Smallville 1.02 - Metamorphosis

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This is the second episode of "Smallville", which I watched back to back with the second Talkville rewatch podcast. In the podcast Michael Rosenbaum introduces a seven-level rating system for the episodes, a wordplay on his name, the rose'n'bomb rating. Good episodes are rated from one to three roses, with three roses being the best. Bad episodes are rated one to three bombs, with three bombs being the worst. An average episode is a heater. Huh? I understand the roses and bombs, but why a heater? He's given the pilot episode three roses, and "Metamorphosis" half a rose.

Personally, I choose to refrain from rating individual episodes. TV series aren't the same as films. I find it easy (usually) to rate a film, but in the case of a series the episodes can't be judged on their own merits, they have to be seen in the context of the whole series. That doesn't mean that I find every episode of a series equally good, but a weak episode might have some redeeming features in the way it furthers character development.

This picture shows the first time Clark Kent and Pete Ross met at school in Superboy #86, January 1961. Can you spot the difference between him and the actor Sam Jones III who plays him in "Smallville"? Yes, they're different skin colours. I call this phenomenon blackwashing. When 1960's all-white comics are adapted for television or film, one of the main characters is always turned black. I have mixed feelings about this. I can understand that a high school in 2001 is more likely to have black students than the same school in 1961, so changing Pete Ross's ethnicity doesn't matter. On the other hand, making a Norse (i.e. Norwegian) God black is ridiculous, so casting Idris Elba as Heimdall is one of the most stupid blunders ever.

The freak-of-the-week in "Metamorphosis" is Greg Arkin, a childhood friend of Clark. They used to hang out in his tree house. The two drifted apart, because Clark couldn't relate to Greg's hobby of collecting insects. But the two former friends have something in common. Clark sits in his room watching Lana Lang with his telescope. Greg sits in his tree house making videos of Lana. Something about her makes her a pervert magnet. This even overlaps into the real world. In the podcast Michael Rosenbaum says that in the previous night he dreamt that he was making out with Kristin Kreuk. After all these years!

Greg's insects have been infected by the meteor rocks in the fields surrounding Smallville. One evening they bite him, which turns him into a human fly, though not as ugly as Jeff Goldblum. He knows that he won't live long, so his priorities are to eat, moult and mate, in that order. And who does he want to mate with? The local schoolgirl Lana Lang! Who else?

In the first two podcast episodes it's been pointed out several times that it's creepy that Lex Luthor, a local businessman, hangs out with high school kids. I don't find it so creepy. He's not much older than them. He's 21, which is only five to sex years older than the children. It's a borderline case. When I was 21 my best friend was 17.

In this week's podcast Michael Rosenbaum and Ryan Tellez are alone in the studio. Tom Welling participates by video link. Michael keeps promising guest stars in future Talkville podcasts. I can hardly wait.

Tom Welling as Clark Kent.

Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor.

Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan. Doesn't she have a lovely smile?

Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang.

In this episode Clark saves Lana's boyfriend Whitney from his crashed car just before it explodes. The episode gives the first hints about Lex's dark personality. He suggests to Clark that if he hadn't saved Whitney he'd have Lana all to himself.

While watching the podcast I noticed for the first time that Americans pronounce the word "metamorphosis" differently. Okay, I can tolerate different pronunciations, as long as the words are spelt correctly. I used to accept Americanisms when I was younger, but the older I get the more I wish that everyone would write English correctly. The language isn't called American, it's English, so it should be spelt the way it is in England.

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