Vortex

DVD, Smallville S2 (Vortex)

How could anything match the pure, frenetic rough and tumble of Season 1's finale? Few episodes could have stood up to that pummelling, but this opening to Season 2 has a good go, firmly setting out motivations old and new and cementing the characters back in their places, though the pieces have moved around a bit - as Lana says at the end, things won't go back to normal. Just as the meteor shower that affected all the town's lives so many years ago, this is another major disaster that will change things, a comment on the series itself as much as on the physical events. For me this is a bittersweet moment because 'Smallville' was so strong in its first year and against all odds proved itself as a brilliant Superman prequel with its own unique angle on the characters. Season 2 was to be pretty good, too, but it was the beginning of the unstable quality of the series, a loss of so much of its feel-good positivity and a sign that it could become a much less compelling drama than it had been. Season 3 was really where I went off it, and I still enjoyed the second year, but so much of what I loved was replaced by that terrible circuit of doom that was the Lana-Clark-Chloe triangle, and it begins right here in this first episode.

No longer were we to get powerfully optimistic endings to send us out on a high, as this episode's conclusion demonstrated: we'd be seeing a lot more negativity and at best, ambiguity. Lana gives Clark the chance to confirm what she thought happened in the midst of the cyclone, that against all reality he saved her, and he falls back on his usual faux taken aback gentle scorn instead of trusting her. Chloe gives him an out to bring them back to being mere friends again after the all-important school dance, and he takes it, almost too easily. This to-ing and fro-ing between the trio was what was to really drag down the mood of the seasons, exactly the kind of teen soapiness I'd dreaded when first hearing about the series and sceptically giving it a go to find I was largely wrong. Chloe looks a little overly self-absorbed by her focus on Clark leaving her to save Lana and all that, in the face of such devastation to the area and its inhabitants, but at least they do address it in dialogue as she opens up to her friend Pete (soon to be moving on from the series), so it doesn't come across quite so badly when she gets his sympathy.

Motivations are what this episode is all about, the driving forces of goodness and evil as we see the extremes of both, none more explicit than in Jonathan Kent and Roger Nixon's enforced captivity within a crypt, buried under a falling mobile home. Mr. Kent, despite his tempestuous anger (it could easily have turned into a way to kill off the character if they'd chosen to do that this early in the series), and various opportunities to protect his family by murdering his adversary, always makes the right moral decision and refuses to let him die, even though it would be so easy and solve their problems, and no one would ever be able to refute his story. He shows himself a man that stands by his morals, his catchphrase, 'we always have a choice, son,' ringing through the episode despite never being spoken aloud, even when pushed to the absolute limits and it's so heartening to see, especially in an age where morally ambiguous characters are seemingly preferred. His straight up adherence to right is inspirational and even more so because it costs him so much. He could easily have let the mobile home fall on Nixon, he didn't have to pull him out when Nixon himself, in a panic to be saved when Clark and friends are nearby (Clark doesn't have super-hearing yet so doesn't notice the noise they're making underground, nor can he see through the lead in the foundations), pulls down a landslide on top of them both. You think there might be some kind of understanding between them after this, Nixon appears to be at least a little sympathetic as Jonathan opens up about what their son means to them, even calling him Roger, but it's only until he has a chance to save his own life and still make his name.

He's so evil and numb to others he'll happily murder Mr. Kent even after he saved him, only a bullet from Lex prevents it, creating further murkiness: are Lex' motivations purely about getting in Jonathan's good books or was it more that he doesn't want his connection with Nixon to be clear? Unlike when he had the chance to let his Father die or save him, he has no hesitation here, reminding us of his nature even while he seems to act for the best. He can never give up the driving forces of his life, to best his Father, to get to the bottom of knowledge. But he still hasn't turned evil, as Nixon was, he still could be saved and so the battle of two halves remains to be played like a harp, whereas in later seasons things became a lot less balanced and lost much of their charm. Lionel Luthor becomes a member of the main cast, John Glover now in the titles (as Whitney is no longer, having gone off to join the Marines), and right away he continues to work up the cancer within his son, just as Jonathan is doing his best to serve Clark's best interests. Again, you're not sure if Lionel genuinely believes he's doing what's best for Lex, claiming he needed to toughen him up because their opponents are ruthless, but his twisted form of paternal nature makes of Lex what Jonathan's shining example makes of Clark. Lionel is now blind and tells Lex he made the wrong decision, further confusing the young man, but at least he and Jonathan shake hands and find respect for each other.

That Jonathan would have stayed in the crypt until both he and Nixon were dead, there's no doubt, only Nixon is wily enough to play whatever game it takes at the moment to ensure survival, as much as it pains him to give up the tape. Clark is the one who can find them and rescue them, but he continually becomes handicapped by those around him and the need to keep his powerful abilities secret - first it's Lex who wants to help, but is really hampering him, then it's his friends, Chloe and Pete. Wonder how it was explained that the mobile home had been pushed right out of the way? That's one of the things in the series you just have to ignore, one of an increasing number of facts that don't fit with reality, but after watching more modern fare it doesn't seem as bad, and the episode was well written, deftly throwing in heartfelt moments between characters to counteract the serious situations or the fierce opening in the heart of the storm. I don't like the increase in sad soapy stuff, such as Chloe sadly deleting each of the digital photos of her and Clark at the dance, then finally being unable to empty the waste bin, but it was one of many end scenes, and they certainly make you want to keep watching with Clark thinking he flew and the Kryptonite ship exposed in a corn field (the technology's not that great if a small piece of debris can knock the all-important octagonal key out of its slot, switching the ship off - what about meteorites in space!).

A young Rekha Sharma, before her 'Battlestar Galactica' days (and long before 'Star Trek: Discovery'), appears as a nurse or doctor at the Smallville Medical Centre, and Sheriff Ethan is there at the end doing his usual police interviews. But it's most heartening to see the cast all back, except for Whitney, of course, but he'd be seen again later in the season. I remember being pleased Lionel was in the cast now, and he went on to co-star for several seasons, but on the whole I'm not sure it worked out for the best. He worked better as someone who could come in, throw Lex' life into disarray and shake things up, before swanning out of the picture again, and I wasn't keen on the direction they took with him and Martha. But I can't fault this first episode, they managed to sustain the energy and fury of the last moments of the Season 1 finale, before bringing things back together for the series to continue on its way, and though I didn't much appreciate many of the changes of this season I did enjoy this episode and just thinking about watching the series again pleased me.

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