Smallville Review – “Lineage”

Things are really starting to make sense.

Cast

Tom Welling as
Clark Kent
Kristen Kreuk as
Lana Lang
Michael
Rosenbaum
as Lex Luthor
John Glover
as Lionel Luthor
Sam Jones III as
Pete Ross
Allison Mack as
Chloe Sullivan
Annette
O’Toole
as Martha Kent
John
Schneider
as Jonathan Kent

Teleplay by Kenneth Biller.
Story by Alfred
Gough
and Miles
Millar

Directed by Greg
Beeman

Original Airdate

Lineage originally aired on Tuesday, November 5, 2002.

Synopsis

A woman comes to Smallville claiming to be Clark’s biological
mother.

High Point

How to choose… Jonathan Kent’s hatred of all things Luthor is
suddenly far more logical. They also did a very nice job of tying into
the “family secrets” theme was saw last week. I also love the fact
that the Smallville residents rarely co-operate with their kidnappers.

Low Point

Pete is relegated to the background once more. Why can’t we have Pete
and Chloe? All they need to do is push Lana into the background.

The Review

This seems like a pretty original plot to me. I can’t think
of anything else in which a human woman claimed to have given birth to
an alien child, apart from the supermarket tabloids. I give it 5 out
of 6.

The effects were few, and they were almost all effects we’ve seen
before. The only new one was the blend from the past Martha Kent in
the red shirt to the current Martha Kent in the yellow shirt with the
same cut, which was extremely well done. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story was well written. I admit I didn’t know how they’d
fix the DNA problem until I saw Pete next to Clark. (I was expecting
them to interfere with the actual collection instead.) They really
took the themes from last week and put them to much better use this
time. I give it 5 out of 6.

The acting was better than average this week. Even Tom
Welling and Kristin Kreuk were convincing, for once. They even had
some intense moments to challenge themselves with, as did Allison
Mack. I hope they can keep this up next week. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response this produced was fairly potent. I
was hooked on the story, and thrilled to see the background getting
filled in, while continuing from last week’s lackluster episode. This
was the first episode aired during November sweeps, and it certainly
belongs here. I give it 5 out of 6.

The production was excellent. The lighting, especially in
the flashback scenes, was incredible. There’s something about having
well-lit faces while people are lying, followed by half-shaded faces
when they finally tell the truth that just seems right to me. The
work on the young Lionel’s hair was very effective at making him seem
considerably younger, as well. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this was a great episode. None of the above
categories were amazing, but they were all close. The combined effect
is to make an episode that I’d like to own on DVD as soon as
possible. (I’d even pay for Redux to get it.) I give it 6
out of 6.

In total, Lineage receives 36 out of 42.

Next Week

Next week’s episode sees the return of a guest star from last season.
If you don’t remember much about Stray, with the telepathic
kid, you might want to look for a synopsis.

5 replies on “Smallville Review – “Lineage””

  1. Emotional Responce
    Granted, I’m Sure It Was Mostly Due To Allison Mack Suddenly Becoming Infinitely Hot, But When She Was Crying, I Just Wanted To Reach Out And Put My Arms Around Her To Calm Her Down.
    I Think That Means That The Emotional Response And Probably The Acting, Were Both Outstanding.

    I Also Think That The Makeup To Make Everyone Look Younger Was Excellently Done. Even Jonathan Kent Looked Younger, And He Didn’t Change Anything Noticable.

    I Also Thought The Kids That Played Lex And Clark As Young Kids Were Fantastic Duplicates. Easily A Portfolio Peice For The Producers.

    ———-

    One Other Thing My Sister Noticed:
    Didn’t Lex’s Mother Have Blonde Hair? Then Why Did Lex have Red Hair, Like Rebecca Crazy Lady?

    -=-=-=-=-|
    – `Lex

    • Re: Emotional Responce

      One Other Thing My Sister Noticed:
      Didn’t Lex’s Mother Have Blonde Hair? Then Why Did Lex have Red Hair, Like Rebecca Crazy Lady?

      I figured that Lex was actually Rebecca’s son and Lionel never wants him to know the truth about her.

      • Re: Emotional Responce

        I figured that Lex was actually Rebecca’s son and Lionel never wants him to know the truth about her.

        The crucial flaw here being the Ages.

        Lex is somewhere between 7-10 years older then Clark. No matter how crazy the crazy lady was, I think she would have
        noticed if that Clark was that much younger then the kid she remembered giving birth to.

        Not to mention that she met Linoel because she was was Lex’s mother’s nurse … which happened well after he was born.

        • Re: Emotional Response

          The crucial flaw here being the Ages.

          Lex is somewhere between 7-10 years older then Clark. No matter how crazy the crazy lady was, I think she would have
          noticed if that Clark was that much younger then the kid she remembered giving birth to.

          Good point. But wouldn’t Clark also be older than the crazy lady’s son? Since he arrived a few years old, and presumably Lionel “persuaded” her to give up her son while he was still a baby, there should be a difference there too. (Not that she was in any state to recognize that.)

          One other thing– what was the picture at the end, the one Lionel looked at in the locket, supposed to be? We got such a brief glimpse of it, I wasn’t sure. Is it supposed to be Lex as a child? I thought it was Lucas, who Lionel just said died at one year…

    • Re: Emotional Response

      Didn’t Lex’s Mother Have Blonde Hair? Then Why Did Lex have Red Hair, Like Rebecca Crazy Lady?

      -=-=-=-=-|
      – `Lex

      That explains a lot about the final scene – the emotion and why he’s never really been much of a father to Lex.

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