Smallville 1.10 - Shimmer

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This episode's freak-of-the-week is Jeff Palmer. He finds a green rose and makes a cream from its oils. When he applies this cream to himself it makes him invisible. I have to say that this is a very strange thing for him to do. If I found an unusual flower (or anything unusual) I'd be cautious about putting it on my skin in case it has negative effects. Tom and his family are old friends of Lex Luthor from Metropolis. He's allowing them to stay in his mansion. Another guest is Victoria Hardwick, shown above. There's tension between Victoria and Tom's sister Amy. She has a crush on Lex, and she sees Victoria as a rival.

In truth, there's no rivalry. Amy is too young for Lex. Her age isn't stated, but she's evidently 14 at the most.

Tom is probably slightly older, because the two children aren't described as twins. Tom is in the same school year as Clark.

The invisible freak vandalises Victoria's room in the mansion and tries to drown her in the bath. For most of the episode we're led to believe that Amy is the invisible person. That would be logical. It's only at the end that we find out that Tom is using his power of invisibility to help his sister get what she wants.

In the bathtub scene we see Victoria climb into the bath, seemingly naked.

As far as the episode is concerned, she really is naked, but if we pause the Blu-ray we can see that Kelly Brook is wearing bandages to cover her breasts. The bandages must have been tight to hold in her large breasts, size 30H. Yes, she's an H-Cup. I've seen enough nude photos of her to verify it. Still, it's a shame that the bandages weren't hidden. They were almost hidden. In the underwater view we only see a glimpse of the bandages in two frames. Nobody would have noticed them on television. But when Clark lays her naked body on the floor the bandages are visible for another 20 frames, almost a whole second, easy to spot. The producers should at least have spent a few extra dollars on skin colour bandages instead of using yellowy bandages.

Before anyone accuses me of sexism for only including photos of scantily clad women, here's a screenshot of Clark Kent and Pete Ross in the school locker room. But just look at the two actors side by side. Don't you think that Sam Jones III looks more muscular than Tom Welling?

But if you want to call me sexist, I don't care. I'd rather look at photos of Kelly Brook than Tom Welling any day, even when she's fully dressed.

Lex Luthor and Victoria Hardwick relax on the sofa. Michael Rosenbaum must have loved filming this scene.

Kelly Brook is the most beautiful woman who ever appeared in "Smallville", but the actress who stands out in this episode is Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang. Every week Ryan Tellez names his three favourite scenes, and I'm shocked that the scene of Clark and Lana in the sunset wasn't one of them. Instead, he picked another scene with Clark and Lana on Lana's porch, when they almost kissed. That's a good scene, as far as the development of the romance between Clark and Lana is concerned, but the sunset scene showcases Kristin's acting abilities more than any scene in the last ten episodes. Her facial expressions switch seamlessly from expectation to disappointment to a grudging acceptance of Clark's wishes. Her eyes flicker from side to side as she tries to figure him out. This scene is a masterpiece.

And it has a sunset in the background.

But who's looking at the sunset? I'm only paying attention to Kristin Kreuk's face. Ryan should take another look at the scene. I've just watched it three times. It's beautiful.

I still haven't figured out what Ryan's function is in the podcast, apart from being an impartial first-time viewer of "Smallville". I know that he participates in Michael Rosenbaum's other podcast, "Inside of You", so maybe they're business partners.

Maybe Michael just needs some company in the studio...

... while Tom Welling is 3000 miles away in sunny California.

One of the most fascinating things about the podcasts is to hear what the actors remember and what they've forgotten. I wish they'd dwell on it more often. Tom Welling says that the filming of this episode is a blur, apart from lifting Kelly Brook out of the bathtub, which he remembers clearly. That's something I wouldn't have forgotten either. 21 years is a long time, and 217 episodes is a lot to remember. I've never wanted to be an actor, but I'm jealous of actors for leaving records of themselves on film for future generations. Even if we watch Clark and Lex on screen, we still see Tom and Michael, and they'll be remembered, frozen in time, for hundreds of years.

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