Jitters

DVD, Smallville S1 (Jitters)

It was a powerful silence the episode ended with, after Lionel Luthor hugs his son coldly for the PR shots and all Lex can see is the loving family of Clark, Jonathan and Martha, genuinely joyful with each other. Usually they end with the music continuing, but they wisely chose to let that image hang there after the fade to black. Evidence of another of the best episodes of the season, and setup for the kind of deceit we'd expect from the Luthor name, but not the family member we'd expect: Lex is actually very helpful, brave and if not resourceful, willing to go along with what his new resolve allows. In this case, he takes the initiative when his Father fails to say what meteor sufferer Earl Jenkins needs to hear, Lex goes in to negotiate the release of the school party, including Clark and his friends, in exchange for showing Earl the mysterious, disappearing 'Level 3' of the LuthorCorp plant, which he believes is a figment of this ill man's mind. Not only that, but when they all come out of safely, he puts his Father on the spot in front of the media to ensure Earl gets the best medical attention money can buy, much to Lionel's surprise. There's still a big element of wondering if Lex' motivations for doing the right thing are part of his efforts to show who he can be to his Father, or whether they're genuine. It certainly seemed that he was willing to take full responsibility and cement his place as a good guy in the eyes of the community by risking his life to get those students out, but it could equally be interpreted as him showing up his Dad. It really doesn't matter what the true motivating factor was, the important thing is that he did it.

He wouldn't have got out of there if it hadn't been for Clark, who once again saves his life by 'finding' superhuman strength to lift not just Earl, but Lex dangling off the big man's legs! Fortunately it really was an effort for him as Earl's meteor infection was making Clark sick, so he didn't need to act the strain, even though it would have been tough enough for an ordinary mortal to pull Earl up on his own, let alone the weight of two men! I wonder if Lex subsequently had the gantry shipped off to a secret lab to train spotlights on it so he can wander around it pondering how Clark could have done it… In truth, I don't think 'Level 3' came into it again, and it was clearly all Lionel's project. I'm not even sure Gabe Sullivan, Chloe's Dad, who I think headed the plant, or was at least fairly high up, knew anything about it. At least you don't get the idea that someone who can make so many poor jokes in front of high school students would be good at being part of a super secret operation that even Lex was kept in the dark about. Plus I'd like to think he wasn't involved since he's a likeable chap, even though we don't see much of him. He's one of those people in the Smallville community who popped up occasionally, but he was never used enough, I felt. There was some other Level Something-or-Other business in metropolis in later seasons, but again, it never came to much. Here, it was still early days and it seemed really exciting to think Lionel was carrying out dastardly experiments with meteor rock, and added another layer to the series' depth.

The episode in itself felt bigger in scale, with our first visit to Metropolis for the Kents' trip, part of the well-judged humour injected into the episode when Clark tries to have a party when his parents are away, which quickly gets way out of hand, in spite of a kind gesture to help it be a success from the mind of Lex Luthor when he arranges for a firework display - he's a thoughtful guy! Some of the best effects work is in this humorous section of the episode as Clark has to find a bowl for a sick attendee in super-speed time, and also uses his ability to clean up super-fast afterwards, but not fast enough to get by his unimpressed parents! Fortunately for him, Earl's problem took precedence over a severe grounding, and after what happened I doubt his parents were going to be angry with him at the end of that long day! Cheers, Earl. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there must be a name for this phenomenon, and if not I'm going to call it the Todd Rule, because practically whenever Tony Todd is in something he plays a great character and the episode tends to be good, too, whether it be 'Star Trek,' 'Stargate' or this. Sadly, I don't think they ever revisited the character in all this series' ten seasons, though Lionel's experiments would continue.

It almost makes you wonder if Lex is about to go off the deep end and become the bad guy he was born to be when he's looking over at the true and genuine Kent family, but there was a way to go yet, he was determined to walk the path he'd chosen. He's still interested in Clark's abilities, and I don't think he really accepted the lad's explanation of adrenaline giving him the strength he needed. It was a bit of stretch to think Clark had time to bash that wall in to show the way to the lift to Level 3, too, although I thought I saw a sledge hammer on the floor, and Clark does hard manual labour on the farm so it might not be all that unbelievable. One thing I was unsure about was his assertion that he knew Earl so well because he'd spent twelve hour days out in the fields working with him. Would Clark really waste that much time when he could have done it in far less, just to keep things real for the farmhands? Maybe he just liked hanging out with the guy. Although he's portrayed as being socially awkward, he's really not that bad and, Whitney aside, most people seem to like him. What I like is that the characters behave as we'd expect them to, so Whitney is the first to suggest tackling Earl as he holds them hostage, Chloe's embarrassed at her Father's attempts to make her classmates laugh, and Lana is sympathetic to Clark's apparent cowardice at not wanting to attack Earl (who had a gun, don't forget).

I loved little things such as Chloe not being too old to be holding hands with her Dad as they hurriedly escaped the plant, and Pete waiting around for Clark when he stays behind to consult with Lex, not to mention his heartfelt guilt at Clark being left behind when everyone got out. The sense of community is strong and continues to feel that way, and the story makes a lot of sense: it's progresses logically from Earl in Metropolis and the tragedy of killing his colleague, to his searching for Jonathan and the tragedy of him being out of town, all things escalating his already desperate temperament to the point where he takes advantage of anything that happens in order to get his cure. Like I said, the scale of the episode added immeasurably to the story, what with SWAT teams running around and all those students having to exit the plant - it even made a good deal of sense that they'd be there for this school trip and I like the generally grounded nature of the storytelling before it went off in wackier directions later in the series. It's also different to the other freaks-of-the-week this time as Earl is an unwilling participant in his 'power,' if it can be called that. His jitters are entirely unwanted, and he's closest to the girl from 'Craving' in that it's a side effect of something that happened to him, but he's not trying to use it, he's trying to escape it, although she was lured in by what it gave her and Earl never wants any part of it. So he's the most pure 'freak' we've seen, and it's only his extreme desperation that makes him willing to do anything to be heard and not to be called a liar or a mental case, part of the tragedy of the story.

The exciting finale on the gantry made it feel almost like a film, and it was certainly one of the more memorable episodes for introducing some new ideas into the mix, of Lionel's continuing evil, Lex wanting what Clark has, and for the friendships. Obviously the people in charge thought so too as lots of clips from this episode would be used in the opening credits montage, which must be a high compliment to pay. I don't suppose it was a deliberate homage, but the early scene of Earl visiting the baby he's denied from seeing officially (I got the impression), reminded me of a similar scene in 'Batman: The Animated Series' with this guy that could be invisible and visits his young child. Both DC, so maybe…

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