Smallville Review – “Cure”

I’m slowly rebuilding from last week’s data loss, so I have time to do another review this week.

Cast and Crew Information

Tom Welling as Clark Kent
Kristen Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Laura Vandervoort as Kara

Guest starring Dean Cain as Curtis Knight and Phil Morris as John Jones.

Written by Al Septien and Turi Meyer
Directed by Rick Rosenthal

Original Airdate

Cure originally aired on Thursday, October 18, 2007.

Premise

Chloe learns of a doctor who may be able to cure her of her meteor powers, without knowing that the doctor has his own agenda.

The Scores

This was a somewhat original episode. Lex continues to move in his new direction this season, and a potential new direction is introduced for John Jones. Major events happen in every romantic coupling, and new options are laid out for the duration of the season. I give it 4 out of 6.

The effects, as always, were great. These often seem to have better planning and delivery than the writing, and rarely let the viewer down. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story depended on some lucky timing and a few coincidences, but it likely serves an important part in the long term plans for the season. I give it 4 out of 6.

The acting varies a lot with the individual. Dean Cain has never been terribly impressive, and Vandervoort is inconsistent. Mack and Ashmore both turn in great work, particularly in the last scene they share together. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response was weak during the entirely too predictable main plot line, but effective in the smaller threads that should eventually pull together to tighten up the season as a whole. I give it 4 out of 6.

The production was well done, as usual. Rosenthal and company know the mechanics of putting a good episode together, even if some of the individual moments could be improved. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s a worthwhile episode, but not a great one. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total, Cure receives 30 out of 42.

9 replies on “Smallville Review – “Cure””

  1. Glad it’s the last season
    Am I the only one sticking around simply to see how the series ends? I’m not even really interested in the show anymore. The last few seasons have been mediocre at best. I don’t have that craving for each new episode that I used to have. I think they dragged it out too long. They should have ended after 5 seasons like they originally planned. It all just feels dragged out for the sake of dragging it out.

    I get annoyed by year after year of Clark/Lana drama. Just when you think it’s done, oh look, it’s back! And how many times must a character get knocked unconscious before they suffer long term brain damage? That’s the weakest "make sure they don’t find out Clark’s secret" device that they use on the show. Either that or "I wasn’t myself and don’t remember anything between X and Y." It’s stupid at this point.

    • Re: Glad it’s the last season

      Am I the only one sticking around simply to see how the series ends? I’m not even really interested in the show anymore. The last few seasons have been mediocre at best. I don’t have that craving for each new episode that I used to have. I think they dragged it out too long. They should have ended after 5 seasons like they originally planned. It all just feels dragged out for the sake of dragging it out.

      I get annoyed by year after year of Clark/Lana drama. Just when you think it’s done, oh look, it’s back! And how many times must a character get knocked unconscious before they suffer long term brain damage? That’s the weakest "make sure they don’t find out Clark’s secret" device that they use on the show. Either that or "I wasn’t myself and don’t remember anything between X and Y." It’s stupid at this point.

      What I feel REALLY sucks about this season, is now Lana knows and its not really considered a big deal. In the last few seasons it was always "if Lana finds out, she’ll die". But now she knows and everythings fine. Thats just really really lame in my book.

  2. Huh?
    So, Lana is back to Smallville, and somehow we didn’t see the moment when Chloe realizes she wasn’t dead? Sure, showing semi-naked girls last week is probably more important for the story.

    Lame.

    • Re: Huh?

      So, Lana is back to Smallville, and somehow we didn’t see the moment when Chloe realizes she wasn’t dead?

      Lame.

      I noticed that too and wondered if I had missed an episode where Chloe found out. Then I remembered that I hadn’t missed one and was really disappointed. That’s kind of a major thing to omit.

  3. Vandal Savage?
    I kept getting a Vandal Savage vibe off of Dean Cain. Would that not be awesome?

    • Re: Vandal Savage?

      I kept getting a Vandal Savage vibe off of Dean Cain. Would that not be awesome?

      I got the same feeling, though I drew a blank on the name till just now :)

  4. is this Highlander?
    What I didn’t get is that we have a guy with a power (immortality) who’s not a meteor freak, and we don’t find out more about him, and the characters didn’t seem to care. "Oh, he’s immortal? Ok." Huh? And are we to assume that MM found a way to kill him or just imprisoned him? I wanted to know more.

    -cb

    • Re: is this Highlander?

      What I didn’t get is that we have a guy with a power (immortality) who’s not a meteor freak, and we don’t find out more about him, and the characters didn’t seem to care. "Oh, he’s immortal? Ok." Huh? And are we to assume that MM found a way to kill him or just imprisoned him? I wanted to know more.

      -cb

      The easiest thing is to just assume he’s Vandal Savage, but that they didn’t bother to get the rights to the name.

    • Re: is this Highlander?

      And are we to assume that MM found a way to kill him or just imprisoned him? I wanted to know more.

      Clark asked if he killed him, and was told that he couldn’t be killed. Clark asked what he did with him then, and John Jones said that he and Jor-El had a "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy that he and Clark should also adopt. Clark accepted this far too readily, in my opinion. I can deal with that if we learn later that he was just maintaining a poker face while deciding which of John Jones and Kara is more deserving of his trust.

      Of course, I also felt that Clark accepted news of the assassination attempt again his father quite readily, and strangely didn’t ask for further information right then and there, as I expect most people would have done.

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