Smallville 6.2: "Sneeze"

Written by Todd Slavkin and David Swimmer
Directed by Paul Shapiro


With the incursion by Zod over and done, it would have been easy for the writers to ignore the consequences and jump into the new season with another string of mediocre “freak of the week” episodes. So it was a complete surprise when this installment covered a number of lingering issues evolving out of the season premiere. In fact, there are indications in this episode that Black Thursday (as they called it) has triggered a long-term story arc with several layers to it.

First and foremost, it appears that the unusual circumstances of Black Thursday caught the attention of Oliver Queen. Queen is, of course, the Green Arrow, and he’s looking for those with superhuman abilities. Lex caught his attention, but I was far more interested by the methods employed to understand Lex and his role in the Zod situation. Queen is not necessarily a “white knight”, and that will put him in conflict with Clark in the future.

Of course, that has a lot of potential. One of my constant complaints about “Smallville” has been the lack of moral development for Clark. It’s really quite simple: Clark never really needed to develop a moral code, because he was brought up with an almost supernatural moral compass by the name of Jonathan Kent. The problem is that a semi-perfect protagonist can be a little boring. Drama is about process, after all. Look at how Lex’s conversion towards self-interested evil has compared to Clark’s rise as hero, and the differences are startling.

The introduction of other heroes with a more proactive agenda could finally force Clark to work through these moral questions. Clark has always been supplied that advice; how will he react if Queen wants him to take certain measures against a criminal that conflict with his moral upbringing? Will Clark be willing to stand up for his beliefs? Logically, of course he will in the end, but it would be interesting to see him flirt with compromise a little bit.

One of the elements touted in the press for this episode was the discovery of Clark’s super-breath. At least it managed to factor into the plot by the end of the episode. Most of the time, it was played for laughs, and in those instances, it was a hit or miss proposition. More inexplicable was the development that Lois, armed with the result of one of Clark’s sneezes, would suddenly turn into a tabloid-style reporter. Sure, that character development had to happen sooner or later, but why was this the incident that turned her around that particular corner?

And of course, it wouldn’t be an episode of “Smallville” if there wasn’t some angst between Clark and Lana. At least this is no longer as tedious as it has been in the past. Lana is trying to make her relationship with Lex work, especially now that they are living together. Her problem, ironically enough, is the video security, which supposedly runs around the clock. (Where that has been in past seasons, I can’t figure out). As she’s trying to work out her issues with that, she needs help to save Lex, and Clark is already on the hunt. The usual griping ensues, and while the fresh bitterness is fun, it does seem repetitive.

(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Current episodes cover “Smallville”, so it might be something of interest. Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com if you want to listen!)

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

Final Rating: 7/10