Christopher Valin's "Vortex" Review!
Posted by: Christopher Valin

"Vortex" - Episode 2.01
(Original airdate 09.24.2002)

Directed by:

Greg Beeman

Story by:

Alfred Gough & Miles Millar

Teleplay by:

Philip Levens

Cast:

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

Guest Stars:

Tom O’Brien…Roger Nixon

Review:

This is how I ended my review of the season finale: “Admittedly, the way these things end is never as good as the way they started. In fact, I’ve heard many writers admit they set these up without knowing how they’ll turn out. But it’ll be exciting to see nevertheless. And who knows, as good as this show’s been, maybe they’ll be able to pull off a season premiere to match the finale.”

Well, it didn’t quite match the big season-ending episode, but it did have excitement. Let’s see how the cliffhangers turned out: When last we left Smallville…

(1) Nixon finds the spaceship in the storm cellar and the piece jumps into place on its own, activating the ship just as the Kents come down there to get away from the storm. Jonathan threatens Nixon and runs after him into the storm as Martha stares in disbelief as the glowing ship opens its canopy to reveal…

…Martha passes out as the ship leaves the storm cellar and heads outside, where Jonathan has chased reporter Roger Nixon into an old churchyard. Jonathan saves Nixon’s life by pushing him into an old crypt just as a mobile home almost lands on them. The ship, meanwhile, gets caught up in one of the twisters, loses the loose piece it just got back, goes dead, and drops.

(2) Whitney goes off to boot camp without knowing whether Lana is going to wait for him to come back or not…

…If I’m not mistaken, Whitney wasn’t even mentioned in this episode, and the actor who played him has been replaced in the opening credits by John Glover as Lionel Luthor. No complaints there. [Editor's note: actually this comment is mistaken. Whitney was definitely referred to in the pre-episode tease, and I believe he was referred to once in the episode too. -- KryptonSite Craig]

(3) Chloe’s worst fears are realized as she is left standing alone at the dance while Clark rushes off to the bus station to see if Lana’s okay after the announcement that tornadoes have been spotted south of town…

…Chloe apparently looked for Clark for three hours before heading to the hospital, where she finds out that he went and saved Lana from a twister (see number six below). When Clark tries to apologize, she acts like it’s not big deal and says they should just be friends so they don’t ruin their friendship. Then she cries on Pete’s shoulder after Clark walks away. At the end, she almost deletes all the digital pictures of Clark and herself at the dance, but decides not to at the last second.

(4) Pete…well, once again poor Pete gets the shaft and apparently doesn’t even rate his own cliffhanger, unless it’s that we’re left to wonder whether he scores with his dream date after the big dance…

…Like I said, poor Pete. He got a few more lines, but there was no mention of the big date. I guess the storm probably ruined the mood. But he does save the day when he comes up with some old maps that show the demolished church with the tomb underneath, so Clark can go save his dad.

(5) Lionel shows up to threaten Lex after discovering that Lex is using his mother’s shares to leverage the bailout (“I’ll bury you and everyone who takes your side”), but the windows blow out due to the storm and the room starts to collapse around them. Pinned by a column and with the sharp end of a huge beam about to skewer him, Lionel begs for Lex’s help, but Lex doesn’t look like he’s budging…

…After thinking it over for several seconds, Lex decides to move the column off of Lionel and pulls him out of the way just before the beam comes down. But Lionel knows he hesitated (“I saw it in your eyes.”) and is still seriously injured when he’s taken to the hospital.

(6) Clark reaches Lana, who’s stuck in Whitney’s truck in a ditch, just in time to watch the truck be lifted into the air by the twister. Clark runs into the tornado to save her…

…And is somehow able to do it. He grabs onto the truck, pulls himself in, and covers Lana up as the truck is torn to shreds (I guess Whitney won’t be wrecking that vehicle any more). Lana wakes up in the hospital and thinks she was seeing things when Clark saved her…or does she? Clark admits later on to Jonathan that it seemed like he “willed” himself toward the truck in the tornado and felt like he was flying. Hmmmm. Nah…couldn’t be.

So what else happened? Well, you knew Roger Nixon wasn’t going to make it through the episode, but they sure teased us a lot. First he’s almost killed in a twister, then by a mobile home, then by Jonathan (who saves him instead), then by a cave-in inside the crypt. And after Clark saves him and he uses Kryptonite (yes, it was there, but it didn’t give anyone powers, so I’m fine with it) to keep Clark helpless while he drags him away, it looks like his car is going to fall on him from a tree. But it isn’t until Nixon’s about to bludgeon Jonathan with a metal rod that he’s finally shot dead by Lex. This allows Lex to shake hands with Jonathan and give them a “fresh start.” We’ll see how long that lasts.

The show ended with three good scenes: Lionel thanking Lex for saving him, then revealing that Lex’s decision for them to operate right away left him blind; Lana confronting Clark about saving her in the truck (“Maybe there’s more to Clark Kent than meets the eye.”) and Clark denying it; and, finally, the spaceship sitting in the middle of a cornfield, just waiting to be found.

There were some great conversations in this one, between almost all the main characters: Clark and Lana, Clark and Lex, Clark and Martha, Clark and Jonathan, Clark and Chloe, Lex and Lionel, Lex and Jonathan, Chloe and Pete…hell, even Martha and Lana, when Ma Kent tells the story about how Lana “granted” her a wish just before the meteor shower, and Clark came along just after that. But some of the best moments were between Jonathan and Nixon, such as Jonathan explaining why they kept Clark even after realizing he was different.

As second-parters go, this was definitely one of the best. I was worried that this series would suffer from the sophomore curse and turn out not to be as good as the first season, but so far it doesn’t look like we have anything to worry about.

Quotes of the Week:

Nixon (to Jonathan): “You have the most amazing being on earth doing chores on your farm….He’s not your son, you deluded hick. He’s not even human….Clark doesn’t belong to you. He belongs to the world.”

Next Week: A new teacher at the high school turns up the “Heat” in Smallville.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Smallville airs Tuesdays at 9 pm/8 C on the WB.

Note: The views in KryptonSite Columns don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of the people behind KryptonSite. Christoper Valin's reviews appear first at ZENtertainment.com, and are printed here with his permission. E-mail us your columns here at KryptonSite!