It’s been a while since Shiny Shelf visited ‘Smallville’, probably because our resident enthusiast for the series has been too busy finishing his book about it to have time to waste his thoughts concerning the show here. So, you’re getting me wittering about it instead. You lucky, lucky people.
‘Rush’ demonstrates, conveniently, all the strengths and weaknesses of the series as a whole and is thus a fine example of the series to pick in isolation. In the episode’s favour are – among other things – excellent performances, great jokes, plenty of teen angst, evocative music and a willingness to draw on the series own internal continuity. Negatives aspects include the series terrible habit of using amnesia among the regulars to wipe out embarrassing aspects of behaviour that may affect the series ongoing character dynamic and the slightly emotionally-crushing way that characters who are all clearly close to one another avoid talking about the obvious. Most seriously though, and this is a problem that ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ faced at a similar point in its evolution, the sheer number of alien parasites, mind-altering rocks, telepathic teens etcetera that the town is producing/facing is becoming almost an embarrassment of riches.
The central plank of this episode’s own plot, that Chloe and Peter go a bit nuts while infected by alien parasites and thus act irresponsibly, become adrenaline-junkies and spend all their time looking for their next big score, is a good ‘un. The rocked up Pete and blissed out Chloe are a joy to watch, especially once Pete slips Clark a piece of Red Kryptonite and the normally reserved farmboy becomes every bit as rock and roll irresponsible as his friends, telling Chloe about his powers and heritage and making out with her in front of Lana in The Talon.
The episode’s treatment of Lex is also enjoyable. Michael Rosenbaum always plays the younger Luther as a man on a knife-edge, trying to be a decent human being despite – or maybe because of – his tremendous capacity for selfishness and ambition. Here, as he organises an investigation into the meaning of hieroglyphics found in a cave, we see how something ostensibly altruistic can twist and turn into something much darker. Lex is genuinely interested in the pictures, but their Kryptonian influences will inevitably bring him into conflict with Clark who is – understandably, but also unfairly – hiding things from him. At the beginning of this season Lex was referring to Clark as ‘my best friend’, but already they’re scrapping over the oddest things, their closeness falling away. They’re preparing, perhaps, to become nemeses. They have a stand-up row here (while Clark is blissed out on Red Kryptonite, admittedly)that isn’t resolved by the episode’s end as it would have been three weeks ago. In the instalment’s final scene, as Lex strikes a deal with a linguist who may be able to translate the caves, we see his dark side pre-eminent. He tells the Professor to allow Clark every access to the paintings not because Clark wants it (tho he does) but because he suspects that Clark knows more than he’s telling him. It’s an act that can be framed in altruism (Lex knows how important the cave is to his friend) but it paves the road to their future conflict effectively. You can see how both men could come to believe themselves to be the one deceived and betrayed.
Despite yourself, you can’t help hoping that Clark and Lex will make it all up, whatever that might do to the mythmaking exercise underway. This is – of course – at least partially because Rosenbaum’s Lex is so complex and endearing that you know in your heart of hearts you’re always going to be routing for the bald guy over the farm boy, whoever the hero is really meant to be.
