Cool

DVD, Smallville S1 (Cool)

The most teen-soapy the series has been so far, and while it's still good, it doesn't pack the punch the first four episodes had. It's really focused hard on Clark's interest in Lana, skirting the bounds of what's acceptable when he invites her to a concert at a time Whitney lets her down - it's funny to think that the whole thing came about because of that, but by the end of the episode she says she's Whitney's girl because he's always there when she needs him, she makes him feel safe. Thus the weakness of Clark comes to the fore for the first of many, many times: no, not his aversion to Kryptonite, but his self-imposed responsibility to step in and use his gifts any time he sees they're needed. He could hardly leave his good friend Chloe to the mercy of an ice vampire, could he? But so many times on the series this pattern would be followed: people would depend on Clark for a frivolous or personal thing, only to be disappointed when he had to fly off, seemingly on a whim, because most of the time they couldn't know about his heroic tendencies for fear of his secret getting out. The secret was really the biggest millstone round his neck, and even as Superman he had something of it as he had to keep his identity secret by fabricating the Clark Kent side. At this stage of his life he's still trying to figure out who he is, let alone put on a persona - he's got charm and an easygoing, pleasant nature, but he hasn't learnt to dissemble effectively.

Lex Luthor on the other hand has had a lifetime's training in such arts from his diabolical Father, so you have to wonder what his true intentions are whenever you see him do something gracious for others. Because that's what he's doing here: he finds out Lana's free (and how much due diligence did he do there - did he find out about the match Whitney and friends were watching, because it was certainly convenient of him to produce a couple of tickets to a concert in Metropolis when Clark could use them?). He is like the big brother he admits he'd like to be to Clark, but he's also leading him into, if not bad ways, morally dubious ones. How would Clark like it if he had a girlfriend who went off with some other bloke to a fancy event in a limousine without telling him? Lana could have played it cool and basically asked Whitney's permission, but then she isn't a slave, she reasonably rationalises it as he's being with his friends and she's being with hers. Of course that would be easier to swallow if there had been at least one other friend along for the ride… It's all a bit uncertain and treading the boundaries, like Sean Kelvin walking out into frozen Crater Lake, and we know what happened there. Ordinarily Clark wouldn't seize the bull by the horns in this way, but Lex's encouragement leads him to it.

Even though Lex' manipulations are benevolent he's still not old and experienced enough to understand people entirely. He thinks that Jonathan will agree to him becoming a partner in the farm in order to secure his family's future, and has a passively hostile tone on occasion, as if this is the only real option the Kent Farm has. This wasn't the way to win over Mr. Kent who's seen others burned too often by the Luthor name to want anything to do with it, even when it seems like the most profitable avenue to explore - in the same way Clark joked about joining a football team and making loads of money from sponsors, Jonathan giving up any part of his family business to a Luthor, even one as straight-talking and grateful as Lex, isn't good sense to him. It makes you wonder how true Lex' motivations are. Is he only trying to repay a debt, or is he seriously trying to overturn Smallville's status quo and bring it back to the glory days with his influence and power, a sign to his Father that he can succeed? It's a bit of both, I think, he needs to prove himself, as much as for his own self-belief, needing to see a betterment of the Luthor name that is reviled by so many, but also he is thankful for a second chance at life now that his wild youth is behind him. It's the attempt at redemption that makes Lex such a compelling character. Only, this time the B-story doesn't have the same emotive impact as others have achieved.

There's plenty to like, with Martha a small voice in Lex' corner, wanting to give him a chance, or seeing Lana and Whitney, not to mention the Kent parents at the Luthor Mansion, but the main story was a little too derivative of 'Hothead' - it's essentially the inverse. Before it was fire, now it's ice. Sean Kelvin (clue's in the name), drowns under the ice where fragments of meteor rock are embedded, and this turns him into a blue freak that needs to suck the warmth out of people to replenish his own body heat. There are lots of analogies and themes to be drawn from this: he's an addict who messes up the lives of everyone he comes into contact with; he's a predator preying on women; the price of immorality… I'm not sure any of them are properly explored, it's more about the shock value, a key part of the series, to be sure, but he's really already a monster before his accident, the new motivation and power only heightens his own, personal flaws. And just like the coach that died in a fiery blaze of his own making, Kelvin is entombed in ice. If you think about it, it doesn't make much sense, since he survived the night in the freezing lake, only to punch his way out, so why would being encased in another freeze him in place? Maybe it was a result of his drawing Clark's warmth, it backfired and the extremes of warm to cold actually killed him? Not that we know he's dead, his fate isn't mentioned, but he looked pretty well done in the last shot.

The CGI is a little more noticeable in this one, not to any great degree, but you can definitely see it - although this wasn't the first episode I ever saw, this is the earliest one that stuck in my memory as it is a simple, visual story with some good looks: the flames that turn to ice worked well, and although you have the usual problem with painting a human face blue (just like the Andorians in its contemporary series 'Enterprise'), as around the eyes and inside the mouth can still be seen as pink areas, suggesting he was actually painted rather than it being colour correction on the image, it's still a 'cool' look. The episode is really the first time Chloe's been on centre stage, and it's a regrettable experience for her, the object of a maniac's fervour, but there are also some of the usual nice references to Superman, such as her joking with Clark about him coming from an ice planet, or saying blue is a good colour on him, or even his parents talking about how he saved them the cost of four part-time hands. Even Lana is the recipient of something like this when he admits that he uses astronomy to escape his life sometimes, wondering what it would be like on a different planet and proving once again that he feels the same things Lana feels. But again, it's not much more satisfactory than the non-date she and Clark go on, there isn't the usual core to the story, it's a little more frivolous, even with the subplot of the Kent Farm's money troubles.

At the same time it still has that level of colour, contrast and community, where the locations feel as if they are part of this town, and a sense of place is important to giving it reality. To sum up, it remains a good episode. I can't fault it particularly for not having quite the same impressive drive and depth, but I can criticise it for seeing the start of the circular 'trust, then be disappointed in Clark' cycle that Lana particularly, and others, would go through on a recurring basis across the seasons. He was never really in danger this time, because although Sean caught him unawares that one time, Clark isn't affected by any meteor rock emanations, it's just the cold, and he's up and about to chuck his enemy around as usual before too long. Lex' meddling adds character, and some of the CGI holds up okay (the pool freezing sequence, for example), but there had to be an episode that was a tiny notch down on the series' high standard, as insignificant a drop as it is.

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