“Zero”
Episode 1.14
Original airdate 03.12.2002
Review by Christopher Valin

Cast:
Tom Welling…Clark Kent
Michael Rosenbaum…Lex Luthor
Kristin Kreuk…Lana Lang
John Schneider…Jonathan Kent
Annette O'Toole…Martha Kent
Sam Jones III…Pete Ross
Allison Mack…Chloe Sullivan
Eric Johnson…Whitney Fordman

Guest Stars:
Cameron Dye…Sam Phelan
Corin Nemec...Jude Royce
Eric Breker

Directed by:
Michael Katelman

Story by:
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar

Teleplay by:
Mark Verheiden

Review:

Anyone who’s been reading my reviews should know just how happy I am that there was no “Freak of the Week” in this episode. And you can imagine my joy when the credits rolled at the end and there hadn’t even been a mention of little green meteorites. Is it a coincidence that two of the best episodes have been the ones without Kryptonite? I think not. When this series’ writers free themselves from that crutch and venture into…well, the entire rest of the plot device universe, that’s when they really get creative. I don’t actually have a problem with Kryptonite per se, it’s just the use of it every week as an excuse for someone to mutate into some kind of super-powered baddie for Clark to fight that I object to.

This episode starts with a teaser that really…uh, teases you. Lex hangs upside down, in a straight jacket, while some guy who claims to have been killed by him demands to know “the truth.” In a flashback to three years ago, Lex takes an engaged woman named Amanda to Club Zero in Metropolis, where she sees her fiance (the guy we just saw with Lex) with some other women and turns away. The fiancee pulls a knife and stabs Lex, then a bouncer named Max shoots and kills the guy. Back in the present, the guy mentions something about a cover up, points a gun at Lex’s head and a shot rings out into the opening credits.

As we’re left to ponder whether this really happened, was a dream, or whatever else (turns out it actually takes place later in the episode), Clark, Pete, and Chloe discuss the fact that Chloe drew Clark’s name for a class biography project and Clark came up with Lana’s. Pete echoes my thoughts at this point when he mentions that it was “rigged”-it seems a little too convenient-although I suppose Clark may have used his x-ray vision or something to get Lana’s name. Much to Lex’s chagrin, Max the bouncer shows up in Smallville claiming that the fiancee from the teaser, Jude Royce, is alive and has been stalking him. Lex tells him to go to a secure apartment in Metropolis and then goes to the Talon to meet with Lana and the contractor, only to discover that Royce had been there as well. Later, when Lex is called back to meet with the contractor again, it appears that someone jumped the contractor and left a box for Lex…a box with Max’s HAND in it and a note that says “zero consequences.” Meanwhile, Chloe is getting a little too close to Clark’s secret after interviewing the Kents, and Clark starts getting defensive about it. It seems Ma and Pa had to do quite a bit of finagling in order to adopt Clark after they found him thirteen years ago…in fact, the charity that was involved was only around for six months and Clark’s adoption was the only one they worked on. By the end of the episode, Chloe sits at her computer with some information on this agency on her screen, debating on whether to delete it…then clicks “save.”

In another flashback to Club Zero, Sam Phelan shows up and asks Lex what happened, only this time Lex says that he grabbed Max’s gun and shot Royce. Phelan tells him not to worry, since his dad’s money will keep his name out of the papers and the reports. At the Kent farm, all their cows are dead, apparently from some kind of Luthorcorp environmental disaster, and Jonathan isn’t satisfied with Lex’s offer to pay for the livestock. Lex goes to talk to a government guy, but he turns out to be Royce, who zaps Lex with a stun gun and takes him to Club Zero. Clark recognizes Royce in some pictures Chloe took of the disaster and rushes off to Metropolis when he can’t find Lex anywhere. At Club Zero, we’re back at the scene in the teaser, only this time we see that it was Royce (well, not really) who was shot, not Lex. Turns out the contractor is Amanda’s ex-con brother and was the bad guy all along, and the other guy was just a Royce look-alike he found. Amanda committed suicide a year ago, and he blames Lex. This time when Lex goes into the flashback, Amanda is the one who grabs Max’s gun and shoots Royce, which makes the contractor (I didn’t catch his name) mad. He shoots at Lex, hitting a huge water tank behind him, and Lex falls from the loft just as Clark rushes in and slides a soft couch under him. Clark speeds up to the loft, knocks the bad guy out, runs out, then comes back in and acts surprised. The episode wraps up at the opening party for the Talon, where Clark gives Lana an antique picture of the theatre the way it originally looked. Lex tells Clark the story we saw in the last flashback and says he took the fall because his father wouldn’t have done anything to help Amanda. Clark asks if that was the truth, to which Lex replies, “The truth is, I do anything to protect my friends.”

There were some more interesting tidbits in this episode: Martha is from Metropolis; Pete hates the Luthors because of “what they did to his family” (I think this was touched on way back, but I don’t remember exactly when); the Kents adopted Clark legally, although it sounds like it was still pretty shady; and the Metropolis police have a diamond-shaped shield on thir hats and jackets that looks suspiciously like a certain “S” symbol I’ve seen before (if this was shown in earlier episodes, I hadn’t noticed). Also, Smallville was more firmly entrenched in the DC comics universe with the mention of both Central City and Bludhaven. I’m not quite sure what was up with the storyline update halfway through the show…the only thing I can figure is that they’ve discovered that a lot of people are watching the new half-hour show As If after Buffy and then switching over.

As I said earlier, this was one of the best episodes, made all the better by the lack of those annoying green space rocks. Mark Verheiden did a good job on the teleplay once again, and you can’t go wrong with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar coming up with the story. Lex has been the best character on the show, and the heavy emphasis on him this week made it all the better. I like that Chloe is getting close to Clark’s secret-that could get interesting. Now they just need Pete to get more involved, preferably in a plotline relating to his family and Lex.

Maybe he and Jonathan can go tee-pee the Luthor mansion together.

Quotes of the Week:

Jonathan: “You think that’s how you solve everything, don’t you, Lex? Just sprinkle a little money on it and hope it goes away.”

Chloe: “Relax, Clark, it’s not like you have anything to hide.”

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars