Nicodemus

DVD, Smallville S1 (Nicodemus)

By any other name, 'This Side of Paradise' from 'TOS,' and in fact the kind of story every sci-fi series does at some point, it's just that in that Trek episode it was specifically about flowers that puffed their pollen into victim's faces and made them effectively drunk so that they behaved without inhibitions. In that story the problem was solved with provoking strong emotion in the victims, but this episode isn't really about the problem itself, more about what inner feelings it lets out of people so we never find out how a cure was reached or what it was, just the ever-useful, unseen team of experts in Metropolis the Luthors keep on call at all times to handle any emergency, 'dealt' with the issue, solved it, and everything's fine, except for the obvious exception of the minor character who was first to be infected, but he doesn't matter to the larger world of 'Smallville' so it's fine! In truth I didn't have that many specific memories of this one, apart from the flowers and Mr. Kent driving around with the door of his truck open, screaming at other motorists and passersby and packing a shotgun, but that's probably because his turn at being 'free' is the most memorable. I thought a lot more characters were exposed and became their uninhibited selves, but it's really only Jonathan, Lana and Pete, and they were a more than plenty handful for Clark to deal with.

Deal he does, whether it be family, romantic interest or best mate, he has different tactics with each as the understanding of what's going on develops. It does strike me as strange how long it takes people sometimes to recognise that someone is acting out of character, almost as if they think it's just a phase or they woke up that morning and decided to be different. Maybe that's what some of them do on occasion, otherwise you'd think they'd be showing concern and asking if they'd had any concussions lately! This is, after all, a world in which crazy things happen on a regular basis so when one of their own acts up surely the signs are clear that some meteor rock related solution is to blame. But no, they just go along with it, all for the drama of the episode, I suppose. I'm not going to pull it apart, it's a fun episode, but the one thing I did find it hard to accept was how Clark managed to get Lana up that rickety windmill at the end! She has her eyes closed like he's blindfolded her and led her into a room, yet they're metres up in the air and she must have known what was going on. Obviously he convinced her to climb up herself with eyes closed so as not to be afraid, but I'm not sure that would be a good idea! It's a lovely ending to the episode, even with the fact you can tell it's green screen and they're not really high in the air, just as you can spot their photo doubles when the camera pulls away, but it's a nice shot nonetheless.

If there is a real complaint, it's a very minor one, in that the CG flowers look very fake, something 'TOS' has the advantage of since they only had the option to build physical props. Sometimes CGI can be overused, and perhaps an in-camera solution would have been better. Then again, seeing the rudimentary movement of the flowers in jars suggests it might not have worked. It's good to have Dr. Hamilton back again, as well as Principal Kwan in his one minor scene that was quite expressive without any words, all helping to continue the feel of a living, breathing community of people that still exist and live out their lives even when we don't see them on screen - Nell is mentioned as being away in Metropolis, too, furthering that feel. What marks this episode out as special is that it puts Lex in the position that Clark is usually in, worried about something he's indirectly responsible for, while someone reassures him it's not his fault (usually anything related to the meteors since Clark came down in their shower). Lex blatantly lies this time, persuading Clark he doesn't have anything to do with Hamilton or the problem, which we can clearly see is complete fabrication. And for once, though Lex is doing the right thing in trying to contain the outbreak and cure it as fast as possible, he doesn't appear to have any altruistic motive other than curiosity for its own sake in the meteor rocks and their effects. He outright lies to Clark, the exaggerated distrust and even hatred displayed by Jonathan and Pete having merit, despite coming from an untrustworthy reaction, and is shown to be based in truth.

I do believe Lex was intent on doing everything he could to save Jonathan, but now we can't take anything at just surface value if we ever could and he has taken a step towards the villain he would become, or the villain his character is supposed to be. Clark gets to be seen by Pete doing something impossible when he grabs the gun off him at the Luthor Mansion, but it's okay because he doesn't remember what happened - I wonder how he'd have explained that if Pete had remembered. It's also a step for Pete, who we learn has deep-seated reasons for his dislike of Lex stemming from the way his family had been treated by the Luthors and the way Clark had taken to Lex as a pal, something we hadn't seen much of before. What he says about how they used to be best friends turns out to be true, because Pete would leave shortly into Season 2, unable to remain friends with the heavy weight of Clark's secret on him, and the lack of trust Clark showed in him, and you can see that Clark's problems are far from being as simple as fighting crime or super-powered villains: he has to deal with all the people problems everyday mortals experience, too. Issues of trust and dependence, and also the realisation that super speed and strength can't do anything against diseases. Perhaps there's an underlying message there that doctors and scientists who examine, research and treat patients are the real superheroes, doing what others can't.

The downside is that it is probably the teen soapiest episode so far, the kind of thing I thought the series was going to be all about, but wasn't. So we have Lana misbehaving and pouting around, throwing her weight about at school and the Talon, insulting Whitney and casting him off, before rushing straight for Clark and leading him on. There was a scene missing in which she made up with Whitney and apologised, we're only left to hear that she did do that to various people. You can almost see the cracks of the cast appearing as Whitney and Pete are shown up as the extra bodies they were. I personally like both of them, and prefer the series with them in it, but these are little signs of the series running out of steam in a way, being able to spot that they're not making good use of them, but not that they're heading towards getting rid of them. It's also one of the first to be about characters acting out of character - yes, we had seen it on occasion, but not on this scale, something that would be happening all too frequently as the series 'progressed.' Seen as it is on its own, and with its own merit, it's a fun story: Martha gets to tell a little tale about meeting Jonathan (though her weepy admittance that she still has the thought that Jonathan would marry her didn't make sense as they are married, but she was at the end of her tether!), Chloe and Pete get to go snooping, there's another clear out like Level 3 where everything's taken away and only an empty space is left of Hamilton's lab, and this time a friend of Clark's falls to certain injury he's there to catch her. There's not a lot more to it than Lex lying to Clark, but it's enough and makes for another good instalment.

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