Monday 14 May 2012

Smallville - 10.1: "Lazarus" Review



The new season carries on from where Clark fell from the building, for Lois to find and help him. Chloe sacrifices herself to save Oliver, or so it seems.

Lois (Erica Durance) finds Clark, as The Blur, (Tom Welling) unconscious after his battle with Zod (Callum Blue).  Clark has a near-death experience where Jor-El (Terence Stamp) tells him of how the world is still at risk from evil, that Kal-El is too proud to save the world and to be a hero.  Clark believes the greater evil is Lex as he sees him in the shadows of his experience, only to be brought back by Lois.   She pulls out the blue krytonite dagger embedded in his body, allowing him to heal.   Lo and behold, the sun shines and it stops raining, allowing Clark to get his energy from the sun to heal faster.   She meanwhile stands by and watches from the outskirts, a safe distance away, gotta wonder why he never had any idea or sensed that someone was there.   Hey that's the same thing Chloe (Allison Mack) did when she saw Clark stopping the car with his body.   That's how she found out who he was and about his powers.   Well at least this time Lois was the one who saved him.   Well that's the cat out of the bag along with the new outfit, which his mother, Martha (Annette O'Toole)  had made up for him last season.  As Lois later says, "it's better in technicolour." Since black is so dark and signifies the darkness within Clark that everyone's talking about, especially Jor-El.    

He accuses Clark of being consumed by this darkness inside of him , thus being unable to help the world and yet gives him a second chance.   Hence the title.   Lois looking through the archives at the Daily Planet realizes Chloe, Pete Ross (Sam Jones III) and even Lana Lang (Kristen Kreuk) knew about Clark and his secret.   Lois then teases Clark about being passionately kissed by The Blur, whist Clark smiles with confidence; almost smirking, knowing that it was him who really kissed her.   She's the one who should be sneakily smirking since Lois knows his secret, only Clark doesn't know that.   Even after she she tells him about being "lipsmacked." Obviously he'd kiss the same irrespective of his alter ego!  She's postponed her assignment to Africa.   They need to talk, sounds serious, back at the barn later.   Unfortunately we don't get a talk, which is a shame, would've liked to have seen if she'd have told him to his face and whether, not that he could, Clark denied it.   Guess we'll have to wait for that conversation.  She watched from afar so as not to expose his 'secret' or let on that she knows.

Chloe seeing Oliver tied up and bloodied on the screen; with a new potential enemy, it appears, sounding off, "We're coming for all of you."  She then strikes a bargain with Dr Fate as she attempts to rescue Oliver (Justin Hartley) from his captive.   Some nameless man who clearly is against the heroes fighting for justice and abhors vigilantes and what they stand for.   She puts on the Helmet of Nabu, rendering her unconscious and sees the future.  Oliver's mysterious jailer questions him on why the Queen Industries satellite remained operational, when they were under attack by the Kryptonians.  Oliver attempts to explain that he's good, not evil.   Which falls on deaf ears, as expected.

Tess (Cassidy Freeman) awakens in one of Lex's old labs and is horrified to find her burned face has healed.  Doing the rounds of the lab, she stumbles across human specimens behind glass and finds a clone of Alexander Luthor, (Jakob Davies) as a boy.   He tells her Lex has been cloning himself in order to harvest body parts he can use to heal himself.   She unwittingly lets out the Bad Lex.   Thought Lex was all bad anyway, ha.  Chloe tells Clark she knows where Oliver is being held and she will help him, whilst he has to get to Cadmus Labs which is ablaze.   She saw Clark as the "world's hero" and he wasn't wearing his 'trademark' (ha) black.   She whispers goodbye to him but he's off to the lab.  So she's up to something and keeping it under her hat, or should I say, helmet.

Lois opens the box meant for Clark at the barn, containing the new outfit and there's a note attached to the lid.   Which we don't get a glimpse of; before she's knocked out by Lex, who ties her to the scarecrow post in the cornfield.   Lots of references here to past seasons, such as Tess finding clones of Lex and Alexander.   Meaning, we've seen Alexander as a boy before.  The scarecrow post being the same one where Lex rescued a strung up Clark in season 1 and he lets her know of this too.   Setting fire to the cornfield around her.  

Clark arrives at the barn to find the box.   He runs to save Lois but Lex sidetracks him to have a heart-to-heart.  He reminds him of how Clark rescued him from his water-logged car and saved him from a watery grave in the pilot episode.   Lots of exposition follows about Clark becoming vain and proud .   So he knows Clark is the Blur too, but he's only Lex's clone and he dies anyway, so problem sorted.   Before he dies though, he tells Clark he can either save Lois from the fire or save people from the exploding Daily Planet logo, which will fall from its pedestal.   Was that irony or metaphor there, since it kind of symbolized Clark and his pride coming before a fall, before he realizes he is good, not proud and he is there to save the world.  Lex sees Lois as The Blur's "greatest weakness."  Which must have cemented her decision to leave as she can't have him rescuing her all the time, when he's meant to be saving the world.

Clark excels in doing both, saving Lois from the fire, she's out cold by this time, so as in Lois fashion misses the rescue.  Since he's not meant to know she's aware of his true identity.  He also catches the logo from falling.  Soaring into the air to do so.   He later says he felt like he was flying.   The new outfit is transported to the Fortress of Solitude, where Clark has another showdown, of sorts, with Jor-El.   Again putting him down.   Returning to the farm, he finds a note from Lois saying "I couldn't pass up Africa after all." He then sees Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) repairing the fence at the farm.  He tells Clark how proud he is of his son, that's he's done plenty and still has to do more, to fulfill his destiny.  Jonathan let his anger consume him cos he couldn't let go of his hatred of Lionel Luthor (John Glover) and his anger killed him.   He should prove Jor-El wrong.  Clark has a second chance.   So as Jor-El said the same, we know it was Jonathan who convinced him of giving Clark another go.  Jonathan always watches over Clark.

Tess keeps Alexander at the mansion and Chloe exchanges herself for Oliver's release.   Wearing hoods, so Oliver can't see it's her.  Meanwhile, the new outfit is 'on ice' at the Fortress.  The colours not being red, blue and yellow, but more red, blue and maroon, being attributed to the colours of the costume in the movie, Superman Returns.  Hey Lois' 'S' on her vest was in glorious technicolour, ha!  Okay red mostly.  Hey more irony as soon as she finds out who the Blur really is, she ends up wearing his' letter' in the same place we saw Clark in season 1!

Not much happening in this episode, aside from references to the past and Clark having his near-death experience where he catches sight of Lex and then runs into him in reality, albeit, his clone.   Giving a chance for the Lex to actually return later.   Well the possibility was always there of this.   Tess is meant to have turned over a new leaf and we now get another new enemy for Oliver and Clark to deal with.   Glad Lois and Clark have been separated for part of the episodes at last, as it will let them do their own thing and pursue their own fates and storylines, without the question of how each will handle the revelation about The Blur's identity.   It's better they go into that slowly, instead of hashing it out quickly.   They do work well together, but the two characters also excel in their own plots; whilst still carrying a torch for one another.

Now that Chloe has seen the future she can only use it to help them defeat this new enemy and also Lex, if indeed he is the greater evil mentioned.   Hate that we're just getting this now.   Channel 4/E4 used to show the new season in January or February but kept it back last year.  Shame that this being the last season, Chloe (Allison) wasn't featured in all of it.   No, we get Clarkie and Ollie in the same boat, being separated from the women they love; each one of them thinking they're doing the right thing.   But Clark can see Lois anytime, it's Chloe, knowing the future, whom no one can locate.

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