Drone

DVD, Smallville S1 (Drone)

I didn't rate this very highly on previous viewings, only 'Craving' and 'Crush' on the same low level. I don't know whether it's because I've been exposed to so many weakly plotted or characterised modern TV episodes (specifically 'Star Trek: Discovery'), but I found myself quite liking this, despite its reputation from personal memory. It is a little basic - we're back to another freak-of-the-week with some specific power connected to some specific character flaw (the need to be 'Queen Bee'), but I found the mix of Clark learning lessons on friendship, Lana struggling with competition from the Beanery, and Lex experiencing a hatchet job attempt from a female reporter hired by Lionel, to be more than adequately entertaining. It's a bright, colourful episode, as the series usually is, life lessons are learned, and if it doesn't go any deeper than bee attacks it's still lovely to visit the Talon, the Kent Farm or Lex' Mansion and spend time with these likeable characters. And sometimes that's all you need from a story. Sure, it might be a little inappropriate the amount of time Lana's spending with Clark these days, but maybe Whitney's too busy with the family store (his only role in this episode being basically a background extra as he and his mates come to support the Talon). Clark certainly doesn't mind!

It could have delved more deeply into the themes of the episode, whether that be integrity and objectivity versus friendship, or whether winning by any means can ever be the right way to go, and there are things like the bee attack on Martha in the field where it feels like she's just there to be the victim (as she was in the previous episode, 'Reaper'), rather than being an organic part of the story, which is probably one of the things that felt slightly off about the episode. It does have a recycled ending from 'Craving,' too, with the Student President campaign headquarters of bee bad-girl Sasha the site of an explosive conclusion, a bit like the greenhouse blowing up at the end of the former episode. But it was a terrific action shot as Clark flings a handy screwdriver into a can of gas and throws himself over Sasha to protect her as the entire place goes up, taking the bees, hive and honey with it. It is a bit of a straightforward horror story with this girl using bees as her weapon of choice to take out each candidate she's up against in the school election - it's also a little silly that Paul, the first victim, just stands there screaming when the bees pour out of his sink, as the natural reaction would be to flail the arms about and throw yourself away from the swarm, not stand stock still with your mouth wide open!

I was also expecting Lex to resolve his problem with the reporter much earlier when he first reveals he knows what's going on, but instead we come back to it a bit later for him to use the carrot, rather than the stick, by promoting her to run the journal she works for. It reveals the journalistic integrity which didn't allow her to be bought, only stretches so far. They say everybody has a price and it's in the Luthor wheelhouse to find it, but while the storyline had some intrigue it didn't really go anywhere much, unlike, say, the one with Roger Nixon where Lex was made to look a lot more powerful and gained a lackey for himself. What I did like was the Chloe story where her endorsement of Paul really upsets Clark. But it's all about expectations. If Clark had given the subject serious thought he might have realised she wouldn't necessarily endorse him as she has specific standards, ones she talked about earlier in the story when he hasn't really even considered what his policies and positions on relevant topics are going to be. Even Lana explains to him that Chloe had to be impartial and objective, and unlike the reporter after Lex she really does show integrity, though it's painful and you can see there is regret, as well as the admission she should have broken it to Clark more gently (though he didn't give her much chance and she wasn't ready for it).

Jonathan chimes in with advice about 'giving up' being a tough habit to break when Clark first wonders if he should be running in the election, and I do like Lana's qualms about how she got back at the Beanery by finding out some dirt on its health violations - such things are far from the ridiculously fantastical direction the character would eventually go in, a crazy superwoman with powers in the later seasons when the series largely went off the rails. At this early stage it remains real, the friendships and affections are genuine, and the series continues to impress a feeling of community on the viewer, this time mainly back at the school. I remember the bee CGI not being up to standard, and that may be another reason I used to mark this down, but either because I was expecting it, or because I'm more forgiving on such unimportant matters these days, I didn't mind it, and it was fun to see the particle effect face made up of bees, a couple of years before the same idea was used in 'The Matrix Revolutions' to personify the machine personality. I don't know if it had been done before 'Smallville' or not, but it worked quite nicely. And I like seeing the occasional examples of nuance, like Martha expressing dismay as Clark's about to drink milk straight out of the bottle! It may be one of the lesser episodes of the season, but it still gels, and though there may be potential holes (I thought all the bees were killed by Clark using the cold gas pipe at the Talon, but there were obviously more; Sasha says even the police can't stop her, but if anyone knew she was responsible for bee attacks she wouldn't be accepted as Student President, so she didn't think that through!), there's not much wrong here: Pete gets something a little more substantial to do as Clark's self-appointed campaign manager, and Clark gets to be the hero, saving the villain.

***