Scion

DVD, Smallville S10 (Scion)

Unruly teenagers aren't a big draw for an episode, and the saving grace in this story in which Clark becomes a surrogate Father figure to Alexander, or Conner as he becomes known, and comes to appreciate his parents for their hard work in bringing him up even more, is that the boy wonder is enrolled in Smallville High and so hopefully won't be a recurring character. The clone Lex storyline has never grabbed me as a good idea, especially as it hasn't been used as a springboard to reunite the series with Michael Rosenbaum, but right from the off I was less than impressed with the idea Tess forces on Clark of him becoming the lad's mentor and teaching him how to use his newfound superpowers - he has Clark's DNA in him, as well as Lex', hence the super strength, speed and hearing - shame Clark forgot about that, I suppose he doesn't have super intelligence to augment his physical powers! It was an even worse idea to keep secrets from this clone, especially as he was behaving in typical teen type that we've seen on the series too many times before, and was never going to understand that you can't make someone love you, especially not with force, the worst way to win anyone round to anything. It was the Red Kryptonite ring that Lionel so foresightedly had ready for him that made him do it, but kidnapping is never going to enamour someone to you. I was waiting for Lois to ask to try on the ring so that it would come off his finger, but she didn't come up with that simple blind.

Lionel is a much less interesting character than 'our' version, although even he became a lot less interesting well before he vacated the series. This one only wants world domination, which I suppose is why Darkseid appears to him at the end, presumably to form an alliance. The story itself had been done too many times and even with the added dimension of Clark playing Dad to a young lad, it wasn't firing on all cylinders. That isn't a new thing, even, stretching right back to Season One's Ryan, and others besides, with Clark always getting on well with children because of his open, almost childlike attitudes himself. If he didn't have the power to stop Conner, however, he wouldn't have made much of a parent, because physical power is only one small weapon in the parental arsenal, and Clark didn't have the authority necessary to keep a tearaway from… tearing away. There are a couple of nice dialogue scenes between Lois and Clark discussing his upbringing of being different, and his parents and such things, which put things into perspective, and it's good that effects are stripped back to allow for these more important moments - the only action sequence was the fight in the burnt out ruins of the Luthor Mansion. I say fight, but it was just the standard throwing match in which I had the feeling Clark was holding back so as not to hurt his young, but errant protege, rather than Conner being in any way superior.

The device of Red Kryptonite has been done to death, there was nothing really new happening, no character to be seen from previous seasons (excluding Lionel who'd already made his mark), and with no Chloe or Oliver, away in Star City, it was lacklustre. The scene where Conner saves Lois from the bullets of Lionel's gun showed the lack of budget, as at one time it would have been a showcase for the special effects of slow-motion, but it all happens from the perspective of realtime so it's not impressive. It's nice that Conner was dealt with and brought back around by the end of the episode instead of dragging on over the course of the final episodes, though he may yet play a part (I hope not). He learnt his lesson and Clark learnt a bit more what it was like for his parents, but there were a number of niggling logic moments that, while common for the series, still stand out. The first being when Clark zooms in to find Tess in his kitchen and she eventually tells him Lex/Conner is in the car, but why wouldn't he have noticed a car outside with him in it? Also, Clark calling the original Lex his best friend is a little much. They had some kind of friendship at points, but best? Conner should have realised Clark was like him by the fact they were both hauling bales around, but is surprised when Clark zips in front of him. And Lionel should have known there were multiple clones of Lex and not been fobbed off with the so-called remains of his son, which he's later informed was another clone. Just a diversion to give them more time before Lionel made a move? Maybe. Even the undoing of alternate Lionel's identity was a little hard to believe - he'd altered all the documents except the one sending Tess to the orphanage and real Lionel's fingerprints are on the document, while his are reversed (does that mean his signature was backwards, too?!).

I'm just slightly nettled that we've had a couple of pretty average episodes in a row, after a patch of good ones, which makes them stand out even more because they've shown they can make it work: there have been a surprisingly high number of hits compared to misses on the season average, and with the remaining episodes to watch dwindling in number you only want good ones from now on, no wasted opportunities, though TV production is a conveyor belt factory, I'd hope the ending of the series would have made them redouble their efforts to go out on a high. It was often the case that a season would have one or two good arcs for around a third each of that season, but then the last would be the weakest. And I was so hoping that improvements would have held to the end, with the quality of the writing compared to previous years and the desire to bring in so many guest faces this year. Lionel just doesn't work as a good villain, I'm not convinced on Darkseid, and Conner is little more than an annoyance. Forget the world, will Clark save the series before it ends on a whimper?

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