, the reminder that buildings aren't as important as the people in them. It's powerful stuff and strongly written. It seemed for most of the episode that it wouldn't really happen, that the permanently sun-drenched idyll would always be there, but it is perhaps a reminder that not only will that pass out of our sight, but the series itself is closing down and will no longer be there for much longer.

It's a bittersweet sadness, and so is Clark's encounter with Jonathan where he's ripped away by the rescue attempt before he's fully finished saying his goodbyes. But then he couldn't stay there, he'd had the impact on Jonathan that was needed, and as he said, he didn't need things to remember the past as he stood on the porch of the farm wearing his Father's old coat. He has some wise words, both for Jonathan and for himself (both versions), examining the idea of holding onto the things that used to protect him; his home; his parents, afraid if he let them all go he'd lose himself. But as he told Jonathan, better to risk everything than hold onto nothing, as Jonathan himself admitted he'd become, "An obsessed man hanging onto a place as if memories could make up a lifetime." Reminded it's not the place, but the people in it. Even the apparently evil Clark, (maybe more lost and starved of options through his actions), indulged, and never having considered living in harmony with those that hate him, yes, even he has a chance at redemption thanks to the goodness of Clark Kent stemming from the upbringing his parents gave him. It seemed like the Fortress of Solitude was able to somehow send him back to his world where for the first time he approaches his real Father, Jor-El ready to teach him as he taught our Clark. He may not have been as good an influence as Jonathan, but he's a whole lot better than Lionel, as evidenced by the entire world turning against him! All it took was one man, his other self, to believe in him, for the first step to be taken: a complete failure it seemed like he had nowhere to go, but Clark told him you don't need to be defined by your past, you can choose a different future, ending the episode on a positive, cementing the hope and optimism the series can do so well when it embraces the legacy of Superman.

***