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Thursday 7 June 2012

Smallville - 10.17: "Kent" Review


Clark Luthor manages to return to Clark Kent's reality as he's kept his mirror box and Clark destroyed his, so he sends him back to his world, where he encounters Jonathan and helps him rebuild his broken life.

Clark (Tom Welling) brings Lois (Erica Durance) food when she falls asleep at her desk working on a story.   She's going for a promotion, what so she can get that sorted before she gets married, ha.   Clark tells her that her heart is in journalism which is a bit of an obvious comment to make.   She hasn't been home in five nights and she's noticed he's been out saving the world a lot too.   Like being in Bangkok right now, where he got the Chinese food.   Martha (Annette O'Toole) sends them a wedding gift: the deed to the Kent farm.   Lois thinks maybe she wants them to begin their married lives there, but Clark thinks maybe she wants them to sell it.

Clark Luthor (CL) returns to Smallville.   As does the dreaded Realtor, Marge Manners to appraise the farm.   Clark finds his things wrecked in the barn and meets CL, sending him back to his alternate reality with the use of his mirror box, which CL kept, calling it a "one way trip" since Clark destroyed his box.   He then crushes his own mirror box so there's no way for him to get back, or is there?

Clark funnily enough turns up on the day of Oliver's (Justin Hartley) funeral and Ollie and Lois finally got married.   Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) turns up ranting about Oliver stealing his farm and spits on his coffin.   Lois blames CL for Oliver's death and how Ultraman told everyone they'd be protected  by the green Kryptonite.   Clark reminds her he's not CL, but the man from the roof where he told her he couldn't live in a world where she didn't love him.  (season 10.10)  He's asking her to trust him and "something tells me I that I can, I guess."

CL reads the headlines on the paper about the Blur saving school children as he finds Lois at their new apartment.   She didn't immediately recognize he's not Clark from his demeanour and the way he's speaking.  Lois is angry with him for calling the Realtor since the farm is important to her, she didn't have a real home growing up.   CL calls her "cute when she squirms."  He tells her Lionel is still out there.   Lois then tells him about the 'Lionelcam'.   CL throws down the telescope and calls it junk.   Which finally sets alarm bells ringing when she realizes he's not Clark.   Also she has to tell him to rescue when sirens are heard, cos our Clarkie would be off like a shot.   She tries to warn Tess (Cassidy Freeman) but she's too busy making plans to get the Luthor mansion torn down.   CL tells her there was a life and family here and she thinks he can help her raze the place.

Tess won't change she's still a Luthor.   Then CL gives her a line about "he who beholds it" which she repeats and asks if he's been watching the BBC.   He touches his finger where he wears his ring and she too realizes he's not really Clark.   Clark finds the farm in ruins and Jonathan knocks him out, as well as carrying around the green Kryptonite.   Lois finds Dr Emil (Alessandro Juliani) and Tess took the destroyed mirror box and were working to fix it.   Surely Tess must have had some underhand reason in doing that, like maybe sending Lionel back cos she insists she's incapable of killing and yet she shot Stewart last season.

CL sends Tess a dress and shoes for dinner at the Ace of Clubs, which she accepts, in order for her to stall him, whilst Dr Emil works on bringing Clark back.   Again is there some reason for her doing this, since we know she's enamored with our Clarkie.   CL tells her he knows everything about her.   Jonathan rues the day of the meteor shower since it destroyed his farm.   He found gold meteorite and thought he could find some more and buy back his farm.   But CL is more valuable: the world's most wanted man.  Clark tells him he was lucky he was found by Jonathan and not Lionel.   Martha left him when he needed her the most.   Would've thought Martha had more backbone than that, as she does in Clark's world, but apparently not and neither did Jonathan here.   He just seemed to give up, going against everything he stood for.

CL knows about Tess's feelings for Clark, if she was meeting  him, she'd be in control.   Her "country crush" doesn't appreciate her as much as he does.   He wants Tess and he wants Lionel as he's holding them back, but for different reasons.   He knows Tess lies awake at night and needs someone to rescue her.   Tess comments he's offering her a life with him but if she refuses then he'll kill her.   That wouldn't be his first choice.   First time we've seen Clark/CL eating this season, though he did eat Chinese food at the start, naturally he ordered steak.

Clark shows Jonathan his grandfather's gun and he knew where it was kept.   He taught Clark that the only person in control "of your destiny is you."  He tries to live up to him.   He was his hero, even if he didn't have any special powers.   It's the people in the house that make it a home.   Clark: "better to risk everything than hold onto nothing."  Jonathan told him that.   Clark returns home just as Jonathan calls him 'son'.

Tess accesses Lionel's GPS tracker and re-routes the signal after handing CL the GPS.   He returns with menace in mind, a Luthor was going to die tonight, so he chooses her as he dangles her over the edge of the building.   Clark arrives just in the nick to save her and they fight.   Leading CL to the Fortress where they go head to head and Clark tells him about Jor-El (Terence Stamp). A chance of redemption for CL.   He didn't kill Tess and there's a reason why.   He can show the people in his world what he can give them and Lionel isn't there anymore.   He knows him and should trust him.   CL's "not defined by your past and can live a different future." Jor-El  welcomes CL home to his own Fortress.   So what's happening with him then?

Dr Emil tells Tess from the geological survey, gold Kryptonite does exist and has the ability to remove Clark powers for good.   Not a good choice of word there, nor mine either, should have used something like forever, or permanently, for good made it sound like he can have his powers removed to do good not permanently.   He tells her about the romantic dinner she shared with CL.  She was tempted by the offer to make Lionel disappear, this isn't the Tess he knows.   But he doesn't really know Tess that well, especially not the Tess of the past.

Lois notices Clark wear Jonathan's jacket, as did we.  Clark needed to find his way home and Lois doesn't think it's a bad home.  He didn't call the Realtor, he's holding onto things that used to protect him: the farm, his parents and if they moved to Metropolis, he was afraid he'd lose himself.     Lois wouldn't let that happen.   He saw it as an excuse not to move on.   Lois says Smallville is her home, i.e.  him, not the town.   He decides to sell.   Back in the alternate reality, Jonathan visits Martha.

All about family and property this episode and moving on.   That a house isn't a home until it has people who make it so and until it's filled with love.   Clark wanting to sell and Tess wanting to tear down the mansion, but it's not really part of her since she was never raised there and didn't live there until recently.   She doesn't really believe she's giving up her heritage and don't think she really cares even though she told CL Lionel is their father and she doesn't want to see him dead.

Now there's the threat of the gold Kryptonite, which could end Clark's powers and Tess hasn't told anyone that, anyone that matters that is, such as Clark - will she?  How was Clark brought back by the mirror box since he wasn't the one holding/touching it, unless Dr Emil altered it.   also there was no mention of Jonathan or Martha in the alternate reality in episode 10 and it didn't dawn on Clark to look for them, when he knew Oliver was buying up land.   Clark just happened to know Tess would be at the office, or did he go to Watchtower first and the Daily Planet, cos they really haven't made use of his super hearing.   still have to wait to see Oliver being affected by his dark side and quite a bit to get through before the end.

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