Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling have been selling merchandise to support the
Talkville podcast with many beautiful items. This is what I'd like most: a
Smallville snow globe. In the episode "Magnetic" the snow is replaced with
meteor rocks, so it's green instead of white. Maybe I should call it a meteor globe.
Of all the items currently in the Talkville store, what attracts me the most
is the "Damn! Who's That?" shirt with a picture of Sam Jones III. The only
thing that puts me off is the high price for customers outside America. But
maybe I'll give in and buy it eventually.
Lana Lang and Chloe Sullican find the meteor globe on sale at the fairground
in Lowell County. Lana finds it tasteless. The meteors killed her parents.
There's a mildly enjoyable pop rock band performing on stage. It's the sort of
music that I'd like for the ambience of a fairground, but I wouldn't sit and
listen to it at home. Tom and Michael don't know who it is, but it's Josh
Kelley and his supporting band. All they know is that it's the first band
performing live in "Smallville" that doesn't have a bald singer.
Enter the freak-of-the-week, Seth Nelson. He's a boy in Lana's class who's
helping out at the fair. He's actually Lana's lab partner. Chloe points out
that he's had a crush on Lana since fifth grade. That's a recurring theme.
Almost every boy we see in the series has a crush on Lana. I would have had a
crush on her as well.
Anyone who hits a floating ball wins a meteor globe. Lana tries her luck
anyway, just for fun, even after Seth warns her that the game is rigged. There
are magnets that prevent a direct strike. Lana makes two attempts and fails,
but lovestruck Seth gives her a meteor globe anyway. This makes another man
angry, because he also missed and didn't get a prize. To stop the argument,
Lana gives him her meteor globe, but the man's still angry. He's probably had
a few beers, and he doesn't want to look bad in front of his girlfriend. He
smashes the globe over Seth's head, giving him a nasty cut. Fragments of
meteor rocks are lodged in his wound. He's taken for an MRI scan at the
Smallville Medical Centre. The kryptonite in his blood makes the MRI machine
short circuit. After this Seth discovers that he can move metal objects with
his mind. So that's how easy it is for a 16-year-old boy to become a freak.
The meteor rocks have given him a second power. When he touches a woman she
becomes attracted to him. There's a pseudo-scientific explanation about how
metal particles in the bloodstream can be affected by magnets. It's not very
convincing. It's also unconvincing that Seth immediately knows what he can do.
He touches Lana, and she falls in love with him. What's worse is that he does
this in front of Clark, who immediately gets jealous. He has no right to feel
jealous. Lana has repeatedly tried to get closer to Clark, but he's always
turned her away. Eventually she'll say Yes to one of the dozen or more boys
who have a crush on her.
Seth takes Lana for a ride on the Ferris wheel at night, using his magnetic
powers to open the gate and turn on the wheel. I've got to admit, that's
romantic. He doesn't need his powers to attract Lana. He reveals his powers to
her (the magnetic powers, at least), and she accepts him. She doesn't consider
him a freak. I'm sure she would have accepted Clark's powers as well.
Clark has followed them to the fairground. Lana accuses him of stalking her.
That's a valid accusation, even if Clark suspects something is wrong.
The next day Clark takes Chloe with him to break into the hospital and look at
Seth's medical records. They find that Seth has abnormal electromagnetic
activity in his body. They're interrupted by a doctor entering the room, so
Chloe throws herself against Clark to pretend they were making out. Hot damn!
Clark doesn't stand a chance.
What does a horny 16-year-old boy do when a hot girl like Chloe is pressing
herself against him? Does he push her away? No, he embraces her and enjoys the
kiss.
I've often said that I find both Lana and Chloe attractive. I think this scene
helps me make a better decision. They're two very different girls. Lana is
(probably) more attractive, but Chloe has more sex appeal. Lana would never
have pressed her body against Clark like this. Chloe has more self confidence.
If I'd been in Clark's position, I would have chosen Chloe.
Look at Clark's red face after the kiss. That's not acting. Tom Welling is
genuinely flushed with embarrassment after Allison Mack threw herself against
him. Clark has to straighten his clothes and awkwardly follow Chloe out of the
room.
The next day Seth persuades Lana to leave Smallville with him. She takes all
the money out of the Talon's cash register. Lex sees her and calls the police.
He follows her outside just as Seth arrives in a stolen yellow Mustang.
There's a lot of talk about this in the podcast. Michael Rosenbaum goes on and
on about how much he hates yellow cars, especially expensive yellow cars. He
says that when he was young he always used to shout "Yellow!" when a yellow
car went by. I honestly don't understand what his problem is. My first car was
a mustard yellow 1977 Volkswagen Passat. It was a beautiful car. I wish I had
a photo of it. A good idea for a new Talkville shirt would be Michael
Rosenbaum shouting "Yellow!"
Clark runs ahead and melts the road out of Smallville with his heat vision.
This allows the police to catch up with them. We see Sheriff Nancy Adams very
briefly. Seth escapes by jumping onto a passing truck, clinging to the side.
Lana is arrested and put in jail. It doesn't last long. Seth breaks her out,
easily overcoming the guards and forcing the doors open.
Clark tracks Seth down by using a compass. Is there any reason why Seth
himself should be magnetic? And even if he were, how would Clark know? There's
so much about this episode that doesn't make sense. Lana pulls a gun on Clark,
a gun that Seth stole from a guard when he broke her free. Clark backs away,
and Seth takes the gun. He shoots Clark and sees that he's bulletproof. Seth
picks up a roller coaster car and hurls it at Clark, pinning him against the
wall. Clark grabs an electrical line and electrifies the coaster car. Seth is
pulled off his feet, attracted to the car. I don't understand the physics of
this activity, but when he makes contact he receives a shock that puts him in a coma.
Lana goes back to normal, but she has to do community service for stealing the
yellow car. The sentence would have been harsher, but Lex got her a good
lawyer. And she's allowed to carry on working in the Talon.
The subplot concerns Chloe's investigations into Lionel Luthor. After the
threats he made to fire her father, she's been investigating Lionel's past to
find information she can use against him. When questioned by Lex she declines
to use the word blackmail, even though this is definitely what she means. Lex
warns her that she's living dangerously.
The next day Chloe finds the Torch office ransacked. The culprit is still in
the room. It's Officer Mason, who we saw in
last week's episode. He's working for Lionel Luthor, and he's investigating the death of
Lionel's parents. He's discovered that Chloe is also investigating Lionel, so
he takes her computer. Chloe thinks that he was sent by Lex, so she visits the
mansion to complain. Lex says that it was nothing to do with him, but Officer
Mason is already dead. He takes Chloe to the morgue to show her his body. He
died of natural causes, supposedly. Nobody believes that. But who was
responsible, Lionel or Lex? Nothing is said in the episode, so I have to make
my own deductions. I see no motive for Lionel killing Mason. He was only doing
his job. It must have been Lex who killed Mason to protect Chloe. Lex offers
his future protection, but it comes with a cost. He wants to know everything
she discovers about his father.
Chloe tells him that Lionel Luthor used to be close friends with the gangster
Morgan Edge, who was seemingly killed in the episode
"Phoenix". We, the viewers, already knew that, but it was news to Lex.
In this week's podcast Michael Rosenbaum was ranting more than ever before. It
wasn't just about yellow cars. He said that he's a snob, so he refuses to
watch
"Barbie". He's been told that the film has a serious message, which is true, but he
refuses to go. I think he needs a wife to straighten him out.
Can't Bryce arrange a blind date for him?
Always hold on to Smallville
and...
Bring back the Blu-rays.
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