Do you believe in ghosts? That's the question the teenagers in Smallville have
to ask themselves. Lana is being haunted by her best friend Emily, a girl who
died six years ago.
But first, let me remind you that even though I finished my high school film
marathon yesterday, as long as I'm reviewing "Smallville" there will still be
high school content in my blog. Clark and his classmates are still 16. That's assuming
Clark really is 16. Due to his alien metabolism, he could be any age. Jonathan
and Martha Kent made a guess how old he was when they found him in the corn
field.
The episode opens with Clark and his friends watching a film in the Talon. The
cinema is packed! Those were the good old days before the Coronavirus
pandemic. It's noticeable that the audiences have fallen by about 50% since
the cinemas re-opened. For years people have been saying that streaming would
kill cinemas, but it never happened. Now the Coronavirus has
almost killed cinemas. I wonder how long it will take for the cinemas
to recover, if ever. My local cinema in Stuttgart is making special offers out
of desperation. Cinema tickets usually cost between 8 and 11 Euros, but now
there's a special offer of eight films for 22 Euros. Maybe that will lure more
people into the cinema, but they'll lose money from me, because I would have
gone to see the films for the full prices.
There are a few glimpses of the audience. It's noticeable that they're all
young people. Isn't the older population of Smallville interested in movies?
You might not recognise her, but the woman in the yellow blouse sitting behind
Clark is Evangeline Lilly. She made frequent appearances as a non-speaking
extra in television shows at the beginning of her career. Her big breakthrough
was in
"Lost", but now she's best known for playing the Wasp in the recent Marvel films.
In the podcast Michael Rosenbaum said that he didn't know she was in the
episode, and if he'd met her he would have married her. I assume he's saying
that in retrospect, because she wasn't well known in 2003. And even if he'd
wanted to marry her, would she have said Yes? First he would have had to
explain,
"Evangeline, I'm not really bald, I just have to shave my head for the
series".
I didn't recognise the horror film being shown, but the sign outside the Talon
tells me what it is: "House on Haunted Hill", made in 1959. I've never seen
it, but based on the brief excerpts shown it's cheesy and trashy, so I need to
watch it.
When the film is over, Lana is left alone to clean up. Those Smallville kids
sure are a messy bunch, dropping their popcorn everywhere. Maybe the film
scared them so much that the popcorn box flew in the air? Lana is approached
by a 10-year-old girl. At first Lana doesn't recognise her, but she introduces
her as her best friend Emily Dinsmore who drowned six years ago. She hasn't
grown any older since then. She disappears before Lana's eyes, so Lana doesn't
know whether she's going mad or really seeing a ghost.
Lana tells Clark about it. He's the best person to confide in, because he's
seen enough strange things to keep an open mind. The only thing he's certain
of is that Lana isn't going crazy. He suggests that they visit Emily's father,
because if she really is a ghost, he'll be the first one she visits.
Mr. Dinsmore denies having seen Emily and tells them to stay away from his house.
But he's lying. A few hours later he's sitting with Emily in his garden,
talking naturally. He has to leave, but he tells her to stay in the house
while he's gone. She's angry at being locked up and throws a metal spike at him that goes through
his body, barely missing his vital organs.
Clark Kent and Pete Ross visit Emily's grave in Smallville Cemetery. With his
X-Ray vision, Clark sees that Emily's skeleton is still in the grave. Then
they see Emily watching them. Clark tries to catch her, but she runs away too
fast for him to follow.
The next day Mr. Dinsmore is in hospital. Lionel Luthor visits him. Lex
has an informant in the hospital, his fiancée Dr. Helen Bryce, who tells
him that Lionel is there. Lionel tells Lex that Pete Dinsmore was his
employee, and he'd visit any employee in hospital, which Lex doubts. After
Lionel leaves, Lex goes into Pete's room. He sees Emily sitting in the corner,
but he doesn't know who she is. She tells him that Lionel Luthor is a bad man
who took away her bunnies. Lex turns away for a second, and Emily is gone.
Clark returns to Pete Dinsmore's house with Lana. He finds a hidden door that
leads down to a laboratory in the cellar. They find tubes, each containing a
replica of Emily. It's some sort of cloning experiment, using liquid made from
the meteor rocks as a catalyst. They report it to the police.
Sheriff Nancy hurries to the house, but by the time she arrives the cellar is
empty. I think she believes Clark's story, but it's not 100% clear. It's only
a brief appearance by Sheriff Nancy, but I'm always glad to see her. I hope
Camille Mitchell was paid well for her three lines of dialogue. Many of the
minor characters are hardly seen, but when they appear their performance is
top notch.
Clark returns to the Dinsmore house, and he finds Emily reading her diary.
Clark talks to her briefly, but they're interrupted when Lex arrives. He says
that Pete Dinsmore was working on accelerating cell growth, and he could grow
a rabbit embryo to an adult animal within hours. Evidently he was working on
more than rabbits, without Luthorcorp's knowledge.
In hospital Lex offers to protect Emily. What he means is that he'll protect
her from Lionel Luthor. He says that she's physically and mentally on the
level of a 10-year-old, but she has no conscience, so she's dangerous.
Emily visits Lana and says that she wants to visit the bridge where she died.
Emily only knows about her death from her diary and what her father has told
her, so Lana tells her exactly what happened. When they were together on the
bridge, Lana fell into the water. Emily jumped in to save her. Lana managed to
pull herself out of the water, but she was unable to save Emily and has blamed
herself ever since. When Emily hears this, she's angry and says that Lana isn't
a good friend. Emily pushes Lana off the bridge into the water. Clark arrives
just in time to save her, but Emily is already gone.
Lionel Luthor finds Emily and takes her to a new laboratory. How does he catch
her? Maybe she was asleep. Emily has a beautiful new playroom, but she still
doesn't like Lionel. She warms to him when he gives her a new rabbit.
What I like about this episode is that it's very straight forward. The
subplots are kept to a minimum. Lex is arranging his wedding ceremony. Lionel
tells Lex that Luthorcorp has been given the conservatorship for the Kawatche
caves. Lana tells Clark she needs to trust him more. These little stories only
take up a few minutes of the episode.
What's the meaning of Michael Rosenbaum's shirt? He doesn't have a wife. Is it
some sort of a joke, or a statement against marriage? It's true, if you don't
have a wife you're free to make your own decisions.
For the last few weeks Tom's webcam has been set up in a different toom. I
regret it, because we can no longer see the Smallville DVD boxes stacked in
his cabinet. This week Michael finally asked him about it. Tom said that he's
being visited by a friend who's staying in the other room for a few months.
Wow! That must be a good friend. Then again, before I was married I let
refugees from Ghana stay in a room in my apartment for more than seven months.
First it was two men called Charles and Kingsley. That's when I learnt how to
distinguish between refugees. Kingsley had fled because he was threatened by
the government. Charles was a fake refugee. He wasn't in any sort of trouble,
he just wanted a better life in Germany. He'd been trained what to say to be
given asylum in Germany. After six weeks they left, moving into their own
apartment, and another refugee called Samuel moved in. He was a wonderful
person, deeply spiritual. He wasn't at all political, but the police in Ghana
wanted to arrest him because he was a bus driver and he'd taken a bus full of
protestors to a demonstration. I made an arrangement with him that he didn't
have to pay rent if he cooked for me. He was a very good cook.
Getting back to the podcast itself, this week was the first time that Tom and
Michael had ever watched the episode. That's amazing. It's no wonder that the
Smallville fans all know the episodes better than they do. Nevertheless, Tom
has some memories of filming the episode. He remembers that the bridge was
close to Toronto, and it was difficult to film because of bad weather. Lana
was actually pushed into a water tank, not the river itself.
Tom also remembers the scene in the cemetery. He was freezing in the cold
(artificial) rain, but Jodelle Ferland, the actress who played Emily, didn't
complain at all. She showed a professionalism that has helped her in her
further career. She might not be a household name, but when you check her on
Wikipedia you can
see that she's had a busy career. She's been acting since she was four, and
she's had a mix of bigger and smaller roles over the years. She's only 28, but
her wealth is estimated to be $4 million. Maybe her big breakthrough is
still to come. She deserves it.
I enjoy watching the podcasts every week. They're the encouragement I needed
to rewatch the series itself. I wouldn't say I was ever a big "Smallville"
fan. I watched all the episodes on DVD, but I wasn't one of the crazy fans who
knew every detail of every episode. Maybe I will be. Ask me again after I've
rewatched the next eight seasons.
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