Smallville 3.05 - Perry

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The Perry in the title is Perry White. Even though I don't consider myself a Superman fan, I knew immediately who he is. He's the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet in Metropolis. If you like, you can call him DC's equivalent of J. Jonah Jameson in Marvel comics. Or maybe it's the other way round. Perry White first appeared in February 1940, whereas JJJ didn't appear until March 1963.

What's surprising about this episode is that it shows Perry White before he joined the Daily Planet. I'm not aware that the comics ever showed him in his pre-Daily Planet days. He's not shown in a pleasant light. He's at a low point in his life. But there's a little reference at the end of the episode, when he tells Clark he's applying for a job at the Daily Planet.

The background to this week's episode is that a meteor crashes into the Sun, causing solar flares. This makes Clark's powers erratic for a few days. He can't control his powers. Sometimes his powers are too strong, and at other times they stop altogether.

Against this background, Perry White drives into town. He used to be a top reporter, but now he works for a television show called X-Styles that investigates paranormal activities. He's coming to Smallville to examine reports about the meteor rocks. I'm surprised that he's the first journalist. In the last two years there have been enough reports to fill a book.

Perry gets drunk every day, so his first visit is the Wild Coyote bar on the outskirts of Smallville. He leaves the bar, barely able to control his car. Clark is running along the road at super speed, but his speed cuts out and he comes to a halt. Perry has to swerve to avoid him and hits an electricity pole. Clark saves him, by ripping the door off the hinges and pulling him out of the car.

Luckily the police weren't called. Perry had drunk enough to be put behind bars for a long time. He continues with his investigations. He blackmails Clark into helping him, saying he could sue him for running into the road. Clark should have called the police. It's too late to prove he was drunk at the wheel. Clark takes Perry to the Talon, where Perry pulls out an old issue of Time magazine with a front page photo of Lana Lang. He has no heart. For Perry it's just a story, but for Lana it was the day her parents died. 

Lana visits Lex for help. She knows that Lex has enough influence in Smallville to drive anyone out of town. Lex knows Perry. When he was 16, Perry visited him in his boarding school, doing research for an article he was writing about Lionel Luthor. As a result, Lionel got Perry fired, ending his successful years of journalism. For now, at least. Lex drives Perry to a bus stop and tells him not to come back.

Back at Kent farm, Clark is having difficulty lifting a tractor. Eventually his strength comes back, and he accidentally throws the tractor over a mile through the air. By coincidence, the tractor falls in front of where Perry is standing waiting for a bus. Clark arrives and tells Perry the tractor was stolen, and it fell off a truck when the thieves were driving by. Is that the best excuse he could think of?

This time the police are called. Sheriff Nancy doesn't believe Perry's story about a tractor falling out of the sky, because she can still smell alcohol on his breath. She recommends that Perry catch the next bus out of town. But Perry is too much of a journalist to back down now. He goes to the Torch offices to examine Chloe's Wall Of Weird. Chloe is glad to help, because she says that she admires Perry as the sort of journalist she'd like to become. Perry sees that Clark is strongly featured on the wall, so he goes to the Talon and promises Lana he'll leave her alone if she can arrange a meeting with Clark.

Lana calls Clark and tells him Perry is threatening to jump off a railing at Saunder's Gorge. He's relying on Clark's super powers to save his life. Unfortunately Clark's powers have stopped working. Pete has to drive Clark to the Gorge. Perry jumps, and Clark rushes to grab him. Perry has tied a rope to his ankle (in case he was wrong about Clark?) but it isn't strong enough to hold two people. Pete has a cable in his car, which he throws to them. Clark pulls himself up, but his hands are bleeding. Perry realises his suspicions about Clark weren't correct. It was just the drink.

As Perry rides back to Metropolis, he tells Clark that he thinks he has the talent to become a reporter.

In a subplot we see Lex Luthor in his final session with the therapist Dr.  Claire Foster. She tells him it's not enough, because he hasn't opened up to her. She insists on having more sessions with him.

That was in 2003. Today Lex could get online therapy with Betterhelp. He could even change his therapist at a moment's notice, no questions asked. I wonder if that would have been acceptable to his father.

The podcast's viewers are always asking about individual episodes. For "Perry" they wanted to know what it was like to film the scene at the gorge. Thomas Joseph Welling can't remember. All he can say for certain is that he wasn't on the rope, a stunt man was used. There must have been a mixture, because during the scenes there are close-ups of Tom's face. But he can't remember.

No screenshot of Chloe this week? Sorry, here it is.

And here's another picture of Lana Lang.

One small piece of information: The actor who played Perry White, Michael McKean, is married to Annette O'Toole, the beautiful actress who played Martha Kent.

Sadly, I've noticed that the Smallville Blu-ray box sets are now out of print. I bought mine at the right time. I hope that Michael and Tom can use their influence to make the studios publish them again. I know it's fun to buy Talkville merchandise. I'll probably buy a "Damn Who's That" shirt myself. But the most important merchandise is the series itself. That's what we all need.

Always hold on to Smallville.