"Bound" Technical Review & Recap!
Written by Tigress35

First off, I loved this episode. I like really like when Smallville chooses to deal with mature themes. I also firmly believe that Clark is a true hero, and Lex is not. Disagree? I'll explain exactly why through this review.

We open on the ceiling of a ballroom/hotel lobby where a party is taking place. The camera moves from the ceiling, along the party, and then through the crowds until we get to Lex. It's all one shot and really nice. Difficult to coordinate, too, with all the people passing in front, which only makes me more appreciative of it.

There are also two really lovely close-ups I'd like to point out. In the first shot of Lex noticing the woman, everything in the frame is pretty much in focus. The background is a bit blurry, but not so much that we can't see what everything is.

Without going into a discussion about depth of field (because that gets pretty mathematical and it's hard to explain clearly), it makes it look a bit more whimsical and fantastical, and at the same time really makes us focus on Lex and the woman, respectively. If everything in the frame was sharp and in focus, the frame would be very busy. Blurring the background allows us to really get caught up in the moment we're supposed to-- the immediate attraction and chemistry that Lex and this woman feel.

A few shots later, focus is played with again-- this time, a rack focus is cleverly hidden when a beam of light flashes over Lex and the woman. You'd have to rewatch the episode to see it, because screencaps can't really show it. But it's very nice and subtle.

The woman has a pink iPod and Lex listens to a song on it-- presumably, this hypnotizes him or something. The camera work and editing reflects this in the next scene where Lex makes out with the woman in the elevator-- the camera is always circling or moving, and there are very slow dissolves. Essentially, it looks how someone might perceive the world if they were hypnotized/drugged/sexually aroused.

As a clever bit of trivia, the song playing over this song is by Faithless... that music group also had a song in Zero, playing in the club. As you all remember, things didn't end well at Club Zero and neither will things here. Intentional or not on the part of TPTB, it's a nice parallel to a previous episode.

The next morning, the housekeeper wakes up Lex by screaming. Turns out, the woman has been murdered. Later, Lex watches the news brief on his spiffy widescreen TV with his lawyer. The lawyer tells Lex that he's "paying her to get him off." Oh reallyyyy? They think it's possible that Lex could have been drugged. Lex says it "wouldn't be the first time." Or the second. Or the third even. Let's see, there was Helen, Lionel, Clark's faux-mother, who else am I forgetting? Yep, Lex has sadly had his fair share of people drugging him.

Lex and Lawyer continue snarking at each other, and Clark (of course!) comes in unannounced. Lex says that he presumes Clark saw his "walk of shame." I didn't know Clark had seen Sorority Boys!

Lex then steps forward and grips Clark's arms, talking about how he met this girl. The way he's holding onto Clark as if he's consoling him makes it look like he's giving an "I'm breaking up with you as gently as I can" speech. Clark can't believe that Lex would sleep with someone without knowing their name, and looks very hurt, betrayed. Ah, Clark.... poor thing, getting cheated on.

Lex talks about how, you know, you get caught up in the moment. Actually, Clark wouldn't know, because every week we've been subjugated to scenes that declare Clark's virginity is, yes, still very there. Lex thinks his father is framing him, but Clark shoots that down because Lionel's in prison. Clark, did you every watch OZ? People called people and all sorts of crazy setups happened on the outside because of the inmates.

Lex warns him not to get involved and leaves the room, leaving Clark standing there and looking misty-eyed.

I suppose now is as good a time as any to start defending Clark. TPTB have said, most recently even on the Season 3 DVD, that the show is from Clark's point of view. I don't necessarily think that the show itself is trying to lecture about the 'evils of casual sex'. The thing is, Clark doesn't think it's right. He's (yes we all have heard) still a virgin, and he doesn't know about all that stuff. He hasn't had one night stands or anything of the sort. He's been raised in a small town in a conservative state, so I don't think it can be expected that Clark would have been totally okay with Lex's behavior. His parents have always raised him to think that sex is a Very. Big. Deal. Plus, Clark himself has intimacy issues, because he always has to be careful around people and he always has had to protect his secret. So opening himself in a way that he's been taught/told is intimate and special for only one night or to a stranger is relatively inconceivable to Clark. Of course he's going to judge it in his own mind. To conclude, since the show is from Clark's point of view, that's where we get this episode's negative attitude toward Lex's sexual history.

Cut to an establishing shot of the Talon. Lana dreams of flashes to the Countess' past. It really is a shame that they can't tie in Lana to the central story of the episode, instead always giving her subplots. It really stops the flow of the episode. I don't mind Lana, but keep her with the other characters and have her work within the main plot of the episode, not separate subplots that will only eventually tie into the mythology later. The best Smallville episodes have always been those that had very few subplots... Shattered immediately springs to mind.

Prison. Lionel's hair is still pretty damn cool for his age. I also love this prison set and the lighting, so I'll point you to my previous analyzation of it. The shots aren't exactly the same, but close enough. Lionel recounts his sudden change to the lightside and his liver being healed. My opinion on this is that Lionel rocks as a bad guy, so it'll be a shame to see him be holier than thou-- if that's where he's gonna go-- but if it means that Lex can take over as the supreme evil badass of the show, then that would be awesome and I'll take that!

Lionel has a fairly scary knowledge of Lex's one night stands, and gives Clark some tips. I'm not entirely certain why Clark even would go the jail in the first place. Clark says he doesn't trust Lionel, but he must trust him enough to even consider hearing him out. On a slightly gayer note, Clark gets an amusingly odd look when Lionel tells him about the brunette obsession. I bet Clark was thinking, "Hey, my hair is brown, too!" It's very amusing, go look!

Meanwhile at the Talon, Mama Kent struggles with a coffee machine. Lana comes in and Martha remarks that she looks a little pale. Actually, she looks golden with perfect glowing skin, but if you say so. Jane Seymour (Mama Jason) then proceeds to freak out Lana, because it appears that she was stalking her! Lana offers her tea (because she's British she MUST only drink tea, after all!) but Mama Jason refuses to drink it out of a mug. She asks if that's so terrible, and Lana says, "No of course not" but in this tone of voice where you know she's inwardly thinking, "Freak! It's just a cup!" Apparently there's some sort of family drama. By the way? She's creepy, telling Lana she's beautiful like everyone else in Smallville does. (And yeah, she is, but... it's creepy!) I liked Kristen Kreuk very much in this scene... I think she did a better job here than in all of "Spell."

Next scene. Clark investigates with Chloe and it's darn cute. Chloe is inclined to think Lionel is setting them up, but Clark believes Lionel. Hrm, Clark. Let's hope you're right on this. Chloe informs Clark that Lex has slept with 13 women lately. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Hey, Lex, that's not a whole lot." But, remember we're seeing the show through Clark's POV, so to Clark? That's a helluva lot. That's more than 1 a month!!! Clark looks very upset and cheated on, with tears in his eyes (I kid you not!! How in love is Clark?? Poor thing) when he says that Lex said that sort of thing never happens. Clark thought it was bad, but he didn't know it was that bad!

They learn an address, and Clark runs to check it out. Tons of past Michael Rosenbaum promotional photos lay strewn about. It looks remarkably like my own desk. Lex is burning them in a sink. Yeah, that's not conspicuous at all. Why don't you take the photos and burn them somewhere else? Lex begs for help, and Clark looks conflicted, because he was cheated on, after all.

Lex and Clark argue in the mansion. Apparently Luthorcorp has a database of all the Lex stalkers. I'm guessing it might resemble something like my LJ friend's list. Lex learns that Clark got info from Lionel, and says that Clark is playing into Lionel's game. He lays down the law and tells Clark he has to trust one or the other. Actually... I really think he should trust neither of you. That'd be the smartest way to go.

Clark meets up with Chloe again for another information swap. Conveniently, Chloe has even more connections, again, and can get the elevator video feed. Chloe says she's going to skip through all the "gross Zalman King stuff." Should I be concerned that Chloe even knows who he is? Then again, I remember when I would watch the Red Shoe Diaries for David Duchovny way back when. Also, Chloe? You're totally wrong, that elevator scene is quite nice! Clark gives her an odd, pained glance. I think he looks torn between liking the scene and feeling sad that he's not in it. The video reveals that an earring fell off during the elevator romp. Clark concludes that this means Lex was with two different women. The look on Clark's face says, "Lex is a slut! Two in one night?"

Cut to Luthor mansion. Lex learns he'd slept with his stalker before, and he'd given her diamond earrings as a "consolation prize." Wow, sex with Lex Luthor and expensive jewelry later? Awesome! Err, I mean, wow, Lex, how terrible of you. Lawyer has also got an enormous chip on her shoulder-- apparently, she too, is an ex-lover. I'm still not really feeling her on the pity and bitterness thing here. Lawyer removes herself as his attorney. See ya later, we don't care! I'm sure Lex can find someone just as good, there's gotta be more than one "Barracuda" lawyer in Metropolis.

Then, Clark and Chloe go to the hotel elevator. Clark wants to pretend he's an earring. Chloe, on the other hand, thinks a better idea is to reenact all the making out with Clark. Let's see... gotta go with Chloe on this one. For more than one reason. Clark is hesitant, but Chloe tells him it's for "truth and justice." Cheese has suddenly appeared next to my keyboard. I take a bite, because this is delicious Chlarky cheese. Clark gets his "I'm scared of girls face!" (He is a virgin, DON'T FORGET! It keeps getting rammed home. Almost-pun not intended).

They ponder how the earring would have fallen off, all the while Clark looks like he's trying to stop himself from staining his pants while smushed against Chloe. Pausing this scene at various moments leads to some very interesting screencaps. Just sayin'. They almost kiss, but the elevator door opens and Clark jumps back in a way that hides his crotch and yelps, "It's okay, you can come in!" Clark is lucky his shirt is so long. It's hilarious and adorable. Lady with matching innocent twin girls declines. Clark x-rays the elevator shaft and finds the earring. Somehow, he gets it out and takes it to Lionel. Okayyyyy.

Just as a sidenote, whenever I watch that elevator scene, I think of the Kryptonite Sweeper game music. It's kinda catchy, isn't it?

Lex goes to visit Lawyer, and we can all tell she's totally dead when she doesn't spin around in her chair right away. That's only been done 50 billion times in TV and film. Killer comes back and holds Lex at gunpoint. She lets her hair down and takes her glasses off, and asks if he remembers. Lex squints. I think that'd be a no, Killer Lady. She gets pissed about that, so she pistol whips him. I love the look of this shot.

After commercials, we return to an all too familiar scenario (unfortunately for Lex). He's tied to a chair. Dialogue, dialogue... Killer Lady's voice changes almost midsentence. Needs a bit of dialogue editing, that. She talks about earning her earrings. Again, really not feeling the sympathy for you, especially because you're clearly delusional into thinking that Lex Luthor would know how to love anybody. But carry on with your expository diatribe, Killer Lady. Lex has a "This is bullshit!" expression on his face the whole time.

And we cut out of that oh-so-exciting spouting of dialogue to Lana and Jason. Totally unrelated storyline. We could tie it in by having Jason reveal that he, too, has slept with 13 women (or the football team?) because Lana won't give him any. That'd be some amusing parallel storytelling. Anyhow, apparently Lana dreamed about Jason's mom before she met her. So now Jason and Mama Jason are tied into this whole Countess mythology thing? Oh good lord.

More Clark and Chloe at the Torch. They learn about Killer Lady and Clark runs off to save his cheatin' boyfriend.... and Killer Lady is STILL going on and on about sex and not being recognized.... she tries to set Lex on fire with some likely expensive liquor.

And Clark..... Clark bursts in and gets some sort of new cowboy superpower, because he like... lassos the fire with his jacket and makes it disperse..... it's just... it's astounding, really. And then he leaves! Lex is left in a burned circle.

Next morning at the Kent farm, we learn via newspaper headline that Lex was declared innocent. Clark is baffled at how Lex could hurt those women. And again, I point you to my previous argument above-- this is how Clark sees the world. And he's been a relatively sheltered kid, even through all he's seen. I really don't think anyone can blame him for having that opinion, even if realistically, Lex had completely consensual sex with women who, in their right minds, would have realized that it would have been just a one night stand. I don't think that was ever up for debate, what Smallville is trying to show us is how Clark thinks right now. He's young, kinda naive, and his parents totally agree with him. His parents taught him to think that way. I mean, every single time we've seen Jonathan make a sexual advance toward Martha, she shrugs him off and claims she has work to do. What kind of message does that send to Clark? So I don't get how people think Clark can be blamed for the way he thinks.

Clark then admits he visited Lionel and that, hey, Lionel actually helped out. Clark thinks their bodyswitch somehow healed him.

Lex goes and visits Lionel. Lionel admits he deserves to be in prison and wants to reconcile with Lex, but Lex ain't having any of that. There's a fantastic shot to end the scene where Lionel sits in a beam of light. He's seen the light y'all! He's good now!

Back at the farm, Clark broods and looks at the stars. Lex confesses that he can't change, that he thinks he treated the women horribly, and that he's essentially suicidal. Clark is very stern and doesn't show a hint of reassurance or sympathy. And I know y'all had issues with that too, but for once, Clark isn't just flip-flopping his opinion on Lex because Lex goes and pleads with him or tells him a sob story. Bottom line, Lex is still doing things that could post a threat to Clark (floor 33.1 anyone?), and Clark is absolutely right not to trust Lex. We know where Lex is gonna end up. This is inevitable. And I think Clark is really stepping in the right direction now.

While that scene would have been a freakin' fantastic way to end the episode, instead we get Jason and Mom's drama. The actors are both great and I don't have much issue with the scene in itself other than I personally don't feel that this subplot is best introduced after such an emotional scene between Clark and Lex. Clark and Lex had been discussing being enemies and such, and what better way to leave the episode than us pondering that?

And with that, I will leave you pondering.

Note: The views of Tigress35 don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.

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