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Talkville Podcast. I
know that increasing the number of subscribers is only the slight change in a
number, but it'll let Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling know that one more
person is appreciating their podcast.
This is an episode that starts off with a bang. A young man is playing poker
in a Chinese gambling den. He's cheating with the help of someone in an
adjoining room spying on the other players' cards and electronically relaying
what they have to his partner. It's the same sort of trick that's used the
James Bond film
"Goldfinger". The cheating is uncovered, and everyone tries to kill the man, but he
escapes. When he runs into the street, Lex Luthor pulls up in his car and
tells him to jump in. The man asks why, and Lex replies,
"I'm your brother".
It's the most exciting opening scene in "Smallville" so far.
The young man is Lucas, a son that Lionel Luthor gave up for adoption. He was
previously mentioned in the episode
"Lineage"
as the illegitimate son of Rachel Dunleavy. Lex's motives in searching for him
aren't purely brotherly love. Lucas has just turned 18, and a family contract
states that any son of Lionel will be given 10% of Luthorcorp's shares on his
18th birthday. That's a strange clause for a contract, whether family or
business. What's important is that in combination with Lex's shares, Lex will
have a controlling share of Luthorcorp, enabling him to oust his father.
But Lionel Luthor is a skilled tactician. He offers Lucas $10 million for his
shares, so Lex can't rely on his help. Lionel freezes Lex's bank accounts,
leaving him penniless. He was silly that he didn't have at least a few
thousand dollars cash in his safe. Lionel orders Lex to leave the mansion.
Everything that Lex used to own, including the Talon, is given to Lucas.
I admit that I don't fully understand this. Lionel already had the majority of
Luthorcorp, and he already bought out Lexcorp in the episode
"Suspect", so couldn't he have done this to Lex any time without waiting for Lucas?
In a sub-plot, Clark answers the ad for a part time job at the Talon. He must
be very insensitive to do this after he hurt Lana Lang in last week's episode.
In fact, it was only last night in Smallville time. The rose is still in the
waste paper basket where Lana threw it at the end of
"Rush".
But let's get back to the main story. Lex is now homeless, so he turns to
Jonathan Kent for help. He asks if he can have a room in the farm. Once more,
this is strange. Couldn't he have asked his girlfriend Helen Bryce for a bed?
She would have been only too happy to take him in. Apart from this, why is
Jonathan so fast to accept Lex into his home? They've had heated arguments
more than once in the recent past.
Despite being slightly illogical, it helps the story to see Lex at the Kent
farm. Lex proves that he's a hard worker, getting up early to do chores. This
impresses Jonathan, who says that he could be a good farmer.
In this episode we find out that Lionel Luthor is no longer blind. He says
he's been able to see for about three weeks. How many episodes is that? He's
been pretending to still be blind, because he can find out more about people.
When dealing with a blind man they're not as likely to hide what they're
doing. They let their guard down.
One of Lucas' old acquaintances, possibly the man who was helping him cheat at
poker, ambushes him at the Talon and attempts to shoot him. Clark saves Lucas,
knocking some bullets out of the air, then leaping between Lucas and the
remaining bullets. Lucas didn't see what happened, because his back was
turned, but he's puzzled that Clark could move so fast. When he asks Lionel about
it, Lionel merely replies that Clark is an unusual young man.
The would-be killer is arrested when trying to leave Smallville, but he dies
while in police custody. Somebody evidently wants to stop him talking,
someone who's wealthy enough to buy off the police. Lionel Luthor is the
obvious suspect. Lex thinks that Lionel wants Lucas out of the way.
The next day there's a confusing scene in the Luthorcorp headquarters. Lucas
is holding Lex prisoner. He's tied to a chair. Lucas has a gun, but he says he
wants Lionel to shoot him. He gives his father a gun, then holds a gun to
Lionel's head to force him to act. Lionel refuses to shoot Lex. Unknown to
them, Clark is hiding in an overhead air vent. Clark uses his heat vision to
burn Lucas' hand and make him drop his gun. Lionel uses the opportunity to
shoot Lucas, but his gun is loaded with blanks. Lucas picks up his gun and
reveals that it's also loaded with blanks.
Lex and Lucas planned this show, but what is it supposed to prove? Did they
want to see if Lionel was prepared to shoot Lex? I don't understand what it
was all about.
The next day Lionel gives Lex his company back in exchange for Lex keeping
quiet about Lucas. Keeping quiet about what? About Lionel having a son? About
Lionel trying to have Lucas killed? Probably not the latter, because Lionel
never admitted it. Lex says that Lucas is now under his protection, but what's
strange is that we never see him again. His absence for the next eight years
of the series is unusual.
Getting back to the Clark-at-the-Talon sub-plot: Lana fires him because he
walked out in the middle of his shift. Maybe he could have kept his job if
he'd told her that he has to leave sporadically in order to save the world.
For Clark it's more important to keep secrets than to keep a job.
Tom Welling has remarkably good memories of this episode, even though he
admits that he never watched the episode when it was completed. He remembers
the scene where he blocked bullets to save Lucas, in particular the advice
from members of the crew about how to make it look good. He also remembers
that it's an episode in which Michael Rosenbaum appeared a lot as Lex Luthor.
There's a lot of semi-off-topic chatter in the podcast. They talk about how
Paul Wesley's role as Lucas was his springboard for becoming the main
character in "Vampire Diaries". They say that the CW network was famous for
having young, good looking characters. So Paul Wesley is good looking? Not as
far as I can tell. He's not my type. He looks like another actor in the line
of dopey love-sick vampires that started with David Boreanaz. Michael thinks
that even though Paul Wesley had to audition for "Vampire Diaries", he had
preferential treatment as an actor with CW experience.
There's no guest star in the podcast, but Al Gough is on the phone for seven
minutes. He calls himself Talkville's third host. Ryan Tellez sat up in shock
when he heard that.
Michael has no lack of praise for Smallville's fans, the ones he meets at
comic conventions. They know the series inside out, although he and Tom have
trouble remembering the smallest details. It's hardly surprising if they
haven't watched the episodes themselves. That's something I don't understand.
If I'd been the star of a television series, I'd want to watch every single
episode as soon as it was completed. I'd want to know if I'd made any goofs in
front of the camera. Actors (and musicians) are their own toughest critics.
Maybe I should write more about the podcast itself in my future reviews. It's
so enjoyable, although it's not so much what's said, it's the way that it's
said. I have the feeling that Tom and Michael are having a private party with
their friend Ryan, and viewers like me are spying through the keyhole.
The best place for a party is the Talon. Live music to make you want to dance.
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