Tim’s “Blue” Review
Find out what Tim thought about “Blue,” the latest episode of Smallville.
What an episode this was. It was definitely an amazing way to cap this part of the episodes this season. It almost felt like a mid-season finale in some ways. At least the way thing ended for our Kryptonian characters. This episode also had everything from comic nods to episode shockers to awesome action!!!
As such, this episode once again featured Helen Slater as Lara Lor-Van, Clark’s birth-mother. In the the last episode she appeared in, she had a very ethereal mood about her. In this episode, she had that same feel, but what made this one seem different was her interaction with Lana. I thought that Kristin Kreuk was able to play off Helen Slater wonderfully. Not only did the actors work well together, Lara was able to give Lana some more hope in her life. Hope is something that girl needs in her life, especially after the events of Wrath.
This episode also featured the return of Zor-El. I am not aware if Christopher Heyerdahl has been in any other villainous roles. But I thought he was spectacular as Zor-El. In the other episode he was in (which he also guested with Helen Slater), he played the tragic sadistic Kryptonian. But in this episode, he played the sadistic villain, who was trying to undermine everybody to make sure the Kryptonian race was preserved. Not only was he a great villain, but he had the physical look of the brother of Jor-El. He had very chiseled features and even had that ebony hair that would mark any male member of the House of El.
This episode also marked a continued evolution of sorts for Kara. In the last episode she appeared in she had finally stopped rebelling against her sole-living cousin by learning the truth about her father. In this episode however, she was face-to-face with her father, and was even willing to kill him to save the world. She also has grown to accept humans as good people, and not just mere outsiders.
The character of Kara has another obstacle to overcome in the form of amnesia. I know that forms of amnesia have become somewhat of a Smallville staple over the years. I just was not expecting a character who was barely introduced in this season to suffer a case of full-blown amnesia. It should be interesting to note that this has not happened to a character since season four, where Clark suffered an absolute memory-loss. This could be something she recovers from in between this episode and the next, and it could be both Clark and Kara’s focus, should Kara return in the next episode. But it will be interesting to see if this amnesia thing is stretched out for the next couple of episodes, but given the pending writer’s strike, who knows?
This episode also introduced another form of Kryptonite. We have not seen a new form of Kryptonite since season five when Silver-K was introduced. As most Superman fans know, in the comics, Blue-K actually gives Superman a power boost, whereas the infamous Gold-K gives Superman a power drainage. Blue-K is also commonly associated with Bizarro. So it’s very likely we will see Bizarro exposed to this Blue Kryptonite in the future. That was one thing I had a problem with in regards to Blue-K.
I did like a lot of things about the way Blue-K was introduced into Smallville, though. It definitely a return to form when Clark put on a ring to be exposed to Blue-K. It definitely felt like a new kind of Kryptonite, more so than Silver-K or Black-K. That was in part because when Clark was exposed to Blue-K through the “power ring”, Clark’s eyes glowed blue. Both of these instances reminded me a lot of the famous season 2 episode, “Red” when Clark was exposed to Red-K for the first time.
One thing this episode did was that it furthered the blossoming romance between Grant Gabriel and Lois Lane. Ever since last episode, their relationship has been more intriguing. Especially since Lois is very much wanting to expose the Luthors for the criminals they are. That does cause trouble for Grant, due to his pending ties to the Luthor clan. Even when he had told Lex that he had broken it off with Lois, for fear of being discovered
This episode definitely brought up a lot of questions that will be driving the second half of the season (all seven episodes). It shall be interesting to see how Smallville handles these things.
The first one that I think this episode brought up is the character of Lionel Luthor. Readers and fans know that I love the character of Lionel, as he is very enigmatic. Just when you think you have him figured out, he does things to surprise you. Now Lionel wasn’t a major factor in this episode as he has been in past episode of the series. What little scene he did have was good enough for me. In the episode, Zor-El identified Lionel as Jor-El’s vessel and emissary. He also noted that the crystals lead Zor-El right to Lionel, and felt that Lara and Clark would listen to Lionel, as he spoke for Jor-El. What got me was that Lionel identified Zor-El by his name. This struck me because it means that Lionel does still, as he has since the end of the fourth season, maintain a strong connection with Jor-El. In the last episode, when Clark mentioned Kara to Lionel,he wondered if he had heard that name before and wondered where, seeming to not still have that Kryptonian knowledge still in him. I also believe this connection with Jor-El is still there as Lionel told Zor-El that Kal-El is following his own destiny and would do nothing to stop its course.
Thus actually brings me to my next point. This is actually regarding Jor-El. In the final moments of the episode, Clark begs Jor-El to help him find Kara. Jor-El refuses, to which Clark pleads to Jor-El’s actions on Krypton, where he devoted his life to saving Krypton peacefully. Jor-El then responds that is not his mission. This kind of implies that the Jor-El seen in this episode has changed from the one that was on Krypton. Could it be possible that Jor-El has been corrupted somehow in the past year of silence? Who knows? I have also taken this to mean that just as Clark developed a backbone by accepting that his emotions are part of who he is this season, Jor-El has developed a tough-love attitude backbone.
I have no idea what Jor-El did at the end of the episode, but I am anxious to find out. Whatever Jor-El has plans to show Clark to not let his emotions get in the way of his destiny this time has to be far worse than anything in the past. Like a pile-up of ignored warnings. Jor-El has taken away his Martha’s baby, taken the life of Jonathan Kent, allowed the world to go to hell-in-a-handbasket, and the Fortress to be shut down, and let Kara stay lost. Whatever this punishment is will be Clark’s worst yet. Whatever’s going down, I’m excited to see it happen. But, as a sidenote, Clark has defied Jor-El a total of six times. So, he definitely had this coming.
The biggest shocker of the episode had to be the revelation that Grant Gabriel was in fact Julian Luthor. This was the what-the-heck moment for me. I totally did not see this coming. Surpassed all my expectations as to what Grant Gabriel would turn out to be. My original thoughts on Grant when he was first introduced was that he was just going to be a love interest for Lois, and that was going to be it. I definitely did not expect him to be Lex’s presumed-dead brother. Perhaps Lillian was terminally insane and believed she killed her son, but didn’t. There are so many possibilities with this new twist to Grant’s character. I cannot wait to see where the next half of the season takes the character of Grant Gabriel. Also, how will this startling revelation affect Lois?
This episode did benefit from a major potion of it being in the Fortress. I do believe that this is the most we’ve ever seen used of the Fortress in all of Smallville’s history. Usually, when we’re in the Fortress, it’s usually a 3-5 min timespan. This time around, though, it seemed that we were in the Fortress for almost 10 minutes or more. Now maybe it felt like longer because I love Fortress stuff. Whenever we visit the Fortress of Solitude in Smallville, it almost seems larger than life. What added to the Fortress this time was the kind of sky-bluish feel that was added to it as a result of Zor-El arriving and taking over the Fortress. Still cool, nonetheless. Need I say more?
Just a little random shoutout. Was I the only one who thought Heroes in the shot with Clark and Chloe looking up at the eclipse from the Kent Farm. I thought the eclipse shots in Smallville were very well done effects-wise and it just reminded me of Heroes in so many instances. Not only did it add to Zor-El’s plan to take over Earth, but it also added seed for future episodes, as well. Because at the end of the episode, it was revealed that Lex’s satellites had caught footage of this global event and would be looking into it. SO, that was definitely interesting . . .
I think another character who benefited greatly from this episode was the character of Chloe. Now, in last week’s episode, when she laid down the law with Lana, she was awesome. Now there has been some fan complaint that Chloe’s role as star reporter and confidant has been diminished by the two LL’s (Lois and Lana). In this episode, it seemed that she had not lost her role as the secret-keeper and loyal friend to Clark. It was really good to see Chloe kind of help Clark out with his Kryptonite ring problem. It was very much in the veins of how Pete tried to help Clark with his Red-K ring problems. But it was multiplied a hundredfold because Chloe has evolved so much as a deep loyal friend to Clark. It made the Clark and Chloe scenes that much more interesting.
This episode was beautifully written by Todd Slavkin and Darren Schwimmer, who have become somewhat of a Smallville staple as far as writing goes. The characterization and all the Kryptonian references. They were even awesome enough to throw in a Green Lantern reference in regards to Kara returning from Coast City. So any references we can have to link this Smallville universe to the greater DC Comics Universe that many of us are so fond of is fine by me!
On another note, the episode was greatly directed by Glen Winter, who has served as Director of Photography for Smallville for many years. You can tell from the way things are lit in this episode with the blues and the reds and especially the blacks (in Zor-El’s case) that a Director of Photography was behind this episode. It was a great joy to watch.
So, in conclusion, this was a monster of an episode. All I can say is Wow. What an episode this was. It was definitely an amazing way to cap this part of the episodes this season. It almost felt like a mid-season finale in some ways. At least the way thing ended for our Kryptonian characters. This episode also had everything from comic nods to episode shockers to awesome action!!! It answered a lot of questions in regards to the crystal storyline, finally bringing that to a close. But it also brought up new questions, questions about where Clark’s gonna go from here. I think the questions people are going to want answered are: What’s going to happen to Clark as his punishment for defying Jor-El? And what is the deal with Grant Gabriel being Julian, Lex’s presumably dead brother? The sad part is we have to wait almost a month for the answer to these questions. But, like I said, great episode. Definitely a great way to end these beginning episodes and also a way to open the way for the remaining episodes of the season.
RATING: 5/5
