SMALLVILLE Minicaps / Season 1, Eps. 13-16

Smallville minicaps! Still can’t stand to fly. Its not that naive.

Stewart here, and be warned of spoilers within…

Last time, Clark dealt with some more meteor-affected villains and even a corrupt cop who learned of his special abilities. He also has some drama outside all the fighting, like when Whitney’s dad falls into declining health, causing some tension with Lana. And then, there’s that whole awkward discovery that Chloe may be interested in him as more than a friend. So, with that brief intro done, let’s get to the episodes, shall we?

“Kinetic”

Lex gets robbed by some thieves with kryponite tattoos, who severely injure Chloe and get Clark on their bad side. Things aren’t made any better when Whitney falls into the lure of easy money with the thieves and with the discovery that Lex lost something he would kill the thieves over to get back. So, now Clark has to keep two friends from ending up dead or running into each other altogether. And, Lana gets a new partner in reopening the movie theater in the new owner, Lex. Did I mention Lana’s still a freshman in high school?

Bad guy over there shouldn’t be hard to find. He’s the one wearing the car.

–One of the poor thieves lost an arm doing their passing through walls routine (and good thing they address the fact the guy didn’t die from the likely extreme blood loss that would cause). Also, they know enough about Scrooge McDuck, but not whether he’s Irish or Scottish.

–I always think about an alternate version of that Whitney initiation where the whole phasing stuff doesn’t work on that truck he’s thrown at. They had to at least have screwed that up at least once before Whitney.

–Chloe ends up in the hospital for the first time on the show. Not even the only time that happens to her this season. Also, hospital rooms without cable? Oh, the old days…

–Good thing Clark destroyed that disk that Lex lost. Although, why would Lex be hiding his getting money for stuff like a particle accelerator?

–“You keep my secret, I’ll keep yours.”

–“It’s a mansion. It’s designed for snooping.”

“Zero”

Lex is having some trouble from someone he knew back in Metropolis…who should be dead. That said dead person has arrived in Smallville looking for revenge against him isn’t good news for Lex or anyone he knows, like Lana and Clark. Meanwhile, Clark has to deal with a school class project that has him and his parents interviewed by Chloe about his past. Oops.

When you wish your kidnapper would invest some money in a least a fold out chair to tie you to.

–That is a pretty convoluted story involving Amanda’s brother being the architect of torturing Lex because of her suicide (which Lex confesses Amanda was the killer of Royce). And let’s not get into the double for Royce the brother found.

–So John and Martha are hiding a bit more about Clark’s adoption record and about his past than they’ve let him on. And of course, they don’t tell him what that is.

–C’mon, you know Chloe. You really think she got rid of all that stuff she was working up on Clark’s past? Short answer: no.

–Some nice continuity in this episode with corrupt cop Phelan from “Rogue” appearing in the club flashback.

–Really, its that easy to kidnap Lex is broad daylight like that?

–“Here I thought persistence was an admirable quality.”

–“Has your son always been this strange?”

“Nicodemus”

One of Dr. Hamilton’s projects, a kryptonite irradiated ancient flower, has started to affect people with its spores by making them behave rather violently. The downside is the affects of the plant will eventually kill its victims if a cure isn’t found. And with Lex keeping the origin of the plants a secret and with Chloe snooping around for answers, getting to that cure has some speedbumps along the way. Those speedbumps include everything from a violent Jonathan, a frisky Lana, and a vengeful Pete.

Lana’s not depressed or annoying? What is going on?

–Yeah, you noticed the opening song to “The Dukes of Hazzard” on Jonathan’s radio too, huh?

–Bad news on the Kent homefront not related to the whole flower thing: the loan on the farm got denied. This causes Jonathan to go to the bank with a shotgun where he accidentally shoots Clark.

–So Clark will have the image of a wet Lana in her underwear to keep him by for Saturday detention, I guess.

–Hard not to see Pete’s point, as infected as it is, to shooting Lex dead in retrospect. Oh well.

–And once again, the people infected have amnesia so they don’t remember anything regarding Clark’s superpowered antics. I wonder if there’s a running tab on how many times the “amnesia” button has been pushed on the show.

–“Congratulations, Clark, your dad’s regressed back to being a teenager.”

“Stray”

The Kents take care of Ryan, a kid with psychic abilities, and run afoul of trouble when the kid’s criminal stepparents come looking for him. Good thing it helps the kid has a surrogate big brother in Clark to keep him safe. And Lionel offers to have Lex moved back to Metropolis, but that plan gets interrupted by Ryan’s parents looking to fleece Lex out of his money. Lex decides to stick around in Smallville anyway, if only to stick it to Lionel, and Ryan finds a home with family in Edge City. We’ll see Ryan again in season two, in one of the more emotional eps of that season.

–Some more backstory on the Luthor clan, like how he had a little brother named Julian who died as a baby.

No, no, it goes down the lane, not between lanes!

–Oh, the Miss Cleo references. So 2002.

–The first Warrior Angel reference on the show. Doesn’t happen often, but its there. Also, Lex has a complete collection.

–Aw, Chloe wanted to ask Clark to the prom. And she had a dress she wanted for the occasion, too.

–Yeah, I figured we’d get that “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” song eventually on this show sooner or later.

–“Don’t worry. Chloe’s the queen of irrelevant references.”

NEXT TIME: Someone goes Kevorkian on the elderly thanks to meteor powers in “Reaper”, running for class president gets its candidates stung in “Drone”, a cartoonist gets fatal powers in “Crush”, and Lana starts getting deadly visions in “Obscura”.