About Christopher Valin
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Occupation: Teacher, writer, artist
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Clark pulls a George Bailey and decides to let Brainiac kill him as an infant on Krypton, so Jor-El shows him what a no-so-wonderful life everyone would have without him.
This was another episode I liked more than I should have, this time because I love alternate reality stories more than just about anything. The fact that Clark thought the world would be better off without him - and that the meteor shower wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been sent back - seems more than a little naïve, but it was worth it to set up the alternate universe. There were some great in-jokes and tributes involved, including Lois’ Pulitzer, Jimmy’s bow tie, Clark’s glasses and the way he pushed them up Chris Reeve-style. Lex as president was straight out of the comics, and having Kara brought up by the Luthors (and named Linda Danvers, her secret identity in the comics) was a good twist.
As much as I actually enjoyed this episode, it could have been better. It’s really too bad they didn’t (or couldn’t) get John Schneider and Annette O’Toole to return as Jonathan and Martha Kent. It would have also been a good opportunity to show Lana out of her coma rather than off-screen “in Paris.” If she was married to Whitney (Eric Johnson) that would have really topped it off. And what about Pete? Clark never even asked about him. They brought him back for a throw-off episode, when this one would have been a better return for Sam Jones. Instead we got the dead-in-Clark’s-reality Sheriff Adams as a government agent. Yay. And imagine if Lionel had been back already, just after being killed in the show.
Once again there were a million plot holes, so maybe I should just accept that every episode is going to have them. Here’s just a small sample: Where were Jor-El and Lara in the past? Why didn’t Brainiac just kill Kal-El with his bare hands when he had the chance? And how the hell was Lex Luthor president of the United States, when the Constitution says you have to be 35 to get elected? A simple addition to Jimmy’s “Civics Class Lesson” saying Lex was so popular they amended the Constitution so he could be elected so young would have sufficed. I’m not even going to start on the time travel problems with this story.
The biggest disappointment of all was the brief scene on Krypton. What could have been a two- or three-episode story arc with great CGI of life on Krypton before its destruction instead turned into a quick little fight scene on the same set they used for the Fortress.
Here’s hoping they were saving their budget for a spectacular two part finale.
The complaints aside, this was one of the better episodes in recent memory. As usual with this show, if it’s evil Clark or alternate reality, the writers put together a half-way decent story.
With as terrible as this season has been I wonder how they’re going to treat the Large villain that’s arriving next season. Somehow I imagine it’s just going to be another wrestler with a big o’ makeup. Then again, maybe it will re-invigorate the writers and we’ll get some ok episodes again. I long for the days of seasons two and three.
I agree with everything you say. The villain they’ve announced for next season does not fill me with confidence for the series. The Smallville writers have always done much better with human stories than with super-powered baddies.
Is your avatar from Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show (Good Job!)? I LOVE that show!
Indeed it is. There’s my Chippy!
Greatness.