Vessel
Original Airdate: May 11, 2006
Reviewed By Quinn

Summary | Review | Screen Caps | Cast | Guest Cast | Creative Staff

Summary

Things are quiet on the Kent farm until a giant shadow covers the nearby landscape. Inside the barn, Clark sees the darkness approach and closes the large door, as the animals go crazy.

Inside the Mansion, Lex and Lana are napping in the office as the darkness takes over. A wind wakes him up, and suddenly Lex grabs his ears in pain. He jumps in his car, and Lana chases him. Lex stops in the middle of nowhere and speeds into an empty field. The world starts spinning uncontrollably, until it suddenly stops. But the silence doesn’t last for long. The ground around Lex starts to explode, and the black ship returns directly above his head.

Fine appears and tells Lana that he’s “preparing him.” Instantly, a blue beam envelops Lex and he disappears. Lana is left in an empty field as Zod’s Kryptonian symbol is branded.

In the Kent farm, Lois is trying to confirm plane tickets for her and Martha to Washington, but the airline seems to have lost her tickets. Conveniently, Lionel shows up and offers the LuthorCorp jet.

Lana shows up at the Planet and tells Chloe about Lex. She blames herself and wonders if Lex is dead. So Chloe rushes to tell Clark, who decides that his only choice is to go to Jor-El.

Clark goes to the Fortress and speaks with his Kryptonian father. Jor-El explains that Fine is connected to the ship, the Brain Interactive Construct (Brainiac). And it won’t stop until Zod is released. He also reveals that Zod was imprisoned for leading to the destruction of Krypton (and, obviously, the death of Kal-El’s parents). He says that Zod’s body was destroyed, and that he’ll need a vessel to survive on Earth.

A crystal dagger rises from the Fortress. Clark has a simple mission: find the vessel and destroy it. Whoever it is.

Clark goes to Chloe for guidance, and they decide that Lex must be the vessel. Lana arrives just in time to hear Clark say that he has to kill Lex.

In the barn, Lionel shows up as Clark investigates the Kryptonian knife, and he asks Clark what its for. Hesitant at first, Clark doesn’t say, but Lionel presents him with another Kryptonian scribbling. It says “sacrifice the vessel,” and Clark explains that he’ll have to kill Zod’s vessel. Clark says he can’t kill anyone, and Lionel tries to explain that a hero must decide when the greater good prevails. But when Lionel hears that the vessel is Lex, he’s instantly quieted.

Lionel rushes to the location where Lex was taken. The father finds his son, who explains that “everything feels different.” Lionel tries to comfort his son, who seems disoriented and confused. Lionel tries to console Lex, who drives his father hundreds of feet into the windshield of his car. He then super-speeds to the car. “What have they done to you, Lex? What have they turned you into?” Lionel says, as Lex speeds back to the Mansion.

Lex appears in front of Lana in a burst of speed. Lex tells her that he’s been given a gift and reaches for a pistol to show her. He takes the gun and puts it into his hand and fires it. Lana screams but finds his hand uninjured. Lex wants to tell her the truth, and Lana is worried at first but accepts him. With his trust, Lana tell Lex that Clark is going to try and kill him. Lex runs off but tells Lana to meet him on the roof of LuthorCorp plaza at night if she wants them to be together.

Clark goes to the hospital to check on Lionel, who tells him that Lex has been changed. He explain that Lex now has the same powers as Clark, and Lionel is worried what Lex will do with them. Lionel says that Lex must be stopped, at any cost.

Lois and Martha board the LuthorCorp jet, and they find a gift from Lionel inside. Lois wonders if Martha is interested in a relationship with Lionel, and Martha vehemently denies it. When the subject gets too personal, Lois backs off.

Clark shows up at the Mansion, but he’s not there. Lana is there, and she tries to defend Lex. Clark tells her that he’s going to try and help Lex, but Lana doesn’t trust him enough to tell him. Lana realizes that Clark has never trusted her, and Clark doesn’t argue with her as she walks off.

Suddenly, Fine appears behind Clark and tells him that “Zod will cherish her allegiance.” Clark sends him flying into a bookshelf. Fine gets up and explains that Clark was supposed to be the vessel originally, but Jor-El’s spirit was too strong. Fine gives him one more chance to release Zod, or Brainiac will take away Earth’s technology. Clark declines, and Fine starts a computer program that immediately shuts down the electricity in the Mansion.

Clark rushes to Metropolis to find that the power outage has spread there. Chloe explains that it is a powerful electronic virus that has infested itself in the city’s infrastructure. She explains how the devastation will spread, just as a car explodes into the Planet’s basement. Clark speeds and grabs her before she can be hit by the runaway vehicle.

Clark is about to rush to the city, but Chloe explains that he can’t save everyone. The only way to do that is to follow Jor-El’s command and kill Lex. Chloe, suddenly worried that she’ll never see him again, rushes to Clark and kisses him.

A phone call in a booth inside the Planet interrupts the moment. Not surprisingly, it is Lex, who knows that Clark wants to see him.

On the plane, Lois and Martha wake up to some strong turbulence. Lois realizes that they’re an hour behind schedule, and she’s worried when she sees mountains below. It is revealed that Fine is flying the plane.

Clark shows up to meet Lex. Lex wants to know why Clark has so much faith in him, and he wants to know how Clark knew he’d come back super-powered. But Clark dodges the question, causing Lex to break out into a rant about Clark’s lies. He then explains why Lex fought so hard for their friendship: Lex was jealous of Clark and wanted all he had.

With nothing left to talk about, Lex and Clark finally start their epic battle. Clark throws Lex across the room, and Lex quickly returns the favor. But Clark grabs the upper hand and pulls out the dagger, holding it to Lex’s throat.

Fine demands that Clark kill Lex, wondering if Kal-El is truly his father’s son. Instead, however, Clark turns around and throws the dagger straight into Fine.

However, the crystal of the dagger and the crystals at the Fortress turn blood red. As Fine falls to the ground, Clark wonders what he has done. Fine is all but too happy to tell Clark that he’s opened the portal for Zod, as a red beam from the Fortress enters into Lex. When it is finished, Fine disappears and everything turns quiet.

Clark turns to Lex, who moves to higher ground to look at his former best friend. “You have your father’s eyes,” Zod-Lex says, letting Clark know that Lex is dead. Zod lets Clark know that he’s back for revenge. Clark stands up to the General and vows to protect his adopted planet, but Zod announces that Kal-El doesn’t have a choice unless he joins him. When Clark says no, Zod removes a bracelet. It flies into the sky, and Clark watches it fly into space. Suddenly, Zod nods and Clark is sucked into space with it.

On the plane, Lois tries to break into the cockpit, but the door is too strong. Suddenly, Martha complains that she can’t breathe, and Lois notices that the cabin is losing pressure and they’re running out of oxygen. Martha collapses as Lois tries to get to the oxygen masks. She gets them down but she collapses before she can reach them.

We see that riots have broken out around the world, and the devastation is immense in Metropolis. Chloe wanders around the chaotic streets, as citizens attack police everywhere. Chloe runs until she sees Lionel’s limousine. Lionel lets her out, but suddenly the rioters stop the car. Lionel and Chloe are dragged out of the limo into the streets.

Lana is there too, and she fights her way into the LuthorCorp building. At the top, Zod-Lex is standing, overlooking the violence. She explains that, despite all the violence and chaos, she’s there to be with him. She wants to find out what they have together, but Zod says nothing. He simply kisses her.

The camera pans back to see a darkening world. And, in space, we see a floating cube. Inside, Clark is trapped in the Phantom Zone.

To be continued…..

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Review

And with that, another season of Smallville ends. And while its rather obvious that this season still had problems and some weak episodes, its similarly obvious that this season has been a vast improvement over last season. And unlike last year, I will enter next year with a renewed hope.

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good season. It probably isn’t up to the standards set by seasons 1-3, but I wouldn’t really categorize it as a disappointment. Clark and Lex have certainly started on their comic book paths, and we’re definitely starting to see more and more Superman seeds being planted. We’ll see what they can come up with next season, with the show starting its way to the end. Next season isn’t supposed to be the final one, but with a move to a new merged CW network, nothing is guaranteed.

Again, we have a series of cliffhangers to end the season. Unfortunately, though, it seems like they might have run out of ideas. Martha and Lois are trapped on a doomed flight, echoing Lex’s cliffhanger at the end of season two. And Clark is floating, trapped, in space. Just like the end of season three. And while Chloe and Lionel are in danger, we don’t really see any indication that they’ve been hurt. The only original ending is Zod-Lex, watching over a dying planet with Lana by his side.

A nice little ending, but it looks like the writers are starting to run out of originality.

With that, I’ll break down the final episode itself, working chronologically.

I’ll start with another instance of Clark not paying attention. We’re immediately introduced to the dark shadow covering the farm, and Clark is awake to see it (unlike last year, when something similar woke him). And even though it’s something very mysterious, Clark doesn’t do anything about it. Even if weeks have passed since “Oracle,” Clark knows that Zod is coming, but he just closes the door and doesn’t think about it.

I don’t think Clark could’ve done anything about it, not knowing anything about Fine’s plan. But still, he should’ve at least showed more apprehension.

Speaking of lack of originality, this is the second straight episode where Clark is asked to kill someone. And, for the second straight week, we get Clark wrestling with the idea of having to do it for the greater good. And, for even more similarities, both times its one of his fathers (Jonathan and then Jor-El) asking him to kill one of the Luthors (Lionel and now Lex). I understand that we have to know how strongly Clark is against killing for the greater good (one of the big differences between Superman and vigilante heroes like Batman), but for two straight episodes?

A very nice moment was in Lionel’s speech to Clark. Ironically, Clark is being taught how to act like a hero by the series’ first villain. But after Lionel’s impassioned speech, Clark knocks Lionel off guard with the idea that Lex must die. And after all of the Luthor family drama, we see something very true about Lionel: he loves his son. And it is only after Lionel sees the monster that Lex has become that he tells Clark that he should do what must be done. I thought it was very nice, and it was another great performance by John Glover.

Unfortunately, it was followed up by something just utterly silly. Lionel goes to check on Lex, and we learn that Lex has powers when he sends his father flying into the windshield of a car.

And at that moment, I said “Oh, wow, they just had Lex kill Lionel.” I mean, the collision into the windshield was very violent, caused the glass to crack violently, and there was blood on it. But not only is Lionel not dead, he isn’t even knocked out. Which is extremely ironic, since every character (including Clark) has been knocked out several times on this show (fellow Smallville reviewer Neal Bailey even has a “KO count” chronicling all the times people have been knocked out on the show).

And it just didn’t make any sense. Lex, not knowing he’d need to restrain himself, sends Lionel flying with all his power and force, and Lionel flies into a windshield at a very high speed. And it seems that he’s able to walk away with only a couple (albeit deep) scratches on his face. I mean, heck, he’s even back in Metropolis later that night. Very ridiculous and very far-fetched, if you ask me.

And speaking of Lex and his mysterious understanding of his powers, how does he know that a bullet won’t hurt him? He obviously didn’t know he had super-strength or super-speed in the field, based on his reactions. And I imagine that he went straight to the Mansion after nearly killing his father. So when did he learn that he was impervious to a gun?

I mean, even with his super-speed and super-strength, Clark didn’t know he was indestructible until the Pilot. If you go back and look, Clark is just as surprised as Lex that he survived the car crash. And Clark even has to prove to Jonathan in the same episode that the wood chipper wouldn’t hurt him (Jonathan has to check Clark’s arm for injuries…. something he wouldn’t do if he didn’t think it’d hurt him). And even after that, remember that bullets didn’t bounce off Clark originally. The first time Clark was shot, it bruised his body.

So it looks like Lex just made a lucky guess. It isn’t completely unreasonable based on the events from last episode (when his sliced finger instantly healed), but going by that theory, Lex would’ve predicted that his hand would’ve simply grown back after being destroyed. Its quite a leap of faith, considering that super-strength and speed have very little to do with indestructibility (as evidenced by both the Flash and Cyborg).

And just to take another shot at the show’s lack of originality, this would be the second time that we’ve seen the “bullet into the hand” trick to display Kryptonian powers.

Something really cool about that scene (and followed up on with the Clark/Lana scene) is the idea of trust. As soon as he finds out about his new powers, Lex rushes to tell Lana. As he says, how can he keep something like that secret from the person he cares about the most. Later, Lana makes the realization that Clark simply never trusted her.

And it makes perfect sense. We know that Clark and Lana are not destined to be with each other, and its one of those plot points that we already know the ending to. We know that Lex will turn evil, Jonathan will die, Clark will become Superman, and Clark and Lana won’t end up together.

And it wasn’t until this season that Clark finally realized that it won’t happen. No matter how much he thinks he loves her, he * doesn’t * trust her. And that’s why they won’t end up together. Because the meteor show killed her parents, Clark can’t ever let her know the truth. And the events of “Reckoning” have cemented the idea in Clark’s head that bad things will happen if he tells her.

It’s something I never really thought about, but it does make total sense now. But, unfortunately for Clark, it’s another example of Lex being the guy to do the right thing. Because, like he says at the end, Clark is the one who’s constantly lying to everyone he loves. Lex has always been honest, even though he’s obviously the darker character.

Speaking of that argument, I thought it was another pretty cool realization that Lex stuck with Clark out of a sense of jealousy. I don’t completely buy it because I think there was something to the idea from last year that Lex stayed friends with Clark because he thought Clark would save him from the dark side. I also don’t think season one Lex was devious enough to come up with such a plan. I think he was definitely jealous of all Clark had (things money couldn’t buy), but I don’t think it was always part of some kind of plan. But it obviously pains Clark to hear something like that.

Now, one thing that I thought had weakened a bit last season was the effects. Not only were the stories starting to drop in quality, I thought some of the CGI last year was a little raw. This season, it has improved again, and we had one of the cooler effects in this one when the car flies into the Daily Planet.

In one sweeping motion, Clark is able to make sure Chloe is safely in his arms, and at the same time, he’s able to put up one arm to stop a runaway car. The flying glass from the window makes everything that much cooler, and it just seems so heroic. Like I said a couple reviews ago, I’m completely sold on Welling as Superman, and this was just another instance. If you haven’t seen it, make it a point to see it: it’s definitely worth it.

Just like the event that follows it up: the Clark/Chloe kiss. I’ve been more of a fan of Clark/Chloe than Clark/Lana because I find Chloe much more desirable than Lana. Chloe is a better friend, much more loyal, less of a bitch, and (at least, I think) more attractive. And I’ve been screaming at him since season two to make up for leaving Chloe at the dance and just make the right choice. And all the fans like me were paid off with that kiss.

I can’t help but think, however, that it might be the kiss of death for Chloe. Because, just like Lionel, she’s back to the top of the “main characters that can die” list.

Now let’s talk about the Clark/Lex fight. Like I said earlier, I thought the conversation before it was pretty cool. But, when the actual fight started, I found myself underwhelmed again. I’ve lost count on the number of times Clark has fought someone with super-powers, but the fights always seem to very short and anticlimactic. I’m not sure what I’m expecting, but I guess the best super-powered fight was the Jonathan/Clark fight in the season three premiere. This one is nowhere near that good.

But as soon as Zod inhabits Lex, it gets really cool again. I’ve always said that Michael Rosenbaum is a fantastic actor, and he proved it again in this one. It’s a very slight shift between Lex and Zod (which works, since Lex is a power-hungry tyrant too), but I noticed it. And I liked the small things, like Lex going to higher grand to stand above Clark and the “eyes” remark. It just reeked of cool, and the only thing that could’ve improved it would’ve been for Zod to ask Kal-El to kneel.

And while I liked the “Clark getting drawn into the Phantom Zone” effect, I can’t help but think it was done a little awkwardly. Unless you’re watching very carefully, it almost looks like Clark speeds after the bracelet. You have to really be looking for Welling being pulled towards it. Especially since, previously, we’ve seen that Clark was able to fight off the pull of the bracelet. It might’ve been better if Clark was seen struggling and then Zod threw him towards space. But, oh well, it worked well enough.

And my final point, since I’ve already discussed the cliffhangers, is the really lame riot footage. Why use stock footage to show that rioting is happening in New York and Los Angeles? We already know that the chaos is going to spread, and I think the “darkening Earth” shot had the same purpose (and did it better). I don’t know, I’m not a huge fan of using stock footage, particularly when it doesn’t really serve a purpose.

That’s it. Another season of Smallville in the books and a pretty big mess that Clark has to fix. As you can see, there were quite a few flaws in this one, but I thought the episode had an epic feeling that will prevent it from getting a failing grade. I want to thank everyone for reading my reviews this season and thank the staff of lowerdecks.com for letting me do it. Hopefully, I’ll see you’ll next year!

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Grade: 7/10

Cast:

Tom Welling as Clark Kent
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent

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Guest Cast:

James Marsters as Professor Milton Fine/Brainiac
Terence Stamp as Voice of Jor-El

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Creative Staff:

Written By: Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders
Directed By: James Marshall

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