Smallville 1.04 - X-Ray

Click here to watch the podcast.

The fourth episode, "X-Ray", is named after a new ability that Clark Kent has developed. When the series began he already had super-strength and super-speed. In the second episode we saw Clark involuntarily floating when he woke up, but this ability hasn't been further developed. In the fourth episode Clark becomes able to see through things, whether they're walls or people's bones. At first it happens accidentally. Clark looks at Lex Luthor and sees his skeleton. (Except it isn't Lex, as soon becomes obvious). At a later occasion Clark sees through the wall at school into the girls locker room.

The girls are running around in their underwear, but what interests him the most is Lana Lang taking off her towel when she comes out of the shower. X-Ray vision is the perfect super-power for a young man who spends every evening watching Lana's house with his telescope.

This episode's freak-of-the-week is Tina Greer, a girl in Lana's class. They used to be close friends, but now they've drifted apart. As a child she had a bone disease, and the doctors told her parents that she wouldn't live till she was six. After the meteor shower something happened that cured her, but it also gave her the ability to shape shift. The episode begins with Tina imitating Lex Luthor to rob a bank. In the course of the episode she imitates her mother, Lana Lang, Clark Kent and Lana's boyfriend Whitney.

A new recurring character is introduced, Roger Nixon, a reporter for the Metropolis Inquisitor (obviously meant to be a clone of the National Enquirer). He attempts to blackmail Lex Luthor by revealing a scandal from his younger years, something that Lex thought his father had hidden. Lex agrees to pay $100,000 but he turns the blackmail around. He says that he can wipe out Roger Nixon's existence, giving him a new identity and a new background, possibly a criminal record. The first step has already happened: his mobile phone no longer works. Lex demands from Roger that he should investigate the car crash in the first episode when Clark saved him. The car is being kept in one of the rooms, still in the state it was pulled from the water, without repairs.

In the podcast Michael Rosenbaum confesses that while making the series he had a crush on Sarah-Jane Redmond, the actress who played Lana's legal guardian, her Aunt Nell. Wow! He's actually confessed this in front of the whole world in a podcast? Is it the first time he's opened up about it? I know it was 21 years ago, but it might still embarrass Sarah-Jane. Even if she doesn't watch the podcast, one of her friends might ring her and say, "Hey, Sarah! Did you know that Michael Rosenbaum used to have a crush on you?"

Aunt Nell's age is never stated in the series, but I assume she was at least ten years older than Lex, because she was old enough to adopt Lana when she was three (and Lex was nine). In real life, the actress was only two years older than Michael Rosenbaum; when the first episodes were filmed she was 31 and he was 29.

This episode features the first passionate kiss between Tom Welling and Kristin Kreuk, although it isn't Clark Kent kissing Lana Lang. It's Tina Greer mimicking Lana's appearance. Strangely, Tom doesn't seem to remember the kiss. It's not something I would have forgotten. Maybe he just doesn't want to admit it because he's embarrassed.

I'm greatly enjoying the Talkville podcasts. Michael Rosenbaum especially has put a lot of work into the podcasts. Tom Welling is just along for the ride, but I appreciate the effort of both of them. The studio where they meet is interesting. With the exception of the Talkville poster, the film is decorated entirely with posters and memorabilia from horror films. Who does the studio belong to? I'm curious.

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