I have a complaint about this week's podcast. It was made without Tom Welling.
Supposedly there was a family matter at short notice, so he couldn't take
part. Things like that can happen, but I think the podcast should have been
postponed instead of carrying on without him. Smallville fans would have
understood.
Ryan Tellez stepped up and became the anchor-man number two, but it's not the
same. The Smallville podcast is all about the two main actors, Tom Welling and
Michael Rosenbaum. Without them, i.e. without both of them, it's just not the
same.
But let's get to the episode. It's the first day of the hew year at Smallville
High. Clark and his friends are now juniors, which means they're aged 16 to 17
for the rest of this season.
Lovestruck teenager Jake Pollen has heard that Lana Lang has broken up with
Clark Kent, so he plucks up the courage to approach her. He says Hi to her,
and all he gets back is a disinterested Hi as she drives off. Without actually
turning him down, she's made it clear that he stands no chance with her. A
normal young man would swallow his pride and look for another girl, someone
who isn't out of his league. Not Jake. If he can't have Lana, nobody can.
That evening Lana goes to the school's swimming pool for a swim. Wow! She's way out
of my league as well. I had girlfriends when I was 16, but none of them were
as beautiful as Kristin Kreuk. But why is she swimming by herself? Does she
have special privileges for after-school activities?
What Lana doesn't know is that Jake is sitting on the bottom of the pool,
apparently able to breathe under water. He grabs her leg and pulls her down.
She might have died, but an unseen figure shoots him. Before Lana has a chance
to thank her rescuer, he throws a piece of meteor rock into the pool on which
the word "Freak" is written.
Clark speaks to Jake's best friend, Van McNulty, to ask what his motives are,
but he doesn't get any clues. Van only speaks about his father, a war hero who
was recently murdered.
Lana and Chloe both think that the mystery shooter was a hero, but Clark isn't
convinced. He thinks Lana could have been saved without killing Jake. Chloe
reveals that she suspected Jake was a meteor freak. She'd been keeping
a file on him. The coroner's report confirms it by revealing that he had gills. Talking with
Clark, she puts two and two together, although poorly written dialogue hides
the reason for their conclusions.
This news report says that Van McNulty was bludgeoned to death, and the
suspect is known to the police, but he isn't named. Chloe talks about Van
wanting revenge for his father's murder, but it doesn't make sense. What the
episode doesn't mention is that we saw Mr. McNulty's death in a previous
episode. He was killed by the shapeshifter Tina Greer in the episode
"Visage". That makes it all obvious. Van is seeking revenge on meteor freaks in
general.
Clark takes Pete Ross to Van's hunting cabin. They find a large armoury, much
more than a typical hunter would own, and information that's been stolen from
Chloe's computer. There are files on proven and suspected meteor freaks,
including Jake Pollen. The next person in the list is Lex Luthor, suspected
because he has an abnormal white blood cell count and is seemingly immune to
illness. Clark rushes to Metropolis just as Van McNulty is attempting to
assassinate Lex. Clark catches the bullet, which is witnessed by Van. Clark
catches Van, but in the struggle meteor rocks fall out of his rucksack, making
Clark collapse. Van realises that this is Clark's weakness.
That evening Van smelts meteor rocks to make kryptonite bullets. The next day
he lies in wait at the Kent Farm to attack Clark. When the bullet is fired,
Clark instinctively tries to catch it, but it pierces his hand and buries
itself in his shoulder. Van leaves, assuming Clark is dead. Jonathan Kent
manages to pull the bullet out with pliers. Clark rapidly heals.
Van goes to the Talon and tells Lana he's the one who saved her life. He tells
her that he's also killed Clark for her own good. The only person worse than a
meteor freak, he says, is someone who loves a meteor freak. She rings the
police to report Clark's death, after which Van takes her prisoner.
Sheriff Nancy Adams visits the farm and finds Clark alive and well.
"The rumours of your death have been greatly exaggerated,
Mr. Kent".
Clark knows that Van carries a police scanner, so he uses a police radio to
tell Van that he's still alive and wants to meet him at the school. Van says
he'll use a whole clip of bullets to kill Clark. At the school Van fires
bullets at Clark, but they don't harm him because he's wearing a bulletproof
vest made out of lead. Van is arrested and taken to a mental asylum.
In a subplot, Chloe Sullivan tells Lionel Luthor that she no longer wants to
do research on Clark Kent for him. He tells her that if she stops working for
him she'll fire her father. Lionel is the real bad guy in the series, much
worse than Lex.
Lana visits Clark at the farm and tells him that even if he were in some way
infected by the meteor rocks, she'd still stand by him. Silly, silly Clark. He
could have used this to reveal his secret to her. She's someone he can trust
completely. But he backs away again. She's the right girl for him.
In the podcast Michael Rosenbaum calls "Extinction" a freak-of-the-week
episode. He's wrong. Van McNulty isn't a freak, he's a normal man. If
anything, he's a non-freak-of-the-week. I'm sure Tom would have contradicted
Michael, if he'd been there.
Let's hope Tom is back next week.
Always hold on to Smallville.
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