Smallville Review – “Solitude”

The last new episode until December ran last night.
Next week, it’s a rerun of the fourth season plastic
surgery episode “Facade.”

Cast

Tom
Welling
as
Clark Kent

Kristen Kreuk as
Lana Lang

Michael
Rosenbaum
as Lex Luthor

John
Glover

as Lionel Luthor

Annette
O’Toole
as Martha Kent

John
Schneider
as Jonathan Kent

Erica Durance as
Lois Lane

Allison Mack as
Chloe Sullivan.

Written by Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer.

Directed by Paul Shapiro.

Original Airdate


Solitude
originally aired on Thursday,
November 17, 2005.

Synopsis

Martha Kent is striken with a life-threatening
disease, which
Professor Milton Fine seems to know quite a bit about.

High Point

Lionel’s tipoff.

Low Point

The vehicular product placement was forced and
awkward. I know
they’re giving one away, but what waitress in a town
like Smallville
can afford a new car of any brand? Jor-El’s absense
in the latter
portion of the episode was also irritating, and they
didn’t have some
business partner getting in the way that time.

The Review

Once again, they’re establishing new and
original directions
for the season. They clearly have a plan, and they’re
taking it
slowly, giving us some great stuff with Fine and the
Luthors. I give
it 5 out of 6.

The effects were nice, with some good combat
in the
fortress. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story was fairly good on its own, and
another big piece
of a full season puzzle. They’ve finally moved to the
serial
storylines, which are definitely the way to go.
Lionel Luthor was
particularly well used this week. I give it 5 out of
6.

The acting had some good work all around,
with the Luthors
once again stealing the show. Welling was convincing
with his mix of
determination and pain in his bedside conversation. I
give it 5 out
of 6.

The emotional response was strong. We’ve
finally got a nice,
clear Big Bad for the season, and I’m pretty sure
we’re going to see
developing serial stories for the rest of the season.
Add in the fact
that I honestly thought that one of the characters
wouldn’t survive
the episode, and we’re in good shape. I give it 6 out
of 6.

The production was the usual quality from
this group. I give
it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s another solid episode with
long-term
implications. I give it 5 out of 6.

In total,
Solitude
receives
36
out of 42.

10 replies on “Smallville Review – “Solitude””

  1. That was fun
    And once again: Jor El is a nice guy! That voice telling Clark to go forth and conquer was Zod using the Jor El vocoder.

    • Re: That was fun

      And once again: Jor El is a nice guy! That voice telling
      Clark to go forth and conquer was Zod using the Jor El
      vocoder.

      Was the “conquer them” message ever spoken? I only
      remember Clark translating a written message that came with
      his ship, and being unsure of the translation. He read it
      as “rule them,” but that could be just a subtle
      translational difference from “lead them,” as in leading by
      example, which is a huge difference in content and intent.

    • Re: That was fun

      And once again: Jor El is a nice guy! That voice telling Clark to go forth and conquer was Zod using the Jor El vocoder.

      I don’t know, I think Jor El sound a lot like Zod in the first place, how are we supposed to tell? ;-)

    • Re: That was fun

      And once again: Jor El is a nice guy! That voice telling Clark to go forth and conquer was Zod using the Jor El vocoder.

      I haven’t watched the series in some time, but from the very first time we saw the ship ‘talking’ to Clark I’ve refused to believe the real villain is anyone other than Braniac.

      Think about it.

  2. I’m not sure
    I was a bit confused with all the revelations about Jor-El. If Fine had been tricking Clark about Jor-El being a dictator, then how does Clark know Fine hasn’t been making up the things about Jor-El all the time. How does Clark know Fine didn’t make up Jor-El in the first place? Obviously we know Jor-El is the real deal, and that just wouldn’t make story-wise. But how can Clark be so sure about what’s the truth or not?

  3. uh oh… i think chloe is in trouble…
    judging from the fact that chloe doesn’t exist in the comics and that they jor-el is going to kill someone off that clark loves, i bet that it’s chloe. that will be the final thing that really gets lois into journalism… whaddya think?

    • Re: uh oh… i think chloe is in trouble…

      judging from the fact that chloe doesn’t exist in the comics and that they jor-el is going to kill someone off that clark loves, i bet that it’s chloe. that will be the final thing that really gets lois into journalism… whaddya think?

      I’ve been predicting Chloe’s death as the kicker for Clark to become Superman since season 2 – I always figured it would be like his penance if he couldn’t save her, and Lex would be implicated somehow thus completely destroying any chance that friendship ever had of being rekindled.

      In other news, I still think that Jor-El is controlling Lionel, and that worries me.

      • Re: uh oh… i think chloe is in trouble…

        I still think that Jor-El is controlling Lionel, and that worries me.

        You know, the goatee… the repetitive carving of a kryptonian name… the backstabbing… I think someone else is controlling Lionel.

        • Re: uh oh… i think chloe is in trouble…
          I’ve been thinking that for a couple of weeks, even so far as to suspect that Lionel is Brainiac. Maybe not always, but now he is. That’s just wild speculation on my part.

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