Smallville Review – “Lockdown”

New episodes continue. Can next week live up to the
ad campaign surrounding it?

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 Steven S. DeKnight.

Directed by Peter Ellis.

Original Airdate


Lockdown
originally aired on Thursday,
January 19, 2006.

Synopsis

A survivor of the Kryptonian attack comes to Lex to
track down the
spacecraft he saw.

High Point

There are actual consequences to choices made. Up
until now, things
have reverted to the status quo. Not this week.

Low Point

Flint should have ended the episode ranting about the
impossibility of
escape from the given situation, and putting things
together.

The Review

This didn’t feel that original for the
series, harkening back
in many ways to “Insurgence” from series two. Of
course, that could
well have been the best episode of the entire series,
so you’ve got to
give them credit for taking this long to get back to
that feeling. I
give it 4 out of 6.

The visual effects were pretty good. There should
have been more
disruption during the explosion than we saw, though.
I give it 4 out
of 6.

The story was well written. Plausible
motivations, a
villainous plot that might have actually worked, and
some character
driven decisions that weren’t unwritten when the
episode was over. I
give it 5 out of 6.

The acting was pretty good, as it usually is
in an episode
with this much of either Luthor. Welling had a lot of
the “lost
little boy” look, but that’s about all he had to work
with. I give it
4 out of 6.

The emotional response was very good. Lies
were revealed,
which always creates drama. Lex was wounded, which
did create
tension. (The tension wasn’t of the “will he live?”
variety, but of
the “what deathbed confessions will he make to Lana?”
variety.) Then
some of the hints and teases in the last few minutes
came together,
and really set up next week nicely. I give it 5 out
of 6.

The production was good, with good editing
and choices of
camera angles. Things came togther quite well. I
give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this was a good episode, setting up
plot threads
that might make next week’s 100th episode an even
better one. I give
it 5 out of 6.

In total,
Lockdown
receives
32
out of 42.

10 replies on “Smallville Review – “Lockdown””

  1. Kent Family Truck Collection
    I got a good chuckle out of seing the busted-up red pickup at the Kent farm. Also, they killed the sherrif!? Holy crap!

    • Re: Kent Family Truck Collection

      I got a good chuckle out of seing the busted-up red pickup at the Kent farm. Also, they killed the sherrif!? Holy crap!

      Yeah, killing the sherrif was pretty big. In most shows there would have been teasers about someone important dying and such, but here they just nonchalantly shoot her . It was really good drama and I think another possible high point for the episode. While she is a bit recurring character, you still know the character and you really don’t expect this.

      As for who will die next week. I thought there were only two possibilities there, but seeing the preview, it may be someone else. If thats the case, then they considerably changed Superman’s backstory.

      • Re: Kent Family Truck Collection

        As for who will die next week. I thought there were only two possibilities there, but seeing the preview, it may be someone else. If thats the case, then they considerably changed Superman’s backstory.

        This is all pretty spoilerish, so hilight away…
        My wife noticed that both Jonathan and Lana are both completely absent from future episode descriptions, while Chloe, Lana and others are mentioned. My wife also heard that Alfred Grough hinted that there may be two deaths, not one. Ergo, we think both Jonathan and Lana are both going to die, and that will be the surprise. They are hinting pretty hard that Lana is in that car accident, so that wouldn’t be that big of a surprise.

        And one more thing: If Clark told Lana then they wouldn’t be lying anymore, they’d be all happy and in love, which doesn’t make for good Drama. A confession of love or coming clean on a big lie is as good as a death sentence on a Drama, after all, look at what happened with Shannon and Sayid on Lost. "I love you" *runs into Jungle* *bang*.

        I guess we’ll have to wait for next week to see, though. And it’s not like dying has ever stopped someone from showing back up in a show/universe like this.

        • Re: Kent Family Truck Collection
          Well… we *know* Jonathan has to die at some time, as that’s the thing that triggers Clark into becoming Superman, and given that this is the last season…

          At least, that’s what I recall from the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie, though said series is about all I really know about the Superman universe…

          • Re: Kent Family Truck Collection

            Well… we *know* Jonathan has to die at some time, as that’s the thing that triggers Clark into becoming Superman, and given that this is the last season…

            You might want to read this, as it seems the plan is that the show is continuing.

      • Re: Kent Family Truck Collection

        If thats the case, then they considerably changed Superman’s
        backstory.

        Of note is that, in a couple of months, the whole DC universe will be
        completely changed, so I’m wondering if they are going to try to work in
        some of the DC Universe proper with some of the other properties, like
        Smallville, Justice League Unlimited, etc.

        If they do change the DC universe to fit with Smallville, and they want
        Smallville and DCU to work with the first couple of Superman movies and,
        consequently, the new Superman film coming out, then that would free up a
        lot of potentially tough plot points.

        • Re: Kent Family Truck Collection

          If thats the case, then they considerably changed Superman’s
          backstory.

          Of note is that, in a couple of months, the whole DC universe will be
          completely changed, so I’m wondering if they are going to try to work in
          some of the DC Universe proper with some of the other properties, like
          Smallville, Justice League Unlimited, etc.

          If they do change the DC universe to fit with Smallville, and they want
          Smallville and DCU to work with the first couple of Superman movies and,
          consequently, the new Superman film coming out, then that would free up a
          lot of potentially tough plot points.

          I think a lot of people are missing a key element here.
          We are talking about a science fiction program.
          Who’s to say that whoever dies will not be resurrected later on in the season?
          Reckoning-Resurrection.
          What say you all???

    • Re: Kent Family Truck Collection

      I got a good chuckle out of seing the busted-up red pickup at the Kent farm. Also, they killed the sherrif!? Holy crap!

      When I saw that, I expected to hear "I Shot the Sherrif" playing in the background. :P

  2. Effects of Clark’s speed
    The effects of Clark’s speed seem to vary to fit the plot’s needs. When they don’t want him to be seem, he can go at supersonic speeds without a ripple of wind. But, in this episode, when he zooms into Chloe’s room, the wind blows her papers off the bed.

    Also, when Lana asked him what happened, Clark could have said that he rescued her from the building before the explosion, instead of saying that he found her outside.

    • Re: Effects of Clark’s speed

      The effects of Clark’s speed seem to vary to fit the plot’s needs. When
      they don’t want him to be seem, he can go at supersonic speeds without a ripple
      of wind. But, in this episode, when he zooms into Chloe’s room, the wind blows
      her papers off the bed.

      Maybe he has a sense of humor and is teasing Chloe.

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