Superman on Television

Smallville: Episode Reviews

Episode 10: "Shimmer"

I was worried at first that this would be another one of those "kid gets kryptonite, kid gets powers, kid gets whacked or carted away by the cops" episodes. And it wasn't. I mean, it was, to a degree. We have the requisite Kryptonite. The requisite kid. And the requisite "taking away". But it's not overly emphasized as it has been in previous episodes. You almost don't notice it. I did, and I knocked off a point on the rating for it, but it wasn't typical episode fare. That will warrant about two points, from now on, I'm imagining. THEY'VE BEEN WARNED. :)

But all in all, this was more an episode about Clark's romance with Lana, how he handles it, and the ramifications of being a selfish person. Clark knows that he can get Lana. He's the better man, the smarter man, and unbeknownst to her, the stronger man. But he doesn't. He's idealistic. Good for Superman, bad for practical application. I know what I would have done. I'd be all over Lana like some gross sack of potatoes. But that's why I'm not Superman. That's why I watch this show. Because I want to vicariously feel like I could be that good of a person.

And then there's Lex, of course. We watch him to vicariously be the bad guy, right? I thought he was to be taken by this girl, last episode. Taken and left broke or miserable. Then this episode, I remembered, hey. It's Lex. And they're doing him right in this show. Lex doesn't get taken by anyone. Period. He's going to trash her and leave her broken and penniless. And we see, in this episode, the beginnings of that. These episode arcs are worthwhile, and going well.

The villain not being who we expected was also well done, and distracted from the Kryptonite based plot. And we don't see the Kryptonite, per se, just a really great special effect of the invisibility stuff on Chloe. Creepy, and neat.

I also love the "You're not the flying type, Clark." Just another one of those in-jokes that makes everything still funny and self-deprecating, but not over the line into campy. A standard mid-season episode. I wish for more plot progression, but I am not disappointed with what I was given.

Thus I give this episode 4 of 5.

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