Hug

DVD, Smallville S1 (Hug)

If you're ever feeling down, be it the dark winter months or the misery of the Christmas season, you can always come to the bright, upbeat and optimistic 'Smallville' to pick you up and shine its warm glow into your soul. Well, the first season at any rate. I've said it before, but its primary colours and good, cosy storytelling is the perfect antidote to any downhearted feelings, and this episode continues that trend with a portentous vision of how two best buddies could one day end up being enemies through ideological differences: Bob Rickman and Kyle Tippett, two salesmen caught in the meteor shower of '89, and finding their natural talents (or lack), bolstered into the power of persuasion. That might have been a better title than 'Hug,' but I suppose what they went for was a bit of mystery that doesn't immediately give away what this power's going to be. It expands the series to feature meteor freaks that aren't part of the High School and were infected at the time of the shower, much like old Cassandra in 'Hourglass,' so they continue to find varied methods of setting up the weekly challenge for Clark to face. It's all meant to be a foreshadowing of his and Lex' eventual enmity, and this is more poignant by the fact that Clark is shown here really trusting and believing on his friend - he's the one he goes to when Jonathan sells the farm to evil Bob (I love how Mr. Kent begins to protest that he doesn't want a Luthor's help, then a furious Martha shuts him down!), or takes the injured Kyle to as safe harbour for a fugitive. He even calls him his best friend, which I'm not sure how Pete would take if he'd been there at the time!

Friendship is a strong theme of this story, approached from various angles. I didn't buy that Lana considers Clark a friend of Whitney's, something which leads to a falling out between her and Clark when he takes a neutral stance rather coming down on her boyfriend's side about the fight between him and Kyle - I know Clark has saved him before (and does so again in another of the series' spectacular action effects shots where he takes the full force of a baseball bat to the shoulder, splintering it into the camera!), and has shown himself willing to team up if the situation demands (like when he and Whitney went after Lana when she was kidnapped by Bug Boy), but they've never been very genial around each other, more like barely tolerant. Of course the arc with his Dad in a bad way continues, so both Whitney and Lana are more prone to flare-ups than usual, and she proves especially protective towards him. It's telling, however, that she feels the need to stick up for Whitney to Clark, because if she was truly angry with him she'd probably just avoid coming near (so she hears Kyle's escaped from prison and she thinks it's a good idea to go out in the dark to sit in Clark's barn?!). But as we see from the ending, she values her friendship with good guy Clark far more than she does her pride, and although her first advance is pushed away earlier in the episode when Clark's still feeling a little injured by her turning on him, they both come down off their high horses and make it up, saving what otherwise might have been a silly finale in what was a sensitive episode.

The finale I speak of is certainly high concept: Lex, urged by Bob's powers, arrives to kill both Clark and the man he's protecting, Kyle, setting his own car alight, then hunting them down with an automatic weapon. We even get a first taste of how he might react to Clark's keeping secret his own powers, and all the angst this young Luthor holds within is splayed out in bile against all those that distrust him for his name. I can't actually remember how it was when Lex finally found out, which reminds me how forgettable the later seasons' use of Lex was. I don't even recall if he found out before he exited the series, but I've always remembered this scene where he says, "You've got a lot of explaining to do, Clark!" As is usually the case, he conveniently forgets all he did or saw once the persuasive power has worn off, but it's an insight into what he could become, even at such an early stage. It's always sad to think how the series degenerated when you see these early episodes that are so good, but later failures can't take away from the successes here. That said, the action, despite being vibrant and dramatic, does make things a bit simplistic compared to the themes and character nuances through the episode, but it doesn't detract. We get another slow motion shot of Clark reacting to bullets - twice in fact, the first where he shoves Kyle out of the line of fire from a persuaded cop bent on killing him, then again when Lex fires his clip into Clark. On the first occasion I was wondering why he didn't do what he'd commonly do later when it came to gunfire, and pat the shot away, but by his surprise at surviving Lex' spray we realise he didn't know he could.

That also explains his slow reaction as he lay on the floor of the garage while Lex walks up to him ready to unload another clip into his prone form - he was still recovering from the shock of his mate firing at him, and his body rebounding the impacts! It's almost comical except for his horror at what's happening, and the episode, though creepy (crazed, baseball bat-wielding Whitney; Bob's terrible toothy smile), still has time for humour, whether that be Chloe's inability to ride a horse with ease, or Chloe being given a demonstration of Kyle's power when he persuades her to kiss Clark, and then there's Chloe… okay, there's a bit of a theme here. Usually Pete's the comedy character, but he's barely in evidence and they still haven't quite got the Scooby Gang mentality off to a tee yet. It makes more sense for Clark to be dealing with things on his own sometimes, especially in this case where his powers become known to the guy he helps. Pete would only have been an obstacle to overcome, someone to hide his powers from as usual, and sadly that was the way Pete's role went on the series, and presumably why he left. Clark could team up with Chloe or sometimes Lana, but he didn't really need a best buddy he couldn't confide in while his parents were there, and sadly that meant Pete often got shortchanged. Not that it harms this episode because Lex is clearly filling in the role of friend to Clark, and the direct connections to their future are beautifully observed. "Our friendship will be the stuff of legend," claims Lex, and if only the series had had the writing to be able to pull it off down the line.

There are, as ever, a couple of points you have to pick at because although Bob was a menace to society I can't believe Clark would condone Kyle killing him. I know that technically he committed suicide, but it was Kyle overpowering his mind, just as he had done to the environmental officer at the beginning, and we see there that goading someone into the hopelessness of suicide is about the worst, most evil way you could find to murder someone. I can see the parallel that Bob got what he had doled out to others, but Clark was a little too nonjudgmental when it came to Kyle's act. He had to pay for it, going underground for the rest of his life, and actually he'd have been a great character to bring back down the line when Clark was dealing with superheroes on a regular basis, but I don't remember him ever showing up again as some of the freak survivors did. He was a cool character, walking around in his long coat, looking like a Jedi with the mental power to match, it was all very evocative and creative, not to mention that it gives them somewhere else to have an adventure as the woods hadn't really been used before. It all helps to broaden this small ville, even if we didn't see any of the recurring characters this time, aside from a brief appearance from Victoria to remind us she's still around. Nell makes an impact, though not in person, threatening to go to the police over Lana's accident and you can imagine she could be a tough cookie to deal with. Again, it's a shame her role wasn't grown. Like Lana she's very protective and obviously cares a lot.

I suppose there's a sort of veiled environmental message in the story, but it's more about big businesses staring down each other's big guns, with Lex standing in the way of Bob's devious plans, hints to his past (including a specific reference to Club Zero which we'd be hearing more about soon), and his own confidence readily standing up to Rickman, like a guardian angel protecting the Kents. There are good messages about solitary people not necessarily being dangerous people, a warning that friends will always stab you in the back eventually, as loner Kyle states, and redemption in a new sense of purpose for him when he finally accepts his gifts as a role to play in the world rather than something to hide and escape from, which is inspiring and lays the path Clark would eventually follow. There are even the usual Superman hints, such as Clark talking about being unsure of his future except he knows he doesn't want to wear a suit and do a lot of flying! The series is really swimming along nicely and shows no signs of running out of ideas. I love this style of storytelling where you learn a lesson or two along the episodic way, while also tying into ongoing concerns that affect the characters and deepen their interactions and background.

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