Smallville 1.14 - Zero

Click here to watch the podcast.

I've finally caught up with my Talkville podcast reviews after the delay caused by a family visit. It makes sense to write my review immediately after the podcast release. Each week Michael Rosenbaum asks for people to write reviews, and I should keep up to date. Next month I'll fall behind again. I'll be on holiday for four weeks, so I shan't be able to watch the episodes on Blu-ray. I'll write the missing four or five reviews as quickly as I can when I return.

"Zero" is the first episode since the pilot to break away from the freak-of-the-week format. There isn't even any mention of meteor rocks in the episode. The main story is about Lex Luthor's Club Zero scandal, something that's been mentioned a few times in past episodes. There are also other subplots that push the development of the series.

The Club Zero incident took place three years ago (i.e. in 1999) when Lex Luthor was 19. He was at the Metropolis nightclub with his friend Amanda. If I'm correct, that's underage in America. In Germany (and most other European countries) 18 is the age limit for pubs and clubs where alcohol is sold. It wasn't a random visit. Amanda was celebrating her engagement to Jude Royce, supposedly out of town on business, but Lex knew he was in the club celebrating with other women. Bad guy. Amanda broke off the engagement, and Jude started a fight with Lex. The security guard shot Jude in the chest, killing him immediately. The policeman Sam Phelan, previously seen in the episode "Rogue", comes in and tells everyone that Lex was never present.

Did the security guard really shoot Jude? There are three flashbacks to the fight scene which start the same but end differently. In the first flashback the security guard shoots Jude. In the second flashback Lex shoots Jude. In the third flashback Amanda shoots Jude. Which story is true? When Clark asks Lex, Lex avoids giving a direct answer. He says that he'll do whatever he can to protect his friends.

In the present day, Jude Royce comes back to threaten Lex, demanding to know the truth about what happened in Club Zero three years ago. This is strange for two reasons. First, Jude is dead. Second, Jude was present at the scene, so he should know what the truth is. This is explained as the episode progresses.

The second subplot is about the re-opening of the Talon as a coffee shop. It's an important story, because the Talon is a location used in many future episodes.

Clark gives Lana a photo of the Talon taken shortly after its opening. Both films were released in 1941, so that's presumably when it was opened. It was a wartime cinema.

The other story starts off innocently enough with a school project. Each child has to interview someone else in the class and write an article about him. Chloe's subject is Clark Kent. Clark is reluctant to answer questions, so she goes to the farm to interview his parents. They answer most questions openly, but they're vague about the subject of how they adopted Clark, so she does some investigations online. She finds out that they adopted Clark from the organisation Metropolis United Charities. What's suspicious is that this organisation only existed for six months, and Clark was the only child offered for adoption. Clark himself knew nothing about this, so he asks his parents, and they insist everything was done legally. Maybe they followed the letter of the law, but it's obvious that they cut corners to avoid questions about Clark's origin. In the final scene Chloe considers deleting the document, but finally decides to save it.

Michael Rosenbaum says that the opening scene in "Zero" was the worst day of his life. He had to be hung upside down when he was captured by Jude Royce. He was dangling upside down for 15 minutes with the blood flowing to his head. That made him feel ill, and he found out afterwards that he could have died. Couldn't he just have been standing with the camera turned upside down?

Ryan Tellez is a welcome addition to the podcast alongside Michael and Tom. He's a neutral reference point as someone who's never seen the series before. He was 14 when "Smallville" was first aired, but he never watched it. He doesn't know why. Michael asked him in today's podcast whether the series is better or worse than he expected – that's a provocative question! – to which he replied that he was pleasantly surprised by how good it is. Then Michael asked him if he'd still watch "Smallville" if the podcast were cancelled, and he answered No! I don't think he was joking. He really meant it. Maybe he thinks it's not up to the standards of modern television series? I don't know. He's willing to watch "Smallville" as long as it's his work, but he wouldn't watch it for pleasure. But then I asked myself if I'd continue watching "Smallville" if the podcast stopped, and my answer is also No. Maybe it's different in my case. I've already watched the whole series.

On a personal note, Tom said that the day when he recorded the podcast was his son's first day in kindergarten. I don't know exactly when this was, because the episodes are recorded a few weeks in advance. Sweet. My granddaughter Evelyn will start kindergarten in January.

The podcast's slogan is "Always hold on to Smallville". I like it. I need a slogan for my blog. How about "Always hold on to Dancer as long as you're a sexy young woman"? I'm open to suggestions.

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de