Smallville 5.14: "Tomb"

Written by Steven DeKnight
Directed by Whitney Ransick

In which Chloe becomes possessed by the spirit of a girl who was killed years earlier and buried behind a wall, leading her friends to believe that she has lost her mind…


Let me get this out of the way first, because it dominates my thoughts on the episode. I’ll watch just about anything with that much screen time for Allison Mack. To sport a cliché, she could be reading the phone book with that smile and those eyes and I would happily spend an hour staring at my screen. Not to mention that she’s getting more attractive as she matures (I actually think the same applies to Kristen as well, though not to the same degree).

I was looking forward to an episode devoted to Chloe for quite some time, because I think she’s a fairly important part of Clark’s life right now. Without Jonathan, Chloe serves as Clark’s conscience, constantly questioning his rationale for each decision, usually in his best interests. Even when she would clearly rather see Clark find happiness with her, despite her protests to the contrary, she focuses on being a good friend and helping him understand what he wants.

So when the writers turn to an episode to focus on Chloe, I’m happy to see it happen. Except, of course, when it turns out that the episode concept is a bit lacking. The underlying concept isn’t so bad, even if the situation with Chloe’s mother hasn’t been referenced much at all over the past five seasons, since it’s always fun to explore the psychological issues of a character. But the writers set up an interesting situation and then force it into a resolution that doesn’t quite make sense.

One thing that really bugged me was the lack of law enforcement response to Chloe’s “abduction” from the hospital. Even if the new sheriff is wet behind the ears, the situation is severe enough that Chloe should’ve been the subject of a concerted manhunt. After all, there’s evidence that she’s experiencing hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, and she’s already demonstrated that she’s a flight risk. Are we supposed to believe that Lex wouldn’t push for full mobilization, especially checks on anyplace where she would reasonably go (like Lois’ apartment)?

Perhaps I’ve also been spoiled by shows like “Millennium” and what not, but this particular killer seemed like a softer version of what the writers were really hoping to describe. And just how did Chloe get her arm free at the very last moment? That felt a little too convenient. Worse, though, was the idea that this killer could do so much research on Lois and Chloe and not know that Lois was supposed to have self-defense training.

Speaking of Lois, if she figured out that this guy was the killer, why did she leave her apartment door unlocked before dialing the phone? And where were her self-defense skills in that scene? It all felt like something cobbled together without much concern for character consistency, which is an old problem that never seems to get rectified on this show. And didn’t Clark and Lana break up in the previous episode?

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10