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Smallville 7.14: "Traveler" |
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Tuesday, 25 March 2008 |
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By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
| An odd thing happened during the course of this episode. I found myself actually thinking that “Smallville” was finally delving into the kind of material that I had been waiting for ever since I started watching the show in the third season. It remains to be seen if this will be just another brief foray into the kind of storytelling that “might have been”, or a strong arc for the rest of the season. However it pans out, this was one of my favorite episodes in quite some time.
To me, it always seemed as if Lionel Luthor had more information about Clark and Krypton than he was willing to reveal. I was also fascinated by the idea of Lionel as a man who desperately wants to be better than he is, but cannot break out of the cage of his own machinations. Lex is Lionel’s legacy, the product of his personal ambitions, and Lionel’s inability to recognize the depth of his own darkness is a wonderful character point.
The writers present the case very well in this episode: Lionel may do the right thing, but for the wrong reason. Lionel has a very long history of taking action “for others”, while effectively cutting them out of the matter in the process. It’s a specific brand of paternalism that has evolved into Lex’s single-minded pursuit of his agenda. Lex believes (at least, some of the time) that his actions are for the betterment of mankind. The question of whether or not humanity would agree with his assessment never enters his mind.
Just as Clark struggles to understand and recognize Lionel’s true motives, Kara awakens to her true identity and a better understanding of Lex’s agenda. Truth be told, Kara’s restoration was a bit too quick and easy for my liking; the plot arc might have been more interesting if Kara had continued to be an unwitting pawn in Lex’s game against Clark. I also find her less interesting when the writers try to force the whole “Supergirl” thing into the story, which the actress struggles to portray well.
It was very good, though, to see Veritas brought into the story more completely. It really should have been a major arc for the series as a whole, but better late than never. Because the concept was never a solid part of the series until now, not all the events in continuity fit into the Veritas mold, but enough works to keep me happy. It should be very interesting to see what Lex does with the information once he inevitably gets his hands on it. |
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