Smallville Review – “Turbulence”

Smallville continues this week, in an episode running two plotlines once more.

Cast

Tom Welling as Clark Kent
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olson
Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer
Sam Witwer as Davis Bloome
Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow

Written by Turi Meyer and Al Septien
Directed by Kevin G. Fair

Original Airdate

Turbulence originally aired on Thursday, March 19, 2009.

Synopsis

Clark is forced to spend time close to Tess, which makes it difficult for him to hide his abilities. Meanwhile, Jimmy claims to have seen Davis do some terrible things, but most chalk it up to Jimmy’s painkillers.

High Point

The new status quo. Great on all ends.
I also enjoyed hearing Apocalyptica this time around; I prefer their earlier, lyricless albums, but at least they’re getting some visibility. Track down “Faraway” from the “Reflections” album for a personal favourite of mine.)

Low Point

There were two strained moments that really push things. Spoiler guard on. Moment one:
Why didn’t he use his x-ray vision to find the parachutes, and then claim Oliver showed him where to find them?
Moment two: Why did Chloe calm him down so much, so fast? She’s not BRAINIAC anymore. End spoilers.

The Review

This is an original character path both for Doomsday and for Jimmy Olsen. Things could get very interesting by the time the season is done on both fronts. I give it 5 out of 6.

The effects were handled well, particularly the exterior airplane shots. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story was well told, apart from those two moments mentioned above. The latter of the two could still be explained down the road, but the first should have been covered this time. I give it 4 out of 6.

The acting was well done. Cassidy Freeman was pretty convincing as slightly tipsy. Everyone involved in the Jimmy Olsen/Doomsday subplot did a great job. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response was very good. This was a heck of an episode, all things considered. I give it 5 out of 6.

The production was the typical great job. Some of the scripts have been weak, but they haven’t faltered in this category since they stopped hiring Jeannot Szwarc. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s another episode that effectively pushes the big picture forward, and there’s not a reset button in sight. (Except the one Chloe found on Davis’ shoulder.) I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Turbulence receives 34 out of 42.

2 replies on “Smallville Review – “Turbulence””

  1. Low Point 1
    I think it was pretty clear that there were no parachutes, except for the one the pilot used to bail. Tess put it all on the line, who knows what backup plan she had, or if she had one. It’s the old Lois doing stupid dangerous things to try to reveal Clark device, and I think it’ll be fun.

    • Re: Low Point 1

      I think it was pretty clear that there were no parachutes, except for the one the pilot used to bail. Tess put it all on the line, who knows what backup plan she had, or if she had one. It’s the old Lois doing stupid dangerous things to try to reveal Clark device, and I think it’ll be fun.

      But she opened the locker in the back and saw 3+ parachutes stacked back there. That’s why she asked Clark how many there were. She now knows he was lying.

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