Smallville 3.12 - Hereafter

Click here to watch the podcast.

The episode was first broadcast on 4th April 2004. Maybe I should have named the broadcast date for all the episodes, but I'm not going to go back and add it to the 55 previous episodes. It's too much hard work.

Most of the Smallville episodes have a main story, accompanied by one or more subplots. This episode is made up of two stories that have almost equal screentime. The first story follows the typical freak-of-the-week format. It's about Jordan Cross, a teenager whose mother was struck by a meteor while he was still in the womb. His mother died a few days after he was born. Ever since he was born he has the gift of seeing a person's death when he touches him. This was first noticed by his father when Jordan was six. Since then he's been home-schooled, but now he's said he wants to enrol in Smallville High School as a normal teenager. That's not a good idea, because he can't control his power. Even an accidental touch in the hallway gives him a vision.

First Lana touches him as he picks up a cup of water, and he sees her dying peacefully as an old woman. Then the cross-country coach, Joseph Altman, congratulates him on his running, giving him a friendly tap on the arm, and Jordan sees him being run over by a car. A few minutes later the coach walks into the road and deliberately places himself in the path of a car that's out of control. Jordan cries for help. Clark super-speeds to the rescue and saves the coach. Strangely, nobody spotted Clark using his powers. The coach is depressed that he's had to shut off the life support of his daughter Julia, who was injured by a hit-and-run driver a few years ago. This is the first time that Jordan's seen a death which didn't happen.

When he touches Clark he sees a cape flying through the sky towards the stars. This makes him think Clark will never die.

Coach Altman is taken to hospital. While he's asleep he's visited by Lana and Megan, who used to be Julia's best friends. The accident happened while they were walking home together. Megan blames herself for not preventing the accident. Lana tells her there was nothing they could do. Coach Altman isn't really sleeping, and he hears the conversation.

After accidentally touching Megan, Jordan sees that she's going to die in a fire. He knows that this will happen soon, so he tells Megan he wants to accompany her home. She finds this creepy, so there's a big argument. Megan leaves alone, but she doesn't get home from school, so Sheriff Nancy Adams questions him as a suspect.

Jordan's father now wants to withdraw him from the school, so he hides in the school building after dark. Lana finds him and touches his arm to comfort him. He has a vision of Lana dying in flames, a different death to the one he saw before. He deduces that by saving the coach's life Clark has changed the future. Then he's knocked out by an unseen assailant, and Lana is kidnapped.

Jordan tells Clark about his visions. Clark deduces that the two girls have been captured by Coach Altman. He wants to deal with it alone, but Jordan insists on going with him. They drive to the coach's house and fins it in flames. The coach blames the girls for his daughter's death, and he wants them to die with him. Clark rescues the two girls. Jordan wants to rescue the coach, but when they touch each other he has a series of visions. Clark pulls Jordan out of the flames, but the coach dies.

Jordan had seen his own death, but Clark saved him. As a result, Jordan no longer has visions.

Clark was foolish to take Jordan to the coach's house. If he'd gone by himself, he would have arrived before the fire started and saved everyone. By taking Jordan with him, he had to drive in a truck. This mistake led to the coach's death.

The second story is about Lana's new love interest, Adam Knight. In the last episode he moved into a small apartment above the Talon. While cleaning up after work, Lana hears shouting. She rushes into the apartment and finds Adam in the middle of a nightmare which is making him scream and knock things over. He refuses to tell Lana what he was dreaming about.

The next day at school, Chloe finds Adam in an empty classroom injecting something into his arm. She's so shocked by what she saw that she doesn't even ask why he was in the school. She rushes to the Talon to tell Lana what she saw. 

Lex, who doesn't yet know about the syringe, invites Adam to his mansion to ask him about his past. Adam sits at the piano and begins to play a tune from memory. Lex is amazed at his skill, because "it's one of Rachmaninoff's most complicated pieces". Those are Lex's words. Piano is piano to me. Adam was an ace student who had straight A's across the board. Lex had also questioned the teachers, and they said he was "a fine pupil and a joy to teach". Curiously, they'd all used exactly the same words, as if they'd been told to say it.

Lana confronts Adam about the needle, discreetly asking if it's diabetes, but he gets angry and storms off. Chloe sneaks into Adam's apartment and finds a vial of clear fluid. She's interrupted by Lex, who's also investigating Adam. They're both amazed at Adam's skills in different areas, such as piano playing, martial arts and computer hacking.

The next day, Lana visits Lex to tell him about Adam's reactions to her questions. Lex tells her to give him a chance, because he's found that he's part of a clinical trial to test a new drug.

The day after Jordan's rescue from the flames, Lana visits him to help him catch up with class. He tells her that he'd touched Adam in the school, and his vision told him that Adam was already dead. 

There's an epilogue in which something dramatic happens. Clark takes his father cookies in the barn, and he finds him on the floor, barely conscious.

Is this Jonathan Kent's death? I shan't give any spoilers. This incident was discussed at length in the podcast. One of the few things I remember about Superman lore is that Clark's father died when he was a child. I don't remember if the age was mentioned, so it could have been any age between six and sixteen. I just remember reading Superboy comics in which Jonathan was already dead. I didn't know if "Smallville" would follow Superman lore precisely, but I was prepared for something like this to happen.

Neither Tom Welling nor Michael Rosenbaum knew that Jonathan Kent would die. They weren't well versed in the comics. They should have asked Jeph Loeb as the series consultant.

In the podcast Michael Rosenbaum is is usual crazy self. We wouldn't have him any other way. He has to become serious after a question from Annie from Ocala:

"This episode deals with a lot of questions about predestination and free will. So what do you guys personally think of these questions? Do you think that our lives are governed by destiny, free will or a combination of the two?"

Ryan Tellez could only say "Oh damn!" Michael attempted a reply, rambling on without really answering the question. His cousin died of cancer. Was that his destiny? Michael doesn't know. When put on the spot, he said that things are random.

Tom's words were wiser: "Does everything happen for a reason, or do we find reasons for things that happen?" But it's still not an answer.

I don't want to criticise Michael or Tom. They were caught off guard. Annie's question is too much for a simple podcast. It's the subject for a 600-page doctoral thesis. Don't expect an answer from me either. Not in the real world. In "Smallville" there's a clear answer. Everything is predestined, unless Clark Kent intervenes and changes destiny.

Tom Welling looks different in this podcast. It's a mixture of the glasses and the new headset that shows off his hair.

Always hold on to Smallville

and...

Bring back the Blu-rays.