The third Smallville episode develops important themes. It shows children
asserting themselves against their parents. Maybe the parents mean well,
especially Clark's father, but the children still want to find their own way
and make their own mistakes.
Clark wants to lead a normal life as a teenager, which means playing for the
school football team. His father refuses to give permission because he's
afraid that Clark will accidentally use his powers in the heat of the moment.
The school coach is desperate for new players, so he bypasses the need for a
permission slip.
Lex Luthor's fertiliser plant's sales have dropped by 20%, so his father tells
him to sack 20% of the work force. Lex defies his father and says he'll hire
an extra 20% to increase production. This argument between father and son
continues throughout the episode.
Lana Lang wants to give up her position on the cheerleader squad against the
advice of her aunt. Both her aunt and her mother used to be cheerleaders, and
they want Lana to follow in the family tradition. She decides to get a
part-time job as a waitress instead.
The freak-of-the-week is the aforementioned football coach, Walt Arnold. He's
been coaching the school team for 25 years. He says that Jonathan Kent was his
star player, and he thinks that Clark must have inherited his skill. No, he
was adopted. Coach Arnold is preparing for a big match which will be his 200th
win. That doesn't seem like many wins in 25 years, or maybe he means it will
be his 200th consecutive win. I'm not sure. But catastrophe strikes. Seven of
the players are suspended because they cheated in a school paper. Worse still,
the coach himself helped them cheat, although I don't understand how.
But what sort of freak is he? He has a private sauna, and the water is heated
on meteor rocks. He inhales the fumes from the rocks. Whenever he's angry,
things around him burst into flames spontaneously. He soon learns how to
create flames by concentrating. He tries to kill the school principal, and
then Chloe, but Clark saves both of them. A repeated theme is that Clark just
happens to be close by when someone needs saving.
Once more, Tom Welling is at home, taking part in the podcast via video chat.
He has special memories about this episode. He was filming it on the date of
9/11, i.e.11th September 2001. He was standing on a football field in Canada,
and F16 jets were flying overhead. He was worried about Michael Rosenbaum,
because he was in New York at the time. They say that everyone remembers where
he was when the 9/11 attack took place. Tom might have forgotten a lot of
things that took place 21 years ago, but he'll never forget the day of 9/11.
There's something that was said in last week's podcast, but I wasn't sure what
to write about it until now. Michael Rosenbaum said something to the effect
of,
"Lots of people are jealous of Tom because of his fame in television, but
we mustn't forget that Tom lost 10 years of his life". Tom agreed, and he said he wouldn't do it again. That's a subject that I'd
like to discuss with Tom over a good glass of Württemberger wine, but since I
don't know him personally I'll write about it here.
I understand what Michael means. Tom spent 10 years working hard, 10 months a
year for more than 12 hours a day. Some days he worked all night, for instance
when he filmed the scene in last week's episode when he returned Lana's necklace. My answer is
that youth is a time of sacrifice; if you want to get anywhere in life, you
have to work hard while others in your age are out partying. Taking myself as
an example: I went to university for four years and studied hard, neglecting
my social life. Films suggest that college students spend their time drinking and
partying, but not me. My evenings were spent alone in the university computer
lab. I reaped the benefits when I left university. I got a job where my salary
was more than enough for the lifestyle I wanted to live. My bank balance grew
month by month. It was a stark contrast to my parents, who always struggled to
pay their bills. My sacrifices paid off.
Tom's sacrifice wasn't university, it was "Smallville". He worked hard,
extremely hard, for 10 years, and in 2011 he could begin to reap the rewards.
His rewards were bigger than mine, but he worked harder and longer than me, so
he deserved it. He shouldn't regret giving up 10 years of his life. He should
look at his life now and ask himself if he's happy. If the answer is Yes, he
can tell himself that "Smallville" laid the foundation for his happiness. He's
in a position in life where he can work if he wants to, not because he must.
That's a luxury few people have. He can spend as much time as he wants with
his wife and children. Was it worth sacrificing 10 years of his life for this?
I say Yes.
Apart from this, he can look back in satisfaction at his life's work and the
pleasure that it's brought countless thousands of people. "Smallville" is a
series that captured America's zeitgeist, not just in 2001 but still today.
Young people are still discovering "Smallville" for the first time. The
Blu-ray box set for the complete series was finally released in October 2021,
less than a year ago. Today everyone is raving about "Game of Thrones", but
"Smallville" still has a place. I'm currently watching "Game of Thrones" and
"Smallville" side by side, and I prefer "Smallville". Shout at me if you will
– in the comments box below – but I stick by that statement.
"Game of Thrones" might have better production quality, but "Smallville"
speaks to me more on a personal level.
Getting back to the ten wasted years, let me ask Tom a question: Where
would he be today if he'd never appeared in "Smallville"? It was a big
breakthrough, a massive role for a young actor. Things like that don't happen
twice. Without "Smallville" Tom would probably have had a series of small
roles, hardly enough to pay the bills. Eventually he would have given up
acting. He'd be suffering in a dead end job. He shouldn't regret "Smallville",
he should be thankful that it was the miracle that saved him.
Michael Rosenbaum rates this episode half a rose (on his scale from three
roses to three bombs). That's unfair. It deserves more than that. Tom Welling
rated it two and a half roses, but Michael said it was too much, and Tom
dropped his rating to two roses. Michael kept pushing, and Tom dropped his
rating to one rose. I refuse to rate the episodes. I'll just say that I
enjoyed "Hothead", and I'm glad I saw it.
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